Road Reports 1999
January
In Nantes, France from the end of December through January 3 for the festival Fin-de-Siecle New York. Suffice it to say that in all of my years of gigging, this was absolutely the WORST organized festival I've ever taken part in. Despite the weird vibes and logistical chaos, had very enjoyable gigs performing the duo with DJ Soulslinger in a large industrial space (together with Arto Lindsay & band) and in a smaller space, the Psycho~Acoustic duo with Zeena Parkins and a solo Tectonics performance.
Found myself growing ill on the long journey back (bus then plane) and by the morning after my arrival in NY, I was fully under the influenza influence. NOT FUN! High fever took over for the next week, at 40 degrees a transcendentally beautiful feeling however below that the accompanying coughing and chest pain was certainly not. High-fever playlist: Albert Ayler "Complete Live in Greenwich Village on Impulse," Othar Turner and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band "Everybody Hollerin' Goat," Morton Feldman "Coptic Light" and "Neither," John Coltrane "Complete Quartet Recordings," "P'Ansori - Korean Epic Vocal/Instrumental Music," Bob Dylan "Live 1966" - electric side w/ The Hawks. Had to focus on recovery for January 20 Europe departure - I've never cancelled a gig and had no intention of beginning.
Arrived in Frankfurt Flughafen January 21 - Ken Vandermark's quintet arrived from Chicago a few minutes after I did and the festival promoters drove us the short distance to Mainz. Frances Uitti arrived just in time for our soundcheck and I found out that she had also been ill with the flu. We both were up for the performance and found that a little adrenaline can do wonders - a miraculous (if temporary) cure. The duo continues to progress - always different areas to explore. Frances had only her acoustic cello, I brought a headless 6-string and soprano sax. Both instruments are now midi'd into my Powerbook through a Roland GI-10 that i found on the net to trigger LiSa samples.
Flew to Berlin the next morning to work with Zeitkratzer (led by pianist Reinhold Friedl and saxophonist Ulrich Krieger) on performance and recording of SyndaKit. I had sent the score and a live Orchestra Carbon recording ahead and the group had worked on many of the ideas of the piece. I was very pleased on first hearing but offered some different interpretations and emphases. The next morning we recorded three very different 30-minute versions of the piece. On Monday night, the piece was performed to a full and enthusiastic house at the Podewil. On strictly musical terms, I preferred the recorded versions to the live one - SyndaKit requires intensive listening on the part of the players to make the most of its simple rules - the introduction of an audience changes that dynamic. Still, it was very exciting for me - the ensemble took a more rhythmically-charged approach than in the recordings.
The Zeitkratzer CD SonX with a version of CORIOLIS EFFECT (studio version recorded January 1997) is now released on Zeitkratzer Records - ZKR 99Z2.
Israel
first impressions of Tel Aviv - a city that makes New York seem tranquilized. manic energy with more than a little touch of angst. many recent Russian arrivals add their own flavor to the mix. amazing Arab food to be had, from little stands or more elaborate restaurants. my hotel window overlooks the Mediterranean - i can watch the military transports and helicopters head up to Lebanon - not at all an inspiring sight - in my opinion, Lebanon is Israel's Vietnam. we head to Jerusalem to do a radio interview - incredible architecture but there's more than a little feeling of a holyland theme park. watching sunset from a high hill over the city, we can hear the muezzins from three mosques calling the evening prayer - gorgeous phasing and blending with the ambient sounds of this place. i don't like the military presence - many soldiers with uzis, but what can you do, it's the reality here.
first concert is in Jerusalem - a packed house but a little stiff. the next night is Tel Aviv - even more packed - a circus - the energy fills us and our performance is more fluid, more risky. Ronny tells me that Tel Aviv is NY to Jerusalem's Washington DC - the comparison is apt. the pieces are often greatly changed in performance from our record, Revenge of the Stuttering Child - we make suites of a few pieces strug together with sometimes smooth, sometimes non-sequitur segues. a small and new company in Tel Aviv, Zu-Ta, has released a very limited CD of six pieces from concerts that Ronny and i did in Austria last year - the best bet to find it is through Downtown Music Gallery (dmg@panix.com)
April
europe: coming and going until my head spins! it's tiring but very fulfilling at the moment - just returned from frankfurt and working w/ Ensemble Modern who were wonderful in their performance of Tessalation Row - the Hessischer Rundfunk will broadcast it on april 30.
