site update: Eris 136199

Nick Didkovsky, Catherine Sikora and Han-earl Park
The (provisional) project page for Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is now live:

Eris 136199 is the noisy, unruly complexity of composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky, the corporeal, cyborg virtuosity of constructor and guitarist Han-earl Park, and the no-nonsense melodic logic of composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora. Eris 136199 plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction.

A composer who enjoys blurry boundaries, Nick Didkovsky founded the avant-rock big band Doctor Nerve, and is a member of Swim This with Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle. He is a pioneer of small-systems computer music, and has composed music for ensemble including Bang On A Can All-Stars and the California EAR Unit.

Described by Brian Morton as “a musical philosopher… a delightful shape-shifter”, Han-earl Park is drawn to real-time cyborg configurations in which artifacts and bodies collide. He has performed with some of the finest practitioners of improvised music, is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and Numbers with Richard Barrett.

Catherine Sikora is “a free-blowing player’s player with a spectacular harmonic imagination and an evolved understanding of the tonal palette of the saxophone” (Chris Elliot, Seacoast Online). She has long-standing duo projects with Eric Mingus and with Ziv Ravitz, and performs as part of ensembles led by Elliott Sharp, François Grillot and Matt Lavelle.

Together, Didkovsky, Park and Sikora forges an improvisative space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, metal becomes metal, bluegrass turns to bluegrass, jazz transforms into jazz, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures.

[Eris 136199 page…]

Eris 136199 is performing later this month (July 24, 2012) at Freddy’s Bar (Brooklyn). See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

performance diary 07-01-12 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 24, 2012 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
8:30pm Performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones), plus Christine Bard (drums, percussion and electronics), Bill McCrossen (bass) and Mercedes Figueras (saxophones), presented by On The Way Out.
Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[Freddy’s page…]
[facebook event…]
September 7, 2012 The Stone
16 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
8:00pm Performance by Tim Perkis (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Harris Eisenstadt (percussion).
Admission: $10 (students 13–19: $5; children <12: free).
[Details…]
[The Stone calendar…]
[facebook event…]
September 8, 2012 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Michael Evans (drums), Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen (saxophone) and Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Brad Henkel (trumpet), and Angelika Niescer Quartet (Angelika Niescer: alto sax; Florian Weber: piano; Chris Tordini: bass; and Tommy Crane: drums) presented as part of Save The Date #8.
Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
late 2012 North America Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, late 2012.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!
2013 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2013 for the cyborg ensemble of interactive, semi-autonomous, technological artifact and machine musician io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself) with human musicians Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 07-01-12 (Brooklyn, New York)”

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)

performance: Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora at On The Way Out, Brooklyn

Nick Didkovsky, Catherine Sikora and Han-earl Park
Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 8:30pm (set: 10:00pm): a performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) presented by On The Way Out takes place at The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar (627 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215) [map/directions…]. Also performing: at 8:30pm, Christine Bard (drums, percussion and electronics), Bill McCrossen (bass) and Mercedes Figueras (saxophones). $10 suggested donation.

Super excited about playing with the Ultimate Didkovsky and the Astonishing Sikora again. Come down to the gig; if it’s anything like the last time we played, it’ll be very, very special.

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [Freddy’s page…] [facebook event…]

details

The trio of noisy, unruly complexity of composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky, the coporeal, cyborg virtuosity of constructor and guitarist Han-earl Park, and the no-nonsense melodic logic of composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. The group forges an improvisative space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, metal becomes metal, bluegrass turns to bluegrass, jazz transforms into jazz, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures.

Annihilator of the boundaries between heavy metal and the avant garde, Nick Didkovsky founded the avant-rock big band Doctor Nerve, and is a member of Swim This with Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle. He is a pioneer of small-systems computer music, and he has composed music for ensemble including Bang On A Can All-Stars and the California EAR Unit.

Described by Brian Morton as “a musical philosopher… a delightful shape-shifter”, Han-earl Park is drawn to real-time cyborg configurations in which artifacts and bodies collide. He has performed with some of the finest practitioners of improvised music, is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and Numbers with Richard Barrett.

