Derek Webb – Democracy Vol 1 #1
One a month in 2010…
Derek Webb‘s Democracy Vol 1 is underway… first up is The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” It’s great. Democracy Vol 1 was part of the Stockholm Syndrome pre-order package, but you can still join in over at the DW store. My plea for Derek to cover Tori Amos’ “Crucify” is likely not gonna happen. Oh well… I like month #1’s output regardless.
He’s also heading out on a short east coast tour with Jennifer Knapp this March… check it…
Derek Webb & Jennifer Knapp – Spring 2010
March 5 New York, NY City Winery
March 6 Manheim, PA Warehouse 54
March 8 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere
March 12 Asheville, NC Pisgah Brewing Company
March 13 Knoxville, TN The Square Room
March 26 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe Live
March 27 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater
~Dan – np: Derek Webb “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” 
Democracy Vol. 1 is the first in a series of subscription based albums of cover songs that Derek will be recording annually, starting January 2010. Those who participate will not only receive the exclusive album, but will democratically decide what songs Derek will record.
Ever wished you could hear Derek cover your favorite Beatles song? Or Backstreet Boys song? Or even re-record your favorite old Caedmon’s Call song? Here’s your chance. Songs will be nominated and voted down to 12. Derek will record them (demo quality) and deliver them digitally (320kbps MP3s), one song per month for 12 months. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this unique collaborative project with Derek Webb!
REVIEW: The Album Leaf @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – 2/5/10)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I got into The Album Leaf back in 2004 with In a Safe Place after hearing about the Sigur Rós collaborative songs (and Icelandic former-swimming pool studio). I’ve been a fan of frontman Jimmy LaValle ever since In a Safe Place, which also spanned into a love of his prior band, Tristeza. His mold of organically-infused electronic post-rock fits me well. I missed him on his last time through (Jan 2009); so I vowed not to let it happen again… so this time, I’m hitting both Portland and Eugene, Oregon.
We got to the venue, got our tickets and ran off to grab some unfortunately salty grub (East End Bar must own stock in Morton’s). After a speedy walk back, we arrived back at the Doug Fir shortly after Sea Wolf started . They are an indie rock band from Los Angeles, and played a solid 45 minute set…
Sea Wolf’s Setlist:
(as per stage copy)
- White Water
- Winter Windows
- Dew in the Grass
- Black Leaf Falls
- Middle Distance Runner
- The Traitor
- O’ Maria
- Turn the Dirt Over
- Wicked Blood
- You’re a Wolf
Sea Wolf reminded me a lot of Wilco… maybe it was singer/guitarist Alex Church’s vocals. They have a roots rock meets singer-songwriter vibe that hearkened to Wilco in my mind. They busted out a harder rock tune (in comparison to The Album Leaf), but also had nice cello throughout their set. Great opener… I’m looking forward to Eugene’s show to hear more.
After a short break (and a move to the front), The Album Leaf (aka TAL) came on. The Portland show featured the Anomie Belle String Quartet (shown at the left), which presumably added nice textures to the already large, six piece band. Where we were lopcated, we could barely hear them.
With this new album (see below), Jimmy opened up the recording to more than just himself as well. Previous records were more in the “one man band” realm, with a band assembled for tours. It was nice to the see the band that hit the studio with him on A Chorus of Storytellers play those same songs live. The band was Jimmy LaValle, Matt Resovich, Drew Andrews, Gram LeBron, Tim Reece, and Andrew Pates – all on various instruments.
Being the first time seeing TAL, I honestly had no idea what to expect. We lucked out in the placement department… as Jimmy’s gear was right in front of us.
I was skeptical if the studio lushness would translate to the stage. Quite frankly, I think the electronic post-rock goodness, complete with drum machine and a regular drummer, worked out fantastically. They played a lot of material from the new record, which fit in well with earlier songs…
The Album Leaf’s Setlist: about stellar 80 minutes
- Perro
- Blank Pages
- There is a Wind
- Within Dreams * fave of the night *
- Falling from the Sun
- Stand Still * fave of the night *
- 2214 * fave of the night *
- Outer Banks * fave of the night *
- Shine
- Until the Last
- We Are
- Almost There
- Wherever I Go
- Encore: Always For You
- Red Eye * fave of the night *
- Tied Knots
The band members switched around on instruments. Jimmy played several different keyboards, including a Moog and a modulator of some sort. Other members pitched in on keyboards when a violin, trumpet, small vibraphone, bass, or guitar weren’t in their hands. While I still associate TAL as a primarily instrumental band in my mind, their last few albums have had increasingly more vocals. I’d estimate a 1/3 to a 1/2 of the songs had vocals last night – covered by Jimmy, but with frequent backing vocals from various band members. My friend who went along with me commented that the songs seemed fairly similar throughout the show. Alas, I suppose that’s the rub with TAL, but I dug it fairly well.
many more live photos below
I’ll also be at the Eugene show on Tuesday; so check back for that review next week. Oh, and definitely check out The Album Leaf’s new album, A Chorus of Storytellers. I got it at the show, and it is fantastic!