Orchestra Carbon performed SyndaKit on monday night at the Knitting Factory. we recorded a long soundcheck as well as both sets to 16 tracks of DA88. mixing and editing probably in may.
leave thursday for wien and perf w/ portuguese group Telectu - back sunday for one week then off to lisbon for a fest where i'll play w/ frances uitti then to wien to perform SyndaKit with austrian musicians.
april/may
after a 13 hour delay on TAP Air Portugal (!?!), finally took off from Newark and landed in Lisbon 7 hours later. Fonoteca Festival took place at a beautiful 19th century Italian opera house with incredible acoustics. Frances and I did our duo there - we found that even the most subtle sounds projected well. Also on our night was an awesome solo from trombonist Paul Rutherford. the next night was Derek Bailey, Hugh Davies, and Carlos Zingaro - classic!
from Lisbon, i flew to Wien to work with an ensemble of 11 Austrian musicians to perform SyndaKit at the Radiokulturhaus of the ORF, presented by the Porgy&Bess. we did a long rehearsal the day before, followed by a long soundcheck and additional rehearsal on the day of the concert, May 1. 2 sets were performed, each of very different character - the hall was a bit live but good monitoring allowed everything to be heard by the musicians, essential for a piece like this. instrumentation: 2 percussionists, 2 saxes, trumpet, violin, viola/shawm, cello, contrabass, electric guitar, electric bass, and myself on 8-string and soprano sax.
other news: the Terraplane recording has begun at the new facilities of Studio zOaR in midtown - we have an analog room w/ Studer 24-track and good collection of microphones and vintage outboard gear plus a digital room w/ DA88/38, ProTools, and 02R console. the Terraplane CD will be a double: one acoustic, one electric - hopefully out on zOaR by the end of the summer. as part of the recording, we're overdubbing on some solo Hubert Sumlin tracks that i produced in sessions from 1997. also in the works: mixing the 16-track digital recordings of SyndaKit performed at the Knitting Factory - this should also be out in the summer on zOaR.
May
Terraplane at Musique Actuelle Vandoeuvres. This festival in a small town near Nancy is one of Europe's most comfortable and i've appeared there previously: with Orchestra Carbon performing Larynx, in duo w/ Jin Hi Kim, and in trio w/ French guitarist Jean-Francois Pauvros and drummer Bobby Previte. Our bari/alto saxophonist Sam Furnace especially burned this night. We traveled by (too tight) van from CDG airport in Paris to Nancy - the shortcut off the autoroute took us through Pont-A-Mousson, the town where my mother lived until she went into hiding during World War II.
2nd may report
Terraplane + DJ Soulslinger played the FIMAV (Festival Internationale Musique Actuelle Victoriaville) on Saturday May 22. This is the only Euro-style festival in North America - truly a unique resource and much-needed. Our venue, the Colisee, is a hockey stadium and the backstage is filled with massive and cryptic-looking pieces of machinery for generating ice. For a stadium, the sound is surprisingly good, both onstage and in the house thanks to a good crew and good equipment with plenty of headroom. Terraplane set was one of our tightest, with an enthusiastic audience response. DJ Soulslinger and I followed it with our duo set. Unfortunately, the turntable equipment supplied for Carlos was completely inadequate and was missing some important pieces, including a delay. In spite of this, Soulslinger reached into the depths of his resources to pull out many flavors of beat, scratch, texture, and noise. The concert finished with a jam: Terraplane + Soulslinger - not as focussed as either of the two sets but with some bright moments - hopefully, our jam in Saalfelden will augment those moments. The night ended w/ an impromptu pizza party in the hotel lobby w/ Christian Marclay, Thurston Moore, Annie Gosfield, Roger Kleier, and Lee Renaldo. We left in the morning for the airport in Montreal, making sure to leave enough time to stop at the bagel bakery - Montreal bagels are unmatched in the world: the absolute best!
Terraplane at the Bell Atlantic jazz festival - june 3
Anxiously looking at the clouds build up during sound-check, we wondered if we'd have a rain-out: Terraplane was playing outside at NY's South St. Seaport, opening for G-Love & Special Sauce. Happily, the clouds dissipated, leaving a hot clear afternoon. We played for probably two thousand people who seemed to like Terraplane fine (it was definitely G-Love's audience though I saw a few familiar faces.) Rea Mochiach subbed brilliantly on drums for Sim Cain who is out on tour with the J. Geils Band. After our set, I was invited by G-Love to sit in with them on a slow quietly bluesy tune. All in all, a fine evening.
