I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Not exactly coasting, but I’ve been fairly comfortable with the tactics, strategies and lexicons I’ve deployed at Stet Lab. Minor criticisms here and there of course, but nothing that seemed to warrant a wholesale rethinking of what to play or how to improvise.
But those security blankets—tactics, strategies and lexicons—seem now to be liabilities. Continue reading ‘Lab report November 10th 2008: out of my depth’
In familiar ensembles, with performers you’ve worked with a lot, it’s often fruitful (and fun) to push and pull, and discover alternative relationships, and observe the network respond, change and reconfigure itself. Similarly, in a musical meeting between strangers, it’s also interesting to ‘test’ the network; to ascertain the wheres, whens, and under what conditions, of performers’ responses.
But between those two, for me, lies an interesting gray area (I encounter this situation less often than the other two). Continue reading ‘Lab report October 9th 2008: being Paul Desmond’
It’s good, I think, to think tactically about improvisation, and group improvisation in particular. You know, however, that you’ve lost the game in improvisation when you’re preempting the music. You don’t want to be thinking this is how it should be, goddamnit, and I will fit that square piece into that triangular hole. Continue reading ‘Lab report July 10th 2008: fitting the square piece into that triangular hole’
There’s a lot to be said for being the odd-one-out: you can be lazy.
There’s also a lot to be said for putting two ‘alikes’ together; be it the same instrumentation, or people who share a name. Okay, AFAIK, tactically, as an improviser, that latter factor doesn’t make an iota of difference, but I can vouch for the former. Continue reading ‘Lab report June 12th 2008: being the odd-one-out’
“This was possibly the noisiest ‘hoedown’ ever………………………………………” —Everybody’s sub-conscious
Anyway, it began with several short burst to get things started, from the house band of the evening. This comprised Eoin Callery (mountain dulcimer), Susan Geaney (flute), Tony O’Connor (bass guitar) and Barry Twomey (guitar). A very well behaved bass player who could have crush the puny acoustic forces, swelled and tinkered over the guitar and dulcimer duel. Continue reading ‘Lab report June 12th 2008: noisiest ‘hoedown’’
Audio recordings of the June 12th Stet Lab are now online.
One of the funkiest (musically and olfactorally) Lab, special thanks to the main fiddler, Murray Campbell, who was joined on the night by Marian Murray and Han-earl Park. Thanks also to the The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) of… Eoin Callery, Susan Geaney, Tony O’Connor and Barry Twomey, kudos to all who participated (Melanie L. Marshall, Veronica Tadman and Kevin Terry), and the behind-the-scenes personnel, our photographer for the night, John Hough, and Amber Cone who managed the door.
Finally, a big thanks to all who came to listen, hang-out and generate a vibe (including the two dudes who added a touch of East European sophistication).
This month’s Stet Lab (featuring Murray Campbell) will take place in just over a week (Thursday, June 12th). [Details…]
Please note the new venue!
We hope to see y’all there—it’ll be a good one.
Next Stet Lab (featuring Murray Campbell) will be on Thursday, June 12th 2008, upstairs @ Sláinte, Market Lane (off Patrick Street), Cork, Ireland. Please note the new venue! Up-to-date details…
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….
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