Upcoming show: Low End String Quartet, Sept 21

Our next performance of the Low End String Quartet is coming up soon:

Tues. Sept. 21

at Strathmore Mansion in Rockville, Maryland.

Part of the Sonic Circuits Festival.

We're performing along with Fennesz (from Austria) and Janel & Anthony + Arturas Bumsteinas.

Very exciting. They told me that this show will sell out. Click here for tickets ($20).

Anthony, of Janel & Anthony, was my guitar teacher last year. He's amazing. So is Janel. There are many reasons to attend this performance. The music being at the top of my list. Check the links above and enjoy.

See you there?

Facebook event page: click here and RSVP, invite your friends, etc, etc.

Low End String Quartet: live

Recorded live last week at "Word Free DC"

I think I get ice cream now.

It's been a crazy few weeks, work-wise, and is shaping up to remain crazy for at least two more... but I just finished a whole bunch of things that all had to be done at the same time. What just happened?

• In the last two weeks, I got four proposals submitted to my county arts council. (They have all of their deadlines for the year in a three-week period, which is really awesome) Two from my nonprofit, and two from me as an individual artist. This year, I successfully delegated one of the Improv Arts proposals (thanks, Daniel!). We'll see if any of them work, but if funded we might:

1. do after-school shows at Joe's and the College Park Community Center;
2. hire a marketing strategy consultant to help us figure out how to put together all the different threads of our organization's communications - which is now a huge clusterf***;
3. "commission" myself to develop more solo repertoire - so I can do more concerts like the one I did back in March;
4. and take composition lessons from Alexandra Gardner.

• I finished up a big job that had a very short timeframe: producing original (recorded) music for a dance / theater show that goes up next weekend. I'm really happy with the results, and the process. This one had enough of a budget that I was able to hire some great people to play on it, I recorded all the live tracks at home, then took it to a professional studio and got it mixed right. The end result is nice. Sounds so much better than what I can do by myself in my home project studio. (for info about the performances next weekend, see facebook event)
  
  
• That job led to a booking for Low End String Quartet: we're doing "street performances" on May 15/16 in Reston, Virginia as part of the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. Our regular cellist is out of town that weekend, but I lined up Gordon Withers to join us again (he played with us at Comet last summer) and the contract and associated paperwork is all done done done. We'll be at Reston Town Center's "South Market Promenade" Saturday, May 15, at noon, 2:45pm, and 4pm; Sunday, May 16, 11:30am. Free free free. Hopefully the weather will be nice.
  
  
• I'm working hard promoting "Word Free DC" on May 21st. That's proving to be a challenging task, but today we got some love from The Pink Line Project. Hopefully we'll get some more mentions around town in the coming weeks.

I'm also delighted to be back on my bike after a week. The weather is perfect and my nuts don't hurt! Yay!

Now I'm going to Island Style, where the non-dairy flavors still deserve the name "ice cream."

Later.

Thanks, mom.

So, I have a concert coming up on Saturday. I'm performing, as well as three other bands. There's an "event" set up in Facebook for it. My parents are coming. See that 2nd comment above? It's on the event's "wall" on Facebook. That's my mom saying "We wouldn't miss this for the world! You are the best!"

Thanks, mom. That's not embarrassing at all. Really.

Matis solo concert: March 27

I'm performing a solo recital as part of an upcoming Sonic Circuits event. I'll be playing one of my own pieces, and several works by other composers. Strangely, I've chosen pieces that were all written in the 1970's.

Maybe see you there?



the details:
Seijiro Murayama, Chris Forsyth, Lost Civilizations, Jonathan Matis
When: Sat, Mar 27, 2010 7:30 PM
Where: Pyramid Atlantic, 8230 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910 [map]
Doors: 7pm. $8

[facebook event link]

Costa Rica Bike Trip

Costa Rica bike trip 2010

C and I went on vacation with C's parents... on a "bike adventure" in Costa Rica. It was great. (photo is link to gallery)

UPDATE: Another member of our tour group, Teri Darnell, is a much better photographer and she posted much better photos on her site.

Apple Blossom

This is a piece composed by Peter Garland in 1972. It's originally written for, "3 or more marimbas, played by 4 or more musicians."

I've arranged it for guitar(s). I'll be playing this live, solo, on March 27th. I haven't done a solo performance in years. For this upcoming show, I'm working on a few pieces by other American composers and this is the first one I've prepared. I'm going to tackle James Tenney's "Saxony" next, and I haven't decided but I might do one of Charles Amirkhanian's text pieces (Church Car is ready to go). I'll do one or two of my own pieces too...

This one could easily be done with a large group of guitarists, like 9 or more. That would be awesome. Maybe not as awesome as the original marimba version, but I don't play the marimba. For now, here's the version of just me, nine times.

mp3, 7:36 (7.0 mb)

More info about Peter Garland:
Kyle Gann
Wikipedia
New Albion

Happy holidays from DCIC

DCIC is working on a holiday album. This is just a teaser for December 2010 - when our little project will be the hottest thing since yule log.

A few nights ago, I dug out a second parking space in front of the house and Mike came over to start work on this thing. Here are rough mixes of our first shot at the "o" section of holiday favorites.

Happy holidays!!!

O come, O come, Emmanuel (9:45, mp3)
O Holy Night (3:54, mp3)
O Tannenbaum (7:32, mp3)

These are the ringtones you are looking for.