June 1999 - Druga Godba report
The annual Druga Godba festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia presents a mix of world music, jazz, and new music. For this year, director Bogdan Benigar suggested a series of duos. I flew via Zurich and the flight in a small jet over the Alps into Slovenia was completely spectacular. The first night, June 9, at the K4 club, was with percussionist Le Quan Ninh - what can I say, he's a brilliant musician and should be seen and heard! On June 10th, the duo was with singer Saadet Turkoz. Saadet's family is from Kazakhstan and Turkestan but she was raised first in Turkey, then in Zurich. She draws heavily from Asian and Turkish folk music but adds her own extended techniques with something like the power and range of diamanda Galas or Sainkho Namchylak. She is finishing a Cd for the Swiss Intakt label - we recorded a series of duos for it last summer in Zurich. The duet of June 11th was with Austrian electronicist Christian Fennesz. We played in an outdoor venue called Krsanka on a bill with Galliano/Neba Solo and DJ Ritu's Asian Equation. the crowd was mostly there for a party. Our set dealt with textures, densities, and abstracted grooves - some loved it, some hated it, some were confused. A fun evening. finally, on June 12, I guested on guitar with the 35-piece orchestra Kasa, playing a polka by Igor Krivokapic - a bit surreal, a bit comedic.
late june
Flew to Warsaw for the jazz festival - 2 projects to be performed: GTR OBLQ & a trio with Zeena Parkins and drummer Cornell Rochester. The venue is the Congress Hall, a prime example of Stalinist architecture, and scene of many boring speeches (& some historic ones as well.) GTR OBLQ ran into serious problems with the electricity in the hall - many sange ground loops - soundcheck became a long ordeal but the set proceeded smoothly. We did the trio with Cornell next. He's an incredibly powerful drummer with a liquid groove - he's performed with Weather Report, James Blood Ulmer, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Odean Pope. We were all ecstatic with the trio - the set played itself! Hopefully we'll be able to get a good tape as the concert was recorded for Polish TV. The next morning a few of us made a walking tour of the site of the old Warsaw Ghetto. Architecturally, Warsaw is quite bleak - it was razed during WW2 and the city was rebuilt in a manner distinctly missing charm. The Old Town was rebuilt to resemble it's 17th century identity but one can tell that it's a re-creation. The physical history of Warsaw is chillingly revealed in its absence.
The night after returning to NY played at Tonic in an improvised quartet with drummer Bobby Previte, saxist Tim Berne, and bassist Mark Helias. It was the first time that Tim and I had played together though we've talked about doing it for years. It was a jazzy set with many different moods. I brought my Godin electro-acoustic guitar and soprano sax.
Last night premiered the new trio with virtuoso klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and drummer/electronicist Rea Mochiach. We wrote 6 simple tunes which blossomed in performance. It was very exciting for us and we plan to try and get more concerts for the group (as yet unnamed: krasharea? shakriach?) as well as record.
Off to London today for the Harry Smith tribute as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival and then to Napoli for the beginning of the GTR OBLQ tour.
july tour report pt 1
Tour begins in London at the Royal Festival hall in the South Bank Centre with Hal Willner's tribute to Harry Smith. for those unfamiliar with his work, Smith was a pioneering film animator ( check out his work, available from Mystic Fire Video) and folklorist. His 6 CD collection of American folk music is absolutely vital and riveting and was a huge influence on the American folk revival of the late 50's and early '60's. For this event, a variety of artists did interpretations of pieces from the collection. I had been performing The Cuckoo in various bands since 1968 so this was a natural. My arrangement (a duo w/ David Torn) posited the cuckoo taking a wrong turn across the Bering Strait after drinking the amanita muscaria urine of a random shaman - Appalachia via Tuva, hoomii plus e-guitars. Other artists participating included Nick Cave, Syd Straw, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Van Dyke Parks, Bryan Ferry, Eric Mingus, and Gavin Friday.
The GTR OBLQ tour began in Naples on July 4 with Vernon Reid arriving from NY. All of the Italian concerts are in outdoor arena. Our first gig is next to a dramatic 900-year-old castle. On to Salerno on the 5th, another outdoor venue, unbelievable heat during soundcheck but a beautiful evening (the castle is behind for this one.) We play before about 1500 people in a festival in Rome, no castle though. Finally Padua, more of a garden, plenty of mosquitoes, one of our favorite concerts.