The Appropriate Linkage:
- The Album Leaf’s Site
- TAL’s MySpace
- Sea Wolf’s Site
- Sea Wolf on MySpace
- Anomie Belle String Quartet on MySpace
- Doug Fir Lounge
Check out more tour dates below.
~Dan – np: The Album Leaf – A Chorus of Storytellers
THE ALBUM LEAF and SEA WOLF PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
The Album Leaf Spring 2010 World Tour Dates
- Feb 3: Sacramento, CA @ Harlows
- Feb 5: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 6: Seattle, WA @ Neumos (w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 7: Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater(w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 8: Bellingham, WA @ Nightlight Lounge
- Feb 9: Eugene , OR @ WOW Hall
- Feb 11: Santa Cruz @ The Crepe Place
- Feb 12: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall (w/Magik*Magik String Quartet)
- Feb 13: Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater (w/Magik*Magik String Quartet)
- Feb 25: Lisbon, Portugal @ Lisbon Santiago Alquimista
- Feb 26: Madrid, Spain @ Moby Dick
- Feb 27: Bilboa, Spain @ 12 & Medio
- Feb 28: Barcelona, Spain @ Apollo 2
- Mar 2: Toulouse, France @ Le Phare
- Mar 3: Milan, Italy @ Circolo Milano
- Mar 4: Lucerne, Switzerland @ Sudpol Club
- Mar 5: Dunidgen (Bern), Switzerland @ @ Bad Bonn
- Mar 6: Sankt Gallen, Switzerland @ Theater Palace
- Mar 7: Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
- Mar 9: Vienna, Austria @ Szene
- Mar 10: Dresden, Germany @ BeatPol
- Mar 11: Berlin, Germany @ Lido
- Mar 12: Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
- Mar 13: Rotterdam, Holland @ Rotown
- Mar 14: Koln, Germany @ Gebauude 9
- Mar 16: Antwerp, Belgium @ Club Trix
- Mar 17: Colmar, France @ Kraken
- Mar 18: Heidelberg, Germany @ Karlstorbahnhof
- Mar 19: Paris, France @ Maroquinerie
- Mar 20: Lille, France @ L’ Aeronef
- Mar 21: Bristol, UK @ The Thekla
- Mar 22 Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
- Mar 23: London, UK @ Bush Hall
- Apr 2: Tokyo, Japan @ Shibuya Ax
- Apr 3: Nagoya, Japan @ Club Quatrro
- Apr 4: Osaka, Japan @ Club Quattro
- Apr 7: Hong Kong @ Grappa’s Cellar
- Apr 9: Taipei, Taiwan @ The Wall Live House
And just announced on Feb 3rd (and from Pollstar; so a different format)…
- Tue 04/20/10 – Tucson, AZ – Plush
- Wed 04/21/10 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
- Thu 04/22/10 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
- Fri 04/23/10 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
- Sat 04/24/10 – St. Louis, MO – Luminary Center For The Arts
- Sun 04/25/10 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
- Tue 04/27/10 – Grand Rapids, MI – Ladies Literary Club
- Wed 04/28/10 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
- Thu 04/29/10 – Montreal, QC – Music Hall
- Fri 04/30/10 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
- Sat 05/01/10 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
- Sun 05/02/10 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
- Tue 05/04/10 – Washington, DC – Rock And Roll Hotel
- Wed 05/05/10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
- Thu 05/06/10 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft At Center Stage
- Fri 05/07/10 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
- Sat 05/08/10 – Orlando, FL – The Social
- Mon 05/10/10 – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
- Tue 05/11/10 – Austin, TX – The Parish Room
- Fri 05/14/10 – San Diego, CA – Birch North Park Theatre
Jones & Fripp’s Crimson Tool
So… King Crimson and Tool have toured together in the past. As posted on Blabbermouth, guitarists Adam Jones (Tool) and Robert Fripp (KC) are… well, read it here…
TOOL guitarist Adam Jones met with KING CRIMSON founder and guitar player Robert Fripp last month in London to discuss reactivating a collaborative album the pair began working on several years ago. Fripp revealed the news about the meeting in a post at his online diary, writing, “A fabbo lunch with Adam covering a wide range of common interests & experiencing, among which: the possibilities of continuing our album, begun in Los Angeles some 5-6 years ago; and go out speaking together.”
