Mattox, Janis

Mattox, Janis , American composer; b. St. Paul, Minn., March 18, 1949. She studied at the Univ. of Minnesota (B.A., 1972) and Northwestern Univ. in Evanston, III. (M.A., 1974). In 1978 she began composing and producing works involving computer music technologies and live performers at Stanford Univ’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA); among the virtuoso performers she has collaborated with are jazz bassist Mel Graves (Voice of the Ancestors, 1983), actor Bob Ernst (Spirits Rising, 1984), flutist (Moroccan ney) Richard Horowitz (Night Flyer, 1985), and drummer George Marsh (Adowa, 1987); works for dance include Song from the Center of the Earth for belly dancer Rachel Dutton (1982) and Beehive Suite (1985) for Jim Self and Beehive. Mattox taught and gave lecture demonstrations on computer music at CCRMA; also lectured in Los Angeles and Venice. She is project consultant for Good Sound Foundation and a performing member (piano) of the Good Sound Band. Her other works include Dragons View for Computer-generated Quadraphonic Tape (1980); Shaman, music theater piece for Percussionist, Belly Dancer, Bassist, Actor/Vocalist, Live Digital Processing, and Computer-generated Tape (1984); Adowa for Percussionist and Dancer (1987); Book of Shadows, Part I, for Film, 2 Pianos in just intonation, Soprano, Violin, Garden Hose, Ney, Didjeridu, Contrabass, Saxophone, Accordion in just intonation, and Live Digital Processing (1989); and Pulse for 2 Drummers (1990). She is married to Loren Rush .

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire