The Tenth of Many Instalments of Me

The tenth, and for now, final instalment of the many instalments of me.  Wow, what a wild ride.  This web 2.0 thing really does add richly to the fabric and quality of our lives.  2011, great to see ya!

This little number was the version 0.9 of the Citizens' Orchestra kernel.  It is a performance by Eric Zinman, Laurence Cook, Jane Wang, Nick Skrowaczewski, on the final piece of the evening Glynis Lowmon, and me.

Citizens Orchestra I - First Piece, Cambridge MA 2007 

This is the first piece of the evening.  The other three have been put together into a "thing" which I am given to understand is currently enjoying the neglect, apathy and disinterest of select music capitalists all over the world!  And that's fine too because it was a gaye olde time that performance.  Yes indeed, all the notes at least twice.  Laurence Cook = national treasure.  I didn't know Jane Wang's music before the performance, and as it turns out I should have as she played great.  (You can also hear her on Sabir Mateen's recording Other Places Other Spaces.)  Eric Zinman is a pan tonal champion and Nick Skrowaczewski, what can you say?  As adept on the vibes as he is on the drums.  Mr. Percussion!

And there you have it.  Ten instalments of me, by me, ultimately for me and the 6 or seven of you who make a point of stopping by on a semi regular basis.

The next instalments of me could potentially be of even less interest, as they are pre-digital relics.  The next instalments might also not appear for a long time as they are cassettes, and I'm not sure yet how to turn them into zeros and ones.

While the lions share of it makes even me cringe, there are some fun unheard cassettes from rehearsals no one heard for gigs that were never played.


Till then!

The Eighth (and Perhaps Ninth) of Many Installments of Me

Lavelle / Mateen / Zappa Clarinets at WKCR 2009, track 1

Lavalle Mateen Zappa Clarinets at WKCR track 4

Did everyone have a beautiful Christmas? Truly the most wonderful time of the year. Everyone getting ready to have a fun filled New Year's? Gonna watch Dick Clark's Balls drop with Ryan Seacrest? Rocking, balls dropping, Times Square...isn't winter grand?

Speaking of the city of piss, these little numbers were recorded therein, again at the wonderful and totally unpisslike WKCR.

All you need to know about this session can be found at Brilliant Corners (a Boston Jazz Blog) in this post about Matt Lavelle--who was one third of the enclosed clarinet trio.

When conceptualising this trio, I had hoped for 3 alto clarinets. That didn't happen and I was very pleased in the end with the various configurations of Bb soprano, Eb alto and Bb bass clarinet as played by Matt, the fantastic Sabir Mateen and your host, me.

I played a segment from this session at Soundlines, (sort of written about here.) The promises of follow-up future group hugs from that event have desiccated, sloughed off and gotten lost in the easy to clean synthetic low pile industrial carpeting with the sensible pattern, leaving only vague and empty memories of hope for a meaningful and equitable relationship between the academy and improvisers. While it was happening, the attached pieces of music did get the attention and kudos of one Ron Coulter, who himself gave a very compelling presentation at said event.

(Ron, these are for you!)

Unfortunately, meaningful documentation of the presentations (and the presenters) has vanished from the ICASP website; yet another virtual disappointment in a long line of cyber sadnesses emanating from our beloved interwebs with regards to the documentation of that red-headed stepchild of a music, Crazy Experimental Freedom.

Regardless, the session was a joyous one. Time spent at WKCR playing Crazy Experimental Freedom Music with musicians of such high calibre is time well spent. Enjoy.

More thinly veiled swipes and semi exasperated expressions of disappointment coming your way in the next installment of the many installment of me!


copyright © 2010 Stanley Jason Zappa