A 9-hour train ride through the Alps brings us to an off-night in wien then a van ride to Wiesen for the Jazz Festival there. Austria is inundated with continuous downpours. It's incredibly damp - fortunately the festival is in a huge tent. Pharoah Sanders performed a beautiful set on this festival, using the bell of his tenor sax over his mic to get feedback.
Our final gig of this leg is at North Sea Jazz Festival. We're quite angry at the presentation: we're listed as part of "Klezmer meets Jazz" and there's precious little of either in a GTR OBLQ set - just a promoter's fantasy. The notes in the catalog talk about my involvement in "Radical Jewish Culture" and mentions very little about the real work of any of us. I hate this Radical Jewish Culture marketing tip - I'm very much against religion and nationalism - 2 of the world's great evils!! No time for soundcheck but a fun set anyway despite the circus-like atmosphere and weirdness. North Sea is a huge festival with many simultaneous events - it's great to see our friends there but we rarely get to see each other play - it all seems to be cross-scheduled. A day off then on to Germany.
GTR OBLQ tour - part 2
(july tour report pt 2)July 13 - concert in Leer in north Germany at the Kulturspeicher, an 18th century brick building with a plaster-walled performance space with high ceilings and wooden beams. Great acoustics. We do two shorter sets rather than our usual single 90-minute set. Good focus and shape.
July 14 - the Kito in Bremen - another old building with a wooden-beamed loft. Carbon has played here previously. It's a space with a great vibe although the stage is set up facing the "short way" in a very long room. The resultant standing waves make the sound onstage murky - we're told that it sounded better in the audience than it did for us. The concert was recorded by Radio Bremen for later broadcast - they were happy with the results - we'll all be curious to hear their edited mix.
July 15 - Karlstorbahnhof in Bochum. This converted train station has high ceilings and shiny walls - an acoustic nightmare. Soundcheck is difficult so we're quite pleased that the presence of a large and enthusiastic audience also has the effect of taming the runaway reflections. The two sets are among our favorites from the tour (though unfortunately not recorded, for lack of a blank DAT.) Miroslav Tajik, an amazing guitarist and old friend and playing associate of David Torn's is in town with singer Maria Joao and comes to our show so we finally meet.
July 16 - Werkhof in Lubeck - a northern port town with buildings dating back to the 14th century. A boomy room - another case of better sound for the audience than for us onstage. They are mostly sitting far back from the stage and so we feel a psychic distance from them during the single 75-minute set. Their enthusiastic response at the end convinces us otherwise.
GTR OBLQ tour - part 3
July 18 - Get in the van! 6am departure for the long drive to Halle, in the former East Germany. The concert is in a room at the Turm, a huge old castle complex. Boomy acoustics but a good hang. The audience is standing, club-style. We like this - the music is looser and more dynamic.
July 19 - Berlin - We play outdoors at the Podewil - hundreds of people, great sound equipment (and engineer), and a fine time. Berlin always feels like home. The concert is organized by pianist Reinhold Friedl who also leads the group Zeitkratzer and the Inside Piano Trio (a group playing exclusively inside the piano, not inside the music.) Reinhold and I recorded a duo CD last year in the old Tonstudio fur Elektronische Musik in East Berlin. The CD should be out in the autumn and will be called ANOSTALGIA.
July 21 - Moods in Zurich - a small "jazz" club - packed and way hot - dripping in fact. First set a little sluggish but the second set works quite well.
July 22 - Karlstorbahnhof in Heidelberg. This converted train station has glass walls but the sound is quite good in spite of that. We find some surprises in our set. Back to NYC.
Saalfelden Jazz festival report
Terraplane with DJ Soulsinger as a guest performed at the Saalfelden Jazz festival in the Austrian alps on Aug. 27. This is one of Europe's best festivals: adventurous programming, a large (4000) audience that LISTENS and simultaneously parties, and a spectacular setting: glaciers, craggy peaks, mountain streams. We'll also mention the excellent espresso and great food. This festival also gives us a chance to hang out with many old (and new friends): Marc Ribot, Greg Osby, Brad Jones, Mike Brecker, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Eyvind Kang, Michel Portal, Joey Baron, Steve Coleman, Tim Berne, Jim Black, Ravi Coltrane, Martin Siewert, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Hubertus von Fallois, Calvin Weston, Bobby Previte, Drew Gress, Wayne Horvitz, Jeff Tain Watts, Jack deJohnette, Kelvyn Bell, Tony Lewis, William Parker, Matt Shipp, Guiiermo Brown, Bill Frisell, and David Krakauer.
