8/27/2005
Saw We Jam Econo at Anthology Film Archives last night. This film documents the history and music of The Minutemen - and I highly recommend it if you are a musician and/or were a fan any of the bands on SST back in the 80's. The interviews and performance footage was refreshing to see after a week of becoming a little too obsessed with my own career, ambitions, age, and relationship to this city's so-called "new music" scene. In the end, what is important is to do good work and cultivate the relationships I have with other artists. Simple. The question of where exactly my music fits in the grand scheme of things - or more bluntly - how in the world one makes a living from creating music - kind of becomes moot when you see and hear the innovations of The Minutemen presented in such a loving, intelligent, and unpretentious way.
8/20/2005
Click here if you enjoy having your intelligence insulted...or if you enjoy propaganda in place of reality... or if you just want to be depressed for a few days.
You can also visit UFPJ's site for a dose of sanity and to read about what will probably be a very large protest against the President and his war in Iraq on September 24.
8/13/2005
Been reading and thoroughly enjoying Bob Dylan's autobiography Chronicles Vol. 1. - The book's subject matter (the creative scene that nurtured Bob Dylan and many other musicians in Greenwich Village in the late fifties and early sixties) and attention to detail is fascinating. After living in New York for seven years and spending a good deal of that time studying the history of blues, early country, early rock and roll, and other types of indigenous American music, I am able to appreciate this book on a level I couldn't have when I lived in New Orleans - or even back in college when I actually picked up several and enjoyed records by Bob Dylan and his contemporaries. I'll probably reread this book several times in my life.
7/20/2005
I'm happy to be a part of this summer's Oasis festival. I composed the music for a dance created by choreographer Rachel Cohen called Recidivistas. Recidivistas has been performed twice this week as part of the Oasis festival (whcih features 20 choreographers) and will have a final third performance July 28, at 5:25pm (217 E. 42nd Street). Admission is free. Twice day until July 29 performances take place in a small theater with a floor to ceiling storefront window that looks out on to 42nd street. The performances are timed to attract the lunch and evening rush hour crowds. The festival is actually an oasis of imaginative creative people in the middle of the normally crowded noisy near-chaotic world that is 42nd street near Grand Central Station. Part of the fun is watching the reactions of passers-by as performances are taking place. I salute all of the Oasis performers and give special props to Kelly, Katie, Ana, and Rachel who perform with strength, intensity, and a good sense of humor.
More free stuff. An exhibition of photographs and texts documenting the Indonesian island cultural epic and Robert Wilson's production of I LA GALIGO - which I was lucky enough to see last weekend at Lincoln Center's New York State Theater - is up at the New York Library for the Performing Arts until September 1st. The production - which included an ensemble of musicians onstage providing live musical accompaniment to three hours of theater - was wonderful.
7/19/2005
...okay, some of what you read on this page rambles a bit...the grammar isn't always happening...it's a stream of consciousness thing...yeah, that's it...
Anyway, if you want news presented in a more formal fashion, the news page is where you want to go. You'll see I'm keeping busy this summer...
I'm listening to mastered versions of all of the Saints & Devils tracks…soon it will be time to give a nod and let it go...artwork will take some time...the final package should be ready by December 2005.
Random stuff...heard excerpts on WKCR from this recent realization of Charles Ives' Universe Symphony...made my hair stand up and I emailed about a dozen friends telling them to tune in and listen...after some web surfing, I found out who does these killer Cajun versions of The Clash's Should I Stay Or Should I Go? and The Ramones song I wanna be your boyfriend (girlfriend) that I keep hearing on WWOZ...and what am I listening to? Have I told you about I Am A Bird Now, Halls Of The Machine, or the CD The Future Sound of London did back in 1994 with Elizabeth Fraser?
7/04/2005
For the few folks who are familiar with my music and this website, I imagine my tastes, influences, and interests are not surprising. I like a wide variety of music - and yet at the same time I feel outside of - even estranged from certain musical circles here in New York City. Which is fine. I've always tried to cut my own path as an artist, and while saying that when you're a teenager is one thing, putting it into long-term practice as an adult is another challenge altogether. That said, I take great comfort and inspiration from my friends who also write, play, and record music. I haven't seen a "major label" artist live in nearly a year - but I have seen some incredible shows by my friends in various configurations such as Gachupin, The Doc Martins, Doug Henderson, and Daniel Kelly's Duets With Ghosts.
