#lockdownminiature

October 25, 2023October 29, 2023

‘Rain Day’ (#onetakestudy Nº 1)

A ‘first-take’ made on a rainy day. First in a new series of studies (‘#onetakestudy’) that folows on from the #lockdownminiature series, and on parallel tracks to #spliceimprov.

I’m not 100% sure this improvisation holds focus entirely for its duration, and it could do, for my taste as a listener, with more contrast, but it meanders in a pleasing way. A kind of reverie on an overcast day. Enjoy.

As the looper becomes more a part of my sound, I begin to again question the disconnect between gesture—visible, weighty—and the auditory. As I watch myself in play (in video playback), I find myself alienated from the experience. [Read the rest…]

See the pinned comment to read my thoughts about this piece, and what I think doesn’t work about it.

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

updates

10-29-23: added quote, and link to the pinned comment.

June 7, 2023October 25, 2023

Han-earl Park and Sanja Star at Das Ende, Berlin

Next week (Thursday, June 15, 2023) at 10:00pm (doors: 9:30pm): Han-earl Park (guitar) and Sanja Star (sonic illustration) perform together for the first time! The performance is part of das Ende. ° #003 at K77 (Kastanienallee 77, 10435 Berlin: inside the Hinterhof, entrance downstairs). Also performing is Eric Wong (laptop and bluetooth speakers).

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

April 26, 2023

‘Babel’ (#lockdownminiature Nº 22)

A ‘first-take’ ditty (it’s been a while since I posted a straightforward improvisation without any videographic or compositional concerns). I think maybe the first thirty seconds or so is a bit shaky, but I’m pretty happy with my playing here overall. I think it shows what I’ve been interested in, and working on, in regards to my approach to the guitar in the context of improvisation.

And a big, big thanks again to Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur for enabling me to continue, and build-on, these studies.

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

March 19, 2023

‘Sometimes All It Takes Is A Short Walk’ (#lockdownminiature Nº 19)

Big thanks to Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur for enabling me to continue, and build-on, these studies.

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

March 15, 2023April 27, 2023

Performance diary (Berlin, London and Newcastle) 031523

upcoming performances
date	venue	time	details
April 20, 2023	PAS Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101 10553 Berlin Germany	8:00pm	Han-earl Park (guitar) and Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) perform as part of DISSIDENTS XXXVIII. Also performing: Hada Benedito (piano), Kellen Mills (bass) and Lorena Izquierdo (action voice); Teresa Riemann (drums, vocals and effects); and Laura Zöschg (piano and voices). [Details…] [PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
October 2023 (TBA)	KM28 Karl-Marx-Str. 28 12043 Berlin Germany	TBC	New work composed and performed by Han-earl Park (guitar and videography). Also performing and presenting: Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet and videography). Details to follow…
November 2023 (TBA)	Venue TBC Newcastle England	TBC	Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics). Details to follow…
November 2023 (TBA)	Cafe OTO 18–22 Ashwin Street Dalston London E8 3DL England	TBC	Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics). Details to follow…

Continue reading “Performance diary (Berlin, London and Newcastle) 031523”

January 21, 2023April 27, 2023

Performance diary (Berlin, London and Newcastle) 012123

upcoming performances
date	venue	time	details
February 14, 2023	REH Kopenhagener Straße 17 10437 Berlin Germany	8:00pm	Han-earl Park (guitar) and Marie Takahashi (viola) as part of Improvisierte Musik in der REH. Also performing: Axel Dörner (trumpet) and Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet); and Diego Kohn (violin) and ~~Isabel Anders (piano)~~ Lorena Izquierdo Aparicio (voice/performance). [Facebook event…]
October 2023 (TBA)	KM28 Karl-Marx-Str. 28 12043 Berlin Germany	TBC	New work composed and performed by Han-earl Park (guitar and videography). Also performing and presenting: Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet and videography). Details to follow…
November 2023 (TBA)	Venue TBC Newcastle England	TBC	Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics). Details to follow…
November 2023 (TBA)	Cafe OTO 18–22 Ashwin Street Dalston London E8 3DL England	TBC	Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics). Details to follow…

Continue reading “Performance diary (Berlin, London and Newcastle) 012123”

November 21, 2022November 9, 2023

‘Precipitate’ (#lockdownminiature Nº 15)

What is distance?
What is perspective?
What is that gaze?
What is that absence? [Read the rest…]

If you’ve missed them, the previous fourteen miniatures in the series were posted on Facebook and on Twitter.

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

April 28, 2022November 9, 2023

Poetic, messy, terrifying and mesmerizing (article in Jazz Right Now)

As part of the ‘New Work’ series, Jazz Right Now has published my piece on work(ing) during these pandemic times; times of “uncertainty, anxiety, and of doubt.” In the article, I reflect on the perverse desire for artistic ‘productivity’; the breaches between public and private spaces; the artistic commemoration this time, this condition; and the need for creative work that frustrates:

The rogue strand of RNA danced its dance with humanity. It’s beautiful in its own way. Poetic—messy, terrifying, mesmerizing—in its own way.

R-nought.

New words and expressions entered the vernacular. Old words came to denote less—more specific things—but encapsulate and carry more meaning: of fear, uncertainty, yes, but also fascination. We’re being transformed, across porous borders, through language. Soon, those of us who lived through this, might share these as shorthands. ‘Variant’ means something. It has a texture and resonance and feel and vibe that can’t be captured by a Merriam-Webster.

I reflect on how pre-pandemic cultures (and culture-industrial complexes), with its obsession with authority and coherence and narrative, ill prepared us for the complexity and discord and messiness of the present. That maybe if we had held closer these prickly, uncomfortable, inconvenient, noisy heterophonies we, as societies, may have been more capable of facing the chaos, or dancing the dance of humanity v. RNA. [Read the rest…]

Thanks to Cisco Bradley for inviting me to contribute to this series, and thanks so much to Cristina Marx for the photography.

Watch the rest of the #lockdownminiature series on Twitter and Facebook.

Out now on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

March 7, 2022March 9, 2022

More #lockdownminiature(s)

I think where Nº 8, for me, fell short is how it was unable to engage with the vernacular of wah-wah guitar. I mean, if you wanted to strip the wah of all its funk, that was how to do it. So Nº 11, I hope, goes some way toward redressing that. [Read the rest…]

Watch more miniatures in the series on Twitter and Facebook.

Out now on NEWJAiM Recordings

Of Life, Recombinant (NEWJAiM9) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar) with Anne Wellmer (voice on track 4).

Track listing: Game: Mutation (5:38); Naught Opportune (≥ 10:42); Are Variant (≥ 8:06); Of Life, Recombinant (≥ 29:22). Total duration ≥ 53:48.

January 31, 2021October 30, 2021

Over the last several months I’ve been busy behind-the-scenes working on a solo guitar project. In a few months I hope to announce some exciting developments. In the meantime, you can catch up with some short videos of solo guitar improvisations by following #lockdownminiature both on Twitter and on Facebook.

This project is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.