audio recordings: Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)

artwork for Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter: Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)
The complete recording of the January 24, 2011 performance by Jin Sangtae (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums and electronics) is now available for download. [Bandcamp page……] [Download now…]

Note: there is also a 24-bit edition of this recording. See below for details…

Recommended price: €8+

Unlike some of the past download releases from busterandfriends.com, this one, like Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09) and Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04–04–11), is hosted at Bandcamp, and available as a ‘name your price’ album. Although you can download the recording for free (name €0 as your price) with certain restrictions, please consider paying at least the recommended price. Your generosity will help support the performers and their work.

24-bit edition

In addition to the 16-bit version above, this albums is also available in a 24-bit edition. [Bandcamp page: 24-bit edition…] [Download: 24-bit edition…]

If in doubt, monomaniac audiophile nerds aside, you probably want the 16-bit edition. (Many thanks to Alex Fiennes for advice on this double release.)

description

This particular trio setting provides minimal tonal or harmonic sticking points to derail the listening experience—an experience not to be missed by [Han-earl] Park agnostics and believers alike. Jeffrey Weeter on percussion and Jin Sangtae on what are most likely hard drives in varying states of repair… could very well be the perfect counterpoint to Park’s active, strident departure from the last 100 years of the prevailing guitar morality….

Motility of gesture and dynamics of phrase are celebrated with sound, neither antiquated harmonic stricture nor pre-Civil-Rights-era tropes. There is a directness, a paucity of fluff, which, more than any other quality or attribute, is what separates jazz from music that emerged from and ultimately supplanted it as the ‘art music’ of our day. Sangtae deserves special mention for his vision…. While likely not the first to use the staccato grrrr of a hard drive for musical gesture, none have used it with as much imagination or in a setting as sympathetic as Cork 1-24-11. Sangtae’s contribution underscores the collective nature of improvisation and creates a feeling of want, where and when he is not present. Without question, Cork 1-24-11 is a conceptual and aural high-water mark few will ever reach.

Stanley Zappa (The New York City Jazz Record)

A stark, real-time evolution of on-stage relations. The performance took place during Seoul-based experimental electronic musician Jin Sangtae’s European tour. Featuring clanking hard drives, buzzing electronics, noisy guitars and machine gun percussion, this recording captures Jin’s meeting with guitarist-improviser Han-earl Park, and composer, drummer and intermedia artist Jeffrey Weeter.

personnel

Jin Sangtae (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums and electronics).

track listing

Hash Collision (13:56), Seek (10:17), Significant Bit (12:17), Discontiguous (9:37), Walking Drives (5:30). Total duration: 51:37.

recording details

All music by Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter.

Recorded live January 24, 2011 at The Phoenix Bar, Cork.
Recorded and mastered by Han-earl Park.
Artwork by Han-earl Park.

The recordings (Hash Collision, Seek, Significant Bit, Discontiguous, and Walking Drives) and artwork released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Please attribute the recordings to Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter, and attribute the artwork to Han-earl Park.

about the performers

Jin Sangtae (진상태) was born in 1975 in Seoul. Korea. He started music with electronica project ‘popmusic25’ in 1999 and had several live concerts. When he came to know improvised music in 2004, he changed his musical direction. He developed his instrument with Radio, Laptop, Car horn and hard disk drive and concentrated upon improvised music, field recording and related sound works. Jin Sangtae has regularly participated in concert series ‘RELAY’ and ‘Table Setting.’ In 2008, he commenced ‘Dotolim’—a name of small space, first venue in Korea specialized for electro-acoustic improvisation. He has organized ‘Dotolim concert series’ every second month.

Jin is a prominent member of Korea’s growing electro-acoustic improvisation scene, and according to The Wire, Jin’s “speciality is extracting harsh noise and glitches from exposed computer hard drives. These circuit-bending investigations run the gamut from carefully mediated feedback blasts to jerky mechanical clatter to sparse buzzes and hisses. Hovering intently over his electronics, he probes and dissects the chaotic din with scientific precision.”

