Road Reports 2005
(click pics to enlarge)
Road Reports 2005
(click pics to enlarge)
For upcoming concert dates, go here
January
Jan. 1 St Mark's Poetry Project Benefit Marathon
For this year's edition, I debut "USA Out Of NYC" which will eventually be orchestrated for Terraplane. I introduce the tune by explaining this as a summary of various feelings boiling up within me as a result of the massive changes in NYC in the last 20 years, all of which I characterize as the "American Occupation." I tell the audience that they are welcome to sing along with the simple chant "USA Out Of NYC" or just think of it as an underlying riff to be silently sung in unison with the tenor sax line that I begin with. I don't actually expect the audience to sing but many do. When the chant is established I start screeching and overblowing on the horn (which is what I really wanted to be doing!) Unfortunately, switching to the soloing undercut the riff and caused some murkiness. I returned to the riff again, squealed a bit more and faded it out on the chant, ending in ambiguity. Perhaps the confusion was appropriate. The piece might have been more effective if I had brought along a percussionist but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway.
No gigs for awhile after this one giving me time to begin composing the music for Dael Orlandersmith's new play "Raw Boys" and some new songs for Terraplane.
Jan. 20 E#/Samm Bennett - Solos & Duos - The Project Room
Issue Gallery has evolved into the Project Room and is hosting a variety of events. Now living in Tokyo, percussionist Samm Bennett has been a friend since 1978 and was the third member of Semantics with Ned Rothenberg and myself, a band formed in 1986 and considered one of the "Downtown supergroups" of the 80's (please note irony!) In any case, Semantics mixed our own compositions and improvisations in a spicy stew that was popular both in NYC and Europe. We released two albums: the eponymous debut on Rift in the US and Recommended Records/No Man's Land in Germany and "Bone Of Contention" on SST. The band became inactive and the records went out-of-print so in 1995 in a bizarre instance of the reality of the music biz, we sold the name to Geffen Records who used it for a Kentucky skinny-tie rock band who released one record that immediately went to the cutout bins. We had a reunion gig in 1996 at the Schlachthof in Wels under the name Some-antics.
Samm's current performing setup features miscellaneous noisemakers and pedals plus the Wavedrum, a powerful percussion synthesizer with an organic lifelike sound. He also sings pointed lyrics in a nasal twang colored by his Birmingham, Alabama roots and accompanied by handdrum patterns. I've brought the 8string plus Tube Screamer and DynaComp, my Powerbook, and the tiny AKG microphone and commence the evening with a guitar solo and then morph into Living Room which is stopped short by a computer in an office in the back suddenly coming on and loudly playing an mp3. I finish up with more guitar after which Samm performs his solo set. A short intermission is taken and we return for some improvised duos and then are joined by Ned Rothenberg on clarinet for some neo-Semantics. We grope around a bit before clicking into that way of hearing and playing that was so characteristic of our sound as a trio. The process of group hearing dynamics was very transparent to me at that moment.
Jan. 21 E# solo at Slamdance Film Festival - Park City, Utah
Jonathan Berman's film "Commune" is set to open at Slamdance (the "alternative" to the Sundance corporate reality) and I've been invited to play at the opening party. It's a documentary about the Black Bear Ranch and more about the film may be found here. My score to "Commune" refers to many styles of popular music from the 60's: from Fahey-esque 12-string acoustic and dobro to psychedelic electric jams pointing to Hendrix, the Dead, and Quicksilver and it will hopefully be released on a suitable label when the film enters distribution.
After the Issue gig, we all head out for dinner so there's only time for 2 hours of sleep before departing to JFK but I do get to catch up in the plane to Denver where I change to a flight to Salt Lake City. Bumpy ride over the Rockies but I'm transfixed by the dramatic landscape culminating in a descent into the fog of SLC. Some sleep at the hotel, some coffee, and up to Park City. Driving up the mountains, we emerge from the peasoup into the crisp night air and hyper-clarity. Park City is a strange mix, indeed: affluent post-hippies, jet-set ski-bums, and Hollywood types all crowding the sidewalks as if this outpost of Disneyworld was cast by a motley crew all cruising on different and mutually exclusive drugs. The Slamdance venue is a dingy office upstairs from souvenir shops but there's a small stage, DJ setup, and towering soundsystem all being set up when I arrive. Off to meet the director and various friends and associates at a barbeque joint for a bite. Cedar, a former Black Bear member has thrilling tales of his days in the Strawberry Alarm Clock and of seeing the Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape, and Electric Flag back in the day. Return to the venue for soundcheck, out again for caffeination, and soon it's time to begin.
I open with some acoustic tracks on the Godin, not exactly what I played on the soundtrack, but pointing in that direction. I then continue with a Velocity of Hue selection before switching to electric on the 8-string for some psychedelia and finally some Tectonics. Certainly some in the audience are completely indifferent, much more interested in loading up on free booze and energy drinks but I'm heartened to get a great response from a good number of people leading to many conversations in the post-gig hang before getting a ride back down into the fog and 2 hours of sleep at the hotel then shuttling back to the airport. I'm concerned about the impending weather forecast for NYC but before we take off, we're told that the NYC flights are departing as scheduled. Another scenic ride over the Rockies and in Denver I find out that there will be no flights to NYC this day. United has a service to arrange for hotels and after breakfast, I'm catching Z's for 2 more hours (this seems to be my standard duration on-the-road snooze.)
On awakening, I send an email off to guitarist Janet Feder whom I met at the LMC Festival last November and a Denver resident, to see if there's anything of note going on this evening. As luck would have it, she tells me that my old friend Bill Frisell is playing in Boulder so we drive on up to catch the concert. Joining Bill in this beautifully intimate concert hall are my buddies Joey Baron and Kermit Driscoll plus Ron Miles and guitarist Dale Bruning, Bill's teacher. It's a great reunion and an enjoyable concert. After the music and socializing, I return to my hotel for seemingly hours of discussion with the United booking people trying to get me back to NYC. It seems as if I'll have to fly to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and finally NYC, a 12-hour itinerary. Two more hours of sleep and back to the airport. I get a brilliant rep in ticketing and she manages to get me on board the first flight back to NYC shortly after noon.
Jan. 24 Bonfire Madigan at the Knitting Factory Tap Bar - NYC
I first met the and worked with charismatic cellist and singer Madigan Shive at Hal Willner's Neil Young tribute last summer so I was pleased to hear that she had moved to NYC and would be doing a series at the Knitting Factory. She invited me to join her on this final evening so I packed my Guild Nightbird and headed down to a venue that I had not set foot in for nearly 2 years (for many good reasons!) It was good to see that a few old friends were still working there (hopefully under not-too-horrible conditions!) but true to form, the heat was off and there was a touch of chaos in the air. Adam, the sound-engineer was extremely helpful and Madigan and I accomplished a brief soundcheck and rehearsal. She began her set joined by Spacecraft on vocal beatbox and flute and their resonance was obvious. After a few solo pieces including one titled "Cage" which invoked his spirit along with Charlotte Moorman and Moondog, I joined Madigan for three tunes full of manic energy, varied textures, and her passionate singing and cello playing. A treat!
Jan. 29 Orchestra Carbon performs "Quarks Swim Free" conducted by Butch Morris - Clemente Soto Cultural Center - NYC
Butch and I had long discussed doing this type of collaboration and the opportunity arose with the onset of a series organized by the Vision Festival at this former school in the Lower East Side. The Vision concerts were taking place in the lobby which had been transformed into a good simulation of an intimate club with a capacity of about 75. I decided to present the orchestra completely "acoustic" except for a small amplifier for my Powerbook running Max/MSP to process my Dell Arte acoustic guitar. I also brought the bass clarinet. The group included Kinan Azmeh, James Fei, and JD Parran-reeds; Curtis Fowlkes, Chris McIntire-trombones; Ron Lawrence, Juho Saitanen, Okkyung Lee, Reuben Radding, Kevin Ray-strings; and Deep Singh-tablas, percussion,: and Jim Pugliese-vibraphone, percussion.
In 20 years of conductions, Butch has evolved an extremely powerful language for creating a realtime music that balances composition and improvisation. "Quarks Swim Free" presents a good set of source material for this type of environment with its mix of melodic and rhythmic material all of which may be superimposed, fragmented, looped, and deconstructed. Having Butch apply his conduction language focussed and filtered the ensemble through his sonic lens allowing the group to manifest a strong structural identity. Butch will do conductions in a variety of venues in NYC and with various ensembles every night in February to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his conductions - more about his work may be found at http://www.conduction.us
Throughout the evening, I functioned as soloist/commentator with Butch cueing me in and out of ensemble passages and improvisation. It was certainly a test of my chops on bass clarinet! The house was filled both sets and responded passionately and enthusiastically - a gratifying experience! We divided the 11-part score into sections. the first part of the first set dealt with modules 1-3 in depth then a short and exciting exploration of module 4. Second set began with a 12-minutes of 4-6 then a longer version of 7-11.
Feb. 4 E#/Anthony Coleman at Cornelia St. Cafe - NYC
A return to this intimate club in the West Village with Anthony up first performing a spirited set of Jelly Roll Morton tunes, subtly improvising deep within the structures and slyly updating them harmonically and rhythmically. I brought the Godin and opened with Bemsha Swing which I played as a compact discrete song staying pretty much within the given structure. This was followed by a manic version of Epistrophy which segued into Round Midnight, both ranging widely in gesture, approach, and texture. Next came a 20-minute piece that mixed a number of Velocity Of Hue elements and finished with Euwrecka. We completed the evening with a duo improvisation in three parts - tight listening and very synchronous sense of structure. Anthony and I have worked on many projects together over the years but have rarely done a duo concert. I do believe more will follow!
