I grabbed my very old, slightly damp-damaged guitar strap off the wall and headed out the door.

It may be as much as fifteen years since I performed standing up with the guitar (and the last time may have been for a game piece by Pedro Rebelo that required a degree of physical and theatrical mobility).

I expected the experience to be physically and psychologically… odd, but I wasn’t prepared for the oddness of keeping my boots on.

And, hey, I never realized how (socio-musically) useful it is to be able to move fro and back as you signal the move from foreground to background.

I figured if I couldn’t carry the 15–20 minutes I’d be playing in the relatively safe space of the Lab without the usual resources (of variable volume envelopes, of the familiar posture), I’d be in trouble playing with the old-timers at OTO. I needed to know….

So I’m up there with John Godfrey: I’ve heard him play over the years, of course, but this was our first on-stage meetings, and I wanted this to be different—to provoke a different kind of music.

And without my usual resources, the volume pedal in particular, I’d figured it would be relatively easy to contrast with John’s highly technically mediated sound (‘sound,’ again, in the afrological sense).

I wanted the performers (myself and John) to work. In a similar maneuver to the encounter with Evan Dorrian, I wanted to create a context in which we’d have to exert effort, to labor; to push him, and, hopefully, to be pushed and pulled in return.

From a curatorial standpoint, however, a problem with this approach is that, as the Lab progresses though the evening, and as many more people engage on-stage (which is a good thing), there’s often gradual downward slope in terms of densities, complexities and energy levels. The format in which the relatively experienced improvisers do their shtick early on during the evening was a created in response to comments from audience members that they desired to witness “how it should (or could) be done” before the relative rookies took to the stage.

But that energy dip….

As curator and club-runner, how might I solve this problem without wrecking the Stet Lab mission? Is it a problem?

Talking to Owen Sutton (drummer) and Tony O’Connor (bass player) after the five (count ’em) guitar ensemble that closed the Lab, I remarked that one of the complications (and one that I worried about prior to the guitar quintet’s performance ten minutes to venue close) stemmed from guitarists generally have bad braking times.

We’re not like our true rhythm section brethren (drummers, bass players, etc.) or our frontline counterparts (horn players, fiddler, vocalists). A braking latency is a trait we share with other idiomatically polyphonic instrumentalists (keyboard players, pianists). Many of us came from the bedroom and can too easily get lost in our little worlds; solipsistic and oblivious to anything but the neat stuff flowing from under our fingers. [Seriously, listen to the track and count how many times you think this happens.]

During the quintet Kevin Terry deploys a moment of near-verbatim quotation. It’s funny and it’s effective.

Sometime later (for me significantly later in the context of this ditty), Enda Buckley also throws one in.

I’m reminded of one student who would, with impeccable timing, while the rest of the ensemble were doing the Make-A-New-Music-Noise-Here routine, would throw in a beautiful open DΔ chord on his guitar at exactly the wrong (thus entirely right) time. It would send the self-fashioned New Music Ensemble reeling from the comfort of its plink-plonks, bloop-bleeps and scratch-crashes.

Fantastic!

This is what Cage never understood. For the Cagian doctrine, all sounds can be sounds as long as it had (ostensibly, and according to culturally and ideologically (and racially) specific criteria) was ‘free’ of history and context. What Cage (and his followers) were barricading themselves from was not convention, but power—the power to disrupt their cozy, easy liberalism.

But that’s a story for some other time….

The pleasure / utility / power of a quote is to throw a big fat spanner into the working of group improvisation.

The drawback / hazard / weakness of a quote can be summed up by the question: now what?

A single quote (as opposed to an explicitly and contiguously idiomatic performance, or a scatter-brained collage of channel-hopping) can have interesting and problematic consequences for interaction. The effectiveness of the quote—to be able to collapse and redirect and improvisation—is also what makes them hard to deal with. Now what? Given that this quote redefined and reconstructed the performance up to this point, now what? I wonder what consequences Kevin and, in particular, Enda were expecting?

John Godfrey and Han-earl Park (photo: © 2010 Julia Healy)

A very warm thanks to guest artist John Godfrey for some high-energy improvisations. Thanks also to everyone else who played: regulars (Tony O’Connor, Han-earl Park, Owen Sutton, Veronica Tadman and Kevin Terry), returning familiar faces (Andrea Bonino), and newcomers (Enda Buckley, Ilse De Ziah, Bertrand Galen and Athoulis Tsiopani). Major kudos to photographer Julia Healy [see the photographs (new window)…], and to all who helped in the backstage running of the Lab.

Finally a big thanks to all who came to listen!