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park (박한얼) works within/from/around traditions of fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, mostly open improvised musics, sometimes engineering theater, sometimes inventing ritual. He feels the gravitational pull of collaborative, multi-authored contexts, and has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries and concert halls in Austria, Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and the USA.

He is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and is involved in ongoing collaborations with Bruce Coates, Franziska Schroeder, Alex Fiennes and Murray Campbell. He has recently performed with Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Lol Coxhill, Pat Thomas, Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, Matana Roberts, Richard Barrett, Pauline Oliveros, Thomas Buckner and Kato Hideki. Festival appearances include Sonorities (Belfast), Sonic Acts (Amsterdam), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), and CEAIT Festival (California). His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions and DUNS Limited Edition.

Jeffrey Weeter is a composer, intermedia artist and audio engineer. The collaboration with electronic musician Kate Simko produced the live cinema project Lustre which has toured Europe, Japan, South America and the United States during 2011–2012. From 2005–2008 he designed real-time video instruments and performed as the resident VJ for the monthly Wake Up! series at Sonotheque, Chicago. He has presented on intermedia at FIMaC, ATMI, ICMC and SEAMUS conferences, and has work published by Organised Sound, Select Media and meakusma. Weeter completed his Doctorate in Music Composition from Northwestern University, served five years as an audio engineer for The Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Studios, Chicago and currently is Lecturer in Music Composition at University College Cork, Ireland.

His work explores the relationships between media via performance which often utilize electronic and acoustic instruments linked in a sphere of influence with video projection, expanding the dynamics of performance and forging a new live cinema. Weeter’s work often negotiates a shared agency between live performer and random or deterministic processes.

Also available for download [more…]

‘A Little Brittle Music’ with Han-earl Park, Dominc Lash and Corey Mwamba (artwork copyright 2015, Han-earl Park)

A Little Brittle Music [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass) and Corey Mwamba (vibraphone and flute).

© 2015 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2015 Park/Lash/Mwamba.

Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders: Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11)

Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11) [details…]

Performers: Paul Dunmall (saxophones and bagpipes), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums).

(cc) 2013 Paul Dunmall/Han-earl Park/Mark Sanders.

Murray Campbell, Randy McKean with Han-earl Park, plus Gino Robair and Scott R. Looney: Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011)

Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011) [details…]

Performers: Murray Campbell (violins, oboe and cor anglais), Randy McKean (saxophone, clarinets and flutes) with Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Gino Robair (energized surfaces, voltage made audible) and Scott R. Looney (hyperpiano).

(cc) 2012 Murray Campbell/Randy McKean/Han-earl Park/Gino Robair/Scott R. Looney.

Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray: Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10)

Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10) [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Marian Murray (violin).

(cc) 2012 Han-earl Park/Marian Murray.

Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder: Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09)

Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09) [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophone).

(cc) 2012 Han-earl Park/Franziska Schroeder.

Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park: Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11)

Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11) [details…]

Performers: Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Ian Smith (trumpet) and Han-earl Park (guitar).

(cc) 2012 Catherine Sikora/Ian Smith/Han-earl Park.

updates

10-24-12: add recommended price.
05-20-13: updated the ‘also available for download’ list.
07-02-13: updated review.
11-01-15: add A Little Brittle Music to downloads list, and change currency from USD to EUR.

in preparation: Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)

artwork for Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter: Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)
Next download release will be the recording of the January 24, 2011 performance by Jin Sangtae (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums and electronics). In addition to being available in a variety of formats (including lossless), this recording will also be available in a 24-bit edition that preserves the wide dynamic range of the original performance.

More info to follow…

Also available for download…

rerelease: Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03–26–09)
audio recordings: Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04–04–11)
audio recordings: Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (Birmingham, 02–15–11)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park and Richard Scott (Berlin, 10–23–10)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07–29–10)

Free Jazz: Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04–04–11)

artwork for Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park: Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11)
Free Jazz Blog publishes a rare double review of the download release by Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park. In one review, Philip Coombs describes a “wonderful gem of a recording,” focussing, in particular, on Catherine Sikora’s sound:

These rare folk have the ability to spin a tale you have possibly heard before but can retell it with such clarity that you are captivated or better yet hypnotized. They can give you a new understanding of something you thought you already knew. This is a beautiful power and an ability that is rare to possess.