Feb. 18 Butch Morris' Butchland Band - Zebulon - Brooklyn
A last-minute call from Butch on Friday afternoon with an invitation to play with this project as part of his Black February series was most welcome after a day spent at the computer working on the Raw Boys score. Butchland is a big band filled with great players including cornetist Graham Haynes, drummer Kenny Wolleson, and my dear friend Art Baron. I've known Art since Bard College days when he used to come up from the city to hang out with our mentor Roswell Rudd. He's a veteran of the bands of both Duke Ellngton and Stevie Wonder and much much more and it was always an edifying and entertaining experience to spend time with him. Art also played in my Moving Info project with Philip Wilson, Bill Laswell, and Percy Jones in 1980 after I had just moved to NYC and played an amazing overdubbed duet with himself on the track "Obvious" on the record I did that year for Glass called "Nots." It was an exciting surprise to see him walk in the door with his instrument. Vocalist Marc Anthony Thompson of Chocolate Genius was also on hand to provide his own brand of poetic chanting and evocations of Howlin' Wolf.
The club is warm and inviting and packed by the time we start - good acoustic sound and not much amplification is needed (although the amp provided for me for the first set was completely inadequate.) I fared better second set with a solid-state Fender that was rustled up. I brought the hollowbody-Tele with 3 P-90 pickups allowing for resonant jazzy chording, sweet controlled feedback, and piercing leads. For this project, Butch has composed simple riffs and melodies: bluesy, swinging and poignant - perfect raw material for his conduction. We play two sets with the second really getting wild. Inevitably, when I perform in a context with "ties to tradition," someone says to me "I didn't know you actually KNEW how to play guitar" and tonight was no exception.
Mar. 6 Glass Farm Ensemble performs "Saturate" - Tanri Cultural Institute, NYC
I had been hearing good things about the Glass Farm Ensemble for awhile and last year, their pianist Yvonne Troxler contacted me about the possibility of performing a piece of mine. The instrumentation of "Saturate" (composed in 1993) was a perfect match and so it was agreed. Meeting with them in February I was very impressed with their technical virtuosity and musicality. The group also includes saxophonist Taimur Sullivan, guitarist Oren Fader, and percussionist Matthew Gold.
The concert took place at a gallery downtown, high ceilings, polished white walls - very live acoustically but not overly so - perfect for an essentially unamplified group. On the program were conceptual pieces by Roland Moser and interludes from Bach, well orchestrated by and for this ensemble and beautifully framing the new works by Peter Herbert and Andrew Silverman. "Saturate" was energetically played and well received by the packed house. Check the ensemble out at www.glassfarm.org.
Mar. 9 "Raw Boys" - Wilma Theater - Philadelphia
For this latest play by Dael Orlandersmith and directed by Blanka Zizka and which takes place in Belfast, London, and NYC, my composition work began in December but the bulk was written and recorded during January and February once the script was solidified. Tweaks took place right up to the day of the first preview with new cues emailed over. "Raw Boys" is powerful and wrenching and filled with Dael's rhythmic language. Drawing from the script, I wrote instrumental songs referencing blues, Memphis soul, punk, 80's New Wave, and Latin jazz as well as creating a variety of sound textures. I've often said that a composer must never feel emotionally attached to the work once it is completed and in the hands of the director - they will use it as they want. Blanka has an incredible visual sense and I very much like her direction in theater even though ultimately, I would have used the music and sound differently. I spent a number of days in Philly and traveling back and forth to work on the sound design (btw Amtrak, the American railway system, is an incredible embarrassment and has become more wretched than ever! ) Still, I'll always enjoy looking out of the window from a rolling train! The opening house was packed (after a week of previews) and response was strong. More info at www.Wilmatheater.org
Mar. 18 Bobby Previte/E# - An Die Musik Live - Baltimore
A rare opportunity to perform in the USA for our duo. This is a new organization and venue, a small theater with plush seats above a classical music CD shop near the birthplace of Eubie Blake. Thanks to Bernard Lyons and Henry Wong! The series includes such performers as Henry Grimes/Marshall Allen, Borah Bergman, and William Parker. The train down is surprisingly painless - we have some trepidation about the new Amtrak baggage policies (which defer to "homeland security" idiocy) but they let us be.
Nice hotel near the waterfront and a soundcheck that is bug-free except for a missing adaptor for the amp for Bobby's electronics. Last minute scramble for a replacement while I go out for espresso. The house is not packed for the sets but the audience is very responsive and we dig in right from the start. Second set especially intense and after, a fantastic Cantonese dinner!
Mar. 23 Orchestra Carbon performs SyndaKit at Zebulon, Brooklyn
It used to be standing joke that if Carbon was performing, one had to prepare for extreme rain or snow. While it had been quite awhile since I ran afoul of the weather godz, the time had come. After a stretch of sunny weather, this day promised a winter storm - a promise fulfilled! Still, we all arrived to Zebulon in time to set up , rehearse, and relax and enjoy this welcoming venue's treats. The group included Art Baron, Chris McIntire, and Curtis Fowlkes on trombones; Jonathan Haffner on sax; percussionists Jim Pugliese and Danny Tunick; Anthony Coleman on the house Fender Rhodes (a great sound but one that most definitely evokes the '70's); and myself on the 8-string and soprano sax. We play two sets to a surprisingly full house considering the weather - the audience is concentrated and enthusiastic. As always, the second set allows everyone to dig in with some surprising textures and grooves.
Mar. 24 Janet Feder/E# at The Project Room, NYC
A full house greets this event with Janet opening with her compositions played on her prepared classical guitar - she creates evocative soundscapes and textures as well as fingerpicked pieces in the Fahey/Kottke tradition. I continue with a Velocity of Hue set after which we perform duos that are quiet but extremely intense. More about Janet's work may be found at www.JanetFeder.com
April 1 & 2 Onkyo Marathon - Japan Society, NYC
Curated by Carl Stone, this festival bought innovative Japanese artists to town and placed them in an unlikely venue. A fantastic Meyer sound system is in use and the quality is superb - monster sub-bass frequencies and crystalline highs are all reproduced without distortion. Even when the very structure of the building is rattling, the speakers remain unfazed. "onkyo" has become an umbrella term for primarily atonal, noise-based and improvised computer music though not all of the performers use computers. Highlights for me include Otomo Yoshihide's feedback solo using turntables without records, Nobukazu Takemura's varied and intense solo and duo with New Yorker o.blaat (Keiko Uenishi), and Yoshimitsu Ichiraku's drum/live video sampling performance Doravideo. I also greatly enjoyed the performances of Sachiko M, AOKI Takamasa, and virtuosic newcomer Taku Hannoda.
On the second evening I perform a 30-minute solo to great response that begins with "Living Room" and continues with VelHue material processed live with the computer. The marathon finishes with a quartet of Otomo, Carl, Taku, and myself. We perform a 15-minute structured improvisation using one-minute clock markers as catalyst for transformation of texture with a hilarious ending thanks to Taku and his great energy and theatrical sense. This is followed by a 15 minute improvisation that becomes raucous and deafening but fun throughout.
April 9 Raw Meet - CBGB - NYC
A return to the birthplace of punk-rock. Much has been written about this grimy but endearing hellhole. I played there many times bedtween 1979 and 1994 with periods of avoidance. At its best, the club's glorious soundsystem allowed the music to thunder. This night was organized byChirs Nelson, an important undergorund rock figure whose work dates back to the first wave of NoWave and bands like Information, Mofungo, and The Scene Is Now. His current band Escape By Ostrich (with likewise eminence grise Willie Klein) opens the night followed by visionary punk-metal-grungers Chain Gang. We hit next in a mostly improvisatory set ending with Sonny's Way. The CB's sound equipment has sadly deteriorated but there is still a certain small thrill to hit this stage again. The night finishes with Barbez.
April 11 Tectonics solo, SyndaKit, and Quarks Swim Free - Gallery X - New Bedford
Santi Debriano, bassist extraordinaire (we had a collaborative group called Oblique Ah Bleu with members including Billy Hart, Oliver Lake, Arthur Blythe, Ray Anderson, Mark Feldman, Greg Osby, Ronnie Burrage, and Lenny White) is now teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and received a grant to bring me up to work with the students on three successive Mondays. We tackle SyndaKit, Quarks Swim Free and improvisation concepts and finish the evening with a fantastic Portuguese meal in nearby New Bedford before I get on the late train back to NYC.. The last Monday includes a concert at Gallery X in New Bedford in an old Unitarian Church converted into an arts center. I do a set of Velocity of Hue after which the group performs SyndaKit and Quarks (which works extremely well - I'm conducting the ensemble to bring out desired gestures.) Finally, Santi on bass and faculty member Royal Hartigan on drums join in and we do an improvised trio finally joined by Gallery X operator Mike on Fender Rhodes and recent graduate Ron on alto sax for an improv that delves deeply into Bitches' Brew territory.
April 12 Satoku Fuji - Natsuki Tamera - E# - The Stone - NYC
This is my first time playing at the Stone, John Zorn's new venue in the East Village. Long narrow room, holds 85 or so, dry but decent acoustics especially for quieter ensembles. Nice new Yamaha piano which Satoku graces with her very personal style mixing extremes of sonic violence and lyrical passages. I bring the straight soprano sax and the National steel. Natsuki and I start with some quiet sonics on our horns and the set develops over a wide range. For the encore Satoku plays Girl From Ipanema while Natsuki and I provide sonic countertextural grit.
April 14 Terraplane - Knitting Factory - NYC
Another strange return to a formerly-important venue: this time to the Knit, important only by virtue of its existence as a working venue and having nothing to do with Michael Dorf's self-promotional agenda. With an upcoming tour and (after obsessively working in the studio on the new CD Secret Life), it was a pleasure to take the songs out into reality. Foregoing soundcheck, we arrive just in time to set up and hit to a smallish but very enthusiastic audience. The room fills out more for the second set and we have a fine time with both older tunes and the new ones finishing with the Willie Dixon classic Little Red Rooster.
