audio recordings: downloads and recommendations (series 1)

download album artwork: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07-29-10); Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11); Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09); and Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04-04-11)
With the release of the recording with Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders, I’ve completed the current series of download albums, and I’ve been taking a break from releasing new recordings. The albums so far—all Creative Commons licensed, and free or ‘name your price’—are collated here and on the downloads page. With a break in the release schedule, I’ve taken the opportunity to overhaul the downloads page; the most significant update since I started, in September 2010, formally offering complete concert recordings online.

One notable update to the downloads page is the addition of the recommended Bandcamp albums that accompanied the current series. As I wrote previously, there are some very fine and inspiring creative, improvised and experimental music on Bandcamp, but it isn’t always easy to find the recordings. Here’s my small contribution to help people get started. Enjoy, download, share—support creative musicians!

Keywords: improvised music, creative music, jazz, free jazz, free improvisation, experimental music, electronic music, electroacoustic.

Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders

Paul Dunmall, Han-earl Park and Mark Sanders: Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11)

Two non-stop sets of improvised music. This live recording juxtaposes the formidable creativity and muscular technique of veteran improviser-saxophonist Paul Dunmall, the imaginative cyborgian virtuosity of guitarist Han-earl Park, and the ever inventive playing of Mark Sanders, arguably the most sought-after improviser-drummer of his generation. [More info…]

Recommended price: $8+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Murray Campbell, Randy McKean, Han-earl Park, Gino Robair and Scott R. Looney

Murray Campbell, Randy McKean with Han-earl Park, plus Gino Robair and Scott R. Looney: Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011)

The Gargantius Effect is the brainchild of Murray Campbell and Randy McKean. This album documents Gargantius Effect’s August 2011 tour of Northern California with special guest and fellow Sonologist Han-earl Park, plus Bay Area veteran improviser, composer and electronic artist Gino Robair, and hyperpianist Scott R. Looney. [More info…]

Recommended price: $8+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray

Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray: Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10)

A solo performance by guitarist-constructor Han-earl Park exploring, with feedback and resonant buzzes, the complex, cavernous acoustics of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, and the interactions between artifact (guitar) and the body (guitarist). For ‘Strokes and Screwballs,’ Park is joined by violinist-improviser Marian Murray for a conversational improvisation. [More info…]

Recommended price: $5+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter

Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter: Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11)

A stark, real-time evolution of on-stage relations. The performance took place during Seoul-based experimental electronic musician Jin Sangtae’s European tour. Featuring clanking hard drives, buzzing electronics, noisy guitars and machine gun percussion, this recording captures Jin’s meeting with guitarist-improviser Han-earl Park, and composer, drummer and intermedia artist Jeffrey Weeter. [More info plus the 24-bit edition…]

Recommended price: $8+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder

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

“Sounds reverberate and carry in unexpected ways, and music improvised here [The Glucksman Gallery] runs the risk of losing all definition. That [Han-earl] Park and his co-improviser Franziska Schroeder gracefully avoided this testifies to their alertness, sensitivity and experience working together in other spaces…. Indeed the evening had the feeling of conversation, with the instrumentalists demonstrating the improvisatory give-and-take of a convivial exchange of ideas.” [More info…]

Recommended price: $5+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park

Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park: Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11)

A performance by Catherine Sikora, a saxophonist with a striking, compelling sound. She has been described as “a free-blowing player’s player with a spectacular harmonic imagination and an evolved understanding of the tonal palette of the saxophone”. Sikora was joined by cofounder of the London Improvisers’ Orchestra, trumpeter Ian Smith, and guitarist Han-earl Park. Smith and Park had just come off the tour as part of the power-trio Mathilde 253 (with Charles Hayward) with Wadada Leo Smith. [More info…]

Recommended price: $8+

Accompanying Recommended Albums

audio recordings: downloads and recommendations

download album artwork: Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray (Cork, 07-29-10); Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter (Cork, 01–24–11); Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09); and Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park (Cork, 04-04-11)
A couple of more download releases in the pipeline after which I’m planning to take a short break. The releases so far—all Creative Commons licensed, and free or ‘name your price’—are collated here.

I’ve also listed my recommended Bandcamp albums that have accompanied the releases. There are some very fine, inspiring creative, improvised, experimental music on Bandcamp, but it isn’t always easy to find the recordings. Here’s my small contribution to help people get started. Enjoy, download, share—support creative musicians!