Catherine Sikora is such a person/player. She has a clean and colorful voice that could read me my autobiography and still have me in suspense….

The main story on the recording is track three. Clocking in at almost 25 minutes, Red Line Speed, is, to continue a theme here, the Shakespearian tragedy of the album. It starts with the chatter of a couple sitting at a table close to one of the microphones. The guitar comes in but the conversation continues in the background. Park changes up his percussive touch and somehow gets his guitar to sound like a tuba of sorts. The trumpet is next, adding to the subplot. By the time Sikora joins in, the stage has been set for quite the journey….

A wonderful gem of a recording. [Read the rest…]

Philip Coombs

Tom Burrisreview also puts the spotlight on ‘Red Line Speed’ while imaging hearing a lost “Sonny Rollins and Derek Bailey duet”:

…‘Red Line Speed,’ best represents the trio’s interplay and dynamics. There is a moment where you’d swear you were listening to a Sonny Rollins and Derek Bailey duet. Smith plays spastic trumpet figures with a mute, while Sikora plays fluid lines and Park darts in between them. Smith plays a short solo of hissing sounds. My favorite moment occurs when Smith sounds like a drunken bumblebee & Sikora plays spiral figures as if she’s waving her arms, shooing him away. Then Park appears with sonic smacks, clumsily chasing the bee with an oar. When the piece comes to an abrupt end, amid trilling saxophone, muted trumped, and guitar smears, it sounds like they ripped a peanut butter sandwich apart and smashed it back together with the captured bee inside.

Park is especially adept at steering the group down side streets they might have otherwise ignored and utilizes simple techniques to arrive at unique sounds, such as sticking a piece of metal between the guitar strings & then finger-picking to approximate an alien banjo. Sikora is often the anchor of the trio, grounding them in traditional sonic terrain while playing every bit as imaginatively as the more unconventional Smith and Park. Smith frequently surprises with blurts and burps in one second, and full open tones in the next. [Read the rest…]

Tom Burris

[More about this recording…] [All reviews…]

Also available for download…

rerelease: Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03–26–09)
audio recordings: Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (Birmingham, 02–15–11)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park and Richard Scott (Berlin, 10–23–10)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07–29–10)

Chain D.L.K.: Numbers: Richard Barrett + Han-earl Park

CD cover of ‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) with Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park (copyright 2012, Creative Sources Recordings)
‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) © 2012 Creative Sources

Death of an Accountant? In his review at Chain D.L.K. of Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park’s ‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd), Vito Camarretta imagines an unfortunate scenario for an “accountant, a computer expert or an operational researcher”, and describes an “acoustic lucid computational delirium, whose trajectory is impossible to outguess”:

You can easily imagine an accountant, a computer expert or an operational researcher in the act of falling prey of frightening hallucinations after a session of intensive work on numerical models, impressive balance sheets or other number-covered screed and their colossal equations or string while getting turned into ominous entities which paralyze their own maker in order to obsess, harass and torture him till death while listening to this amazing and fuzzy release by Welsh electronic musician and performer Richard Barrett (some well-trained listeners could know his collaborative project FURT with Paul Obermayer as well as his work within the Elision Ensemble) and guitarist, improviser and very talented performer Han-Earl Park. By means of an intricate web of sonic hiccups, scrapes, scouring, gluts, gargles and cuts, they build an acoustic lucid computational delirium, whose trajectory is impossible to outguess.

[Read the rest…]

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) is available from Creative Sources Recordings. [More info…] [All reviews…] [Get the CD…]

rerelease: Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03–26–09)

artwork for Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder: Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09)
The complete recording of the March 26, 2009 performance by saxophonist, performer and theorist Franziska Schroeder and guitarist, improviser and constructor Han-earl Park, now with liner notes by Áine Sheil, is now available for download via Bandcamp. [Bandcamp page…] [Download now…]

Originally released in September 2010, the recording was the first in a series of download releases hosted at busterandfriends.com. This bandcamp-hosted edition adds liner notes by Áine Sheil, and the option to download the recording in multiple formats including lossless.