For this set, rather than running down a set of songs, I decided to have the band make a continuous flow of Terraplane songs with segues enhanced by Soulslinger's effects and scratches. We started with the acoustic numbers with David Hofstra on tuba and myself on tenor sax and got more dense and electric as the set progressed. We were very pleased at the enthusiastic response! For the encore I returned to sax and we performed Othar, dedicated to Othar Turner & The Rising Star fife & Drum Band. His record "Everybody Hollerin' Goat" is a must.
SyndaKit report
Much anticipated, SyndaKit was performed on Sept. 16 at NYC's Tonic. Also simultaneously performing, was tropical storm Floyd (downgraded from hurricane status.) The club and musicians were all incensed at the possibility of cancelling the concert, so we performed 2 sets to a warm and enthusiastic (and sizable!) audience not afraid of a little wind and water. The group included Zeena Parkins - piano, David Weinstein - synth, Marc Sloan - bass, Sim Cain - drums, Jim Pugliese - drums and percussion, Curtis Fowlkes - trombone, Evan Spritzer - bass clarinet, Tim Smith - bass clarinet, David Soldier - violin, and E# - electroacoustic guitar. Drummer Joseph Trump's flight from Portland, oregon, was cancelled so he was unable to perform. First set was lyrical and almost delicate; second set rocked.
The SyndaKit CD is finally out - we're quite happy with the printing and pressing - there are 400 signed and numbered copies available through Downtown Music Gallery (dmg@panix.com) and mp3 files not on the record available for download here on the site.
Palermo report
Went to Palermo, Sicily for the Curva Minore festival, organized by saxophonist Gianni Gebbia. Performed the duo with vocalist Saadet Turkoz at the Spassimo, a medieval abbey fallen into exquisite disrepair - the roof is open to the sky and there is a tree growing inside. There are numerous rooms and a large garden. The acoustics are perfect for a small group - all sounds may be heard clearly. The duo with Saadet was much more delicate than our last gig, a raucous one at a club in Ljubljana. I'm now using the Powerbook with a patch in MSP/Max (check out: http://www.cycling74.com/ ) to do pitch->midi conversion from audio taken from the guitarbass or horn and to trigger samples. Location and mouseclicks from the trackpad manipulates various sample parameters. After our duo Lukas Ligeti performed his solo Beta Foly program. The evening finished with Lukas, Saadet, Gianni, bassist Lelio Gianetti and myself doing an improvised session. The next night's concert took place at an old train factory complex now used as a cultural center/theatre. Another huge sprawling place with many interesting spaces. First off was a solo concert from Paolo Angeli who plays a prepared Sardinian guitar - it has various pickups, extra strings, motors, and a mechanical footpedal system to hammer rhythms on the strings - quite unique. The evening finished with the premiere of O.O.K. (Out of Kansas) for 14 musicians. This is an algorithmic piece derived from SyndaKit operations (without the scordaturra.) The theme of the Curva Minore festival is "Darwin" and our performance was meant to accompany the construction of a giant styrofoam pterodactyl sculpture that "flew" on a wire across the space when completed. Because the state of Kansas has now set up incredible obstacles to the teaching of evolution in its schools, Out Of Kansas seemed to be the perfect title. The piece lasted over one hour and traveled through many bizarre terrains. Instrumentation included Saadet and Marina Palma on voicees, Gianni, Lelio, Domenico Sciajno on bass and computer, Paolo Angeli, plus 2 percussionists, 2 celli, violin, trumpet, and Luka Venitucci on keyboards (also in Zeitkratzer.) After each concert, we would retire to a local restaurant for a many-course dinner that would last well into the early-morning hours. After OOK, we did this and it extended into my pickup time for the airport - 5:30 AM at the Palermo airport is no more calm and quiet than any other - chaos totale! Finally checked in and a beautiful flight to Milano, passing around a dramatic front of thunderstorms that extended well up into the stratosphere - we could view it without undergoing the bone-crunchng shaking of the turbulence that would ensue if we flew through it! Just enough time in Milano to get to my NY flight - after take-off we flew just south of the Alps at an altitude of about 8000m for about 45 minutes offering a completely breathtaking view of the already snow-capped mountains.
