Friday, May 30, 2014

The Stanley Zappa Trio featuring Catherine Sikora and Nick Skrowaczewski


The Stanley Zappa Trio Featuring Catherine Sikora and Nick Skrowaczewski. Contemporary improvised music in three unique settings with three emerging masters of the craft

June 11th, Penticton, Elite After 6 at 9pm (event link)
June 12th, Oliver, Quinta Ferreira Winery (in the Cellar), 7pm (event link)
June 13-15th, Prince George, The 2nd Annual Casse-TĂȘte Festival of Experimental and Improvised Music, 8pm (event link)


Catherine Sikora: Saxophonist Catherine Sikora is an improviser and composer originally from West Cork, Ireland and now based in the New York City area. Initially self-taught, Sikora obtained a degree in Jazz Performance in England, and then moved to New York City to study with master improvisers and unlearn most of what she learned in college. She stopped performing entirely for four years to concentrate on rebuilding her approach from the ground up. Since resuming performance has become a very busy and distinctive voice in New York’s downtown scene, performing with a wide variety of musicians including Han-earl Park, Vinnie Golia, Ziv Ravits, Ben Chase and Dr. Franziska Schroeder. In addition, she and her husband, Eric Mingus, have a long-standing ensemble called Clockwork Mercury.

Nick Skrowaczewski: Son of conductor and composer Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, drummer Nick Skrowaczewski has experienced the full spectrum of orchestral literature, from the first beginnings of tonality to the furthest reaches of Avant Garde. This remarkable immersion in orchestral literature is evident in his compositional approach to the drum set and improvisation. Skrowaczewski (along with Zappa) studied music at Bennington College with Bill Dixon and Milford Graves, gaining a deep insight into the drum traditions of other cultures. Skrowaczewski also studied Afro-Cuban percussion at the Harbor School in Spanish Harlem and currently performs in the Sumunar Gamelan ensemble in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


Stanley Zappa: Raised a music lover in the fertile environment of Northern New Jersey, Zappa started out playing guitar under the influence of his Uncle Frank, before moving on to the acoustic bass. While at Bennington College (where he met Nick Skrowaczewski) he took up the saxophone. At Bennington, he studied with Bill Dixon and Milford Graves; a seminal experience in Zappa's development as a musician. After that, an unofficial masters degree was earned the hard way, living in New York, performing with many of the leading voices of the day. Now in the Okanagan, Zappa hones his his craft of woodwind performance as he ponders music's logical and social underpinnings. For the last seven years he has been playing in "No Boundaries" a modern classical duo with nonagenarian pianist Agnes Sutherland.


Skrowaczewski and Zappa provideded the inaugural release for Bill Dixon's record label Archive Edition, a cd entitled Visions. Since then, they have performed in Cambridge, MA with the Citizens' Orchestra, in Manhattan at Columbia University's radio station WKCR, at the 21st Annual Zappanale in Bad Doberan, Germany and most recently released a duo recording/DVD entitled The Upside-Down Halloween Sessions.


Sikora, Skrowaczewski and Zappa have studied, performed with and draw considerable inspiration from the seminal figures of Free Jazz and contemporary Post Jazz. With this tour the trio hope to introduce jazz lovers of the BC Interior to a their unique approach to performance and sound.


Recent clips:



Wednesday, May 28, 2014



copyright © 2013, 2014 Wyatt Doyle

Sikora, Skrowaczewski, Zappa BC Dates



catherine sikora (tenor saxophone), nick skrowaczewski (percussion), stanley zappa (saxophone, clarinet)

june 11 - The Elite in Penticton, 9pm

june 12 - Quinta Ferreira winery in Oliver, 7pm

june 13 - 16 - Casse Tete in Prince George, all day long

Sunday, May 25, 2014

"Is It Well With Your Soul?" by Rev. Raymond Branch

Rev. Branch, Omnichord and vocal.

Archival recording, date unknown


To view on YouTube, click above. To watch via Vimeo, see below.


Hear a different recording of "Is It Well With Your Soul?" by Rev. Branch here.

© 2014 Rev. Raymond Branch, Wyatt Doyle; all rights reserved

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Monday, May 19, 2014

The CRACKER Connection


The French ConnectionThe ExorcistSorcererCruisingTo Live and Die in L.A. Killer Joe.

Pantheon filmmaker William Friedkin does the cover.

Black Cracker is an autobiographical novel by Josh Alan Friedman from Wyatt Doyle Books. Click here to order your copy now.

Mr. Friedkin’s autobiography, The Friedkin Connection, is now available in paperback; order your copy from Dark Delicacies, a fantastic independent bookshop.

photo by Wyatt Doyle

Sunday, May 18, 2014

"Mother, Dont Worry About Me" by Rev. Raymond Branch

Rev. Branch, Omnichord and vocal. Archival recording, date unknown

The accompanying image shows Rev. Branch holding a portrait of his elder sister and her husband, who raised Rev. Branch as their son following the death of their mother.


To view on YouTube, click above. To watch via Vimeo, see below.



© 2014 Rev. Raymond Branch, Wyatt Doyle; all rights reserved

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sunday, May 11, 2014

"Waiting for Me" by Rev. Raymond Branch

"Waiting for Me," recorded in 2011 at the Heavenly Rainbow Baptist Church, South Los Angeles. Rev. Raymond Branch, QChord and vocal.

Happy Mother's Day.



To watch via YouTube, click above. 
To enjoy higher quality audio and video via Vimeo, click below.

 

© 2011, 2014 Rev. Raymond Branch, Wyatt Doyle; all rights reserved

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Sunday, May 4, 2014

"Lord, Lord You Been So Good to Me" by Rev. Raymond Branch

Rev. Branch, Omnichord and vocal.

Archival recording, date unknown


To view on YouTube, click above. To watch via Vimeo, see below.



© 2014 Rev. Raymond Branch, Wyatt Doyle; all rights reserved

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Rev. Branch's Thoughts & Reflections: "Up Against It"

"I'm the type of person who believes in sharing, expressing love and caring ... and most people don't like that. They don't want that. They want something exciting."

Recorded at the Heavenly Rainbow Baptist Church, July 2013


To view on YouTube, click above. To watch via Vimeo, see below.



© 2013, 2014 Rev. Raymond Branch, Wyatt Doyle; all rights reserved

Treasures of the American South



copyright © 2014 Wyatt Doyle