Played tonight with Kjell Nordeson at the Flux Theater out in east Oakland. Shared the bill with Jacob Zimmerman’s Lawson project. Playing with Kjell in duo form is both fun & challenging. In a way what we do is simple – we just play. But Within that simplicity there is so much to do! His playing style is encompassing – the sound of his kit is full and active with many layers. It allows me to follow tangential thoughts while also following a path. Fittingly to the venue, it’s sort of like LaMonte Young’s Fluxus piece that simply states: draw a line and follow it. We start in one place and follow the ideas to their end. Sometimes they don’t end, they just change direction, but we keep following it. Always with energy.
I play alto & tenor when we play in duo form, and we’ve settled on a microphone technique involving 4 mics total. I’m hoping that by sometime this summer we’ll have decided on some material to release.
Jacob’s compositions for Lawson were quite strong and thoughtful. I favored one piece in particular: a melody harmonized in clusters, the lead evenly flowing around the voices of the ensemble (Cory Wright, Matt Nelson, Drew Ceccato, Rob Ewing, Dan VanHassel, and Dan Good). Sound painting.
I like the Flux theater – Mitchell Random is a good guy – glad to have played there tonight.
Played last night at the Uptown in Oakland. it was a busy night down there because of a Pixies concert happening across the street at the Fox Theatre. Hard to park! Thought I’d get a parking ticket, but was lucky….
Marches and the Oakland Active Orchestra played – Marches was up first, our line-up for the night was the organ version with Gene, Cory and Jordan. Good playing – we’re making some progress – I’m really into the way the organ fits in with the saxophones. We tried a new piece – maybe should’ve rehearsed it a bit more – but it’s been a busy time out here and it’s been tough fitting in enough rehearsals. The plan is to get some solid rehearsing in and then get into the studio so that we can have a release sometime early next year. We played on the floor of the Uptown – which is good for sound quality, but a little tricky for light. Gotta work on that…..
The Oakland Active Orchestra played our second show. This one was very good with new pieces by Cory Wright, Phillip Greenlief and Rob Ewing, plus an arrangement of Echoes of Harlem by Tom Djll. A wide range of music – particularly in Tom’s piece – one section the entire group explores the smallest range of dynamics with a quick transition to a section with two drummers going for it with a strong solo by Ewing. Had a few subs on the night – Erik Jekabsons on trumpet and Sam Ospovat on drums – they both sounded great and fit well aesthetically. Sam and Jordan playing drums together worked well – they had a good sense of playing at the same time without dominating the group.
We ended the night with Rob’s piece, one that is very patient and uses the entire ensemble simply – to create a slowly shifting re-harmonization of a chord -a fitting use of the group.
The full lineup for the group this night was:
Aaron Bennett: alto & tenor saxophones
Phillip Greenlief: clarinet, tenor saxophone
Aram Shelton: clarinet, soprano & alto saxophones
Cory Wright: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Tom Djll: trumpet
Erik Jekabson: trumpet
Rob Ewing: trombone
Kristian Aspelin: guitar
Marielle Jakobsons: violin
Lisa Mezzacappa: bass
Damon Smith: bass
Jordan Glenn: drums
Sam Ospovat: drums
Last night played with Weasel Walter’s Quintet – first show in a few months – me, Aaron Bennett, Darren Johnston, Damon Smith and Weasel. It was good. We didn’t have a rehearsal, we played the first piece Weasel had brought to the group, “On the Verge of Destruction”, so we all knew how to approach it. I think because of no rehearsing, the looseness that we played with actually helped the music. Darren, Aaron and I are all good readers, so the notated music was there, and the improvising was really interesting and varied. Probably because we hadn’t played in awhile: those situations always tend to freshen the ideas. I think structurally there was a good amount of variation too.
The first set was with Josh Allen, Mike Guarino and Tim Orr. Two drummers, one saxophonist. Alot of energy. I hadn’t seen Tim play before – used alot of extra percussion, cymbals and such, with his kit. Sounded good.