April 17 Quarks Swim Free - Orchestra Carbon conducted by Butch Morris- - The Stone - NYC
A return to Stone with the ensemble here comprising pianist Jenny Lin, saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa, James Fei and JD Parran, violist Ron Lawrence, cellists Juho Laitenen and Okkyung Lee, trombonists Curtis Fowlkes and Chris McIntire, bassists Reuben Radding and Kevin Ray, and percussionist Danny Tunick. At rehearsal I work on some ideas for "re-triggering" individual players and sections of the ensemble to create canons and hockets. This dovetails nicely with Butch's conduction language and the set proves itself to be intense and varied. We concentrate on just four of the piece's eleven modules with a short version of a fifth for an encore allowing for deeper interpretation of the material.
April 20 Velocity Of Hue, SyndaKit, and Quarks Swim Free - Baird Hall - Buffalo
Continuing my interface with academia, I've been invited by Meridian trumpeter (and University of Buffalo faculty member) Jon Nelson to work with his ensemble Genkin Philharmonic which operates as part of his class. I spent four LONG years in Buffalo between 1974-78 studying, working, getting arrested, gigging and teaching - it's quite beautiful there in the very brief summer (which is partly how I was seduced into moving there) but the nine-month-long winters are depressing and the general vibe of the city is not supportive of any but the most bland arts. When I was a student, activities were centered on the old campus in North Buffalo - Baird Hall in the music department was the site of many great concerts and I studied or interacted with such people as Morton Feldman, Lejaren Hiller, Julius Eastman, John Cage, Steve Reich, Christian Wolff, Frances-Marie Uitti, Jan Williams, Yvar Mikhashoff, and Tom Constanten. During my time there the new Amherst campus was built, a boondoggle involving sale of swampland by trustees to the University. It's a horrible soulless place, typical post-penitentiary architecture. My only reason to go there was to run computer programs. Now the music department is in full-time residence out there with the only nearby refreshments the fasfood stripmall that passes for a student center - Jon accurately refers to the University complex as "Planet of the Apes." Thanks to the hospitality of composer Emil Harnas and his partner Mike, we were able to enjoy rural tranquility at night. In two long rehearsals we worked through ideas built-in to SyndaKit and Quarks. The players were mostly familiar with jazz and contemporary music and were all quite adept and so adapted to the concepts easily and enthusiastically.
We performed on the third night at the new Baird Hall, an intimate but spacious room with excellent acoustics. I began the evening with Velocity of Hue to strong response followed by a middling version of SyndaKit and an excellent version of Quarks, again concentrating on just a few modules with an encore of Nr. 4. The re-triggering is working very well now especially in some of the modules that are series of rhythmi/density transformations. Post-concert Greek dining and hanging out until far too late - 2 hours of sleep and to the airport for a flight back to NYC, a few hours of running around attempting to take care of too much business and back to JFK to meet the Terraplane gang for our flight to Munich - exhaustion took over and I slept most of the way.
April 22 Unterfahrt - Munich
After post-flight naps in the hotel we assemble at the club for soundcheck. It's operated by a cooperative jazzclub and is built in a former U-bahn station and associated tunnels. Sound in the club is fantastic thanks to the house engineer Helmut and our host Christiana makes us feel exceedingly welcome. We have a fine Bavarian dinner in the restaurant upstairs and play two long sets to a packed and cheering house. Up until 3am and the 6am wake-up call is rude indeed but we have an early train to catch so we're off.
April 23 Teatro Fondamenta - Venezia
One of my favorite train itineraries: through the dramatic vistas of the Brenner Pass and the Dolomiti mountains down to Verona where we change for the train to Venice. Chaos in Verona and our train is delayed behind the already-massively delayed and massively packed previous train which we mount after waiting around the station for 40 minutes. Finally we arrive in Venice, check in the hotel and off to soundcheck after fortification with my first real caffe doppio ristretto of the tour. Teatro Fondamenta is on the north shore of Venice, decidedly off the touristic beaten-path, a good thing as this is a holiday weekend and Venice is filled with throngs of touristas. It's a very live room, ideal for an acoustic ensemble but more difficult with amps and drums. After dealing with some hum-inducing ground problems, we have a smooth check and mini-rehearsal and head off to a fine meal - our host Massimo Ongaro, a longtime friend, always knows the best places!
The house is sold-out and we dig right in with Work Or Leave. We have monitor problems throughout the first half of the set but the music takes over we and burn through a nearly two-hour set in what seems like no time at all. The new horn tune Edifice Wrecked is working well this night as is Blue State. Little Red Rooster and Meet Me In The Bottom for the encores and we head out.
April 24 Area Sismica - Meldola
Easy train ride to Forli then drive out into the country with the promoters to Area Sismica, a cooperative club taking over an isolated house surrounded by vineyards. This area around Meldola was the birthplace of Mussolini and Forli is filled with fascist architecture. We prepare for the arduous task of soundcheck by sampling the local San Giovese vines and Rieli's hand at the espresso machine. After all is working we're given an incredible home-cooked dinner with a variety of local fresh-caught fish and crabs. Jo Thirion, formerly of the French band Etron Fou Le Loublan is here on holiday and joins us for dinner. Thus fueled, we hit around 11pm with a two-and-a-half hour set that drives and flows. It feels as if the first two gigs allowed details and kinks to be examined while tonight's let everything melt into that entity known as "road band." The full-moon only helped matters, especially on our encore of Willie Dixon's Back Door Man.
Back to the hotel well after 2 and up at 7 to catch breakfast and our train to Bologna and then back up through the Dolomiti to Austria. The train, which originated in Rome, has an inordinate number of priests on board and one decides to serenade the dining car with his voice and guitar. Everybody does their best to ignore his insipid little ditties and he soon changes his smugly-beatific smile into the typical grumpy look of a 2-bit coffeehouse entertainer who is just not getting over. All of the TV news is still filled with Popery - I'm sure the media welcomes having this opportunity to distract from the more important realities that they avoid casting light upon. Even though Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth and so cannot be easily tarred with the "Nazi" brush, many of his views are intensely reacitonary. He was also influential in the last American election, calling for the excommunication of John Kerry as well as telling American Catholics to vote for Bush in another triumph of hypocrisy. If the numbers could ever be tallied as to how many people have been killed in the name of "god", I'm sure it would far outweigh any other human interventions (and let's not even think about the impoverishment of indigenous peoples everywhere as their gold and other resources found its way to the Vatican while their souls went to "heaven.")
April 25 Eremitage - Schwaz
A return to Leo's great cafe in the mountains near Innsbruck - with a band this big, we're right in the faces of the sold-out and packed house but they seem to enjoy that. Two long sets with especially good versions of USA Out Of NYC in the first set and Clandestiny in the second. Having some trouble with my soprano sax - a weak spring on one of the lower keys is playing havoc with the sound. Doubt if I'll be able to find anyone to fix it but will make an attempt in Koln - in the meantime, it's the rubberband cure. Our encore is Back Door Man which we extend into abstract territory.
April 26 Fluctuating Images Gallery - Stuttgart
This show was set-up at the last minute for an off-day as a return to this small and progressive gallery in Stuttgart's red-light district. I wondered how Terraplane would work, both esthetically and sonically in the strangely-divided space.but we found a suitable approach in a corner of the front room and after an excellent garlic-laden dinner at a nearby Spanish restaurant, we hit with one long set to great response. The room is very live and we dispensed with amplification for the horns allowing them to wander in the gallery at will adding a dramatic and humorous spatial dimension to our sound.
April 27 Stadtgarten - Koln
Equipment and stage not ready when we arrive so dinner first, a quick set-up/soundcheck and then hit for two sets. The sound is never great in this room and even when the audience is enthusiastic, their sound disperses in a strange way and they seem removed. Excellent version of Oil Blues. Back to the hotel too late and up to early for our travels.
April 29 Katowice
Train to Dortmund, vans to the airport, flight to Katowice. A calm flight but intense crosswinds on our approach forcing the pilot to do much maneuvering to bring us in. Lots of traffic and construction so a long drive into the city - a chilling sign on the road: Treblinka. After check-in, we're brought to the club for lunch (which is open and serving food from 11am to 2am and where the lighting and ambience is ALWAYS 3am!) We're stuffed with incredible versions of foods familiar to us from the Polish restaurants in the East Village but here greatly elevated in ingredients and preparation and washed down with huge mugs of chilled local lager. On our way to lunch we pass a long line of unemployed and homeless people waiting for relief packages and hear the spoken epithet "nigger" - I crack Alex up by saying "that was probably an American."
The next morning we embark on a field trip to Auschwitz concentration camp and the Birkenau death-camp. The intensity is overwhelming but what can I say that hasn't already been? Still, I feel there is no shortage of holocausts and mass slaughters in this world and there should be no competition for "biggest victim." Perhaps the murders will cease when people realize this - the killing of the "other" is always the killing of our own. In the drive back we have some time to recover and prepare for the concert ahead in the JazzClub of this huge cultural center which also presents the symphony and opera. Good sound on stage and a receptive audience. We play two long sets and an encore of Meet Me In The Bottom and a severely stretched-out Back Door Man.
April 30 Zak - Gdansk
Off by train to Gdansk, a city with a varied history extending back over 700 years as a trading center, free city-state known for religious and philosophical tolerance, contested prize in both of the 20th century's major wars, and finally, seat of the Solidarity movement and the dock strikes that helped unseat the hardline Communist government. It's a holiday weekend and the trains are packed - we change in Warsaw and it's as if we had to make a transfer in NYC's Times Square at rush hour shlepping a band's worth of equipment - a horror! The train to Gdansk is 4 hours of heat and stressed humanity completed by a mad dash to get out with all of our gear through doors that have stopped working. We check in the hotel and then it's right to soundcheck, a quick bite and the concert. It's unfortunate that there was not more time in Gdansk - only enough really for the show. The cultural center had formerly been part of the university but was now autonomous. We perform to a full house in a black-box theatrical space with great acoustics and sound system. Excellent versions of Work Or Leave and Slow Drag and an intense encore of Wang Dang Doodle.
