My thanks also to all the guest artists who have shared the stage with us, generously contributing to, and transforming, this practice. There’s too many names to mention, but I’d like to thank, in particular, two club-runners, Bruce Coates (who with Sarah O’Halloran and I kicked-off Stet Lab in November ’07) and Mike Hurley for their advice, cautionary tales and encouragement; to Murray Campbell, Franziska Schroeder and John Godfrey who took time out of their busy schedules, and stepped-up when others would/could not; and to Corey Mwamba, Ian Smith, Justin Yang and Alex Hawkins for encouraging words, and an unwavering belief in grass-roots music organizations. Special thanks to Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders and Don Malone; heavy-hitters who believed in the Lab enough to participate with neophyte improvisers in what must be, by their standards, a low-key event.

Kudos to Jesse Ronneau for supporting improvised music, and the aims of the Lab in particular, during his time in Cork. I apologize for the many whose name I’ve not listed, but y’all have my warmest thanks, and my sincerest admiration for your contributions—we are a better space for it!

Of course, the biggest thanks go to everyone who participated as listener (and I am thinking in particular of the regulars who come every month!), and to those brave ones who jump-in the deep-end!

Signing-off as curator: Thanks, thanks, thanks and thanks to y’all!

BTW, some of my observations about running this space around the half-way point of my tenure as curator are at ‘Lab report 2007-2009: how to run an improvised music club’.

Stet Lab begins 2009 with violinist Murray Campbell plus OPKA

Monday, January 12th 2009

9:00 pm (doors: 8:45 pm)

Upstairs @ The Roundy [map…]
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland

€10 (€5)

As is tradition, January is the time of new beginnings and resolutions. Stet Lab is no different and kicks off the new year with an exciting event, upstairs at The Roundy, Castle Street on Monday, January 12th. However, as Stet Lab is always attempting to navigate the boundary between familiar and unexpected, it begin with a favorite guest artist and respected (and unpredictable) fiddle player extraordinaire, Murray Campbell.

Campbell is something of a veteran of Stet Lab (he has featured twice at Stet Lab). A cutting-edge technician and popular musical agitator, he brings the best out in his fellow performers.

Campbell, as an improviser, has performed with some of the finest performers in the field including Mary Oliver (USA/The Netherlands), Stu Ritchie (UK), Koen Nutters (The Netherlands) and Randy McKean (USA). Campbell was also the long time musical/technical director of Jan Langedijk’s theater company, De Daders (Amsterdam), and is involved in an ongoing collaboration with Mr McFall’s Chamber (Edinburgh). In 2007 he created, with sound/software engineer Alex Fiennes, an octophonic spatialization system for dialogues (Edinburgh), and is a founding member of the Church of Sonology.

In addition, as a musician who loves to see people get up and dance, Campbell is the ideal candidate for starting off the electrifying 2009 season of Stet Lab. Currently based in California, and originally from Scotland, he is a versatile performer, at home in Scottish, Balkan and Bluegrass fiddle musics as well as ‘straight’ violin. In this capacity he has played with accomplished artists such as Vermillion Lies, and Paul Kamm and Eleanor MacDonald.

To aid Campbell in the musical leap-off-the-edge is a new, Cork-based ensemble OPKA. It seems appropriate to begin Stet Lab’s new year season with a promising 4-piece act that pledges “real-time efforts towards, and away from, coherence.” The (ir)rational agents of OPKA are Owen Sutton (drums), Paul Dowling (bass), and Kevin Terry and Andrea Bonino (guitars).

The event will begin at 9:00 pm (doors open at 8:45 pm) and entry is €10 (€5).

Stet Lab’s 2009 season will continue on Tuesday, February 10th with veteran saxophonist-improviser Paul Dunmall.

Stet Lab

featuring Murray Campbell
plus The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) of…

Thursday, June 12th 2008

9:00pm

upstairs @ Sláinte [New venue!]
Market Lane (off Patrick Street)
Cork, Ireland

€10 (€5)

Cork’s monthly improvised music event—Stet Lab—begins their Summer 2008 season of on-stage mutations and hybrids on Thursday, 12th of June, upstairs at Sláinte. A unique opportunity to witness the interaction between novice and veteran, and local and visiting, improvising musicians, the June Stet Lab will feature California-based multi-instrumentalist Murray Campbell.

One of the most popular visiting artists of Stet Lab (he was guest artist in December 2007), Murray Campbell takes a short break from his duties with Vermillion Lies to return to Cork. As a fiddler (of Scottish, Balkan and Bluegrass idioms), and a violinist and double reed player in Classical, music theater and performance art settings, Campbell has recorded with musicians from California, Scotland, The Netherlands and elsewhere, and performed on four continents. In addition, Campbell was long time musical and technical director of Jan Langedijk’s theater company De Daders (Amsterdam), co-creator (with Alex Fiennes) of the octaphonic spatialization system for Dialogues (Edinburgh), and co-founder of the Church of Sonology.

Also performing at the event will be Stet Lab’s house band; a group of Cork-based improvisers appearing as The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) of….