Catherine Sikora is a “a free-blowing player’s player with a spectacular harmonic imagination and an evolved understanding of the tonal palette of the saxophone” (Chris Elliot, Seacoast Online). She has long-standing duo projects with Eric Mingus and with Ziv Ravitz, and performs as part of ensembles led by Elliott Sharp, François Grillot and Matt Lavelle.

performance diary 06-11-12 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
June 22, 2012 Dustin Carlson’s home
285 Midwood Street
Brooklyn, NY 11225
8:00pm (doors: 7:00pm) Han-earl Park (guitar) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet), plus Anna Webber and Mariel Berger, and Natura Morta (F.L., Sean Ali and Carlo Costa).
[Details…]
June 24, 2012 Andrew Drury’s home
[Contact for location…]
Lefferts Gardens
Brooklyn, NY
7:00pm Soup and Sound House Concert #12 with Jack Wright (saxophones), Ben Wright (bass), Andrew Drury (drums) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
July 24, 2012 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
8:30pm Performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones), plus Christine Bard (drums, percussion and electronics), Bill McCrossen (bass) and Mercedes Figueras (saxophones), presented by On The Way Out.
Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[Freddy’s page…]
[facebook event…]
September 7, 2012 The Stone
16 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
8:00pm Performance by Tim Perkis (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Harris Eisenstadt (percussion).
Admission: $10.
late 2012 North America Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, late 2012.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!
2013 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2013 for the cyborg ensemble of interactive, semi-autonomous, technological artifact and machine musician io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself) with human musicians Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 06-11-12 (Brooklyn, New York)”

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…

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

Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora
This Sunday (May 27, 2012), event starting at 6:00pm: a performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) as part of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda takes place at ABC No Rio (156 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002) [map/directions…]. Admission is $5. [Details…]

performance diary 05-14-12 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
May 27, 2012 ABC No Rio
156 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
6:00pm Performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) presented by COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda.Also performing: Jim Goodin, Frederika Kreier, and the Rocco John Iacovone ensemble.Admission: $5.
[Details…]
[ABC No Rio page…]
[facebook event…]
June 7, 2012 Andrew Drury’s home
[Contact for location…]
Brooklyn, NY
7:00pm Soup and Sound House Concert #11 with Andrew Drury (drums) and Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Bow Duo (Adrian Knight and Chris Cerrone).
Admission: $10.
[Details…]
June 22, 2012 Dustin Carlson’s home
285 Midwood Street
Brooklyn, NY 11225
8:00pm (doors: 7:00pm) Han-earl Park (guitar) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet), plus Anna Webber and Mariel Berger, and Natura Morta (F.L., Sean Ali and Carlo Costa).
[Details…]
July 24, 2012 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
8:30pm Performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) presented by On The Way Out.
More info to follow…
September 7, 2012 The Stone
16 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
8:00pm Performance by Tim Perkis (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Harris Eisenstadt (percussion).
Admission: $10.
late 2012 North America Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, late 2012.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!
early 2013 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, early 2013 for the cyborg ensemble of interactive, semi-autonomous, technological artifact and machine musician io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself) with human musicians Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 05-14-12 (Brooklyn, New York)”

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

Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora
Sunday, May 27, 2012, 6:00pm: Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) perform the penultimate set of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda. Also performing are Jim Goodin, Frederika Kreier, and the Rocco John Iacovone ensemble. The event starts at 6:00pm, takes place at ABC No Rio (156 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002) [map/directions…], and admission is $5.

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [ABC No Rio page…] [facebook event…]

performances: London*2 and Scarborough

Mark Hanslip, Dominic Lash, Phillip Marks and Han-earl Park
Performances coming up, May 2012, in London and Scarborough including a performance by a relatively new project (Numbers with Richard Barrett), by the closest thing to ‘my band’ (Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith), and a new improvisative meet (with Mark Hanslip, Dominic Lash and Phillip Marks). See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

Hope to see you at these events!

And for those back in New York, later in May I’ll be performing as part of an exciting trio with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora at ABC No Rio [details…].