May
May 1 Porgy & Bess - Vienna
Always fun to perform here - sound, equipment, audience, and many friends in attendance. USA Out Of NYC burns as does Krackertown Two-Step! Post-gig hang until way too late and the 6am wake-up call is just WRONG. Off to Westbahnhof and the train to Zurich. Our reservations put us in one of the renovated 1st-class compartments: Gone are the comfortable reclining seats and ample baggage storage areas that made riding the European trains such a pleasure, now replaced with immobile "pleather" seats fixed in a back- and neck-destroying position. Nine hours to Zurich. Eating warm apple strudel in the dining car while taking in the passing Alpine vistas is some consolation.
May 2 Moods - Zurich
Arriving at the Zurich Hbf, we attemprt to use vouchers we've been sent for a particular taxi company - the drivers from the company seem absolutely uninterested in driving us. Telephoning the company, willing drivers are dispatched - one lets us know that what we've experienced is Zurich's own special passive-aggressive form of racism. We've lost an hour of time that would have been well-spent taking showers and preparing for the evening. We're playing in a spiffy new version of this club which is now in a theater complex. Excellent hospitality by everyone and great stage sound though the room is a bit clinical in its design. Sleep-deprivation continues to have positive esthetic effects on this band and the first set feels seamless and hot and the second set even better. Krackertown Two-Step again very happening. A number of old friends in attendance including Patrik Landolt and Rosemarie of Intakt Records, Fredi Bosshard of Taktlos Festival, and Werner of Karbon Distribution. Not-too-late post-concert-hang and a civilized departure time to Ljubljana via Salzburg, a 12-hour ride through the Alps in another "improved" train, bringing us to town in time for a Slovenian dinner at the hotel.
May 4 Cankerjev Dom - Ljubljana
Always happy to return to this beautiful city in Slovenia and a fine place to spend our last day of the tour.. My last time here was in 2000 when, in addition to a solo concert, I was filmed playing in a stupendous cave on the Italian border that had been used to store munitions by the partisans during WW2. This was for an ambitious new film by Mike Benson, director of Predictions Of Fire (a documentary on the Neues Slovenisches Kunst movement around the band Laibach.) Mike is still working on the film and we meet to discuss ideas and view some edited clips. Our show is in the top-floor room in the Congress Hall with breathtaking views from large windows on all four sides illuminated by hot brilliant sunshine. Just before the concert begins, an intense thunderstorm wells up and lightning striking the castle on the next hill gives it a classic Hollywood horror movie look.
The house is packed and we dig in for the final concert. Alex, always a fireball on bari, is especially hot tonight, his wireless allowing him to take his horn deep into the crowd. Two encores of Howlin' Wolf tunes and greeting of friends then it's time to pack up. My anti-jetlag approach is to sleep as little as possible the night before flying so as to sleep through most of the trans-Atlantic flight. 5am wake-up call and it's off to the station for a 5-hour train to Salzburg giving me one last ride through the foggy mountains then flights to Frankfurt and NYC.
May 8 - James Tenney 70th Birthday Tribute at The Project Room
This event and the subsequent one at the Whitney Altria Museum were organized by pianist Jenny Lin - kudos to her for her vision and attention to detail! The program this evening included Collage #1 ("Blue Suede") (1961, For Percussion Perhaps, Or... (night) (1971), Swell Piece #2 (1971) for any 5 or more sustaining instruments, Having Never Written a Note for Percussion (1971) (Tenney's "big hit"!), Swell Piece #3 (1971) for any 8 or more sustaining instruments, and finally Three Rags for pianoforte (1969) performed by Jenny. Participants also included James Fei - saxophone/bass clarinet, Margaret Lancaster - flute, Danny Tunick - percussion, Members of DownTown Ensemble: Daniel Goode -clarinet, Leslie Ross - bassoon, Members of TILT brass band: Joe Exley - tuba, Jacob Garchik - bass trombone, Russ Johnson - trumpet, Chris McIntyre - trombone, Members of Ne(x)tworks: Yves Dharamraj - cello, Cornelius Duffalo - violin, and host Frank J. Oteri. I used my 1936 Rickenbacher bakelite lap steel for the performance of (...night) - it was prepared with a long metal needle at exactly 25% of the distance to the octave from the nut and used an EBow to excite the strings. The score basically gives the performer very simple (but conceptually deep) instructions: "slow soft white" - I interpreted them (with some input from Tenney to make use of "white noise i.e. all frequencies, in a manifestation using a continuous quiet tone of indeterminate pitch (rendered thusly by the preparation) - subtly manipulating the needle created difference-tone pulses and waves of harmonics over the course of 15 minutes. All of the performances were focussed and subtle and the full house was greatly appreciative!
May 11 - James Tenney 70th Birthday Tribute at the Whitney Altria - 42 St - NYC
With an ensemble of 16 including the Flux String Quartet , we perform the newly-commissioned "For Piano and... " as well as Forms I-IV for ensemble (1993). This space is notoriously difficult acoustically: high ceilings and glass walls not to mention noisy ventilators and the sounds of the heart of Midtown NYC! Radiolaria for Orchestra Carbon was premiered here in 1999 and the only feasible approach was to compose the piece for the room acoustics, making use of the 12 second reverb time rather than fighting it. These pieces of Tenney's are perfect for the space as they rely on the natural overtone series and shifting masses of sustained tones. The ensemble is dispersed through the space and there are profound psychoacoustic effects created. The audience is well over 200 persons and they love it! Tenney is interviewed onstage before the event by Frank Oteri of the American Music Center.
May 25 - Velocity Of Hue/Raw Meet - Zebulon - Brooklyn
Most of my time since the Tenney tribute has been spent working on studio projects and composing a piece for the "Mozart Year" in Germany in 2006 commissioned by the Hessischer Rundfunk for the Frankfurt-based Baermann Trio consisting of basset horn, bass clarinet, and piano. The composition is titled "Howlin' At The Wolfgang" and draws on elements from "Don Giovanni" and the Basset Horn Concerto although they are deeply immersed inside my own processes and vocabulary. In any case, too many hours in front of the computer so I'm very happy to make the trip Brooklyn to perform.
Forty-minute acoustic set goes quickly after which I'm drenched in sweat from the finale of extended harmonic hammering to a great response. After a break, Melvin and Lance join me. We begin with the Sonny Sharrock tribute (instead of using it as the climax) and it sets us up with a free-jazz orientation for our exploration - it's loud and intense drifts into a wide range of gestures for a good crowd considering the lateness and intense rainstorms.On Tour at Home
June 12 Marc Ribot & E# - Solos & Duos at Cornelia St. Cafe
Solos and duos beginning with a high intensity chase with Marc on a nylon-string classical - I'm using the Godin. I perform a solo Velocity Of Hue medley after which Marc performs solo on his new old National Duolian which includes a rendition of On The Lone Prairie and improvised riffs. I rejoin him for another wide-ranging piece which includes Monk's Bemsha Swing. For the second set, we freely roam among gestures, blues, textures, swing, high-speed guitaristics, and noise. The packed house is enthusiastic.
June 15 Marco Cappelli's Extreme Guitar Project - The Stone
An evening of Marco's collection of commissioned pieces which includes a strong version of my composition "Amygdala" to close the first set.
June 16 Expedition vs E# - Zebulon - Brooklyn
A day of cloudbursts which break in time for Steve Piccolo, Gak Sato, Dougie Bowne, and I to head to Brooklyn. Two sets in which six lyrics of Steve's (including Hellavision which we recorded on "Radio Hyper-Yahoo") are interspersed with grooves and open improvisation. Gak on Theremin, Fender Rhodes, and computer electronics, Steve singing and acoustic bass guitar, and drummer Dougie also generating some noise and loops on a cheapo guitar and a looping delay. I've brought the curved soprano sax and the Nighthawk electric. Dramatic Theremin/soprano duo in the first set and big sweeps of sound in the second but great listening and transitions throughout to a receptive audience.
June 18 Expedition vs E# - Issue Project Room - Brooklyn
With Jim Pugliese on glockenspiel and percussion instead of Dougie, we head by van to the wilds of Brooklyn's Gowanus canal and the new site of Issue Project Room. There's an accident on Flatbush and a "streetfair" near Borough Hall so all of Brooklyn is transformed into a parking lot - it takes an hour to get there. The new space is a silo-shaped building situated directly on the canal replete with bobbing boats and even jellyfish (a major result of the cleanup efforts of the last few years is that the canal actually supports life of sorts - a far cry from its' former status as a channel of reeking murky sludge. The upstairs space has atrocious acoustics but the circular room is airy and dramatic and if volume is kept low, it works well. We open with an improvised quartet after which Jim and I perform solo pieces. Gak and Steve then present the results of their "sound survey" about audio likes and dislikes in the form of a musical lecture, thought-provoking and entertaining. We finish the evening with another quartet then return to Manhattan in a much more rapid trip. Thanks to composer/sound-artist Aki Onda who prepared a beautiful meal of soba and salad for us before the concert - we had been warned that his cooking was spectacular and this was born out.