Drool.
~Dan – np: George Hrab – Interrobang?!
Steven Wilson Cover Versions boxset
Steven Wilson‘s 6th and final Cover Versions is finally coming out…
It comes with a special box to house all six discs. The CDs are available via Burning Shed or Headphone Dust. CV5 & CV6 will be out on 7″ vinyl from Tonefloat when they’re ready. For those that don’t know Steven Wilson… he’s the frontman of Porcupine Tree, co-leader of Blackfield and No-Man, and involved in many other side projects like IEM, Bass Communion, and more…
Two other quick newsbits…
The Maynard James Keenan (Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer) & Eric Glomski documentary about Arizona wines, Blood Into Wine, is hitting limited silver screens in February. A DVD release is scheduled for May 2010. More info over at Blabbermouth.
Radiohead drummer Phil Selway is branching out and going on a solo tour in Italy/Spain/Portugal in March & April 2010. More info over at Paste.
recent jazz {Jan 2010}
So, I usually don’t do album reviews, but I get tons of music (some comp’ed and some purchased); so I figured I’d do little snippet reviews once a month or so… here are some recent jazz CDs I got recently. All of them were pretty darn fabulous…
Mostly Other People Do the Killing – Forty Fort (Jan 2010) So, I’m a fan of composer Moppa Elliott and trumpet player Peter Evans. Peter’s solo show in Eugene a couple of years ago was an avant-garde delight. MOPDTK is a little more straight forward than Peter’s solo stuff. It’s a fun jazz group… very similar in feel and youthful, party jazz energy as Reptet (up in Seattle). This is their second album that I’ve heard but their fourth released. My favorite tracks are “Nanticoke Coke” and the title track “Forty Fort.” I’m looking forward to more from this killer band ensemble.
http://www.myspace.com/mostlyotherpeopledothekilling
Big Crazy Energy New York Band – Inspirations (Feb 2010) Led by trombonist Jens Wendelboe, BCENYB’s latest record is a delight. The big band lead-off track, “Pleasant Pheasant,” is my favorite. There are a few slower tunes on the record, and even a vocal song or two (of which I’m only “so so” on). It ends strong with a big band instrumental version of the Beatles classic “A Day in the Life.” This record is only available on CD Baby, from what I can tell. Support indie music!
http://www.myspace.com/jenswendelboe
Charles Evans & Neil Shah – Live at Saint Stephens (Dec 2009) Slow and meandering in spots with nice piano, this live recording from baritone saxophonist Charles Evans and pianist Neil Shah touches on the minimalist and sublime. It’s a primarily improvisational and free-jazz in nature. I think it gets a little tedious in parts (too long of movements that I felt didn’t go anywhere), but that’s sort of the nature of the beast with improvisational free-jazz. Charles & Neil end of very strong with “What Worked, What Didn’t, What Wouldn’t, What Would’ve.”
http://www.myspace.com/charlesevansneilshahduo
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord – Accomplish Jazz (Dec 2009) Moppa Elliott (from the aforementioned Mostly Other People Do the Killing CD) is also involved in this album… via playing bass. Jon Lundbom is a jazz guitarist, and his pieces definitely gear towards that instrument. A meandering piece and a more classical-influenced piece split up the album. My favorite tunes were “The Christian Life” and the more energetic “Baluba, Baluba.”
http://www.jonlundbom.com/
Prana Trio – The Singing Image of Fire (Jan 2010) World music meets jazz… I dug the instrumental pieces moreso than the ones with vocals (that’s the nature of what I’m liking as of the past few years). It features classic poetry from ancient Persia, India, and China – and I’m sure it’ll grow on me fairly well. The music is very fit well with the poetry, very colorful and nuanced.
http://www.brianadler.com/prana.htm
Next up will be the January 2010 Tzadik & Franck Smith/Zn’shñ releases – which I just got and need to find some time to digest (soon)…
~Dan – np: John Zorn/Mike Patton/Ikue Mori – Hemophiliac
PDX Jazz Fest :: Dave Holland Quintet
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 3 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… next up the Dave Holland Quintet.