Recommended price: €5+

Unlike some of the past download releases from busterandfriends.com, this one, like Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04–04–11), is hosted at Bandcamp, and available as a ‘name your price’ album. Although you can download the recording for free (name €0 as your price) with certain restrictions, please consider paying at least the recommended price. Your generosity will help support the performers and their work.

description

Though short, percussive, hard-to-notate sounds dominate Han-earl Park’s sound, he does utilize the totality of the guitar’s sonorities—just not in the proportions demanded by the nostalgic (retrospective, reactionary, etc.) owners of major media…. Franziska Schroeder’s… saxophone is an excellent counterpoint to Park’s electric guitar, mostly because her post-tonal sensibilities are conceived and executed so well. Very simply, contemporary improvisation has grown beyond the 12-note chromatic division of the octave. Buh bye! It is this extended tonal consciousness by which Schroeder achieves the elusive by keeping the narrative aspects to a minimum without regressing to that childish, abnegating HVAC morality holding hostage the imagination of so many wind and reed players in our improvising community.

Stanley Zappa (The New York City Jazz Record)

“I’m very happy to finally make these available. In many respects, all my playing subsequent to this duet has been in response to, and a follow-up on, the implications of this performance. Big thanks to Franziska for sharing the journey on this one.”

Han-earl Park (statement on first release).

“The Glucksman Gallery is one of the finest buildings to have been built in Ireland in recent times, but it is a tricky space for any musician to negotiate. Sounds reverberate and carry in unexpected ways, and music improvised here runs the risk of losing all definition. That [Han-earl] Park and his co-improviser Franziska Schroeder gracefully avoided this testifies to their alertness, sensitivity and experience working together in other spaces…. Indeed the evening had the feeling of conversation, with the instrumentalists demonstrating the improvisatory give-and-take of a convivial exchange of ideas.”

Áine Sheil (from the liner notes).

“Park and Schroeder are involved in ongoing collaborations enrolling human and machine musicians, public and laboratory situations, formal and ad-hoc environments, material and social technologies, in real-time, interactive play. Seeking to (re)engineer notions of virtuosity in the context of latter-day, trans-national experimentalism and improvised musics, their performances embrace the contingent and contradictory.”

Original blurb for the performance.

personnel

Han-earl Park (guitar) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophone).

track listing

Chorale (11:58), Scatter (9:00), Nova (14:10). Total duration: 35:06.

recording details

All music by Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder.

Recorded live March 26, 2009 at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork.
Performance presented by the Lewis Glucksman Gallery.
Recorded and mastered by Han-earl Park.
Liner notes by Áine Sheil.
Artwork by Han-earl Park.

The recordings (Chorale, Scatter, and Nova), liner notes and artwork released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Please attribute the recordings to Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder, the liner notes to Áine Sheil, and the artwork to Han-earl Park.

about the performers

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park has been working within/from/around traditions of fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, mostly open improvised musics for over fifteen years, sometimes engineering theater, sometimes inventing ritual. He feels the gravitational pull of collaborative, multi-authored contexts, and has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces in Austria, Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and the USA.

He is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and is involved in collaborations with Bruce Coates, Franziska Schroeder, Alex Fiennes and Murray Campbell. He has recently performed with Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Lol Coxhill, Pat Thomas, Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, Matana Roberts, Richard Barrett, Pauline Oliveros, Thomas Buckner and Kato Hideki. Festival appearances include Sonorities (Belfast), Sonic Acts (Amsterdam), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), VAIN Live Art (Oxford), and the Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology Festival (California). His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions and DUNS Limited Edition.

Park founded Stet Lab, a monthly improvised music space in Cork, Ireland, and taught improvisation at the UCC Department of Music.

“Guitarist Han-earl Park is a musical philosopher…. Expect unexpected things from Park, who is a delightful shape-shifter….”

Brian Morton (Point of Departure)

Franziska Schroeder is a saxophonist and theorist. She received her saxophone training in Berlin and Australia and later from Marie-Bernadette Charrier / Conservatoire Supérieure in Bordeaux.