Keywords: improvised music, creative music, jazz, free jazz, free improvisation, experimental music, electronic music, electroacoustic.

Han-earl Park plus Marian Murray

A solo performance by guitarist-constructor Han-earl Park exploring, with feedback and resonant buzzes, the complex, cavernous acoustics of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, and the interactions between artifact (guitar) and the body (guitarist). For ‘Strokes and Screwballs,’ Park is joined by violinist-improviser Marian Murray for a conversational improvisation. [More info…]

Accompanying Recommended Albums

Jin Sangtae, Han-earl Park and Jeffrey Weeter

A stark, real-time evolution of on-stage relations. The performance took place during Seoul-based experimental electronic musician Jin Sangtae’s European tour. Featuring clanking hard drives, buzzing electronics, noisy guitars and machine gun percussion, this recording captures Jin’s meeting with guitarist-improviser Han-earl Park, and composer, drummer and intermedia artist Jeffrey Weeter. [More info plus the 24-bit edition…]

Recommended Albums

Han-earl Park and Franziska Schroeder

Áine Sheil (from the liner notes): “The Glucksman Gallery is one of the finest buildings to have been built in Ireland in recent times, but it is a tricky space for any musician to negotiate. Sounds reverberate and carry in unexpected ways, and music improvised here runs the risk of losing all definition. That [Han-earl] Park and his co-improviser Franziska Schroeder gracefully avoided this testifies to their alertness, sensitivity and experience working together in other spaces…. Indeed the evening had the feeling of conversation, with the instrumentalists demonstrating the improvisatory give-and-take of a convivial exchange of ideas.” [More info…]

Recommended Albums

Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park

This was a rare performance in Ireland by Catherine Sikora (New York-based, originally from West Cork), a saxophonist with a striking, compelling sound. She has been described as “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). Sikora was joined by cofounder of the London Improvisers’ Orchestra, trumpeter Ian Smith (London-based, from Dublin), and guitarist Han-earl Park (then Cork-based, currently Brooklyn-based, from California). Smith and Park had just come off the tour as part of the power-trio Mathilde 253 (with Charles Hayward) with the legendary composer-improviser Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith. [More info…]

Recommended Albums

also available by Han-earl Park

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

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) [details…]

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

© + ℗ 2012 Creative Sources Recordings.

‘io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) CD cover (copyright 2011, Han-earl Park)

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) [details…]

Performers: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

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

Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) [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.

thanks: Ted Byrnes, Han-earl Park and Kris Tiner plus Red Oak

Metro Galleries (Bakersfield) 07-31-11

First and foremost, thanks to Kris Tiner for inviting me to perform, to Ted Byrnes for the company and the driving skills, and to both for their musical sense—in play, in real-time. Thanks to Red Oak (Adam Benjamin and Storm Nilson) and Mosaic Orgasm for graciously sharing the stage with us. And, to all who came to Metro Galleries on that hot summer’s afternoon, thanks for listening.

BTW, monda kudos, Ted, Kris and (for the performances coming up in Northern California) Randy McKean. I realized that these performances in July and August represent the longest run of gigs in long time that I didn’t have a hand in organizing! I hope to reciprocate the favor.

MetalJazz: Ted Byrnes and Han-earl Park at ResBox

Center for Inquiry (Los Angeles) 07-21-11

Lightheaded kitchen equipment and disciplined barbarism. Greg Burk of MetalJazz gives an account of the July 21, 2011 ResBox including the duo by Ted Byrnes and me:

…Drummer Ted Byrnes and electric guitarist Han-Earl Park launch into fast, busy abstraction. Byrnes tosses kitchen equipment around his kit, keeping up an ever-changing lightheaded commentary. Park applies every technique to his detuned ax—tapping, sliding, muting, twisting the machine heads. It’s simultaneously disciplined and barbaric. For the second time in a week, I witness a guitarist (the other was Allan Holdsworth) sounding as if he’s playing backward, and this time it’s clear that the method involves heavy pumping of a volume pedal. Between assaults, Park re-detunes his guitar. Ever ready for audience participation, [G. E.] Stinson yells, “Dude, why bother?” Park explains that he’s careful to avoid accidental tonality. [Read the rest…]

— Greg Burk (MetalJazz)

Next up: catch Ted Byrnes and Han-earl Park with Kris Tiner on Sunday (July 31, 2011), 1:00pm at the Metro Galleries (1604 19th Street, Bakersfield, California 93301). Admission is $5. [Details…]

performance: Ted Byrnes, Han-earl Park and Kris Tiner plus Red Oak

Sunday, July 31, 2011, at 1:00pm: a performance by Ted Byrnes (percussion), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Kris Tiner (trumpet), plus Red Oak (Adam Benjamin: piano; and Storm Nilson: guitar) takes place at Metro Galleries (1604 19th Street, Bakersfield, California 93301). Admission is $5.