As a teenager, I was obsessed with music - but I was definitely not a part of a larger music scene. In fact, I really didn't know anyone else who played music let alone composed it or even listened to same records as I did. So an article like the one in this month's Magnet magazine about the 80's so-called "punk" scene in Minneapolis is fascinating to me on a few levels. I bought pretty much all of the Husker Du and Replacement records as they came out. The article (or "oral history" as Magnet calls it) focuses of course on the more lurid incidents and intrigues that shrouded both bands - often quoting (apparently) the said band members…but as Bob Mould points out at one point "…the truth lies in the middle. At the end of the day, the records are what speak the truth." If you didn't actually know and hang with this particular group of incredibly creative people (both the Huskers and the Replacements records are amazing for their stylistic breadth and emotional depth - even in songs like "I Hate Music" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out"), what you are left with is the music, and the music is transcendent.
As a teenager, I was obsessive about the records - owning them, taking care of them, reading every bit of detail on the sleeves and covers... Listening to records was a religous experience. This respect - this concern I had for people (musicians) I didn't know but who represented for me something larger than a "punk rock band" definitely shaped my value system that (I hope) continues to guide the creative decisions I now make as a composer. Years later I would come to know first hand the devastating toll of alcohol and drugs on creative people I called my friends. And in the years after college, while producing concerts and promoting my own music as well as the music of my associates, I would - as a by product of the intensity of all those involved - experience more melodrama than anyone should endure in one lifetime. So the first hand accounts in Magnet are not startling to me now - they're just sad. I wish more copy had been given to HOW such classic records as Zen Arcade and Let It Be actually came together. Less copy to the venting, the anger, the pettiness…anger sometimes can't be extinguished. But if we survive, we have the capacity to move on to better things.
6/27/2005
Back from a trip down South and I feel recharged and ready to work - although returning to NYC after experiencing the pace, climate, and people in the South is always a shock. But a good shock - or jolt as I like to say. Flying in to NYC at night is always a pleasure - the city at night is beautiful. Actually, coming in to NYC via Greyhound from Connecticut at night also gives you some amazing views from the bridges way uptown...from the plane I could see that cool Pepsi Cola sign that stands near the LIC docks in our neighborhood. And it was lit up! I didn't realize it lit up at night - it was so cool! And it seems the sign is going to remain standing for some time...as condos pop up all over our streets, the Pepsi sign remains. Boldly facing the U.N. No reason for it to be there. It just looks cool. Period.
6/11/2005
Rain is falling again...and I just put on a Duke Ellington big band record (Masterpieces by Ellington) to fill up the apartment with some good energy. Yes, a vinyl record. This one features extended almost symphonic arrangements of some of his classic "songs" (Mood Indigo, Solitude). If anyone knows who took the photo above, email me cos I'd like to credit the photographer.
Had a good fun rehearsal of Recidivista with Rachel and dancers this afternoon at Galapagos in lovely Williamsburg. The dancers ran through movement on the stage in the front room (where the inside pool of water is) while I sat on a chair by the bar with my notebook and CDs. Occasionally, a passer by would look through the front window to see what was going on. The final score for this short piece will feature guitar, violin, maybe talking drum...composing for dance gets trickier the more I do it. It's easy to create a piece that prevents people from seeing the movement onstage. And yet, I always want my music to have strong gestures. The music should provoke the dancers and help intensify their performance. Successful collaboration takes time, patience, and a trust in the process.
Thanks to the Galapagos bartender who gave us all a cut flower from the previous night's festivities (I guess the flowers had been floating in the pool..? I'm not sure...). I carried mine home on the G train.
Next up on the turntable...Stan Getz! Don't you just love the weight of vinyl?
6/7/2005
In the spirit of the previous blog...I'd like to present an excerpt of a song lyric from Robbie Fulks from his new CD Georgia Hard (Go check out his website and his music):
"He's got a ranch with a Stetson
He's a hip-shooting ex-oil king,
Even talks like Buddy Ebsen,
But he's sitting in the West Wing.
Hankenstein, I'm well aware of
But won't somebody please explain
How you get a county sheriff
Walking with a frat boy's brain?"
Copyright Robbie Fulks (used without permission...)
5/29/2005
Friday I had the bizarre experience of watching both the 6:30 pm ABC evening news with Peter Jennings followed by the 7:00 pm PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer. What surprised me is that there was absolutely no crossover between the two shows in their news coverage. Although I was impressed that ABC did NOT spend any time on Michael Jackson's legal problems, the difference between major network fluff news and public broadcasting news - news that might actually make the viewer a little more informed about the world - was startling. Network news is now entertainment, while PBS is getting raked over the coals for their so-called "liberal bias."
In his first public address since leaving PBS six months ago, journalist Bill Moyers responded to charges by Kenneth Tomlinson - the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - of liberal bias and revelations that Tomlinson hired a consultant (somehow paid with monies totaling $10,000) to monitor the political content of Moyers' PBS show "Now." Coverage of this address and a full transcript is available here. Enjoy. Bill Moyers is far more articulate than I could ever be on this topic.