At the pinnacle of his career, Dave Holland has settled into the unassuming role of jazz master. The multi-award and poll-winning bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader leads two of the most vibrant groups in jazz: the Dave Holland Quintet and the Dave Holland Big Band. He has collaborated in two of the top jazz collectives of the decade: the ScoLoHoFo quartet comprised of Holland, John Scofield, Joe Lovano and Al Foster and the Herbie Hancock-piloted all-star quartet including Wayne Shorter and Brian Blade.
Though he’s too busy to be fully engaged in outside projects, Holland has played on recent Roy Haynes albums and recorded trio dates with such leaders as Geri Allen and Kenny Wheeler-all outings that he says he could not pass up. He even has taken his recording career into his own hands, launching his own label imprint, Dare2 Records in 2005.
A onetime sideman with two titans of jazz, Thelonious Monk (a short tenure) and Miles Davis (a seminal experience during the trumpeter’s Bitches Brew era), Holland made his debut as a leader in the early 1970s. He broke in as a leader with Music for Two Basses (1971) with Barre Phillips and Conference of the Birds (1972) with a band featuring Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton. Holland also expanded his work as a side musician to include recording with a diversity of artists such as Bonnie Raitt (Give It Up, 1972), John Hartford (Morning Bugle, 1972) and Lee Konitz (Satori, 1974).
In recent years, his recording career has continued to flourish, recording such milestone albums as his quintet CD, Extended Play: Live at Birdland (2003) and two Grammy-winning big band discs, What Goes Around (2002) and the potent follow-up Overtime (2005). Continuing this impressive creative streak into 2006, Holland released a new quintet album, entitled Critical Mass. The album is the first new studio recording by the Dave Holland Quintet to be released in over five years and marks drummer Nate Smith’s debut recording with the band.
In regards to his quintet, Holland sees his band as representing the evolution of different types of rhythmic structures and forms that has been transforming the face of jazz in the last two decades. In his search to keep the music vital, Holland says the band has delved into the rhythmic traditions of Africa, India, South America and the Caribbean, as well as the innovations in contemporary music in the hip-hop and R&B worlds.
Webpage: http://www.daveholland.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Heart Chamber Phantoms
Jónsi Tour Announcement
Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson‘s debut solo album GO got pushed back a couple weeks to the week of April 5th (no worries). Here’s the delicious-looking album cover…
Today he announced tour dates to coincide the release of the album…
- april 6 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
- april 7 vancouver, canada vogue theatre
- april 9 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
- april 10 seattle, wa the showbox sodo
- april 13 portland, or roseland theatre
- april 15 berkeley, ca zellerbach auditorium
- april 16 san francisco, ca palace of fine arts
- april 18 indio, ca coachella
- april 21 denver, co paramount theatre
- april 22 lawrence, ks liberty hall
- april 24 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
- april 25 minneapolis, mn pantages theatre
- april 26 milwaukee, wi the pabst theatre
- april 27 chicago, il vic theatre
- april 28 chicago, il vic theatre
- april 30 toronto, canada sound academy
- may 1 toronto, canada sound academy
- may 2 montreal, canada metropolis
- may 3 philadelphia, pa electric factory
- may 5 boston, ma house of blues
- may 6 boston, ma house of blues
- may 8 new york, ny terminal 5
- may 9 new york, ny terminal 5
from Jonsi’s website:
The shows which start in North America in April, will feature a brand new band and a stage set designed by 59 Productions. Both these things promise to be drop-dead amazing. The idea of the stage collaboration with 59 Productions is to bring together the worlds of theatre and music in a new and hopefully unique way, in order to create something other than the hoary old cliches that pass for innovation in rock’n’roll. The ideas remain very much “in development”, but there will be some surprises, for sure. Here’s a maquette of how things might appear. Cute, huh?
So… excited…
~Dan – np: That1Guy – Packs a Wallop!
American Carnage Rescheduled!
So, the aforementioned postponed-due-to-Slayer-back-surgery American Carnage Tour with Megadeth, Slayer & Testament is back on!