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

about the performers

Ted Byrnes is a drummer/percussionist living is Los Angeles. An alumni of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, he comes from a jazz background and has since made his home in the worlds of free improvisation, electro-acoustic music, and noise.

With musical interests ranging from funk to gamelan to the singular beauty of everyday ambient sounds, Ted’s playing is often viewer as more textural or even melodic than rhythmic per se, and generally uses a ‘prepared’ drum kit. The inspiration came not only from other drummers and musicians, bus also from seeing artists in other mediums expanding their palettes.

Ted divides his playing time between a variety of ad hoc free improvisation situations. Additionally, Ted has performed in the ensembles of Charlemagne Palestine, David Watson, Ace Farren Ford (LAFMS), and as part of a Scratch Orchestra along with Steve Roden, Rick Potts, David Muller and others. Other projects have included percussion for a projector/light installation by legendary Fluxus artist Jeff Perkins, playing as part of Gabie Strong’s UR Rituals project made possible by the University of California, and performing in ensembles and solo at a variety of Los Angeles galleries and museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

In 2010, Ted was the recipient of a grant from SASSAS (the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound) and Meet the Composer to compose and perform a work for the 25th anniversary of the city of West Hollywood. The work was a guided improvisation via graphic score in 5 movements for percussion, electric bass, laptop/feedback generator and accordion. The convert was on June 26th, 2010. Just prior to that, Ted also played as part of the 10 year anniversary event for SASSAS alongside musicians such as Nels Cline, Tom Recchion, Chas Smith, Dennis Duck, Wadada Leo Smith and many more.

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park has been working within/from/around traditions of fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, mostly open improvised musics for over fifteen years, sometimes engineering theater, sometimes inventing ritual. He feels the gravitational pull of collaborative, multi-authored contexts, and has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces in Austria, Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and the USA.

A constructor of low- and mid-tech electronic and software devices, and an occasional score-maker, he is interested in partial, and partially frustrating, context-specific artifacts; artifacts that amplify social relations and corporeal identities and agencies, and, in some instances, objects that obscure the location of the author.

He is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, is involved in collaborations with Bruce Coates, Franziska Schroeder, Alex Fiennes and Murray Campbell. Recent performances include Mathilde 253 with Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith; duo concerts with Paul Dunmall, and with Richard Barrett; trios with Matana Roberts and Mark Sanders, with Catherine Sikora and Ian Smith, and with Jin Sangtae and Jeffrey Weeter; as part of the Evan Parker-led 20-piece improvising ensemble; and the performance of Pauline Oliveros’ ‘Droniphonia’ alongside the composer. Park has also recently performed with Lol Coxhill, Pat Thomas, Corey Mwamba, Mark Trayle, Pedro Rebelo, Alexander Hawkins, Mike Hurley, Chick Lyall, Thomas Buckner and Kato Hideki. Festival appearances include Sonorities (Belfast), Sonic Acts (Amsterdam), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), VAIN Live Art (Oxford), and the Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology Festival (California). His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions and DUNS Limited Edition.

Park founded Stet Lab, a monthly improvised music space in Cork, Ireland, and taught improvisation at the UCC Department of Music.

