thanks: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

Thanks in to the members of my local trio (as Richard pointed out, it’s very hard not to feel the pull of tribalism), Ulrich Mitzlaff and Gascia Ouzounian; to the emergent section leader of the neighboring trio Pedro Rebelo (with whom, during the rehearsal/trial run, I would share looks when things (creatively) self-destructed); to the Simon Rose-Dan Goren-Paul Stapleton unit which, in the best possible sense, seemed to have an agenda entirely their own; to the two bass players, Dom Lash and Christopher Williams, who entertained my left ear; to the remarkable drummers, Gustavo Aguilar and Steve Davis, who always knew, better than the rest of us put together, how to push/pull such a large ensemble during free play; to Franziska Schroeder for soaring over the group; Chris Brown for the asymmetrical hocket between Pedro, Justin and myself; to the electro-dudes, Mark Trayle and Richard Scott, who always sounded like themselves (especially the bass sample, Richard) and who generously gave visual/physical cues in relation to their performance; to the other guitarist, Nuno Rebelo, who artfully avoided collisions—I think we played well together, even if we rarely played at the same time; and to Justin Yang for creating, with Gustavo, that all too brief Shepp/Sanders moment—a moment of ascension—that helped to remind me what this was all about.

And of course, thanks to Pedro, Steve and Franziska for hosting, organizing and inviting, and to Evan Parker for taking time to guide us and the music.

I feel privileged to have been part of a large ensemble of improvisers of that caliber… and to have, through necessity and accident, found myself seated in the ideal position on stage (right in the middle—between the two pianos, the two drummers). I’m still thinking through the implications of tactics within such a context (especially in open improvisation), and am itching to do it again.

reminder: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

This evening (Sunday, November 7, 2010) at 6:00 pm: the closing event of Sonorities, ‘Call them Improvisors!,’ an ensemble performance led by Evan Parker takes place at the Sonic Arts Research Center (Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland). [Details…] [Sonorities page…]

performance diary 11-01-10 (Belfast, Cork, Dublin)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium.
[Paper abstract…]
[Details…]
November 7, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
6:00pm Call them Improvisors! Performance as part of an ensemble led by Evan Parker.
[Details…]
[Sonorities page…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event featuring Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €10/5. Matana Roberts will also be presenting a talk, ‘Coin Coin: a Blood Narrative in Blacks, Browns, Reds and Blues’ at the UCC Music Building at 11:00 am on the day. The talk is free, and open to the public. [Details…]
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010 featuring Corey Mwamba (vibrophone).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 11-01-10 (Belfast, Cork, Dublin)”

performance: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 6:00 pm: the closing event of Sonorities, ‘Call them Improvisors!,’ an ensemble performance led by Evan Parker takes place at the Sonic Arts Research Center (Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland).

See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

[Sonorities page…]
[facebook event page…]

On Saturday, November 6, 2010, I will also be presenting a talk,‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs,’ at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium [Paper abstract…].

description

The final event in this year’s festival is a celebration of improvisation with one of the most renowned free improvisors of our time – saxophonist Evan Parker. A day of workshops and rehearsals led by Parker culminates in a public performance by an improvisation collective especially created for this event with musicians from around the world including Mark Trayle (electronics), Gascia Ouzounian (violin), Chris Brown (piano), Paul Stapleton (percussion), Dan Goren (trumpet), Don Nichols (percussion), Simon Rose (sax), Gustavo Aguilar (percussion), Han-earl Park (guitar), Ulrich Mitzlaff (’cello), Tasos Stamou (zither), Dominic Lash (double bass), Christopher Williams (bass), Nuno Rebelo (guitar), Richard Scott (synth), Steven Davis (drums), Pedro Rebelo (piano), Justin Yang (sax) and Franziska Schroeder (sax).

May I suggest a much more promising line of investigation…. it is the musical process known as group improvisation. This offers an escape from a composer’s inevitable intentions forced on the hierarchically inferior performers (drones?) and leads to a unique sound event made by a group of equal individuals working in social equality in relation to the unique environment (acoustics, listeners, etc.) of the performance. (Evan Parker)

performance diary 10-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Maynooth, Vienna)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 21, 2010 Renehan Hall
NUI Maynooth
Maynooth, Ireland
8:00pm Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) with others as part of EIMM (Evenings of Improvised Music, Maynooth).
Admission free.
October 22, 2010 Lichtblik Kino
Kastanienallee 77
10435 Berlin, Germany
10:00pm
(doors: 9:00pm)
Performance by Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Jaap Pieters (super 8 films) presented by AUXXX.
Donation: €5.
[Details…]
[AUXXX page…]
October 25, 2010 Celeste Jazz Bar
Hamburgerstrasse 18
Vienna, Austria 1050
9:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of the Neu New York / Vienna Institute of Improvised Music.
[Details…]
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium. More info to follow…
[Paper Abstract…]
[Details…]
November 7, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
6:00pm Call them Improvisors! Performance as part of an ensemble led by Evan Parker. More info to follow…
[Details…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event featuring Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €10/5. Matana Roberts will also be presenting a talk, ‘Coin Coin: a Blood Narrative in Blacks, Browns, Reds and Blues’ at the UCC Music Building at 11:00 am on the day. The talk is free, and open to the public. [Details…]
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010 featuring Corey Mwamba (vibrophone).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 10-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Maynooth, Vienna)”