June 23 Dinosaur Dances - Grand Central Station - NYC
Percussionists Robin Schulkowsky and Joey Baron, both virtuosi with wide-ranging visions, have set up a residency in the south atrium of Grand Central Station with 20 huge wooden sculptural instruments built by artist Lukas Koner sponsored by Germany's Goethe Institute. Each box has one massive key - the entire set forms a spatial marimba. For the opening event, Joey and Robin had a large ensemble of percussionists and for the following days, they invited different musicians (including Andrew Cyrille, Steve Cardenas, and Bill Frisell) to interact with them and the instruments. Bringing the straight soprano sax and the Hohner G3T electric guitar plus an old Ibanez modulation delay, I joined them for a 12:30 PM set with an audience mixed between passers-by and those specifically interested in the event. One little-old-lady spent the entire hour waving a small German flag much to everyone's amusement. Gentle grooves and shifting sonics were the order of the day - the huge reverb time of the room allows building resonances and deep standing waves to emerge. The G3T was the perfect guitar for this gig not in the least because of it's compact size, perfect for carrying on the subway - it's a Steinberger knock-off but better for my ears because of it's all-wooden construction. We finish the set with subtle low rumblings and cricket-like guitar chirpings.
June 27 Flux Quartet at Stone - NYC
A concert by the exuberant quartet - Tom Chiu bubbling over with strange humor. The room is thick with humidity. They open with a Nancarrow piece, continue with Scelsi's lovely 5th Quartet, an exciting Ornette Coleman piece, the second movement from Ligeti's provocative 2nd Quartet, my Tessalation Row, a piece of Tom's combining improvisation and composed gesture, and finish with Zorn's Cat Of Nine Tails. Tessalation Row is played unamplified but the initmate acoustics of the room allow the structure of the composition to ring clear. The pic is of a page of the cello part from the original score from 1986.
July 14 Solo acoustic guitar at The Stone - NYC
On this extremely muggy night (humidity inside Stone especially difficult for tuning), I debut some of the elements making up the new zOaR solo guitar CD Quadrature mixed in with the linchpin motifs of Velocity of Hue to a well-attended and highly attentive house. After a bite, it's time to pack, get 2 hours of sleep, and head off to JFK for my flights to Portland, Oregon. Relaxing journey allows for sleep catch-up and some Rocky Mountain viewing as well as a dramatic glimpse of mountains Hood and St. Helens while landing into PDX.
Drummer Joseph Trump (mainstay of Carbon 1991-98 & the first Terraplane CD) picks me up at the airport and we head over to Saul Koll's guitar shop to receive the instrument Saul has been building for me, incorporating some of my ideas and needs into his stunning design for a compact semi-acoustic archtop. This headless instrument has 6 guitar strings and 2 bass strings on a Novax fanned fretboard with a Jason Lollar pickup and is a glorious mix of tradition and futurity. (check out: http://www.Kollguitars.com) It feels great and sounds better. I spend most of the afternoon and evening getting familiar with the instrument before we head out for killer Mexican food (joined by drummer Henry Franzoni of Boodlers and Caveman Shoestore.)
July 16 E# solo at Music Milennium & Ozone + Boodlers at Dougfir Lounge - Portland
It's been arranged for me to play two solo sets in the afternoon at these two great local record stores. The audiences at each are quite different but very enthusiastic. I perform on the Godin and debut the Koll which, with its singing and wide-ranging tone far exceeds my already high expectations. I feel as if I'm just scratching the surface with it!
Soundcheck at Dougfir is smooth although stage sound is boxy with a large lower-midrange hump. In addition to drummers Trump and Franzoni, Boodlers includes bassist and Chapman-stick player Fred Chalenor who is Henry's partner in Caveman Shoestore along with vocalist/keyboardist Elaine diFalco. In addition to the Koll and Godin, I'm using a beautifully broken-in Strat lent to me by Jon Butler who is the drummer in one of the opening bands Scuffle & Dustcough. Having two monster drummers is exhilarating but the stagesound becomes more difficult as the set proceeds - at a certain climactic point, the speaker voicecoil in the amp evaporates leaving me to rely solely on the monitors. I'm certain that the sound in the audience is much better than what we have onstage because the full house is cheering and we're allowed to play a short encore before curfew. A note on this curfew: the Dougfir rules demand that the set end at midnight so that the DJ can begin ("so they can make some money".) The reality: a club full of people excited to hear live music and buying many drinks transforms into a room completely devoid of people except for a few badly-dressed suburbanites dancing to 70's disco pumped so loud that the sleeves of my shirt puff to the bass drum. Art subservient to commerce and both lose. We evacuate as quickly as possible.
July 17 Boodlers at Dunes - Portland
A tiny bar in N. Portland is home on this day to a marathon of new rock and improvising groups with us as the capper. We can barely fit everything into the area defined as "stage" but we can hear each other very well (I'm using an Ampeg stack lent by Butler) and we burn through the set which begins with a short Quadrature selection. Perhaps it's the altered state of the packed house but we are definitely slanting towards the post-hippie jam vibe in our improvising, sounding at times like a post-Apocalypse Pink Floyd doing Bitches Brew. All of the equipment goes to a small studio after the show and we convene there the next morning to record new Boodlers material. I also do some guitar overdubs for the next Caveman Shoestore CD using the Koll.
July 19 Henry Cooper/Al Kaatz/E# - J & M Cafe - Seattle
Henry is a talented blues singer and guitarist and Al Kaatz a brilliant guitar soloist and friend since my Ithaca days in 1970. Using a Strat borrowed from Al, I join them in two sets of blues classics by Billy Boy Arnold, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, and more at this downtown dive in the Pioneer Square area in a band including Chris Leighton on drums. The audience is a diverse collection of music heads, tourists, bikers, local thugs, and a band of hookers on a night off on the town. Much dancing and merriment to our sets. A day off follows so Al and I visit maverick singer, multi-instrumentalist genius, and former Mother-Of-Invention Jeff Simmons. We all head to the nearby Rinconcito Taqueria for a snack, a converted schoolbus serving the tastiest tacos around after Jeff regales us with some of his recent recordings.
July 21 E# solo - Henry Gallery - Seattle
Arrive early to insure that set-up is smooth. Indeed, Chris, the tech guy did not receive the rider and has to scramble to put together the system - we find the power amplifier is dead in one channel and with only 30 minutes to spare, Chris has to dig in the basement to come up with a Crest power amp that fills the bill. I divide the concert into three parts beginning on the Godin with Velocity Of Hue, continuing on the Koll ( + Powerbook) with further exploration of its potential, and finishing with Quadrature material. The auditorium is physically cold and somewhat distancing in its academic demeanor but the sound is quite good: both clear and warm, and the audience response is strongly positive with a number of questions after the event about hardware and software.
July 22 E# solo - Wall Of Sound - Seattle
An in-store at this purveyor of an incredibly diverse selection of CD's, vinyl, and books. Proprietor Jeffery Taylor is a member of Climax Golden Twins. The amplifier is intermittently scratchy but it seems to bother me more than anyone else. Two 20-minute medleys: Quadrature on the Godin and an improvisation on the Koll. Fantastic response from the full house.
July 23 Henry Cooper/Tom Morgan/E# - Harley Davidson- Silverdale Bremerton
Al can't make this gig of Henry's so I'm invited to fill in the guitar chair. The venue is a Harley-Davidson dealership deep down in nascar country, a megastore filled with overpriced Harley-branded junk made by slave labor in China. When we arrive, the parking lot is filled with hundreds of grizzly macho bikers on hawgs - they're all wearing black-leather chaps with the seat cut out giving the overall look of a gay S&M picnic - definitely Tom Of Finland material. One gets the feeling that they use pork sausage for deodorant. Many American flags in evidence including one on the back of a biker's vest reading: "Hey Asshole - Try Burning This One." Also for sale everywhere was a pro-Iraq War DVD called "Journey to Freedom." It's playing continuously at the coffee bar inside the store and has the requisite heavy-metal soundtrack and the usual solemn crusader jingo cant capped off by a non-ironic fuzz guitar version of the Star Spangled Banner. Henry, Tom, & I all decide to keep our mouths shut about anything more controversial than beverage orders and song keys. We're not scheduled to begin until after the bikers take off which they do in a deep roar and huge cloud of foul smoke. Our audience is the drop-ins coming to buy Harley swag and scarf burgers from the barbecue pit next to the gazebo in which we set up - shifting winds frequently drench us in carbonized carnage smoke, not completely inappropriate for a blues gig. We're mostly ignored but some people are very enthusiastic and one older biker-mama even does some hip-shaking to a boogie. I've borrowed a Les Paul Custom from Al strung with heavy strings. In this bass-less trio a la R.L. Burnside/Hound Dog Taylor, it's massive low end fills the bottom. Tom is a hard-driving but subtle drummer who keeps the groove going. I shift between shoring up the rhythm and soloing.
July 24 Solo - Gallery 1412 - Seattle
A small storefront space in the Central District and home to Seattle's improvising scene. Very relaxed and convivial atmosphere. I plug in direct to the PA with the Godin and the Koll through my pedals. Two 45-minute sets with intense listening and great response. I'm beginning to get the feeling under my fingers of the Koll and hope to work on recording with it when I return. Great to see old friends and composer/pianists Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz plus their offspring Nica and Lowell. Post-gig hang and bite, a few hours sleep and off to Sea-Tac to return the rental car and take a perfect flight with grand views of the coastal mountains from Rainier to Shasta to San Francisco where I'm picked up by David Fulton. Check out his latest work at http://www.fultro.net/
July 25 "An Evening With Elliott Sharp" - Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco
Arranged by Henry Kaiser, the band for this gig includes HK-guitar, Shelley Doty-vocals & guitar, Myles Boisen-bass, and John Hanes-drums. After my solo acoustic set, we do a mix of rock improv, blues classics by Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, and even some Cream. Fun to play on for sure. Henry has lent me a Strat to use, very tweaked and complete with what HK calls a "clown-vomit" pickguard. This is my first time meeting Shelley - she's not done a lot of blues work before but she sounds absolutely killer - a wonderfully expressive and gritty vocal quality, monstrous stage presence, and great guitar playing. Myles and John lay down a vicious groove throughout and Henry and I get to freak out. The second set opens with Shelley and I acoustic duo on Crossroads Blues and Can't Be Satisfied before the entire band digs in. MP3's of this show should appear online.