JULY
23 – Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC Canada
24 – Heavy MTL, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC Canada
26 – Metro Centre, Halifax, NS Canada
27 – Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB Canada
29 – Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON Canada
30 – John Labatt Centre Center, London, ON Canada
(Slayer European festivals)
AUGUST
11 – Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY
12 – Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
14 – Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA
15 – Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
16 – Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford, CT
18 – Tower City Amphitheatre, Cleveland, OH
19 – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
20 – UIC Pavillon, Chicago, IL
21 – Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
23 – Cap Fed Park @Sandstone, Kansas City, KS
25 – Magness Arena, Denver, CO
26 – Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM
27 – Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
29 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA
30 – Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
31 – Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
SEPTEMBER
1 – Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
3 – Wamu Theatre, Seattle, WA
4 – Washington County Fairgrounds, Portland, OR
The Portland show is now last instead of near first… heck, I’m glad about any! \mm/
~Dan – np: Feldman & Courvoisier – Oblivia
REVIEW: Popovich Comedy Pet Theater @ the Hult (Eugene, OR – 1/31/10)
FYI… A FEW PICTURES from the HULT SHOW at the BOTTOM
So, we got the flyer for the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater in the mail and had to go. It’s sponsored by Greenhill Humane Society – a great pet-friendly organization in Eugene. The show started at 2:30pm and was the same day as the Oregon Truffle Festival. Ack! Quandary! We opted hit the OTF 2010 beforehand. Amazing time at OTF, as usual. Check out my review of last year’s Oregon Truffle Fest, including the Lagotto Romagnolo (truffle dog) demo.
Anyway, back to Popovich… or as I like to call it… Pupovich…
Gregory Popovich has been featured on tons of television shows (Leno, Letterman, America’s Got Talent, et cetera), featuring his amazingly trained pets (all rescue animals – even the geese). Most notably, he has actually managed to train house cats to do tricks.
Let me let that sink in for you.
House cats. Here’s a USA Today article/interview with Gregory with a cat-training Q&A.
The show started shortly after 2:30pm… with a little doggie announcer (see video below). The first set was about 45 minutes until the intermission. It was jam packed with juggling, acrobatics, tight-rope walking animals, and more. Some of my favorite bits were the train intro (cute stuff going on), the snowy park scene, and the class scene (full of about 8 dogs). The end of the train scene with the dog dressed up as an elephant was hilarious. I’m more of a dog fan; so the way they were all working together with Gregory in the class scene was really cute. The dog & cat interaction during the snowy park scene was also really endearing.
(more pictures below)
The second set (about 30 minutes) started off with a cute doggie balloon soccer game. Up next was an adorable doggie medical clinic set, followed by impressive human rope jumpers. The finale was the cat show… about a dozen cats climbing posts, jumping through hoops, tight rope walking, parallel bar work, and all around being cats! At the end one of the cats didn’t want to leave; so Gregory brought out a dog and it got on its hind legs, and then the cat jumped on its shoulders and rode away on the walking dog.
Overall, the afternoon was highly entertaining and adorable! If you are in Vegas or if the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater comes to your town… go!
The Promo Reel:
Now, we need to get our cute, but lazy, dog to do some tricks…
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Popovich Comedy Pet Theater
- Greenhill Human Society (Eugene, OR)
- The Hult Center
- The Oregon Truffle Festival
~Dan – np: Mycale play John Zorn’s Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 13 – Mycale
POPOVICH COMEDY PET THEATER PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Margaret O’Brien,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (8 pics)
The Album Leaf – A Chorus of Storytellers
Per a recent email update, The Album Leaf‘s new album, A Chorus of Storytellers [Sub Pop], is now officially out on iTunes. You can also pre-order it from the Amazons…
Tour Dates (of which I am happy about double duty)…
- Feb 3: Sacramento, CA @ Harlows
- Feb 5: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 6: Seattle, WA @ Neumos (w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 7: Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater(w/Anomie Belle String Quartet)
- Feb 8: Bellingham, WA @ Nightlight Lounge
- Feb 9: Eugene , OR @ WOW Hall
- Feb 11: Santa Cruz @ The Crepe Place
- Feb 12: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall (w/Magik*Magik String Quartet)
- Feb 13: Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater (w/Magik*Magik String Quartet)
~Dan – Yuka Honda – Heart Chamber Phantoms
Howard Zinn dies at 87
Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist A People’s History of the United States became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts.
Zinn died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, Calif., daughter Myla Kabat-Zinn said. The historian was a resident of Auburndale, Mass.
He was 87.
He will be missed, but he left a legacy.
~Dan
That1Guy Packs a Wallop
That1Guy was just here in Eugene. He’s coming back in May (15th @ WOW Hall). I didn’t know if was his new album that came out this past Tuesday. Do I just not pay attention sometimes? Yes.