The last set was a trio made up of Derek Moneypeny and two fellows from Sacramento, Chad Stockdale and Kevin Corcoran. Drums, guitar and electric saxophone. More energy music! Loud – loving my westone earplugs these days………
A really great show last night at the Uptown in Oakland. It’s part of their “Avant-Garde” Tuesday series, one show a month with no cover charge, but with donations asked for inside the main room. It’s really a good space – super high ceilings, dark and almost cavernous. This month the lineup was three sets, the first being the duo of Tom Rainey and Ingrid Laubrock – yes, Tom is very well known for his work with Tim Berne, and it was great to see him play here with Ingrid, who is a great saxophone player – I really liked her tenor playing which had a very interesting edge and total control of the instrument. They set up on the floor (which is the best place for an acoustic group to set up in that room), and played very well as a duo. The addition of the half filled wine glass as percussion worked too….. The second set was a trio of music with Philip Greenleaf, Tim Perkis, and GE Stinson up from Los Angeles with video by Brenda Bynum. Very good – the music and film worked quite well together – the sounds had a strong sonic-texture orientation, the images are moving stream of related and changing images that had been reduced to simpler color schemes – it fit perfectly in the space of the Uptown. The third set I played in with Perkis, Damon Smith and Jordan Glenn. The first time I think that Jordan played with Damon & Tim. A little over a month ago I played at 21 Grand with Tim, Damon and Josh Berman, who was visiting from Chicago. It was a good improvising group with lots of activity and possibilities. Adding Jordan’s percussion style into the group worked well and balanced group with almost a traditional “jazz” lineup – saxophone, bass, drums with laptop. Tim is very good with his electronics – very flexible, able to play and change at a moment’s notice. I asked him afterward if he has perfect pitch, because the two of us matched many times throughout the set – he told me that he doesn’t, but he’s definitely on top of it. So, all in all a good night at the Uptown – until the next time….
Tonight played in east Oakland with Aaron Bennett at the Flux Theater. It’s a relatively new space in a tough stretch of Foothill Blvd out in the general Mills area. We got added to the show this week – Aaron asked me to play some duo music, I thought, yes. A few years back I was never into playing with multiple saxophonists, but these days I’ve been getting more into it. I really like Aaron’s playing, so of course I’ll play with him. So we played a bunch of his tunes – some of which we played with Gogo Fightmaster earlier this week but with different arrangements. Some other tunes that shared characteristics with the GGFM music. All of it high energy! I played alto & tenor, Aaron did tenor and baritone. Not alot of space for breaths! We tore through a set, my favorite one was Cops and Robbers, not to be confused with this gem.
After we played a group from Louisville called Vampire Squid took the stage – a young band on a whirlwind US tour, they’ve got a lot going on and the music is ambitious. Strong players, a really good violinist – I liked what they did. Some kids from the neighborhood wandered in and out, some of them wanted to rhyme over beats, and the vampire squid decided to let them – it made for a good moment when am mc seemed a bit nervous was doing his thing and his friend danced well with a huge grin on his face. Hope the VS have a good trip back to the land of bourbon – - – —-
Quite a bite has been going on the last month or so and I just haven’t been writing about it. It’s spring in California, and though I’m sure to those of you in other parts of the country that can be a struggle, out here it’s generally good. For me it’s been good as I’ve been looking for “work”, and have had extra time for practicing, writing music, and concerning myself with an upcoming trip to Europe.
March went by pretty well, had a trip down to Los Angeles with the Pink Canoes where we played a good show at the Pharoah’s Den down in Riverside (and now I know why Orange County is considered a totally different thing than LA) and a fun if ill-attended show at the Echo Curio in Echo Park. Stayed in Bel Air – went to the Getty Museum, nice trip. We finished that trip in Santa Cruz, a long day of driving up from LA, to the show, then back to the Bay that night. All in all I think Pink Canoes played 5 shows in March, had a good one at the Hemlock where Gerrit Wittmer played a set, and then another one at Travis’ house the Golden Trapperkeeper Lodge where it was Earth Hour, so we played a rare acoustic set.
Jordan Glenn’s trip Weiner Kids played a couple of shows too – at the Hemlock and then one up at the Ivy Room in Albany. That music is getting more and more fun to play – two saxes and drums – Cory Wright playing baritone in the group, me on alto. We’re getting to know the music better and having more fun with it. Going to record next week.
Weasel’s Quintet has played a few shows too – last night we played over at Kimo’s in SF – a good, short set, plenty of energy, but afterward Darren got the terrible news that his house had been set on fire by the crackhead who lives downstairs from him! I drove him to his place in the Castro, I couldn’t see the building, but on the way he talked to his girlfriend and it seemed like the important things (people, cats) were okay. Here’s hoping the rest is salvageable…..