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=17005
July 26 Damon Smith/Jakob Lindsay/E# - 21 Grand - Oakland
This venue is an industrial space with an accordion shop in the front and just next door to a Christian gym (pumpin' for Jeezis!) Concrete floor and arched wood ceiling make for a slightly difficult sound so we keep the volume down. The first begins and end with trios plus my solo and various combinations with clarinetist Lindsay and bassist Smith inbetween. Good listening throughout. Extended trio for the second set and El Salvadorian food upon returning to SF.
July 27 Scott R. Looney/Wobbly/E# - 1510 8th ST - Oakland
Pianist Looney hosts a series of improvisation concerts at his recording studio. The live room can hold an audience of 25 max so the room feels packed and charged. Wobbly uses a variety of samplers, delays, CD decks, and miscellaneous electronics including a joystick controlling 2 internal oscillators. Again, trios bookend the first set with a solo plus a Looney/Wobbly duo with second set an extended trio. Again, good playing and response.
July 28 Nels Cline/E# - Cafe Metropol - Los Angeles
A welcome chance to hang with Nels and Carla Bozulich. Cafe Metropol is a new downtown venue for LA promoter Rocco and the room has clean look and slightly wet sound plus great food, wine, and espresso. Excellent amplification from a unique and extremely compact "solid acoustics" sound system [ http://www.solidacoustics.com ]. First set is solo starting with an extended Velocity Of Hue/Quadrature medley followed by a 10-minute piece using the Koll and Powerbook. After a break, Nels and I dig in for a blistering set with surprising unison endings. The next morning we record a version of John Fahey's On The Banks Of The Owchita for a benefit CD for elderly and infirm musicians being produced by Kaiser.
July 30 Alex Cline/Steuart Liebig/E#- Cafe Metropol - LA
The final gig of this tour affords me a chance to finally play together in a trio with Alex (a fantastic drummer and Nels' twin brother) and the virtuoso 6-string electric bassist Steuart. We jump right in and the first set carries us through a variety of textures and grooves, from delicate and lacy to dense and molten. I begin second set with a 10-minute Quadrature on the Godin then Alex and Steuart and I improvise with guest Nels. Lots of role-shifts and wonderfully bizarre juxtapositions of sounds. Our encore maintains a delicious tension before finally exploding. Old friends and new in attendance include Paul Diamond, bassist Peter Freeman, and guitarist Jim McAuley. Back to Casa Nels for final pack, an hour of sleep, and off to LAX for my flight back to NYC.
August 4 Carbon - CBGB - NYC
A return to CBGB in a benefit to attempt to allow Hilly Krystal to continue to keep the club open. I'm of mixed feelings about this to say the least. CBGB is well-documented as the birthplace of punk and as an important venue for the entire Lower East Side noiserock scene and is rightfully called "historic." On the other hand, Hilly was never known for treating the bands well and many would say his business practices were quite questionable. Still and all, I'd hate to see it disappear and I did very much enjoy performing on the stage again, especially with a good house sound engineer who knew how to make the excellent sound equipment roar.
For this set, Carbon was the duo of Bobby Previte and I, the stripped-down lineup that recorded "Not-Yet-Time" on the Fractal LP. I brought the 8string solidbody and we touched on many of the themes and grooves from that era.
Opening the evening was the great Kid Congo Powers (of Cramps and Gun Club) with his band and following us was the Bush Tetras (including Pat Place, Cynthia Sley, and Dee Pop) reprising their wonderfully harsh and snotty material from the same early 1980's era when the East Village was still nasty and dangerous.
August 22-24 Binibon - Howl Festival - NYC
The premiere of my music-theater piece composed in collaboration with writer Jack Womack. Based on the 1981 murder by Jack Henry Abbott of Richard Adan, a waiter and the night manager at the Binibon, a cafe and 24-hour hangout on 2nd ave at 5th St. in the East Village, a nexus for artists, musicians, neighborhood characters and bohemians true and faux. A typical night there might include the presence of Hubert Selby, various Contortions and Lounge Lizards, Jimmy Lovelace, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tim Wright, Quentin Crisp, and this composer. Abbott was a talented writer as well as an imprisoned killer who became the protege of famed author Norman Mailer who sponsored his release into a halfway house on 3rd st. A dispute with Richard over the lack of toilet facilities lead to Abbott coldly stabbing him in front of the restaurant. The killing was an important cusp-point in the history of the neighborhood, it's culture, it's daily life, it's real-estate, and its future. I was actually there that night - I hung out there a lot and was friends with a number of the waitresses and waiters and would run into many friends there - drummer Mark Miller and I had played a late gig (as rhythm section for Michael Musto's The Must) and stopped in for a late bite. As we were leaving we saw Abbott & his party enter - I found out what went down the next morning.
This first version of Binibon was more in the form of a reading with musical accompaniment. I intend to develop the piece incorporating more singing and physical acting as well as visuals in the form of slides and video. Jack Womack read the part of The Writer; Mike Lubik read Abbott and the Waiter; Latarsha Rose read Suzie the Waitress, Contessa 185, and The Aesthete of Crime; Deian McBride read The Jazzman, Fabuliscious, and Junky Artist. I brought my Hohner G3T electric guitar and tenor sax for live sounds and played the rest of the pre-recorded cues from my Powerbook. The piece became more fluid and powerful each night and we finished the run feeling excited and hopeful about the future of the piece.
August 26 Score to "Musketeers of Pig Alley"
Curator and filmmaker Jeannie Liotta has invited me to perform a live score to this rarely-seen 15-minute silent film by D.W. Griffith, a harrowing tale of low-life in the Lower East Side just after the turn of the century (19th to 20th!). Beautiful cinematography and unintentional humor. I bring the Godin tuned to DADGAD and use a tapped arpeggio as a marker for scenes and transitions and use various preparations including a brass bar and coiled springs to evoke John Cage's Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano which Jeannie has used as a score to this film. The venue is the lush garden on the corner of 6th Street and Avenue B, a once-blighted area. Various neighborhood partisans reclaimed this abandoned corner and cultivated it into a home for gardening, culture and street sculpture. When the neighborhood property values soared, the City under Giuliani tried to evict the garden (which had been so much a part of the revitalization of the area and was much used and beloved by neighborhood residents.) This dastardly action was thwarted by actress Bette Midler bought the land and donated it to the garden organization.
September 10 Unfretted Festival - Knitting Factory - NYC
An event to celebrate the release of the Unfretted compilation naturally enough devoted to practitioners of the freless guitar. A large collection of players from such places as London, Paris, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Seattle and Charleston have converged on NYC for this multi-venue extravaganza spread over 3 days. Limited time only allows me to participate in this evening's event but I do get to meet and hear various and talented players including Franck Vigroux, Tom Baker, and Michael Vick as well as organizer Jeff Berg. I've brought the Norma and plug it into a Fender The Twin through a Dynacomp and my ancient 505 Tubescreamer and dive into a 15-minute set that veers out-of-control at times. The hollowbody Norma feeds back gorgeously and I can generate shifting stacks of harmonics by angling the guitar slightly around the axis of the amp. High-speed tapping with slight glissandi embedded generate kora-like arpeggios. More info at http://www.unfretted.com
September 13 B-Flat Club - Berlin
Much needed sleep gained on beautiful flights from JFK and Frankfurt which deposit me in Berlin, one of my favorite cities. The gig is at the famed B-Flat club, spare and well-appointed with a truly excellent sound system called Syrinx, built locally. Great Vietnamese food near the club then a double-espresso and I'm well-fueled and ready to go. The gig feels like a reunion and I greet many friends including Reinhold Friedl, Emanuel Gottsching of Ash Ra Tempel and his wife, filmmaker Ilona Ziok, Wolf Kampmann, and Nathan Fuhr. First set in D-minor tuning feels effortless and inevitable and uses only the Godin into the sound system. After a break, I retune to DADGAD perform a set adding the computer to the mix with mixed results, sometimes surprising and ecstatic, sometimes feeling like pushing against an immoveable wall - such is the joy of improvisation! Called back for an encore, I tune to normal tuning for a medley of Monk tunes and then called back again, I boot up the Samptrack Maxpatch used in my Tectonics program to reprise some "music of the last century." Out in search of a late bite with Emanuel and Ilona, we end up at a Spanish restaurant in Schoneburg whose clientele includes a strange mix of neighborhood people, minor gangsters, hookers, and an inebriated duo singing kitschy Spanish songs much too loudly. Ole!
September 14 Projekt 7 - Magdeburg
Two hours by train to this former-East German city mostly rebuilt in the 50's with the usual Eastbloc functional anti-esthetic, injury compounded with the insult of post-capitalistic shoppingmall schlockitecture. Magdeburg was famed as one of the most beautiful Baroque cities in Europe but completely destroyed by bombing in the war despite its lack of military infrastructure. The venue is a multi-use club in the university with a bar in front and a small theatre in the back with capacity for max 100 persons. Great sound equipment giving me ample headroom and again, I prefer the first set - perhaps a case of not having toughened myself into my preferred roadstate. I do dig in for the second set with some very pleasing results but I feel myself pushing against a certain hardness in the monitor sound. This may be just an artifact of tiredness - difficult to separate out one element of the process from the whole. To my ears, the sound has become bright and brittle which causes the guitar strings to give the impression of stiffening and losing their suppleness. Some deep breaths and into the encore: Monk's "Bemsha Swing" for an extended treatment.
September 15 C.U.B.A. - Munster
The director of this long-running performance space is guitarist Erhard Hirt and the name is an acronym for it's intent but still, there is indeed a Cuban bar next door where I can get a serious espresso. Another small theatrical space for 100 people and equipped with fine sound equipment. Two sets to good response with the computer more comfortably integrated.
