[Archive 2025-12-10] Robert Dick and Mark Dresser re-unite at the Fridman Gallery

Historical archive — originally published 2025-12-10. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

On Friday, November 21, flutist Robert Dick and double bassist Mark Dresser reunited for a performance at the Fridman Gallery in New York City.

Dick and Dresser started playing together in the 1980s, in various combinations as a duo or with other players also involved.

Before the performance, audience members were able to view the art exhibit on display by Alina Grasmann, House Of Spirits, which was on display from October 29 through December 6. The gallery described Grasmann's art as being "magical-realist paintings explore modernist architecture, blending the formal qualities of specific sites with their history." When Dick and Dresser started to play, almost all of the seats in the gallery for the audience were filled.

The performance lasted approximately 52 minutes. During the performance, Dick played the bass flute, the piccolo, and a flute fitted with a Glissando Headjoint, a modified headjoint he developed that allows for controlled glissandi. He employed many extended techniques, including multiphonics, glissandi, key percussion, and air sounds. Dresser employed many techniques while playing the double bass, including two-handed tapping, and percussive sounds, playing the bass with both his fingers and various bows.

When asked by email about the collaboration after the show, Dick stated: "Mark and I first improvised together in the 1980s, performing several times as a duo. We expanded into a trio, adding the drummer Gerry Hemingway, and then we became a quartet when pianist Denman Maroney joined the group, which we then named Tambastics in honor of our love of musical color, musical timbres.

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