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.
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.
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!
Interstellar Space...Papyrus...The Nick Skrowaczewski Stanley Jason Zappa duo? Stakes are pretty high with the duo. It's an instrumentation that lends itself well to embarrassment and humiliation. Unlike in the large(r) ensemble, there's no hiding in a duo.
On the flip side, the duo is a great way to share some feelings in no uncertain terms--perhaps even more so than the solo.
This track was recorded live at WKCR by Ben Young in 2007. The three or four of you who read this blog are no strangers to the joy and awesomeness that is WKCR and it's helmsman Herr Young. Live to 3 track? Maybe 1/4" reel to reel tape was involved? How soon we forget. What was I saying again?
Music making with Nick Skrowaczewski (drums on this one) is always a pleasurable, continually morphing reality. Next week (in the seventh of many installments of me) I'll post another duet from 2009. Will you hear a difference?