As with all the recordings since December 2008, this month’s recordings are covered under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. [More info…]

Also performing will be The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) Of… Enda Buckley (guitar), Tony O’Connor (bass guitar), Owen Sutton (drums) and Athoulis Tsiopani (keyboards).

Featuring improvising musicians from a diverse field of practices and traditions, this one promises to be one of a kind. We hope to see y’all there, and thank you for your continued support.

Stet Lab featuring composer-improviser John Godfrey

Monday, 12 April 2010

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

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

€10 (€5)

Stet Lab returns on Monday, 12 April 2010 to the Roundy, Castle Street, Cork and features John Godfrey a veteran of Experimental and New Music in Ireland.

A virtuoso performer on both piano/keyboards and on electric guitar, John Godfrey’s performances encompass composed, improvised and part-composed/part-improvised work.

Regularly seen in Cork and throughout Ireland performing with various ensembles, as a performer Godfrey has also toured extensively through, America, Europe and Australia with Ireland’s premier New Music group, The Crash Ensemble. He is director of The Quiet Music Ensemble, curator of the Quiet Music Festival (Cork), and cofounder and former director of Icebreaker (UK), one of the most successful New Music ensembles.

In addition to these ensembles, Godfrey’s compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the world renowned Bang on a Can All Stars (USA) and Bradyworks (Canada).

Opening the event will be The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) Of… Enda Buckley (guitar), Tony O’Connor (bass guitar), Owen Sutton (drums) and Athoulis Tsiopani (keyboards). Fusing and fragmenting idioms and traditions, the quartet will leap from country to hardcore in a single bound.

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

The following month’s Stet Lab will take place on Monday, 10 May 2010, featuring the vocalist, improviser and ethnomusicologist Juniper Hill, plus violinists Marian Murray and Claudia Schwab, and guitarists Kevin Terry and Philip Guiton.

the performers

John Godfrey is a composer and performer and lectures in the Music School of the University College Cork. He has a long history of involvement with new music, as composer, performer, teacher and entrepreneur.

Godfrey’s compositions and arrangements have been performed worldwide and many appear on CD. He has written for many prestigious ensembles, including The Bang On A Can All-Stars (USA), Bradyworks (Canada), The Crash Ensemble (Ireland) and Icebreaker (UK). He has written music for The CruX Dance Company, based in Cork. He recently completed a commission for The Crash Ensemble.

Previously highly influenced by the Hague School, Godfrey’s compositional work is currently focussed on experimental and improvisation-based music, often with live and interactive electronics. It is particularly influenced by experimental music based on acoustical phenomena, such as that by La Monte Young and Alvin Lucier.

In 2006, he was awarded an Equipment Bursary by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon for purchase of equipment for research into live improvising/interactive computer systems. Another Arts Council award in 2007 allowed Godfrey to establish a new professional performing ensemble and to run a major festival of Experimental Music in Cork (summer, 2008). The Festival included the first Deep Listening Retreat with Pauline Oliveros in Ireland, and featured new works, and appearances by, Alvin Lucier, Mark Appelbaum, David Toop and others.

Godfrey performs pre-composed, improvised and semi-improvised work, both on piano/keyboards and on electric guitar.

In 1989 he cofounded, and was subsequently the Musical Director of, the new music group Icebreaker, which became one of the most successful ensembles in its field. The group appeared extensively in Europe and America, and made several CDs for Decca Argo (UK), New Tone (Italy), Donemus (Holland) and Canteloupe (USA). He left Icebreaker in 1997, and in the same year was invited to join Ireland’s premiere new music group, the Crash Ensemble. The latter has also toured extensively, with major appearances in Europe, the US, and Australia, and has made a number of recordings and radio broadcasts

Godfrey has set up many new initiatives in the field of new music in Cork, including two festivals of contemporary music in 1997 and 1998, and has been an outspoken promoter of new music in the city. He works with many local artists and performs with Cork’s improvisation collective The Quiet Club.

The event will feature composer-improviser John Godfrey (guitar) plus the The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) of… Enda Buckley (guitar), Tony O’Connor (bass guitar), Owen Sutton (drums) and Athoulis Tsiopani (keyboard).

To be informed of future events, please join the Stet Lab – announce, or subscribe to the web feed (news only or all blog posts). [More info…]

Kevin Terry, Evan Dorrian and Marian Murray (photo: © 2010 Julia Healy)

A warm thanks to Evan Dorrian for playing and his generosity on stage, and to all who performed, Stet Lab (ir)regulars (Paul Dowling, Susan Geaney, Juniper Hill, Marian Murray, Han-earl Park, Owen Sutton, Veronica Tadman and Kevin Terry) and newcomers (Philip Guiton and Claudia Schwab). Kudos again to Kevin for refereeing on the night, Veronica for MCing, and to photographer Julia Healy [see the photographs (new window)…].