Back to NY for the SyndaKit performance at the Knit tonight (Oct. 6) then off to Tokyo on Friday.
October
Oct. 6 SyndaKit at the Knit
This gig was set up at very much the last minute: a cancellation and thus, a sudden opening. Even without a chance to publicize (I was in Palermo), it still seemed like a good idea to perform the piece again, especially as the previous performance was during tropical storm Floyd. On board: Curtis Fowlkes - trombone, Judith Insell - viola, Zeena Parkins - piano, Jim Pugliese - percussion, Ted Reichman - accordion, Marc Sloan - bass, Sam Furnace - alto sax, Eric Shanfield - trumpet, Tim Smith - bass clarinet, Evan Spritzer - bass clarinet, Joseph Trump - percussion, David Weinstein - synth, E# - electroacoustic guitar, soprano sax. A tight and focussed set - Knitting Factory is a much less relaxed place than Tonic so we had to hew to a strict start and stop time. Having lots of horns gives it a Sun Ra-ish flavor at times - no complaints about that from me!
Oct. 8 Tokyo
As mentioned previously, the main purpose of this trip is the NTT ICC Biennale (http://www.ntticc.or.jp/) where visual and computer artist Perry Hoberman (http://www.hoberman.com/perry/) and a number of other international artists were commissioned to create pieces for a competition. Perry's piece, Timetable, is a virtual 3D environment dealing with notions of time, both linear and non- on a large, friendly, action-packed game-like console. Programming was done by Juha Huuskonen. Perry had asked me to do music and sound design for Timetable - this task encompassed composing soundtracks for the "scenes" (lasting approx. 2' each) and to create sounds to be manipulated in conjunction with the various interactive objects. I used my trusty Korg MS20 synth, Rebirth, various guitars and boxes, Peak, and ProTools - everything was saved as both AIFF's and WAV files to be used in the installation. The winner of the competition was announced on Oct. 14 at the opening - Timetable won! Mind-blowing and head-spinning! The piece will enter the permanent collection of the ICC.
Coming to Tokyo also allowed me the opportunity to do two small last-minute concerts. The first, Oct. 10, was an in-store at the Shinjuku Disk Union where I performed a solo Tectonics set to a crowd overflowing to the sidewalk. The second, Oct. 12, was at the packed Den Gallery in Setagaya and was solos and duos with noise-pioneer Keiji Heino, who I've known for almost 20 years but had never performed with. For our duo set, Heino played his electroacoustic hurdy-gurdy and we created a richly textured (& loud) wall-of-sound, harmonically charged. I found our duo worked best when I played soprano sax, it's piercing square-wave sound resonating with the hurdy-gurdy to generate many difference tones. Oct. 16 I fly to Seattle and do solo Tectonics that night at the Breakroom - 1325 E Madison Seattle, WA .
more October
Oct. 16 - arrive in Seattle from Tokyo and rest for a few hours at a friend's house before a soundcheck that doesn't exist at the Breakroom. Return to the club for my set later on - the club is really an "alternative rock" club and both opening bands are in that genre - their audience is completely confused by my Tectonics set. Everyone at the club is very nice and helpful but it's an inappropriate venue.
Oct. 17 - to Portland, Oregon by train, arriving in time for soundcheck at Ohm, a large club that has a policy of lot's of electronic and dance music and a very nice staff. Opening for me is Wet Food, a great trio - two brothers John and Joseph (apologies! I don't have their last names!) on bass and guitar plus Carbon drummer Joseph Trump. Their set is both tight and adventurous with a strong nod in the direction of Captain Beefheart. After my Tectonics set, we do a 20' group improv - very enjoyable.
Oct. 19 - fly to San Francisco - this is one of my favorite routes - we fly over the mountains and Crater Lake - incredible view. Bottom of the Hill is the venue in SF - again, the staff is very nice and helpful but it's more of a rock club and the 2 opening bands start late and play long & loud sets. Many people who had come to see me tell me that they can't stay until my set.