Ton Trio played at the Ivy Room last month too. I asked Jordan Glenn to fill in for Sam Ospovat and he did a great job. It was good to play that music again, and now I’m writing more trio music to have when I head over with Kurt to Europe in a few weeks to meet up with Sam and play in Paris and Poland.
And finally, last weekend I took a trip over to New York with Jen. We found cheap flights a while back and decided to head over there. I put together a group with Matt Bauder, Jason Ajemian, and Harris Eisenstadt. I’ve been wanting a group with Matt for a while, and I think that this may be the start of that. Probably go back sometime in the fall to work more on it, but this was a good start. Played at a space in Long Island City called the Chocolate Factory. We only had one rehearsal and the set was on the short side, but the chemistry is good. We will see.
Last monday night played at the Ivy Room up in Albany with Weasel’s quintet. Our last date was at the Uptown in Oakland. the big difference between that night and this one is that we’ve been rehearsing almost regularly, so we know the music better, and are able to take some more liberties with it. Easier for the horns to get away from the material and then back into it with smaller cues – which makes it flow better from composition to improvisation. Darren had a really great solo about midway through. We all played with alot of energy – you can see in this video:
The first set of the night was the duo of Jacob Felix Heule and Tony Dryer – they did a very quiet set and had setup in a spot surrounded by the audience – a good way to counteract the muffled acoustics in the space while playing very quietly. The last set was Bad Paradise, a group made up of Steve Dood, Cansafis of No Doctors and Andrew – electronic / experimental / weird / dance – a good set to cap off the night – the three sets were VERY different – which I like.
Last night there was another free show at the Uptown in downtown Oakland. This one was put together by Sarah Lockhart. The first set was John Gruntfest’s Ritual Resurrection Band, which is led by John on alto and words. It was pretty theatrical, and the line up of 2 drummers, 2 keyboards, and 4 saxophones made for a full sound and opportunities for small group pairings for improvising.
The second set was SL Morse – the duo of Sarah and Aurora Josephson. Now I think that Sarah was reading a composition the whole way through and it seemed that Aurora was free – had some good moments and the simple pairing of voice and percussion worked well.
Weasel put together a quintet with me on alto, Aaron Bennett on tenor, Darren Johnston on trumpet and Damon Smith on bass. He wrote a long-form piece for the group that we played for the first time at 21 Grand about a month ago. That time we didn’t have a chance to actually rehearse it before hand, and this time we did – the piece has Weasel and Damon being free for the majority of the piece and alot of written material that is in time for the horns to play together – compositionally the opposite of the SL Morse set. The music is all high energy, with the piece opening up after about 10 minutes into long solo sections for each horn player to work with the rhythm section. Darren’s trumpet solo sounded great and despite the mic set up for this purpose, Aaron went without in a real high energy section with Weasel and Damon. I started mine and didn’t feel so strong for awhile – I don’t know if it’s the extra work I’ve been doing or that it’s actually kind of cold around here, but I just didn’t feel like my playing was working – maybe a bad reed. These things happen.
Good to work on that music again – I think we’ll be recording it soon.
It’s been a little while since Flockterkit had a show – since last December when I played the music in Chicago. Last November I recorded the music with the west coast lineup – Andy Strain, Jordan Glenn, Kurt Kotheimer, Caroline Penwarden and Anantha Krishnan. The recording turned out very good – but we hadn’t had a chance to play the music out here until now. This was a free show at the Uptown in Oakland, I put together a bill with Painted Cakes (Eli Reitz, Shumit DasGupta and Andrew Kitchen), and Ben Bracken playing solo. It was a good night. Painted Cakes played first – minimalist rock with long forms and interweaving patterns between the guitar, bass, and drums. Ben Bracken’s set was one long piece, using feedback from his acoustic guitar to set up a bed for musical thoughts and sounds. The Flockterkit set felt great – we took our time with improvising and solos – Jordan on drums and Anantha on tabla make a solid percussion section, and Kurt holds it down in between the two. Caroline used pump organ on the entire set, which is a great sound, long sustain, creaky, with dexterity as well. The crowd that came was mixed, but mainly listeners – each group had a different sound and style which made for a balanced night of music. The good thing about the setup of the Uptown is that the bar is separate from the music room, so the people that don’t want to listen can do their talking somewhere else. If only every place was built that way….