5/17/2005
Bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin passed away May 14, 2005. I didn't realize this until one of my co-workers at my day-gig turned on WKCR and they were playing track after track of Jimmy Martin. Was this story in the NY Times? I download the arts section nearly every day to my palm pilot but I didn't see any articles this week about Jimmy Martin. Nothing on Yahoo News.
Okay, after a quick search I found some stories about Jimmy Martin's passing. This comes from one of them (if you haven't heard the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's record "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" I recommend checking it out. It was basically my introduction - when I was a little kid - to classic country and bluegrass music):
"Martin collaborated with many artists throughout his career, including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His voice was the first heard on the Dirt Band's ''Will the Circle Be Unbroken'' album in 1972, and his appearances on subsequent albums brought his feisty spirit to audiences that might never have attended a bluegrass festival."
''Jimmy's temperature is higher than the rest of ours,'' Dirt Band member Jeff Hanna said in a 2002 interview with The Tennessean newspaper. ''He's a wild man in the best sense of the term, and he's the only one who brought the fire of rockabilly music to bluegrass.''
Songwriter and recording artist Jim Lauderdale told The Tennessean for the same article: ''He's one of the few bluegrass or country performers who really has an attitude. It's almost a punk-rock attitude, but he has the goods to back it up.''
Martin made no apologies for his behavior, telling The Tennessean in 2002: ''I'm just an old country boy with a third-grade education, and I'm liable to say anything.''
4/17/2005
News more appropriate for the blog than the news page I suppose...I tend to juggle a variety of projects at any given time until one rears up and demands my complete attention as it wants to make itself known in a public arena. But for the time being, I am in juggling mode...I'm getting my head around M-Audio's Ozone (a USB audio/MIDI mobile work station), working on a remix of a track by Enrico Curreri (using Ableton Live for the first time to create the bulk of the sonic material), brainstorming with Rachel Cohen for possible summer performances, mixing and recording performances for this wonderful track Pivete co-composed with percussionist Chris Michael, and organizing for a final push to pull together the beast that is Saints & Devils.
Creating should be fun - and it is (take it from me), but it demands consistent attention. I am amazed and inspired by the wonderful musicians in this city who are, in my opinion - along with the artists, dancers, film makers, playwrights, and other creative types you may or may not know personally - the lifeblood of New York City. Below the radar, beneath the underdog, whatever...we're here and many of us are stubborn in addition to being dedicated to our respective crafts...Don't succumb to bitterness. Don't give in to mindless aggression. Don't buy what other people say is "normal" or "responsible." It's nonsense. You know what you're doing and why you're doing it. Don't give up.
4/07/2005
Martin Denny died. He was 94 years old and apparently still active as a performing musician until shortly before his death. I first heard his music at a party thrown by my friends Robert Hardin (Robert DJs around New York City under the name "pwca" spinning rare and bizarre records) and Cathleen Grado (who I write about in earlier blogs). I loved the sound of the recording (vinyl) and the playing. Later I went to Don's Music in Brooklyn and asked him to play me some of Martin Denny's stuff. I quickly bought Exotica on vinyl and it's one of my favorite records. I never look to Denny's work for irony; to me, his is a hybrid music that in its humorous and sophisticated orchestration and performance transcends its place in time into the realm of the mysterious. There's a longing in this music that I immediately responded to. In the early stages of conceptualizing music for Rachel Cohen's dance/theater piece If The Shoe Fits, I referred to Denny's music as I wanted the score to have a similar "ache"... conveying the desire to be transported from the mundane and miserable to exotic worlds of possibility.
3/20/2005
Random observations…A young girl (maybe 7 or 8) sitting next to her mother reading a book of riddles on the 8:30 am (ish) 7 train to Manhattan. A lot of grown ups read AM New York which is this horrible paper you get for free that sort of reads like a PG version of the New York Post albeit with about 1/8 of the copy (it's meant to be read in the distance between Vernon Boulevard and Grand Central Station I guess). You also see people reading novels - all kinds of literature, which I find really cool. I remember one year seeing three people on one train car (including myself) all reading Memoirs of a Geisha. A lot of people read various versions of the Bible - the Torah, the Koran…
There was just something poetic about seeing a child on a train going into the city reading a book of riddles.
Had a great St. Joseph's Day dinner with some friends in Astoria the other night (altars created for this Saint are popular in New Orleans). We were talking about religion, Buddhism, and Tibet…Enrico (who cooked - and is a great composer and songwriter, by the way…) asked me if I'd seen the film The Cry of the Snow Lion. I haven't, and I'll check it out. I asked them if they'd seen the film The Cup (which is wonderful) and they had…he said the director of that film wants to do a film based on Siddhartha to sort of balance out the number of films we have about the life of Jesus. We talked about the parallels between Christianity and Buddhism and how fundamentalism has tried to suppress if not totally erase some theological ideas that can be found in Eastern religions…great meal, great conversation...
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