Oct. 21 - fly to Skopje, Macedonia for the Jazz Festival. The lineup is Zeena Parkins - solo, Tectonics, then Terraplane with DJ Soulslinger as a guest. Zeena does a dramatic solo set. My solo is plagued with computer problems so i end up not using it. Zeena joins me at the end for a touch of Psycho~Acoustics. Terraplane has bassist Brad Jones doing a beautiful job subbing for regular bassist David Hofstra. We play a long and fiery set. The second night, Soulslinger & and I perform our duo in a club at a late-night set, get a small nap then head to the airport for our return to NYC.
Skopje is only 50km from Kosovo and we land to the sight of anti-aircraft missile emplacements at each end of the runway. The airport is filled with NATO troops as well. Before leaving for Skopje, I had received an invitation for us to "entertain the troops" but schedules did not permit this. I wonder at the reaction if we had actually done it. Skopje itself is a beautiful and ancient city surrounded by mountains. We get fantastic cassettes of village music in the marketplace and eat incredible food and drink good strong espresso. Our special thanks to Oliver, director of the festival, and his staff: Alfrida (check out her band String Forces), Natali, and Sasha - all made us feel very welcome.
November
This tour begins at home in NYC on Nov. 4 with Terraplane performing two sets at Tonic. We're still warmed up from Skopje and play a loose (in the best sense) set. I decide to try my 1968 Les Paul Custom instead of the usual Stratocaster. I rarely play this guitar out so it's a bit of an experiment. also, for blues, I mostly prefer the feel and chewyness of the Strat. The LP calls for a very different way of playing - a touch more delicate - you can really tear into a Fender which I like when under the influence of stage adrenalin. The Gibson does have a fat sweet sound though, especially with slide (the Custom was favored by Sonny Sharrock and I often think of him when I play it) and the harmonics really pop.
Nov. 5 - departure for France. Zeena Parkins and I will perform our Psycho~Acoustic duo at the V'Un d'Oeuf Festival in Verdun in Lorraine. Just before boarding our Delta flight to Paris we're told that there will be a few minutes delay because of a "mechanical problem" - not the greatest thing to hear in the wake of the Egyptair disaster. This delay stretches to well over 2 hours and we're given a variety of conflicting stories by the gate staff as to the nature and seriousness of the problem. I see a pilot walk out of the gate and he tells me that it's just a problem with a battery charger and nothing to be greatly concerned about. Okay... Finally we board but then sit for another 45 minutes in the plane at the gate because the problem is still not fixed. This does not feel good and we briefly consider skipping the flight - not a good thing either way. We decide to chill and in fact the departure is announced and we're soon in the air and with a strong tailwind we're in Paris in just over six hours - a beautiful flight.
The V'Un d'Oeuf Festival is held in a very Addams-family building in Verdun - the room holds perhaps 150 people and has a good stage - the soundcrew is excellent. Also appearing at the Festival is guitarist Ron Anderson (of the Molecules) with drummer Peter Hollinger; solo bassist Barre Philips; saxophonist Jon Butcher; vocalist Catherine Jauniaux; and electronicist Jerome Noetinger of Metamkine. The audience is fantastically receptive. This festival is small and musician-run. Unfortunately, they depend on funding form the town and the recent advances by the right-wing in Verdun have made this festival the final one. Our set, on Nov. 7, is the last one of the last fest - a sad honor indeed.
Nov. 8 - take the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and perform solo Tectonics that night at the ZooBizarre, a great little club booked by guitarist Alex Auche. I head to Dijon on the 9th, unfortunately missing the Japanese festival hosted by ZooBizarre, with friends Melt Banana and the Ruins performing.
Nov. 10 - solo Tectonics performance at L'Usine, an old factory with a boomy live room. Great sound crew helps make up for the room's acoustic ambience. My concert is part of the "after-party" for Renegade Way (Steve Coleman's group with saxophonists Greg Osby and Ravi Coltrane performing earlier that evening.) The stage monitors are a high-powered stereo system mounted on booms - lots of headroom - this audio field is very easy on the ears & my computer output is full and lively sounding - much more fun to play with than having it blast out of a wedge directly in front on the floor.