Go get his new album… CD, download, or both…
http://music.that1guy.com/album/packs-a-wallop
I’ll be at the T1G show in Eugene. For other tour dates (and there are a’plenty), go to…
http://www.that1guy.com/events
~Dan – np: Heatmiser – Dead Air
PDX Jazz Fest :: Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Well, the PDX Jazzfest in Portland, Oregon, is about 4 weeks away. You won’t want to miss it. There are many fantastic local and national acts, including these great headliners:
Thursday, February 25 – Luciana Souza
Friday, February 26 – Mingus Big Band
Saturday, February 27 (3pm) – Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli
Saturday, February 27 (7:30) – Dave Holland Quintet
Sunday, February 28 (3pm) – Pharoah Sanders
Sunday, February 28 (7:30) – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
As we lead up to the event, I’ll focus on one of the headliners a week… this week is all about Norwegian jazz masters Trygve Seim & Frode Haltli.
A unique saxophone/accordion duo and key figures in the new Norwegian music, Trygve Seim and Frode Haltli have played together in many contexts. The accordionist joined Seim’s large ensemble for live performances after the release of Different Rivers in 2000, and participated in the recording of The Source and Different Cikadas later that year, as well as Sangam (recorded 2002-2004). He continues to tour regularly with Seim’s large ensemble. Trygve and Frode have been playing in duo since 2001: Yeraz is the first documentation of their work in this format.
The two musicians share an interest in the expressive potential of acoustic music across all stylistic boundaries, from world folk traditions to contemporary composition. Accordionist Frode Haltli came to contemporary music early, but simultaneously began playing folk music in his local village community, and at 13 was the youngest member of a traditional dance band. Folk has remained a thread in a musical life that embraces improvisation as well as performance of composed music with a special focus on modern composers. His prize winning debut album Looking on Darkness (ECM New Series, 2002) including the title piece written by Bent Sørensen, was a powerful summing up of new directions in Nordic composition. Passing Images (recorded 2004) made connections between folk and improvisation and pooled a team of maverick talents including classical violist Garth Knox, jazz trumpeter Arve Henriksen and singer/composer Maja Ratkje.
Inspired early in his creative life by Jan Garbarek and by Edward Vesala, Seim has worked in many modern jazz contexts, and continues to tour with Manu Katché’s group. In his own music, however, distance from conventional definitions of jazz becomes ever more marked. Investigation of Asian, Middle Eastern and East European music – and especially the sounds of the Armenian duduk, the Japanese shakuhachi, and the Indian bansuri flute – have had their impact on Seim’s music and brought about a redefining of the nature of dynamics. Subtle shadings and textures are part of his palette, and microtonal phrasing characteristic of his melodic approach.
Webpage: http://www.trygveseim.no/
Webpage: http://www.haltli.com/
FOR INFO & TICKETS: http://pdxjazz.com/tickets/
~Dan – np: Mycale play John Zorn’s Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 13 – Mycale
REVIEW: Bill Frisell Trio @ the Shedd (Eugene, OR – 1/23/10)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I saw Bill Frisell about a year and a half ago with Eyvind Kang & Rudy Royston… fantastic show, but more on the experimental, avant-garde edge (my review of that June 2008 show). Last night’s show was a trio of guitarist Bill Frisell with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen (Sex Mob, Electric Masada, etc):
They hit the Shedd stage around 7:30pm. Differing from the retro live photo above, Tony Scherr was on electric bass. Kenny Wollesen played a standard kit, and Bill Frisell had a few guitars, pedals, gear to loop his sounds… and a big screen above them to show the congruous films as they played.
At the beginning of the show, Bill explained the accompanying film pieces: four by Seattle animator Jim Woodring, one by Bill Morrison, and two Buster Keaton classics. The band started out with a Jim Woodring computer animation – all black and white, but with many interesting, morphing shapes. The music started off slow, had some interesting wandering scales with a nice build and finish. The animation was quite enveloping, and the 10 minute piece seemed to fly by…
I was only allowed to take photos for the initial fifteen minutes, but the rest of the Woodring cartoons were somewhat related to the initial computer animations – 
many of the same morphing shapes show up, whether in a character, a beer tap, or a lamp. The primary character in the animations was “Frank.” We follow him around in his travels that either end in a big mess, a violent picnic, or death.
The second Woodring piece introduced us to the aforementioned “Frank.” He tooled around his house and then went up into the hills to some odd looking palace, and when he returned, his house had been ransacked by some fat, troll-like human character. The animation appeared to be paper-based stop-motion animation. The music had a Floratone or possibly Disfarmer feel… I actually recognized the melody that Bill played midway through, but can’t place it now.
The third piece was another Woodring “Frank” animation, but this time with either colored paper or possibly fabric animation. 