With her trio FAINT Schroeder released a CD of improvised and electroacoustic music in 2007 with Pedro Rebelo (piano and instrumental parasites) and Steven Davis (drums), and a second CD, both on the creative source label. Schroeder has performed with many international musicians including Pauline Oliveros, Stelarc, the Avatar Orchestra, Chris Brown, John Kenny, Tom Arthurs, Nuno Rebelo and Evan Parker.

She holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and has written for many international journals, including Leonardo, Organised Sound, Performance Research, Cambridge Publishing and Routledge. Her book “Re-situating Performance Within The Threshold: Performance practice understood through theories of embodiment” appeared in 2009. Schroeder also published a book on user-generated content for Cambridge Publishing Scholars in 2009.

Schroeder is on the development committee of NMSAT (Networked Music & SoundArt Timeline), and has been on the programming committee for the DRHA (Digital Resources in the Humanities and Arts) conference since 2009. She was the Program Chair for the DRHA 2010. Schroeder has been an AHRC Research Fellow and is now a Lecturer/RCUK Fellow at the School of Music and Sonic Arts in Belfast, where she coaches 3rd year recitalists and MA performance students.

“Schroeder… constitutes a great addition in my book of favorite saxophonists, her attitude basically lyrical, sensitive competences just pouring out from whatever she chooses to release from a couple of soulful yet scientifically-oriented lungs. I’m not surprised to discover that she’s been active on the instrument since the age of nine—the perceived skill is indisputable.”

Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)

Also by Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder

‘io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) CD cover (copyright 2011, Han-earl Park)

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) [details…]

Performers: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Also available for download [more…]

‘A Little Brittle Music’ with Han-earl Park, Dominc Lash and Corey Mwamba (artwork copyright 2015, Han-earl Park)

A Little Brittle Music [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass) and Corey Mwamba (vibraphone and flute).

© 2015 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2015 Park/Lash/Mwamba.

Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders: Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11)

Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11) [details…]

Performers: Paul Dunmall (saxophones and bagpipes), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums).

(cc) 2013 Paul Dunmall/Han-earl Park/Mark Sanders.

Murray Campbell, Randy McKean with Han-earl Park, plus Gino Robair and Scott R. Looney: Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011)

Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011) [details…]

Performers: Murray Campbell (violins, oboe and cor anglais), Randy McKean (saxophone, clarinets and flutes) with Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Gino Robair (energized surfaces, voltage made audible) and Scott R. Looney (hyperpiano).

(cc) 2012 Murray Campbell/Randy McKean/Han-earl Park/Gino Robair/Scott R. Looney.

Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray: Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10)

Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10) [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Marian Murray (violin).

(cc) 2012 Han-earl Park/Marian Murray.

Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter: Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)

Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01-24-11) [details…]

Performers: Jin Sangtae (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums and electronics).

(cc) 2012 Jin Sangtae/Han-earl Park/Jeffrey Weeter.

Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park: Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11)

Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11) [details…]

Performers: Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Ian Smith (trumpet) and Han-earl Park (guitar).

(cc) 2012 Catherine Sikora/Ian Smith/Han-earl Park.

updates

09-24-12: correct error in dates in artwork and Bandcamp album data.
10-24-12: add recommended price.
05-20-13: updated the ‘also available for download’ list.
07-02-13: updated review.
11-01-15: add A Little Brittle Music to downloads list, and change currency from USD to EUR.

thanks: Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora at ABC No Rio, New York

Nick Didkovsky, Catherine Sikora and Han-earl Park
Thanks to Blaise Siwula of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda and everyone at ABC No Rio for hosting the performance on Sunday (May 27, 2012). Thanks to Jim Goodin, Frederika Kreier, and the Rocco John Iacovone ensemble for sharing the stage.

Mono kudos to the Ultimate Nick Didkovsky and the Astonishing Catherine Sikora for the noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. For forging a space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, bluegrass can be bluegrass, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures. To Nick’s noisy, unruly complexity, where ‘extended technique’ doesn’t mean you can’t jam-on-C. To Catherine with her big, big sound, formidable technique, and impeccable melodic sense, who to quote Michael Lytle’s description of the performance “sailed around and through” the “sound machines.” Let’s return to this trio soon!

