Anorak and DCIC, Nov 21

Thanksgiving is coming up, and then it's the holidays and everybody's got tons of stuff to do and no time and all that. Luckily we're not there just yet. Seriously. We are not there yet.

Ok, yeah the clocks fell back and now it gets dark at five pm and boo hoo. But wait a second. Winter hasn't taken over yet. We are not there yet.

I have an idea. Let's celebrate the last days of autumn, and do it up right. Before the shopping and stress and seasonal disorder and slush and don't wake me until it's spring. I've got a great idea: let's get together at a cool, fun, out-of-the-way kinda place and hang out for an evening. Even better, let's get some cool live music, too!

Lucky lucky us. It just so happens that we've got a cool place, and a great lineup for a fun night:

Anorak, a hard-to-classify trio of European improvisers (ok, one of them is from Baltimore, but she was living in Amsterdam and met the other two) will be in town. The DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC) will play too.

Anorak is a cellist, a pianist, and a drummer. They are doing neat stuff. You will probably like it. DCIC has a special lineup that night, featuring Vattel Cherry on bass and Ed Ricart on guitar, plus their regular trio of sax, guitar, drums. The music will be hot.

Show is at the artdc Gallery / Lustine Center in the Hyattsville Arts District. Hyattsville is a happening little place - just up the road from DC (really, not far) and just down the road from College Park.

Blurbage about the bands below. Show is pay-what-you-like so don't worry about the money. Just think about the fun we're gonna have.

When: Saturday, November 21.
Doors at 7:30pm, music promptly at 8:00pm.
Where: artdc / Lustine Center
5710 Baltimore Avenue
Hyattsville, MD 20781
http://artdc.com/art-space/

Anorak:
American/European ensemble Anorak unifies musical and cultural backgrounds in an exploration of texture and sound-worlds unique to its piano/drums/cello instrumentation. Anorak’s work is informed by the jazz, contemporary, and classical vocabulary, but inspired by foregoing stylistic practice in exchange for open, impulsive, and raw exposition of sound and energy.
http://www.myspace.com/anorakmusicband

DC Improvisers Collective:
The DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC) is a trio exploring the intersection of jazz, contemporary composition and rock music. Their current lineup features Ben Azzara (drums), Jonathan Matis (guitar), and Mike Sebastian (reeds). These musicians come together from diverse backgrounds, bringing experience from performing in rock bands and jazz groups, as well as post-classical composition. Drawing on the visceral energy and immediacy of rock music, along with the spontaneous creativity and subtlety of the jazz tradition, DCIC is able to forge new music that possesses both great intensity and mindful nuance.
http://dcic.alkem.org

Check out our new record, a live album featuring Greg Osby:
http://dcic.bandcamp.com/

Spider

Halloween at our house was a dud this year. Rainy weather and a street light that went out made our house unpopular with trick-or-treaters. Oh well. Our pumpkin worked out pretty well, though! Scary spider.

Another million-dollar idea

Outsource the "honey do" list and associated nagging. Allow a third party to keep you and your spouse on task with home maintenance chores. You have a weekly phone call with a honeydew manager. If you didn't do what you were supposed to do, on schedule, then they hire a contractor for you.

Think of the marriages that could be saved. And the money that could be made, no?

Another million-dollar idea

'Thread bare"
Recession-themed line of underthings.
For example:

• Pajama bottoms that say "TOXIC ASSET" across the tush
• Boxer shorts that read "Too big to fail"
• a few items in a gift set, named "Stimulus package"

Who do we sell this to?

Church Car

Been a while since I posted any recordings here... I just made this one, although it has been on my mind for a long time. Charles Amirkhanian has written a whole bunch of great text-sound pieces (Eigenvalues does one called "The Mad Hymn" that's all in Hawaiian) and this is one of my favorites. It's written for two voices; Amirkhanian recorded it by himself and now I have a similar "karaoke" version in my iPod for live performance. I have no idea where I might perform such a thing, but now I can.

The piece has lots of great odd-meter rhythms that tickle my math-rock nerve just so. Which reminds me, a few weeks ago I learned to play Terry Riley's "In C" for a performance at a party put together by a friend who runs a classical chamber ensemble. It's about time I actually got that score under my fingers. That piece is the godfather of math-rock in my opinion. It was fun to learn it, and interesting to play it with a group for the first time. Learned some things about what to do (and what not to do).

While I'm rambling about recent musical endeavors... I played two shows last week with Daniel's dance company. He put together a multi-cultural version of "My ocean is never blue" with three other dance companies. Now we can finally put that piece to rest after three years. Two of the other companies used live music, and I was able to quickly throw together some ideas for how we could all play together, which was fun. The show was presented by the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the University of Maryland. Nice to play in such a nice venue. Sound was good, and they provided snacks for the performers. I was also able to ride my bike to work for one of the shows.

DCIC has a few shows coming up, November 4 at Bossa, and November 21 in Hyattsville. More info coming soon.

Things are moving ahead with the Low End String Quartet, too. We got two small grants from the Prince George's County Arts Council: one for commissioning new music from me; one for an event at Joe's in Mount Rainer next spring. We're finally starting our project to develop an in-school show for kids. That's going to be an interesting adventure, hopefully. So far, it's just been logistics and grant writing. Looking forward to actually starting the work.

Hope you enjoy "Church Car." As always, would love to know what you think.

[if the attached file doesn't work for you, click here to play in your browser. Or click the blue play button next to the headline at the top of this blog post]

Hamilton Street, West Hyattsville, Maryland

Some photos I took in my 'hood, 9/25/2009.

New Album: DCIC with Greg Osby "Live At Warehouse"

In August 2006 (don't mind the typo on the album cover), we put on a concert at the Warehouse Theater. They were renovating at the time, and from the street it looked like the place was closed.

The show opened with a set by Joe Lally. Accompanied by Jeff Barsky on guitar, he shared songs from his debut solo album, "There to Here." The we played, with Greg Osby. For real, us with Greg Osby.

It was a high point for DCIC, and luckily we recorded the show. There's some description of the actual music on the album page. One track is available for free, and the whole thing is only $5.