The setting was a picnic and got fairly violent near the end. The piece was shorter (maybe 5 minutes), which led into the fourth and final Woodring piece… a claymation “Frank” with a devil-type character. The music had a nice groove, and the animation ended with the beer tap looking piece of furniture tipping over to expose the phrase “And You Call Yourself a Gentleman.”
Up next were three silent films… and quite frankly, I lost the music in the viewing. I think the music worked really well and enhanced the pieces, but it definitely fell to the background of what I was paying attention to …
The first was a short film called The Mesmerist by Bill Morrison featuring a re-worked 1926’s film The Bells which featured Boris Karloff. It had been altered from the original, and I’m not sure what was part of the original and what was part of the re-imagining. It started with a very old, sepia & scratchy feel and grew into more animated splotches. The storyline is of an innkeeper who murders a rich visitor and is haunted by the murder he committed.
Up next were two Buster Keaton films… The High Sign (1921) and One Week (1920)…
Each film was in the 15-20 minute range. I was quite amazed at Buster’s utterly ingenious physical comedy. I was familiar with his work a little bit (trumpeter Dave Douglas and his Keystone band has used Buster Keaton in the past). The first one was a gangster caper with a really basic (but stupendous) cross-section of a house with tons of trap doors and moving walls. The second one was of a cheap home that was hurriedly built after a wedding with hilarity ensuing. For the video (with non-Frisell music) check out YouTube of The High Sign and of One Week.
Seven songs, 90 minutes… the Trio took a bow and left the stage. They hit the stage one last time for a short animation of Woodring’s Frank called Whim Grinder:
I enjoyed the film and animation accompanying Frisell’s music; though, I’ll say again that the music really dropped to the background on some of the wild imagery of the Frank cartoons and storylines & physical comedy going on in the films. Upcoming tour dates of Frisell’s include Eyvind Kang/Rudy Royston dates, some Ron Carter/Paul Motion dates, some 858 Quartet dates, and these Scherr/Wollesen dates (which would presumably feature the films/animations as well)…
- 1/24/2010 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door
- 4/2/2010 – Savannah, GA – Savannah Music Festival at Charles Morris Center
- 4/3/2010 – Savannah, GA – Savannah Music Festival at Charles Morris Center
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Bill Frisell’s Site
- Bill Frisell on MySpace
- Tony Scherr’s Site
- Tony Scherr on MySpace
- Jim Woodring – Animator
- The Shedd Institute
BILL FRISELL TRIO PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld,
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REVIEW: Fulero + Day’s Elliott Smith Tribute @ Sam Bond’s (Eugene, OR – 1/23/10)
I had two shows last night… first was the Bill Frisell Trio. I’ll post that review later today (or first thing Monday morning). After the show I rode over to Sam Bond’s Garage and got there right around 9:30. There was Elliott Smith music already going on. I was confused, as I knew the band was supposed to be a duo, but this was just one guy doing Elliott Smith tunes. I found at after the fact that I had walked in on the first song (yay!). I guess the Elliott Smith tribute duo of Fulero + Day had an Elliott Smith solo tributer go before them. I caught him name as Scotty Paray, but the spelling may be suspect. No doubling up on songs, from what I stuck around for…
Scotty Paray’s Setlist
- Son of Sam
- Can’t Make a Sound
- Happiness
- Alameda
- A Living Will
- Miss Misery
Scotty was good, switched between keyboard and guitar. Perhaps not all that strong in the vocal category, but Elliott’s songs shone through, and Scotty’s effort was evident (the crowd was a bit noisy/talky, though). Fulero + Day came on shortly after Scotty was done. It was Asher Fulero on keyboard and Nathan Day on guitar. They switched off in the vocal category. Great tribute, and again, despite the noisy crowd, Elliott’s songs shone through.
Fulero + Day’s Setlist
- Pretty (Ugly Before)
- Bottle Up and Explode
- No Name #4
- Clementine
- Rose Parade
- Sweet Adeline
- Coast to Coast
- Baby Britain
- Somebody’s Baby
- (…the show continued whereas I didn’t…)
I left around 10:30pm… partly because it had been a long day, but a lot to do with the annoying, loud & talky crowd. I caught an hour of great songs that made me remember seeing Elliott play many of them himself back in 2000 at Southgate House in Newport, KY. He is missed.