September 16 Loft - Cologne
Packed trains to this city and the inner city transformed into a construction site for a new subway line. Returning to The Loft is always pleasant and its founder, flutist and producer Hans-Martin Muller is a fine host. One longer set tonight, more of a concert feeling - this is very agreeable to how I want to structure the music and it all goes down quite inevitably. Find some fruitful settings for the Max patches to combine my Samptrack patch from the Tectonics project with my normal processing setup with amusing results (for me at least!)
(photo by Silvia Camporesi)
September 17 Area Sismica - Forli
Flying in from Cologne to Bologna, pass through stormclouds over the Alps so thick and deep greenish black in color that they seem solid causing wildly lurching turbulence and sudden drops that make you question the sturdiness of the airframe. Happy to be on the ground! A return to a favorite venue out in the hills near Forli and my hosts Gianni, Ariella, and Steffano create a strong welcome compounded by a fantastic dinner accompanied by the local Sangiovese wine and followed by the local grappa and a caffe doppio ristretto. Again a single long set to a packed and responsive audience - this is the opening concert of the season and people are stoked (and party until well into the morning!)
September 18 Recording - Milano
A day in Milano is spent recording with guitarist Simone Massaron, Tiziano Tononi (drums),
Daniele Cavallanti ( tenor sax,) and Steve Piccolo (bass, vocals). There's some noisy improv and an intense cover of Creedence's "Run Through The Jungle." Simone gets beautiful sounds from a custom fretless guitar. I use Steve's ES335 and savor its thick sweet sound and fat but comfortable neck. An incredible post-session dinner including formagge, pasta e gnocchi con tartuffe, cervo e cinghiale, and a few excellent wines and finishing with grappa e caffe ristretto.
September 19 Nachtmix - Munich
A live performance on Karl Bruckmaier's Monday night show on the Bayerischer Rundfunk for a small audience of invited guests including my friends (& genius percussionists!) Joey Baron and Robin Schulkowsky. I use the Godin sans computer mixing the direct signal from the guitar's internal electronics with a stereo pair of Neumann KM84's. My 55-minute set comprises a long version of "Paracentric" followed by "The Velocity Of Hue", "I'll Stand There Cheering (When They Pull From His Stinking Spiderhole) George W. Bush" and finish with "Angularus." It's Oktoberfest time in Munich and passage through the station both arriving and leaving is impeded by the presence of throngs of drunken revelers, many dressed in real or imaginary Bavarian costumes.
September 20 Schlachthof - Wels
Directed by Wolfgang Wasserbauer, this venue converted from an old slaughterhouse has been a stop on many a tour over the years (though I hadn't played there since 1997) and the site of an eclectic festival every November Also on the bill this evening is Berliner percussionist Peter Hollinger, a brilliant and original player whose work has encompassed theater, noisy rock, improvisation, haus/techno, and free jazz and who was part of the extemporaneous cooperative group Frame with which we toured the Soviet Union in 1989 during glasnost. Peter's enthralling set this evening begins with a large plastic water bottle which he plays with fingers and yields sounds similar to zarb and darubbuka, proceeds through a segment using various toys and large drums, and finishes with a large stainless steel bowl played with sticks which yields an orchestra's worth of timbres and overtones. My set is also motoric and comprises and compacts my normal two sets into a single one. The evening finishes with a duo with Peter in which he returns to the plastic water bottle and we trade textures and grooves.
September 21 Cafe Museum - Passau
A short and easy trip to this ancient city on the Danube. Time before soundcheck to walk around the town and consume some fine mohnstrudel. The venue is part of the Museum of Modern Art here and the room is stone and faces the river. I'm made to feel very welcome by host Juergen and the staff. Acoustics are quite wet but with the audience the sound was tamed and yielded a buttery reverberation that gave the guitar a liquid quality that made it a pleasure to play. First set in D- tuning felt seemless. I began second set with "I'll Stand There Cheering.." in Vastopol tuning but then broke my G changing to DADGAD for the rest of the set. String-changing on the Godin is not as rapid as a Fender so to ease the tension (or maybe to increase it!) I play a soundfile of "Gonone", an electroacoustic work from 2002 of 8 minutes duration created from a stretched and processed sample of the Godin's lowest string. Back to the guitar for a set that flirts with Arabic and Celtic tonalities. Difficulty getting the "hoomii-guitar" segment happening but the search for resonant points yields other positive results. First encore is Monk's "Bemsha Swing" and called back for another, I retune to CAbCGCEb for a short improvised piece. A walk in the moonlight along the Danube back to my hotel, a few hours sleep, and off to the station for the first of three trains to get me to Geneve.
September 22 Duo w/ Charlotte Hug - Cave 12 - Geneve
A return to this great basement space, packed to witness my meeting with Swiss violist Charlotte Hug. We do a hot and wide-ranging set. We have extremely different approaches which yields a continuous textural counterpoint though when Charlotte uses her electronics (an Alesis multi-effects unit), it's sometimes difficult to tell who is making which sound making for an exhilarating set.
September 23 Instants Chavires - Paris/Montreuil
To get my train to Paris (the much-vaunted highspeed TGV), it's necessary to walk through the border with France in the Geneve station. This is a weekend so there are huge crowds and the train is due to leave in ten minutes. Of course the guard picks me out of the line to search. Another guard comes over to admire my guitar and talk "tech". After bringing the dogs over (who show absolutely no interest in my baggage or person) the guard asks me if I'm famous. I reply that I'm obviously not famous enough to avoid having my time wasted. With seconds to spare I get to the packed and already overheated train, find my seat and stow my things, and we're off. Arrive early enough to stroll around Montreuil and find some snacks in the Moroccan shops. Soundcheck is quick and easy and after a communal dinner with the staff, I do my sets. The sound is rich and detailed, very inspiring. As it's the last concert, I dig in and have an especially intense second set. Post-gig hang, 3 hours sleep, and off to Charles De Gaulle for my flight back through Heathrow.
September 27 Filmmaker's Coop Benefit - Angel Orensanz Foundation - NYC
A very worthwhile and successful event to raise money for the Filmmaker's Coop [ http://www.film-makerscoop.com/ ]. I perform on the Godin accompanying two incredible films by Jenn Reeves: "The Girl's Nervy" and "Configuration 20." Also performing during the evening are Steve Reich with filmmaker Ken Jacobs, Philip Glass with Harry Smith's films, Barnes-Licht-Ranaldo Trio with Ron Rice, Patrick Watson with Gerhard Richter's films, Mark Stewart with Donna Cameron, Sue Garner to animations by Emily Hubley, and violinist Todd Reynolds to films by Bill Morrison who also organized the event.
October 13/14 Journey That Wasn't - Wollman Rink - NYC
Journey That Wasn't is a project being created for the Whitney Biennial of March 2006 by French conceptual artist Pierre Huyghe. He embarked on a boat expedition to Antarctica last year with a film crew in search of a mythical albino penguin and for this second part of the filming, constructed a miniature Antarctica with black ice in the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park. As part of the project, Josh Cody composed a score for a 40-piece orchestra and asked me to compose and perform a guitar part to go on, over, around, and inside it.
I use the Koll 8-string and just two pedals for overdrive and delay - I'll rely on volume and the resonance of the instrument to create feedback. Josh's score is Herrmann-esque and the instrumentation includes serpent and theremin. Our dress rehearsal on the 13th is with an invited audience. We first assemble in the rink building to record the score - not ideal by any means but not too bad acoustically (though the ensemble barely can fit in the space.) Under Josh's conduction we quickly record the 16-minute score with takes to cover a "live" performance, then various parts including the orchestra alone which comes in very handy when it's decided that I should record the guitar part separately for post-processing and better control in the mix.
The weather these days is cold, rainy, and windy. Perfect to capture the feeling of a polar storm, less so for filming (and even less for a chamber orchestra.) We perform the score twice so that the multiple-camera crew can get good coverage. Between the artificial fog machines and the real storm, it's a challenge to read the charts but we prevail. We assemble again the next day to repeat the performance. It's amusing to see the audience (many people!) huddled under anything with the potential of keeping off the rain. The circumstances are difficult but it's all quite a lot of fun and thrilling to be part of the dramatic scenario. A few days later, Pierre and engineer Romain Kronenburg come to Studio zOaR where we record multiple guitar parts over the orchestral beds. More info on Journey That Wasn't may be found here: http://www.whitney.org/information/press/huyghe.pdf
October 22 "Goddess" - Walter Reade Theater - NYC
Another project with Josh Cody: a live score to the classic 1934 Chinese silent film "Goddess" by Wu Yonggang, here screened in a newly discovered print of high quality. One of the greatest Chinese films ever made, "Goddess" stars legendary actress Ruan Lingyu (the Greta Garbo of China) as a Shanghai streetwalker trying to raise a son. The ensemble includes a ch'in player, flutist Ulla Suokko, violinist Rachel Golub, and percussionist Yousif Sheronick with Josh on piano. I bring the Godin electric and a modulation delay and plug in direct to the house sound-system. We discover at soundcheck that the print that Josh composed to is quite different from that which is being screened - not untypical. We use the score as a guide and improvise to the film - a process that I'm quite fond of. Indeed, the results are exciting and very satisfying.
October 25 Sirius String Qt - German Consulate - NYC
My 1987 quartet "Hammer Anvil Stirrup" on a program with a number of jazzy pieces by the quartet's virtuosic first violinist Gregor Huebner as well as "Lonely House" by Ornette Coleman and the incredible "Mosaic Quartet" by Henry Cowell from 1935. Personnel of the quartet also includes Jennifer Choi, Dave Eggar, and Ron Lawrence. The Consulate is on First Avenue in the 40's and the interior is quite reminiscent of the Frankfurt Airport - especially given the security procedures performed by surly rent-a-cops on all those who wish to enter the building. Still, the auditorium has surprisingly good acoustics and the quartet plays well to a strong response by the full house.