Kris Tiner is a California-based trumpet player, composer, and improviser. Featured on NPR Music as one of five new trumpet voices impacting modern music, Tiner has been described as “extraordinarily inventive” (Signal to Noise), and LA Weekly jazz critic Greg Burk claims, “Trumpeter Kris Tiner can turn barbed wire to beauty.” He has performed at concert venues and festivals throughout North America and in Europe and West Africa, and appears on over 40 recordings. His own projects have been released on the Clean Feed, pfMENTUM, Nine Winds, and Evander Music labels. As a composer-improviser, Kris has received awards from ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, the International Association for Jazz Education, and the John F. Kennedy Center. In addition to numerous interdisciplinary collaborations involving dance, poetry and spoken word, visual art, film, and animation he has recorded music for radio, television, and motion picture scores and his trumpet playing has been heard on MTV, NBC, and Comedy Central. His primary musical projects include the Empty Cage Quartet—a collaborative new jazz ensemble that has been hailed as “one of the most powerful and appealing jazz units currently active” (All About Jazz)—and Tin/Bag—a duo with Brooklyn guitarist Mike Baggetta that explores “abstract yet jazz-derived realms of expansive lyricism and liquid melody” (Time Out New York). Kris is a regular member of the Industrial Jazz Group and a founding member of the Los Angeles Trumpet Quartet. Among the many notable musicians he has performed and/or recorded with are Vinny Golia, Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Donald Robinson, Gerry Hemingway, Nels Cline, Mary Oliver, Ken Filiano, Kraig Grady, Tatsuya Nakatani, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jeff Kaiser, Anne LeBaron, G.E. Stinson, Steuart Liebig, Alicia Mangan, Hans W. Koch, Pete Christlieb, Motoko Honda, Michael Vlatkovich, Joe LaBarbera, Harris Eisenstadt, Lukas Ligeti, Aurelien Besnard, Sara Schoenbeck, Phillip Greenlief and Brad Dutz. He has been a featured performer at the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) in New York City, Clean Feed Festival (New York), Aperitivo in Concerto (Milan), Le Mandala (Toulouse), Is That Jazz? Festival (Seattle), Trummerflora Spring Reverb Festival (San Diego), The Outpost Creative Soundspace Festival (Albuquerque), and at annual conferences of the International Association for Jazz Education and the International Society for Improvised Music. Kris holds an MFA in African-American Improvisational Music from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in Music from California State University, Bakersfield. He has lectured on both music and visual art, and currently teaches courses in jazz and American popular music at Bakersfield College. He is also an adjunct faculty member and current Interim Director of Small Jazz Ensembles at California State University, Bakersfield.

performance diary 06-28-11 (Bakersfield, Los Angeles)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 21, 2011 ResBox
Steve Allen Theater
The Center for Inquiry
4773 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
8:00pm Performances by Ted Byrnes (percussion) and Han-earl Park (guitar); plus Slumgum; and G. E. Stinson, Hans Fjellestad and Jie Ma.
Tickets: $10 from the Steve Allen Theater or at the door.
[Details…]
July 31, 2011 Metro Galleries
1604 19th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
1:00pm Performances by Ted Byrnes (percussion), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Kris Tiner (trumpet), plus Red Oak (Adam Benjamin: piano; and Storm Nilson: guitar).
Admission: $5.
[Details…]
June 2011 California Han-earl Park will be based in Los Angeles, California from June to December 2011, and is seeking formal or ad-hoc playing opportunities. Interested musicians, promoters, venues, please get in touch!
December 2011 New York Han-earl Park will be based in New York from December 2011, and is seeking formal or ad-hoc playing opportunities. Interested musicians, promoters, venues, please get in touch!
2012 Europe Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward: drums, percussion and melodica; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Ian Smith: trumpet and flugelhorn) is seeking performance opportunities in Europe, March to May 2012.
In addition, Han-earl Park (guitar) is available for formal or ad-hoc performances.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!

Continue reading “performance diary 06-28-11 (Bakersfield, Los Angeles)”

performance diary 05-23-11 (Bakersfield, Los Angeles)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 21, 2011 ResBox
Steve Allen Theater
The Center for Inquiry
4773 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
8:00pm Performances by Ted Byrnes (percussion) and Han-earl Park (guitar) plus others TBC.
Details to follow…
Tickets: $10 from the Steve Allen Theater or at the door.
July 31, 2011 Metro Galleries
1604 19th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
1:00pm Performances by Ted Byrnes (percussion), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Kris Tiner (trumpet), plus Red Oak (Adam Benjamin: piano; and Storm Nilson: guitar).
Details to follow…
June 2011 California Han-earl Park will be based in Los Angeles, California from June to December 2011, and is seeking formal or ad-hoc playing opportunities. Interested musicians, promoters, venues, please get in touch!
December 2011 New York Han-earl Park will be based in New York from December 2011, and is seeking formal or ad-hoc playing opportunities. Interested musicians, promoters, venues, please get in touch!
late-2011/early-2012 Europe Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward: drums, percussion and melodica; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Ian Smith: trumpet and flugelhorn) is seeking performance opportunities in Europe in late-2011 or early-2012.
In addition, Han-earl Park (guitar) is available for formal or ad-hoc performances.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!

Continue reading “performance diary 05-23-11 (Bakersfield, Los Angeles)”