weekend in the city

I was in NYC Friday and Saturday to see and hear some folks.

Friday, 6:30pm, words and music @ CUE gallery
Readings by Charles Alexander & Ron Silliman
Sounds by James Fei on saxophone

Charles Alexander read selections from his pushing water and also a poem "for Robert Creeley". Some lines from pushing water had beautiful imagery. In the second work I could hear the attempt at recreating Creeley's wonderfully timed line breaks - but the pauses were a bit overdone - subtlety is so key to those brief silences. And as for Mr. Silliman, ok, I admit I fell asleep a bit. I was tired. James Fei's playing woke me up for sure, though.
James Fei is a Wesleyan graduate who has taught at Mills since 2006. I sat in on his sound art course last September when visiting campus. I loved it there. There is an amazing sense of openness in the community. It's like a commune. My only complaint is that there are too many girls - and not enough funding. They offered me admission but only with a partial scholarship - which meant a no-go for me. Fei admits that funding is a problem at Mills. It seems that people who can go there either have lots of money saved up, or don't mind being $60,000 in debt after two years. I guess I am not confident in my composition chops enough to risk being that much in the hole.

The sound quality of these videos really does not do justice to the subtle harmonics that Fei is able to produce - and these are very short clips of 8-10 minute long pieces. But just to give a taste:



That last piece reminded me of one reason why I'm inclined to play stringed/percussion instruments rather than reed ones... I can't handle the spit factor. So cool sounding, but also kind of gross! Not to mention the intense circular breathing.


Friday, 10:00pm, Zorn benefit concert @ the Stone
John Zorn (sax), Chris Speed (clarinet), Matt Welch (sax), Jim Black (drums), Ben Perowsky (drums), Shelley Burgon (harp), Peter Evans (trumpet), Oscar Noriega (bass & alto clarinets), Anthony Burr (bass clarinet), Jessica Pavone (violin), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone), Hilmar Jensson (guitar), Grey Gersten (guitar), Ted Reichman (accordion)

This was so much fun. I tried to record - but my input levels were way too high, so when things get loud, it turns to fuzz. I need to work on my recording skills in a major way. Zorn was not there and I also did not see Matt Welch or the harpist Shelley Burgon. Which meant the only woman playing out of 10 musicians was Jessica Pavone on violin. Not making a judgement on the curating - just noticing the facts. Ted Reichman (accordian player) is a Wesleyan graduate whom I spoke with when trying to decide between UCLA and Wesleyan. He is the band leader of Bad Stravinsky, the group I sketched along with So Percussion last September when they played at the Stone. Ted was so nice, told me not to worry, that lots of cool music stuff happens in LA, and gave me a heads up about the Nels Cline gig at Jazz Standard (Blue Smoke) that same night. Nels Cline is based in LA.

Here are some blind contour drawings and audio clips from the concert. Fine-tipped sharpie in a pocket moleskine notebook.


audio 1



audio 2


audio 3


audio 4


Friday, 11:30pm, The Nels Cline Singers
@ Jazz Standard (Blue Smoke)
Nels Cline (guitar), Devin Hoff (bass), Scott Amedola (drums)

So Ted Reichman was trying to make me feel better about being in LA by telling me that cool people like Nels Cline (guitarist for Wilco) are based in LA. But actually, Cline is moving to NYC next year. Great. You can hear some of the beautifully rocking music he and his band played that night at his myspace page HERE. He also plays on the original soundtrack of Todd Haynes film about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There.


Saturday afternoon: museum hopping with a friend

Frick Collection
What can I say. It's gorgeous. There is a pipe organ still in playing condition on the marble staircase. Sometimes I wish I were a steel tycoon like Mr. Frick.

Guggenheim Museum
Cai Guo-Quiang - I Want to Believe
I need to do more research about Cai. He is one if the core members of the creative team planning the opening and closing ceromonies at the Beijing Olympic Games. That must mean the Chinese goverment is generally supportive of and approves of his work. Which is suprising when seeing his installation pieces "Head On" (2007) and "Venice's Rent Collection Courtyard" (1999). Politically charged and very socially conscious. And quite visceral. Do check out his work in the online exhibition link HERE.


*And just as a side note, I am all for the LUCKY STAR bus line. They totally get a bad rep along with FUNG WAH. But they are operating at least 15 round trips every day - without too much trouble. Greyhound is way overpriced. And I am very interested in this new BOLT bus line... I am just hoping they can survive.