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Wayne Shorter – Juju
Matisyahu on Daytrotter
The few websites that aren’t RSS feed-able that made it to my “must check every day” list… Daytrotter is great, and they hit us this past week with a live in the studio session with Judaic rapper Matisyahu…
Go here for the free music:
http://tinyurl.com/daytrotter-matisyahu
1) Thunder 2) Temple 3) One Day 4) Silence
Past Daytrotter Sessions I’ve blogged about and dug (links and free music not guaranteed on these old blogs): Tori Amos, The Swell Season, David Bazan #2, Copeland, Bad Veins, Nellie McKay, Clare and the Reasons, My Brightest Diamond #2, Damien Jurado, Talkdemonic, Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Bad Veins #1, Kaki King, Holy Fuck… and David Bazan, My Brightest Diamond, Erin McKeown.
~Dan – np: Heatmiser – Mic City Sons
John Zorn – Masada Book Two Marathon (NYC)
MASADA ‘BOOK OF ANGELS’ MARATHON!
February 17th & 18th
2 nights. 10 bands. 19 musicians. 1 inspiring book of music!
Written in a flash of creativity during three months at the end of 2004, the 316 compositions in John Zorn‘s Book of Angels (aka Masada Book Two) contain some of his most lyrical and inspiring music. Performed by a wide variety of ensembles over the past 5 years the music has generated 13 CDs to date, with 4 more scheduled for release in 2010. This special Marathon concert brings together 10 different groups in two evenings-five bands per night. Don’t miss this special downtown event presented at the historical Henry Street Settlement at the Abrons Art Center! $30 in advance / $35 at the door (Separate admission each night)
Tickets at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/710455
Featuring: Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Cyro Baptista, Kenny Wollesen, Jamie Saft, Erik Friedlander, Mark Feldman, Ben Goldberg, Shanir Blumenkranz, Sylvie Courvoisier, Tim Keiper, Brian Marsells, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Basya Schecter, Malika Zarra, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, John Zorn, and more
DAY 1 February 17th (Wednesday) at 8pm
Banquet Of The Spirits
Ben Goldberg Quartet
Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier
Mycale
Masada Sextet
tickets for Day 1 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904665
DAY 2 February 18th (Thursday) at 8pm
Uri Caine solo
Masada String Trio
Jamie Saft Trio
Erik Friedlander solo
Masada Quartet
tickets for Day 2 https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7904675
I wish I lived in NYC!
The Masada Book Two Series (to date):
~Dan – np: Yuka Honda – Memories Are My Only Witness
Bird on a Wire
Being a fan of animals and a fan of avant-garde/experimental music, I am really digging this…
New commission for The Curve
French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot creates works by drawing on the rhythms of daily life to produce sound in unexpected ways. For his installation in The Curve, Boursier-Mougenot creates a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other musical instruments. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape.
Thanks, Jim Tuerk of Greenleaf.
~Dan – np: Hotel Lights – Hotel Lights
Allison Miller’s BOOM TIC BOOM
I got this email this past week about a new album from Ani DiFranco drummer Allison Miller – who I can say was a delight to watch play when I saw her with Ani in the spring of 2008. The album description sounds fantastic to me! I can’t wait to hear it.
The example that Miller sets on BOOM TIC BOOM is that of a powerhouse drummer with an unerring sense of swing and a moving melodicism; an inventive composer with a gift for memorable tunes that leave ample space for bright improvisations; and a bandleader who ably marries these pieces with the right collaborators to breathe life into them. Here, those collaborators are pianist/composer Myra Melford; longtime collaborator Todd Sickafoose on bass; and guest violinist Jenny Scheinman on one track.
Half of the album is comprised of original pieces penned by Miller during a one-month break from the road during the summer of 2008. The diversity of influences evident in the music belies the short time span in which it was written but is reflective of the wealth of musical experience that makes up Miller’s résumé.
For BOOM TIC BOOM, Miller assembled a trio that she knew would stretch the limits of the music she had written. “I come from a straight ahead jazz tradition,” she explains, “but I play so many different styles of music that I don’t want to stick strictly to that tradition. So, for BOOM TIC BOOM I wanted more of an avant-garde approach to my semi-traditional compositions.”
http://www.allisonmiller.com/ – Order the CD
I dig Allison, in addition to both Todd Sickafoose and Jenny Scheinman. I think this is gonna be right up my alley…
~Dan – np: Heatmiser – Cop and Speeder
Auragami “Resistance”
One of my favorite bass-playing gents, Auragami (aka San Diego’s Michael Miller) is putting out a new 2-track EP/single shortly called Resistance. He’s got the chunky, groove-oriented title track up streaming over here…
http://auragami.tumblr.com/Go check it out!
~Dan – np: That1Guy – Packs a Wallop!
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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