As always, special thanks to all who came to support this event!

As with all the recordings since December 2008, this month’s recordings are covered under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. [More info…]

Also performing will be Stet Lab (ir)regulars including Marian Murray (violin), Paul Dowling (bass guitar) and Owen Sutton (drums).

It’ll be an exciting event; one of new on-stage negotiations and alliances. We hope to see y’all there, and thank you for your continued support.

Stet Lab featuring Evan Dorrian

Monday, 8 February 2010

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

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

€10 (€5)

This month’s Stet Lab takes place upstairs at The Roundy, Castle Street, Cork, Ireland, on Monday, 8th February. 2010. Following the success of January’s real-time fusion of Turkish, Irish and American improvisative practices, this month Stet Lab is set to travel farther and presents, from Canberra Australia, the exciting percussionist and sound artist: Evan Dorrian.

Evan Dorrian is currently based in London and has two main projects: Spartak and Pollen Trio. They are contrasting in style, Spartak creates an ambience through 60’s fire music and post-punk drift, whilst Polen Trio is an exploratory outfit that is founded on melodic song-form and textural improvisation. According to Dorrian, he likes to pull apart the traditional notions of his acoustic instruments and reconstruct them as “pure sound matter and busted anti-rhythms”. According to Ron Schepper (textura.org):

Dorrian’s an explosive player whose inventive fills and cymbal colourations hold one’s interest whether the setting’s free jazz, electronic exploration, or guitar-heavy raver….

Dorrian’s approach has attracted international interest, and his ever-expanding list of collaborators include the jazz musicians Adam Simmons, Abel Cross, electronic sound sculptors Seaworthy and Adrian Klumpes, and improvisers Dave Brown and Mike Cooper.

Also performing on the night will be Stet Lab’s resident band: The Real-Time Company (for the Ad-Hoc Association) Of…. This month’s lineup is the Cork-based trio of Marian Murray (violin), Paul Dowling (bass guitar) and Owen Sutton (drums).

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

Stet Lab will return on Monday, 8th March with an event featuring the Belfast-based sound sculptor Paul Stapleton and the Newcastle-based electronic musician Nick Williams.

the performers

Evan Dorrian is an Australian improvising musician and sound artist, currently based in London. Using the drum kit, percussion and field recordings as sound sources, he pulls apart the traditional notions of his acoustic instruments and reconstructs them as pure sound matter and busted anti-rhythm.

His main projects are Spartak, an electro-acoustic duo that sees 60’s fire music and post-punk drift in dub ambience while Pollen Trio is an exploratory outfit that is founded on melodic song-form and textural improvisation. Pollen Trio recently released ‘230509’, a loose collection of post-processed jazz works on hellosQuare recordings while Spartak will be releasing their album ‘Verona’ in February 2010 on the English label Low Point. In October 2009, Evan released a self-titled suite of solo improvisations, also on hellosQuare.

Alongside this work, Evan has also collaborated with Australian jazz figures such as Adam Simmons, Cameron Deyell and Abel Cross, tireless improvisers like Dave Brown (Pateras/Baxter/Brown) and Mike Cooper as well as electronic sound sculptors including Seaworthy (12k), Andrew Pekler (Kranky, Staubgold) and Adrian Klumpes (Leaf Label).

Snippets from a conversation between three musicians:

“Man, I should play more free jazz.”

“It’s not an idiom at all…”

“…a tradition? …a practice?”

“Just play all over the keyboard.”

“It is so much fun.”

“Why don’t I do this all the time?”

“There’s nothing better.”

“There really isn’t.”

“And it’s the simplest algorithm: play all the time, and keep out of each others’ way.”

“That’s right; that’s the algorithm.”

Stet Lab, Cork, May 11, 2009

Bruce Coates, Jonny Marks and myself:

‘is that it? (because I’m going crazy)’

this is getting familiar…

I’ve played with Bruce on and off for a few years now. After the first few not-exactly-problem-free performances (getting to know each other—Fizzle, Birmingham, November 7, 2006; interesting navigations—FrImp, Birmingham, November 1, 2007; competent but polite—Stet Lab, Cork, November 8; first crash and burn—Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, November 9), we’ve found our vibe.

We have, all things considered, relatively quickly learned that we can’t easily break each other, and we can throw in the kitchen sink without (too much) fear—without worrying about whether we can handle the result.

…But the results, well… I’ve wondered about this before, but I’ll ask again: am I getting too comfortable (complacent)? I want to give that question a slightly different spin this time: if, as I’ve stated elsewhere, difference is both sustainable and necessary (or at least desirable) in group improvisation, then should the mode, or context, of expressing difference (a kind of on-stage political protocol) also be variable?

