The Re-Taking of Pelham 123

Jan. 29

Playing off the old cliché that imitation is the truest form of flattery, composer Steve Horowitz has penned The Re-Taking of Pelham 123, a 30-minute rethink of the classic film and score with a film/video projection by Jane Brill. The new music is a mash-up of contemporary classical, jazz, funk and rock, and the performing band mirrors that stylistic diversity. The Code International will be joined onstage by the FLUX Quartet, pianist Kathy Supové and sampler Christopher Romero.

Horowitz approached Pelham, and David Shire's original soundtrack in particular, with love and respect.

"From the beginning I had a vision that my piece would start where the original score left off," says Horowitz. "You take the theme of a beloved composer and pay homage and then do your own thing. I believe that it is OK to directly thank those whose work I build upon." Not that the composer is living life like DJ Danger Mouse-Shire has endorsed the piece and will even be on hand for a pre-concert discussion.

The video Brill has created to accompany the new score follows a similar line of thought, taking up ideas and key moments from the original film and mixing them strategically with fresh footage she shot herself underground. Taken together, Horowitz suggests that the project offers a strong post-9/11 message. "The film entertains notions of fear and loss," he says. "It uses the past and the present to warn us all about the future. It is kind of like A Christmas Carol but with trains instead of ghosts."

Horowitz is intrigued by the artistic applications of recasting popular media. He explains, "A lot of my work has been about abstracting pop culture and somehow making something more out of it. So many times there is a real nugget of amazing truth and then yards and yards of BS. I am looking to take the best of the rest, redesign it and extract what is essential, take it to another place."

The Re-Taking of Pelham 123 will be premiered at The Kitchen on the final program of their four-day West Goes East festival. The series of concerts-heavy on the multi-media-will feature the work of CalArts alumni who are now based here in NYC.

The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St. (betw. 10th Ave. & West Side Hwy.), 212-255-5793 x11; 7, $15 single night/$50 festival pass.