Amuse your acquaintances.
Befuddle your bro's.
Confound your coworkers.
Delight your dorm mates.
Enthuse your enemies.
Faze your family.
Gratify your girlfriend.
Hook your hubby.
Irritate your in-laws.
and so on.

With the Dada ringtone you've always wanted.
And they're free!
These are amazing times we live in.

Bowling for Women [mp3] 249kb
Duodenum [mp3] 165kb
Soda Can Mambo [mp3] 136kb

For full versions of the songs, scroll down to "novelties" on my music page.

Help the Low End String Quartet rock in schools

Dear friends,

Next year, The Low End String Quartet is heading back to elementary school.

We didn't want to do it half-assed so we've been moving forward slowly and intentionally. Thanks to the Cafritz Foundation, our county arts council, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, phase one is now underway: developing a kick-ass in-school concert program. We are working with an arts-education consultant and observing other performing artists in schools so we can do this thing right.

Starting in the spring of 2010 we will perform our first in-school shows, and audition for local school systems and related agencies.

Here's the thing... Many of our local schools don't have the money for performing arts programming. We've got a great product that can mean a lot to kids - but we need to reach 'em. That's where you come in. A few small gifts from a few kind people can make a big difference: allowing us to offer low-cost, high-quality performing arts experiences for young people.

We're doing our homework to make sure the show is engaging, participatory, memorable, exciting, and curriculum based. The kids don't even know it's "educational." They just know it rocks.

If we can get 10 people to give $50, we can give a local, under-resourced elementary school two free shows (one for K-2, one for 3-6 graders). That's all it takes. Easy!

Gifts to Improv Arts are fully tax deductible.
Click here to donate via JustGive.org
or "join the cause" on facebook.

I hope you have a great holiday season & happy new year!
Thank you so much.
-Jonathan



P.S. We have a record out. We think it came out awful nice. You might like it. You can hear the whole thing (for free) and download (almost free) at bandcamp, or order an actual plastic copy that you can hold in your hot little hands (or gift wrap for holiday purposes) - only $7 if you buy it from Dischord.

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.

I am published (again?)

This time it's an article I wrote about a Jimmy Giuffre record. It went up today at the IndiePit blog.

New Album: Low End String Quartet "Blunt Objects"

A few years ago, I had an idea: what if a string quartet could be re-invented for playing in modern chamber-music venues (i.e. bars and clubs)? Presto: A string quartet that is skewed toward the lower register, by adding a bass and an electric guitar and taking away the 2nd violin and viola. Damn, that oughta rock. So I wrote some music for this lineup - and found performers who were willing to give it a try.

We did a proof-of-concept performance at the now defunct Warehouse Next Door a few years ago. Cameron made cookies-and-cream cupcakes for the occasion. That's what I'm talking about. It seemed worth pursuing further.

I wrote some more music for the group, as did Jodi Beder. We played another show. People seemed to get excited about it. We booked studio time at Inner Ear. The air conditioning broke down so our recording session was a sweaty affair. TJ Lipple, the golden-eared engineer who was running the session, had just come back from Morocco and had a case of what would later be diagnosed as Typhoid Fever. But we got the work done anyway.

The record is out now and we're celebrating with a show this coming Saturday at the ArtDC Gallery [event info] [preview article in Wash. Post Express].

Tracks 1 - 5 are pieces that I wrote for the group. And I mean "wrote," like notes on paper like a real composer and stuff. Well, not entirely. "Metal" is an open-form piece - there are written riffs that the group assembles as we're playing; and "Shut up and listen" is a structured improv piece with some notated music and lots of room for improvising. But the others are honest-to-god composed. Except for the cello solo in the middle of Grinder, that's improvised too.

Track 6, "Mystery Snail" was written by the cellist, Jodi Beder. It's based on a Sarabande from one of the Bach cello suites (she plays the Sarabande straight at the very end... after the wah pedal section).

I love the sound TJ got for us. It sounds kinda like "punk classical." It has a sort-of classical, roomy quality but there's something DIY sounding about it, too. He's really good at that sort of thing. He got the perfect rock / jazz hybrid sound for the DCIC record too.

You can hear the whole thing (and buy a download for only $5) here. Or you can order a physical CD here. Or your favorite record store can order it for you via Dischord Direct.

New to You: DCIC "Meme and Variations" (2007)

This album captures a variety of live recordings from DCIC's 2nd quartet lineup:
Ben Azzara: drums
Daniel Barbiero: bass
Jonathan Matis: guitar
Mike Sebastian: reeds

Dan culled through a year's worth of performances and rehearsal tapes, pulling together a nice assortment that makes a solid representation of what we were up to. There are some swinging passages, some noisy energetic passages, some modal chant-like stuff, and a touch of electronic weirdness.

Originally, this was released via Sachimay Records' "Interventions" series as a CDr. We got a few nice reviews. Only a handful of people in the world actually have a copy of the disc, though. I'm happy to announce that we've got it posted now and you can download a copy. 128k mp3 for free, and only $3 for a nicer sounding format. (Name-your-price, $0 ok)

Track one came from a show at Warehouse Next Door, June 2, 2005.
Tracks two and three were rehearsals at Mike's house, March 19,2005 and May 28,2005
The final track is from a live radio show we did at WMUC (University of Maryland) on March 4, 2005.

All told, it's about an hour of several flavors of free jazz.