…Does that make any sense?

taking the back seat

With Jonny delivering so much of the drama (and comedy), I feel I can take a back seat—a position that I’m happy to occupy (to own). I can coax certain elements from back here—highlighting this, discouraging that—all the while safe in the knowledge that all ears are on the two standing in from of me. This reminds me (tactically, not musically) of my days in the rhythm section of the (truly mediocre) university big band….)

Since I heard, a few weeks prior to the gig, that Jonny was a throat singer, I’ve wondered how much of my playing would (should?) evoke a kind of compatibility… no, better, affinity. There is, for example, a quasi-jaw harp effect that I do (used to be a (near-)cliché with the Church of Sonology performances) that somewhat resembles (to my uncultured ears) certain forms of overtone singing. Fast forward towards the end of ‘is that it? (because I’m going crazy) part 1’ (about the 10:50 mark). I arrive at at this quasi-jaw harp effect, trying to tempt Jonny to do that thing. When I feel he has caught on, I gradually pull back, making the result a little more oblique.

That, incidentally, is a gross simplification: there was a lot more going on—hedging of bets, tactical anticipations and adaptations—but I want to tell a simpler story today.

I do this, not with any particular mission to interrupt, but because I want the listening experience to be rich and interesting. If you’re sharp, you’d have caught it, made connections, and patted yourself on the back for being a clever listener; if not, well, no biggie, hopefully there’s enough complexity to provide ear-candy and (unintended) connections.

Somewhere in Belfast, May 16, 2009

Snippets from a conversation between three teachers of improvised music:

“I don’t know why students feel the need to park their idiom at the door.”

“Who play ‘real’ music….”

“There’s this fantastic musician who’s a fantastic… they can do bossa, they can….”

“…they can play….”

“Yeah, they can actually play, but when it comes to improvised music, it’s all bloop-bleep….”

“What’s with that?”

Stet Lab, Cork, May 11, 2009

Bruce, Jonny, Paul Dowling, Owen Sutton and myself:

‘loosened up a whole bunch of stuff’

questions for loopers

Based on a conversation between Paul, Owen and myself after ‘loosened up a whole bunch of stuff’, here’s three questions for all you delay-heads and loopers out there:

Why is it that when many of you deploy these devices, the loops are in beautifully crafted, well defined simple meters? I’ve got no problem with simple meters, but many of these electronic devices will happily loop 79/16 or √2/2 until it is blue in the face (except, to make a Zappa-esque observation, it’d never get blue in the face).

Why do so many of you never abruptly stop (or mute) a loop? Surely that effect could be stark, unexpected and, potentially, dramatic.

Why are the majority of loops in the medium scale (in the region of one to six seconds)? Why don’t you loop in units of the very short, or, with modern devices, the very long?

Here’s a little back-story: in my first semi-public attempts as an improvising guitarist, I had my guitar, amp and volume pedal… plus a compressor, a distortion box, a delay pedal and a chorus unit. Eventually, this chain would be joined by a wah. (I did, incidentally, my first recordings (a piece by Pedro Rebelo) with more or less this complex of equipment.)

Why am I going through this guitar-geek fetish confession? I started as an improvising guitarist of the ‘if-only-I-had-a-gizmo-I-would-rock’ school of wishful, self-delusion. Somewhere in my head, I had this naive idea that what separated me from the Frisells and Friths of the world was the hardware. (Oh, I almost got myself, don’t laugh, an SG thinking that this would get me closer to Frisell and Zappa.)

Yet Bailey never got better than with a guitar, terrible sounding fuzz box, a volume pedal and amp. Heck, Braxton, age 24, got two LPs from a single alto.

Who was I kidding here?

I only got through my personal-political-musical-technical hiccups and hang-ups by jettisoning, first the wah, then the compressor and delay, and eventually the distortion and the chorus boxes.

Fast-forward to the present…

I feel I’ve melowed from my fundamentalist, luddite stance from years ago, but, as I sat watching Katie O’Looney setup her behemoth kit, as I helped her carry her atomized percussion setup out of her van, up the stairs, into the performance space, I couln’t quite figure out what I was feeling.

My mentors include those who enroll gargantuan complex of musical resources and those who do not. How do I figure in this equation? There are, of course, pragmatic dimensions to this (I travel from one gig to another, by and large, via public transport), but nonetheless what are the political/ideological implications of subscribing to one position?

Part choice, perhaps: I did, for example, suggest to Owen Sutton that he might want to “decide whether you’re an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink drummer (a la Tony Oxley), or happier with a more spartan approach (like Joey Baron). Neither [is] the wrong choice, of course….” Sure, neither’s wrong, but neither are they neutral; they have very different implications and possibilities.