November
November 5 "Hidden Tracks" - Berlin Jazz Festival - Berlin
Steve Piccolo and Gak Sato prepared for this concert by doing extensive recording of environments throughout Berlin during the summer of 2005 and prepared soundbeds and actions based on chosen locations. These function as settings upon which the songs and improvisations are built. Joining the group are cellist Walter Prati and saxophonist Simone Falascone - I come in as "special guest."
Since the twins were born, sleep has been in extremely short supply. I take my seat in the Airbus at JFK and immediately fall asleep, waking as we near Munich. Even more sleep to Berlin and in the hotel on arrival. This first night in the city is free after our strategy meeting and dinner so we go to the festival to see Hermeto Pascoal (I still find him incredible as a player, personality, and innovator though his current band is mediocre - much of the music is perilously close to self-parody...still, there is brilliance) After meetings and soundcheck, we perform our set the next night at the Kino, a large and beautiful cinema built (or rebuilt) in the 50's - great acoustics, crew, equipment and stagesound. I've brought the Koll, a Bb clarinet, and the Powerbook. The set feels seamless and includes a version of The Beatles "Day In The Life" - before we know it, we and our equipment are hustled out. We assemble at a nearby Egyptian restaurant for dinner and then it's time to go back to Tegel - I sleep most of the way back to NYC.
November 11 "Screenplay" - Eyebeam Gallery - NYC
For this event at this Chelsea gallery, Christian has created a video collage with animated elements in his inimitable style that also serves as a musical score for interpretation by three different constellations. It's filled with allusions, art and cultural references, puns, and strong images ripe with musical significance. First up is the TOT trio of Okkyung Lee, Tim Barnes, and Toshio follwed by my set and finally, the quartet of Zeena Parkins, percussionist Jim Pugliese and Christine Bard, and pipa virtuoso Min Xiao Fen. For my score I've prepared soundfiles in advance using my ancient Korg MS20 analog synthesizer and samples of various instruments bent, stretched, twisted, and granulated. I play the Koll in realtime processing it through various distortion and delay units. It feeds back gloriously when required. My intent is not so much to illustrate the content of the video but to interpret, emphasize, and amplify.
November 12 E# solo/ duo with Janet Feder - Boulder
Late night after Christian's show and an early flight to Denver. Chill at the hotel and then soundcheck after caffeination. The hall is a former church on the U. Colorado campus that has a paleontology museum in the basement (THAT is what I call "intelligent design" or rather "intelligent usage".) I'm always happy to perform in any hall that has a Tyrannosaurus in it! Beautiful airy space with decent acoustics and a great soundcrew. Janet performs her very personal, lyrical, and sonically adventurous pieces for nylon string guitar (sometimes effectively joined by an electric guitarist) after which I perform a set with the Godin and Powerbook - the hall brings out the dancing harmonics. We finish with a short improvised trio after which it's off to dinner. I have a too-brief stay in the hotel and it's back to the airport and LGA.
December
December 2 Manny's Birthday - Bowery Poetry Club - NYC
To celebrate his 49th birthday, Manny Mares of Downtown Music Gallery has booked this club to put on a music party featuring guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim's Scorch Trio in their first NYC appearance and the duo of John Zorn and I. I've brought the Koll and am trying out a new stereo piezo pickup system made for me by David Gage String Instruments. The pickup adds sparkling transients and an acoustic ring but it's not quite perfect - gain is low. John and I do a blistering and chimeric set, taking off from our last duo at a benefit - we've played together for so many years that the interaction is relaxed yet keenly tuned. Scorch is a hard-rocking psych-jazz power trio and Raoul commands many sounds and techniques.
December 8 Kobe - Big Apple - solos & duos with guitarist Yasuhiro Usui
Reports of an impending snowstorm have me concerned about travel problems for my flight to Tokyo. I should know by now that the weather media sensationalizes everything (as does the news media in general) to create an air of fear and foreboding and get people to keep tuning in. There's a bit of white during the night but at sunrise the skies are sunny and the ground is clear so the flight is on time and in fact, the lack of headwind gets us into Narita airport 45 minutes early. An evening off for a great bite with producer Mark Rappaport then off to Kobe in the morning by Shinkansen for the first gig, solos & duos with guitarist Yasuhiro Usui at the venerable Big Apple, a tiny "live house" that is always fun to play. Ground-loop problems with the piezo pickups cause too much hum and noise in the system! Even though Kobe is relatively close to Osaka, we take the train rather than incur a huge cost to go by car. The train trip is grueling with a number of transfers and steps inbetween. On arrival we reward ourselves with fantastic sushi and sake.
December 9/10 Osaka - Beyond Innocence Festival
This great festival is curated by guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihachi and the international cast performs in combinations with Japanese musicians. We stay at a traditional-style inn, a ryokan, that has been modernized in some ways (free Wi-Fi!) but not in others. The 8-tatami room is very restful. On the 9th, I play a duo with Boredoms guitarist Seiji Yamamoto that is dynamic and dramatic, lots of good sounds and interaction. The gig on the 10th is a trio with Kan Tei Fan (alto sax) from Korea and pianist Shuichi Chino from Tokyo which ranges from sparse pianissimo breaths to all-out roaring. The festival is great for reunions with various old friends including Hans Reichel, Samm Bennett, Gianni Gebbia, Taku Hannoda, Hans Koch and Kae and Kanno (Kazuhisa's wife and daughter.)
December 11 Tokyo - Shinjuku Pit Inn
First set is my solo, wired and manic, followed by a similarly stoked duet withYasuhiro. Second set is the wide-ranging improvised quartet with Satoku Fujii on piano, Natsuki Tamera on trumpet and small instruments, and guitarist Takayuki Kato. For an encore, Yasuhiro joins us to make a nice noisy quintet. No piezos for me on this one - just the magnetic pickup into my pedals and a Twin Reverb - trouble-free. Found an Ultra Fuzz pedal (no longer available in USA) at a shop earlier in the day and give it a spin - it's truly great and offers a huge range of distortion flavors and tons of gain. Touch of snow in the air as we make our post-gig way to Dora, a nearby ezakaya with a great kitchen.
December 12 Nagoya - Tokuza
Solo then the duet with Yasuhiro. I try a new setup with the piezos feeding a monstrous Yamaha bass-amp plus direct into the house with the magnetic pickup through pedals and into a Twin and also a small Behringer desk to rout into the Powerbook. This is my most successful setup so far on this tour - flexible and relatively noise-free and the piezos add great depth to the spectrum of the instrument. Lots of new ideas in the solo set and the duo expands as well. Lots of old friends in the house including Bob and Leah from my Massachusetts days. Moderate snowfall when I wake in the morning and head out to a nearby coffee-bar. Nothing sticks though and it's sunny when we head back to Tokyo after a lunch of a Nagoya specialty: smoked eel prepared roasted, with wasabi and scallions, and in ocha-zuke (a tea soup) with nori.
December 13 Tokyo - Classic - w/ Michiyo Yagi
I always am thrilled to play with Michiyo - her koto-playing is unique, virtuosic, and a force-of-nature. She has both 21-string koto and 17-strng bass koto. Two sets to a packed house in this sparsely furnished room in the bottom of a parking garage in Shibuya! Second set really sings. I have a reissue blackface Fender Deluxe to play through and both magnetic and piezo pickups sound wonderful through it.
December 14 Lecture at Tokyo Kozei University Inage - Candy
We have a lengthy trip via multiple trains to Tokyo-suburb Hachioji and the site of this small art college. My old friend Keisuke Oki teaches media design here and I'm invited to give a talk on various aspects of my work. I make it in the form of a diary of the past 12 months and in this way touch on my web-radio work with WPS1 [ http://www.WPS1.org ], algorithmic composition, improvised collaborations, design of the new zOaR Portal series, and collaborations with Pierre Huyghe and Christian Marclay. There is strong interest and good questions.
December 14 Inage - Candy
After class we have a serious shlep to get to the evening's gig involving multiple trains back to Tokyo and then on to Inage in Chiba prefecture, out near Narita airport. Candy is a fantastic livehouse and after revivifying snacks and caffeine, we play sets of my solo plus the duo with Yauhiro to a very welcoming audience. Dinner and sake at a nearby ezakaya then back to Tokyo.
December 15 Tokyo - Duo recording w/ Michiyo Yagi
My last day in Japan is spent working on a duo recording with Yagi-san and her kotos at the beautifully equipped studio of shakuhachi-flutist Aki Nakamura produced by Mark Rappaport. We pump through many variations of our duo generating well over two hours of material to be eventually mixed and edited. I eschew the computer and mostly concentrate on the "natural" sound of the 8string as manifested though the piezos, the Lollar pickup, and the beauteousness of a U87 mic through a Neve 1073 and squashed with an LA2. After recording we head into town back to Dora for a late bite. Back in the hotel I read everything about the impending NYC transit strike and wonder how it will impact my return. Interesting to see the NY Times coverage: Bloomberg and his cronies all looking wealthy, white, and uptight at the top of the article and Toussaint of the transit union and an unamed subway conductor looking very black and angry. Is the Times trying to foment the impression of race war? I do believe Americans remain confused and muddled by notions of race and left vs right - as always, it's "up" vs "down" as we enter a new feudal era. Can we fight it? A little sleep then back to the airport and my flight home.
December 20 - Improvisations w/ Tatsuya Yoshida/John Zorn - Stone NYC
This gig feels a bit like an extension of my Japan tour. I'd long been a fan of Tatasuya's band The Ruins and looked forward to improvising with him. His setup includes a standard drum set augmented with various percussion instruments and electronics - he vocalizes as well. We played various duos and trios - all concentrated and high-energy with lots of textural and dynamic shifts. I used the Koll. This was the first night of the transit strike and while the club was full, we might have had quite a bit more if transpo was easier.
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