Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Third of Many Installments of Me

Track six from Friends Family Disease Death by Sistemazione

Towards the end of my Portland reality, I played pretty regularly with Jacob Hall, Matthew Freid and Jeffery Helwig.  We had a nifty little combo called Sistemazione.

We had a semi regular thing at a happy and fun little club in Portland Oregon called The Dunes on the inviting and friendly MLK drive.  Combine that with zero publicity (not bragging or complaining) and a Monday night and you get a regular, dedicated, guaranteed audience of usually between zero and one. 

I liked that aspect of it...the dystopic setting combined with Portland's well disguised yet undeniable apathy toward and disinterest in a realisation of This Music without the central presence of clogs or vaudeville.  I really could do what ever I wanted on that saxophone because absolutely no one cared.  It was very liberating.  I felt comfortable there.  Maybe abuse is addictive, but in a way it was ideal.

This track was from the "record" which was stillborn, but still fun to make just the same.  It was recorded at Audible Alchemy where Built to Spill eventually took up a multi year residence of extreme thoroughness.  It's my favorite building on Mississippi Avenue there in hip, happening North Portland.  Full of memories too--like the time I brought a toilet plunger there at 1am during a Wolf Parade recording session.  Issac Brock thanked me personally:  "That's what I call doing someone a nice" is what he said.  When you need a plunger, you need a plunger I guess.  The plumbing was brand new.  Must have been quite the recording session.

More music to come from the Neve console and Studer deck at Audible Alchemy soon.  Stay tuned for the next edition of Many Installments of Me!
 

Sunday, November 21, 2010

"Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" by Josh Alan Friedman



Josh Alan's first 45.

To purchase your digital copy of the original "Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" single, click here.

© 1988, 2010 Josh Alan Friedman

Video by Wyatt Doyle & Josh Alan Friedman, with artwork by Drew Friedman. Visit DrewFriedman.net

Josh plays "Thanksgiving" live here.

Saturday, November 20, 2010


Mary Woronov at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, December 2009

Visit MaryWoronov.com here.

copyright © 2009, 2010 Wyatt Doyle

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Second of Many Installments Of Me

All Of Them Are Mine by Stanley Jason Zappa

Of the many, many lingering regrets from my time at Bennington College, one of the big ones is not taking advantage of the computer music offerings.   

Joel Chadabe headed up the department.  I remember for some reason, in some class, he came and gave a lecture.  Maybe he just gave a lecture...I can't remember.   I do remember within moments of him opening his mouth having one of those d'oh! moments of bad, wherein I realised I should have been studying with him (as well) all along.

This one was made with a $1.00 (one dollar) MIDI keyboard, plugged into the computer via a high-latency cable, which may have come with the keyboard.  At the time of this track's creation, my computer had a Yahama XG midi card.

The way this one was most likely made was by turning the recording tempo up as high as it could go.  999bpm maybe?  Then, I pressed all the keys and all the buttons as fast and as frantically as I could.  From there, it was slowed down to 20bpm.  Thanks to the magic of MIDI, all the pitches stay the same.  Love that!  I made it, but I didn't make itLove that even more!

While I don't really seek it out all that aggressively, I've had my joys with electronica and computer music.  Conlan Nancarrow has to be thought of as a predecessor and antecedent to the world of MIDI, no?  Gotta love Jazz From Hell and Civilization Phase III.  There's nothing wrong with Kraftwerk, nor is there anything wrong with Matt Weston, nor is there anything wrong with Stalaktos.

I wish they'd hook some of these super computers up to a MIDI keyboard.  Can you imagine the sound(s) one of those things could make turned up to eleven?

copyright © 2010 Wyatt Doyle

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The First of Many Installments of Me

Good news and bad news.

Good news: less me using hurt words

Bad News:  more me making hurt sounds--you know, CEF or Shwe owei cwded leehdas or the Hated Music or the Beloved Music or my new favorite "Crazy people music" or what ever it is you want to call it.


Soap and Water Country Boy by the Leonard Skrowaczewski Zappa trio featuring Wyatt Doyle.

Soap and Water Country Boy  features the sadly defunct and sorely missed Leonard Skrowaczewski Zappa trio with the addition of Wyatt Doyle on vocals.  The track was recorded at KEXP in Seattle for a show called Sonarchy hosted by Doug Haire.

The recording was a lot of fun.  Doug Haire was a joy to work with.  A fast set up and a great sound within minutes.  No excruciating microphone gymnastics or endless knob twiddlery.

Much of Wyatt's content is only meaningful to a handfull of people--lines like "That was the Little Man...the Little Man" resonate more fully with some than with others.  The rest of are accessible to all:  "Well, not the Jesus Christ, but a Jesus Christ."

The show was supposed to be for live broadcast.  It was not.  It was eventually broadcast, but according to those listening, as soon as the words started, the live transmission ended.  HA!  I think they went to a baseball game maybe?

More material from this session can be found here.

Stay tuned for more me!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween! I'm Number One!



It was Drowning Witch or Goblin Girl.  I wanted something with a sola, so Drowning Witch it is.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Chad Wackerman as much as the next guy, but it is an enduring sorrow that FZ never played with anyone like Laurence Cook or Paul Lovens or Sunny Murray, or someone who could really go out.  I can listen to that era of FZ's soloing for hours and hours and hours and still feel like, I dunno...like there was still more yet to be said/played/done.  (Oddly, I don't feel that way the electronic music or the symphonic material.)

But really, this is no time for sorrow, because I'm number one!  That's right, I'm the Number One Jazz Artist in the Reverb Nation of Kelowna!  Or in Kelowna, I'm Reverb Nation's Number One Jazz Artist.  EITHER WAY I'M NUMBER ONE!

That is thanks to FANS LIKE YOU!  As you are well aware, Kelowna's place in Jazz history is unimpeachable--vibrant, rich and storied.  Like me, just about synonymous with Jazz.  Stanley Jason Zappa = Kelowna = Jazz.  The music is a reflection of the place is the reflection of music is a reflection of me and I'M NUMBER ONE IN JAZZ OF IT ALL ACCORDING TO REVERBNATION!

So what's next you ask?  Calgary?  Who can say, but with me being NUMBER ONE JAZZ ARTIST IN KELOWNA, I'd say the whole damn world is probably mine for the picking.  THANKS TO FANS LIKE YOU!