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

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) is available from Creative Sources Recordings [details…]

Performers: Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar).

© + ℗ 2012 Creative Sources Recordings.

‘Mathilde 253’ (SLAMCD 528) CD cover (copyright 2010, Han-earl Park)

Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) is available from SLAM Productions [details…]

Performers: Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn) plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone).

© 2010 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2010 SLAM Productions.

updates

04–30–12: add facebook event pages.

performance diary 04-18-12 (Brooklyn, London, New York, Scarborough)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
May 3, 2012 Performance Space 2
University of Hull: Scarborough Campus
Filey Road
Scarborough, England
7:30pm Performance by Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar).
Tickets: £4 (£3).
[Details…]
[facebook event…]
May 6, 2012 Cecil Sharp House
2 Regent’s Park Road
Camden
London, England
2:00pm Performance by Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward: drums, percussion and melodica; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Ian Smith: trumpet and flugelhorn) as part of Freedom of the City.Also performing: John Edwards, Caroline Kraabel and Lee Patterson; Terry Day; and the London Improvisers Orchestra.[Deatils…]
[FOTC page with ticket info…]
[facebook event…]
May 7, 2012 The Oxford
256 Kentish Town Road
London, England
9:00pm
(doors: 8:30pm)
Performance by Mark Hanslip (saxophone), Dominic Lash (double bass), Phillip Marks (drums) and Han-earl Park (guitar) presented by Jazz @ The Oxford.
Admission: £5.
[Details…]
[facebook event…]
May 27, 2012 ABC No Rio
156 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
6:00pm Performance by Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) presented by COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda.Also performing: Jim Goodin, Frederika Kreier, and the Rocco John Iacovone ensemble.Admission: $5.
[ABC No Rio page…]
[facebook event…]
July 24, 2012 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
8:30pm Performance presented by On The Way Out.
Details to follow…
September 7, 2012 The Stone
16 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
8:00pm Performance by Tim Perkis (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Harris Eisenstadt (percussion).
Admission: $10.
late 2012 North America Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, late 2012.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!
early 2013 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, early 2013 for the cyborg ensemble of interactive, semi-autonomous, technological artifact and machine musician io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself) with human musicians Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 04-18-12 (Brooklyn, London, New York, Scarborough)”

audio review: 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)
Distant mountain ranges, plateaus and landscapes populate Dave Sumner’s review at Bird is the Worm of the download release by Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park:

Han-earl Park has a special place in my music experience. I think, without exception, there has not yet been an opening to any one of his compositions where I have not had an adverse reaction, either repelling me back in my seat or leaving me shaking my head in exasperation of the noise coming out of my speakers. But the thing of it is, without exception, I find myself listening straight through to the final note. Somehow Han-earl Park finds a way to convert my ears to his music one song at a time….

There is no other artist in which I describe this way….

‘Topologically Correct Harry,’ it’s Sikora’s sax that ushers the listener right on in through the front door. Utilizing a pattern of phrasing that gives the impression of outlining a mountain range from a distance, Sikora’s sax is at the center of attention, with Smith’s trumpet searing blemishes of heat on a radar screen as Park’s guitar gurgles and pops just beneath the surface….

‘바르트’ has Ian Smith’s trumpet setting the table and drawing up a spontaneous menu of jab-right-cross combinations. Sikora moves in slow, but once she’s got both feet in the room, her sound expands into wildly arcing phrases that, when combined with Smith’s one-twos, makes for a delicious whirling dervish of sound. Park mostly keeps to the background, picking his spots and letting things develop organically….

‘Red Line Speed’ begins as a slow build that gains momentum along with height. It hits a plateau at the heart of the song, giving the sense of all three instruments feeling around in the dark to figure out the lay of the land before continuing their ascent in the final stretch of the track….

‘Massimo’s Imagined Juxtapositions’ is a lonely streetlight on a deserted midnight avenue, and the instruments are the moths darting in and out of the dim light carved into the darkness.

[Read the rest…] [More about this recording…] [All reviews…]

Also available for download…

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