Nov. 12 - back in NYC and performing at St. Ann's Church as part of the Harry Smith tribute produced by Hal Willner. Smith was a brilliant and influential filmmaker, animator, thinker, anthropologist, and collector of various things. Check out : www.harrysmitharchives.com for the full story. This concert had some overlap in personnel with the London one from the previous June. Performers include Nick Cave, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Van Dyke Parks with the Soldier String Quartet, Roswell Rudd, Syd Straw, Wilco, Peter Stampfel, Lou Reed, Ed Sanders & The Fugs, Gavin Friday, and Sonic Youth. It's really a fun night that lasts well into the morning. I perform The Cuckoo as a psychedelic Tuvan blues and also play acoustic guitar in The Fugs - a lifelong dream fulfilled (the band also included Jeff Tweedy of Wilco singing backup on William Blakes' "How Sweet I Roamed From Field to Field".) In highschool, I was part of a group called IzzyDaSplit, an amoebic jug orchestra varying from 2 to 12 members. Our repertoire included traditional jugband tunes as well as various blues, acoustic psychedelic jams, and a selection of raunchy Fugs tunes, all of which contributed to us being kicked out of coffeehouses throughout Westchester County.
Terraplane and Radiolaria
Nov. 26-28 Terraplane at the Knitting Factory Old Office, NYC
On tour at home: three nights at the Old Office gives the band a chance to dig in to some old things as well as try some new. We've hit our stride by second set of the first night but on Saturday we begin to tear it up. On Sunday night, we're joined by guest Eric Mingus on vocals on two tunes. I'd met Eric in the past in town but I really got to hear him as well as hang out at the Harry Smith tribute in London last July and again on Nov. 11 and I was excited at the possibility of a collaboration. We worked out a strange dark little David Lynch-meets-Freddie Roulette shuffle which Eric spontaneously lyricized as well as having Eric improvise some words to our acoustic tune Slow Drag. We were all ecstatic at the results. The Saturday and Sunday shows were videotaped for editing and later net broadcast by the Knitting Factory - details will appear here.
Dec. 9 Radiolaria performed by Orchestra Carbon at the Whitney on 42 St.
The composition of this piece took up a major portion of my thoughts while touring over the last few months. After returning from France in November, it was necessary to get the score down on paper so that we would have efficient rehearsals in the limited time available so it became a full-time obsession. .Radiolaria is an algorithmic composition modeled on biological paradigms of growth and reproduction. Among other operations within the score, the musicians may imitate and transform each others' parts in a way analogous to the replication process for many organisms such as "radiolaria," a kind of aquatic, single-celled protozoa. The score combines musical notation with written instructions that guide the performers' interactions in order to generate both musical structures and acoustic phenomena such as "difference tones." These effects are enhanced by the live computer processing of the ensemble's aggregate sound using the MSP/Max software in a patch designed by Luke Dubois. Through this process, overtones and subharmonics are extracted and then fed back into the mix.
For this concert, Orchestra Carbon consisted of: Sam Furnace and Ned Rothenberg (alto saxes), Frank London and Eric Shanfield (trumpets), Tim Smith and Evan Spritzer (bass clarinets), Steve Swell (trombone), Julie Kalu (bass trombone), Zeena Parkins and David Weinstein (samplers), Jim Pugliese (percussion), and E# (soprano sax & computer.)
First performances of a piece can be nerve-wracking and difficult but this was truly a pleasure. The musicians all performed beautifully, with great heart and power. The room at the Whitney is glass-walled with high ceilings, an acoustical nightmare, but Radiolaria was composed with the idea of working with the acoustics of a given space rather that fighting them. In fact, the multiple reflections contributed to the psychoacoustical effects. I was very hearetened by the enthusiastic response from the hundreds of audience members. Radiolaria will be performed again on Jan. 20 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on Norfolk St., NYC along with Simon Shaheen/Glenn Velez and Chris Rael's Church of Betty.
Dec. 11 Tonic NYC
Dec. 11 Tonic NYC - Greg Osby/Rea Mochiach/Santi Debriano/E# quartet
I'd long been a fan of Greg Osby's saxophone playing: a fresh take on the Cannonball Adderly/Eric Dolphy heat plus a cerebral approach typified by the M-Base collective that Greg is a part of. We'd played together in 1987 (with Bobby Previte) and again in Oblique Ah Blue (with the virtuoso Santi) at the Munster Jazz Festival in 1998. Rea has played in Orchestra Carbon as well as in the group of David Byrne and Balanescu Quartet. The plan was to set up an improvised meeting to see what would happen. First set was cooking - high energy but a touch laid back - everyone listening hard - very reminiscent of a jungle/hiphop Bitches Brew. Second set was the burner (this is often the case) with wild free sections contrasting with hard grooves. We'll do this again!
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