And if you’re wondering what we sounded like…

Le son du grisli: Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (Birmingham, 02–15–11)

Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (original photos: HeP by Stephanie Hough; and MS by Andrew Putler)
Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (original photos: HeP by Stephanie Hough; and MS by Andrew Putler)

Guillaume Belhomme (Le son du grisli) reviews the download release by Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders. In it, Belhomme describes a conversation of strength, skill and subtlety:

On sait les liens qui unissent Dunmall et Sanders – ce qu’ils ont pu donner par le passé : de Shooters Hill enregistré en sextette en présence de Paul Rutherford à I Wish You Peace du Moksha Big Band –, c’est donc la présence de Park – que l’on a pu entendre récemment auprès d’un autre britannique de taille, Lol Coxhill, sur Mathilde, et se fit remarquer déjà auprès de Dunmall et Sanders sur un Live at the Glucksmann Gallery – qui intéresse ici. Aux salves imparables du ténor, il oppose des nappes et quelques arpèges accrochés quand Sanders compte les points avec aplomb.

Plus loin, c’est à la cornemuse puis au soprano qu’intervient Dunmall : pour déjouer ses tours (de force et d’adresse), Park choisit une nouvelle fois la subtilité : ses accords étouffés renversent les échanges du trio, transformés bientôt en horizontalité sur laquelle les trois hommes s’entendent alors en apaisés.

[Read the rest…] [Download the recording…]

Thanks to Melanie L. Marshall for help with the French.

Also available for download…

audio recordings: Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04–04–11)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park and Richard Scott (Berlin, 10–23–10)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07–29–10)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03–26–09)

in preparation: Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03–26–09)

artwork for Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder: Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09)
Next download release will be the recording of the March 26, 2009 performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophone). A rerelease of a recording originally put out in September 2010, this new version will be available in a variety of formats (including lossless), and available as a ‘name your price’ album.

More info to follow…

Still available…

audio recordings: Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04–04–11)
audio recordings: Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders (Birmingham, 02–15–11)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park and Richard Scott (Berlin, 10–23–10)
audio recordings: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07–29–10)

Annea Lockwood on io 0.0.1 beta++

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) CD cover (copyright 2011, Han-earl Park)
io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) © 2011 Han-earl Park

The website of machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++ quotes the composer and explorer of our relationship to everyday (and not so everyday) artifacts, Annea Lockwood’s response to ‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531):

The interaction between io and the three other players is really supple… and I like very much the gritty complexity of io’s vocabulary, and the fine sense of shaping, timbrally and in terms of gesture….

[Read the rest…]

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) with Han-earl Park, Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder is available from SLAM Productions. [More info…] [All reviews…] [Get the CD…]

arts council logo

The construction of io 0.0.1 beta++ has been made possible by the generous support of the Arts Council of Ireland.

$100 Guitar Project: handover to Taylor Levine

Han-earl Park, the $100 guitar and Taylor Levine
After recording my sixty-seven second ditty for the $100 Guitar Project, the instrument gets handed over to Taylor Levine. [About my track…] [more about this project…]

recording: $100 Guitar Project

Han-earl Park and the $100 guitar (photography by Scott Friedlander, copyright 2012)
Han-earl Park and the $100 guitar (photography by Scott Friedlander © 2012)

Today, for the $100 Guitar Project, I recorded a sixty-seven second track with the title

apophenia: A atomic symphony in 10 movements

ii you seek
iii a comfortable spot to listen
iv to this
v track the sofa perhaps
vi or the
vii floor however
viii standing hand
ix suspended over the volume
x control you
xi find that
xii it is

“Charmed by its [the $100 guitar’s] no-name vibe and single bridge pickup that looks like an old radio,” Nick Didkovsky and Chuck O’Meara masterminded the $100 Guitar Project which now involves some 68+ guitarists. Bridge Records will release the project as a double CD with royalties to go to CARE. [More about this project…]

Han-earl Park and the $100 guitar (photography by Scott Friedlander © 2012)
Han-earl Park and the $100 guitar (photography by Scott Friedlander © 2012)

Big thanks to Scott Friedlander for the recording and the photography, and thanks to Nick and Chuck for the invitation to join this project.