performance diary 07-17-13 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 26, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Swim This (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Gerry Hemingway: drums; and Michael Lytle: bass clarinet) with Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Patty Franceschy (vibraphone) and Kate Gentile (drums). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
August 13, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Chris Pitsiokos (saxophone) and Philip White (electronics); and Viv Corringham (voice and electronics) and Andrea Parkins (accordion and electronics). Details to follow…
Recommended donation: $10.
[DSMC page…]
September 22, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance of Metis 9 by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet). Also performing: Lisa Mezzacappa Trio (Chris Welcome: guitar and voice; Lisa Mezzacappa: double bass; and Mike Pride: drums). Details to follow…
Recommended donation: $10.
[DSMC page…]
October 27, 2013 Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street
New York, NY 10002
6:00pm Performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones). Details to follow…
November 17, 2013 Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe Street
New York, NY 10002
6:00pm Performance by Viv Corringham (voice and electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Details to follow…
October 2013 New York and surrounding areas I am seeking opportunities to perform Metis 9 in small and large ensemble contexts with, at its core, the trio of Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton. In particular, I am seeking performance opportunities for Gargantius Effect +4 (Murray Campbell and Randy McKean with Gino Robair, Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Details…]
2013 North America Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, and, in 2014, elsewhere in the world.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]
2014 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2014 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 07-17-13 (Brooklyn, New York)”

performance diary 07-03-13 (Brooklyn)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 26, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Swim This (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Gerry Hemingway: drums; and Michael Lytle: bass clarinet) with Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Patty Franceschy (vibraphone) and Kate Gentile (drums). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
August 13, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Anna Webber (saxophone and flute), Viv Corringham (voice and electronics) and Andrea Parkins (accordion and electronics); and more. Details to follow…
Recommended donation: $10.
[DSMC page…]
September 22, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance of Metis 9 by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet). Also performing: Lisa Mezzacappa Trio (Chris Welcome: guitar and voice; Lisa Mezzacappa: double bass; and Mike Pride: drums). Details to follow…
Recommended donation: $10.
[DSMC page…]
October 2013 New York and surrounding areas I am seeking opportunities to perform Metis 9 in small and large ensemble contexts with, at its core, the trio of Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton. In particular, I am seeking performance opportunities for Gargantius Effect +4 (Murray Campbell and Randy McKean with Gino Robair, Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Details…]
2013 North America Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, and, in 2014, elsewhere in the world.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]
2014 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2014 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 07-03-13 (Brooklyn)”

performance: Swim This (Nick Didkovsky, Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle) with Han-earl Park at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn

Friday, July 26, 2013, at 8:00pm (our set: 9:00pm): a performance by Swim This (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Gerry Hemingway: drums; and Michael Lytle: clarinet) with Han-earl Park (guitar) takes place at Douglass Street Music Collective (295 Douglass Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY 11217) [map and directions…]. Also performing: Patty Franceschy (vibraphone) and Kate Gentile (drums). $10 suggested donation.

Looking forward to Kate’s duo, and I’m super excited and honored to be guesting with Swim This. Should be a fun gig: I’m expecting fireworks!

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

thanks: Eris 136199 (DSMC, Brooklyn) and Lytle-Park (ABC No Rio, NYC)

Nick Didkovsky: “Wow. That was weird!”

Belated set of thanks for the performances earlier this month (June 5th and 9th). The biggest thanks to Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora who made this Eris 136199’s stragest performance so far, with unexpected and unpredictable turns and juxtapositions; and big thanks to Michael Lytle who invited me to join him for a duo performance at ABC No Rio. Thanks also to Blaise Siwula for organizing and curating COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda, and to the other musicians who shared the bill and both events. In particular, kudos to Ras Moshe, Shayna Dulberger and John Pietaro for stepping up and contributing a fantastic set (plus John said one of the nicest things about my playing after Eris’ set: “You’re the Rashied Ali of the group!”); and to Craig Flanagin and Frank Marino for their great vibe on and off stage. Special thanks to Scott Friedlander for his indefatigable and expert documentation—audio, video and photographic—and a hat tip to Don Mount for helping Eris come up with a title for our first improvisation. Last but not least, thanks to all who came to listen and witness the noise, complexity and play.

Next up: performance in July with Swim This (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Gerry Hemingway: drums; and Michael Lytle: bass clarinet). See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

reminder: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn

This Wednesday (June 5, 2013), at 8:00pm: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) again visits the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. Also performing are Ras Moshe (saxophones), Shayna Dulberger (bass) and John Pietaro (percussion). The event takes place at Douglass Street Music Collective (295 Douglass Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY 11217) [map and directions…]. $10 suggested donation.

performance: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn

Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at 8:00pm: a performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) takes place at Douglass Street Music Collective (295 Douglass Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY 11217) [map and directions…]. Also performing: Ras Moshe (saxophones), Shayna Dulberger (bass) and John Pietaro (percussion). $10 suggested donation.

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

about Eris 136199

Eris 136199 plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. 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.

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 a long-standing duo project with Eric Mingus, 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.

thanks: Ingrid Laubrock and Han-earl Park at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn

Necessity is the mother of invention. Catherine Sikora initially approached me about a ‘cryptic gig’, saying that Stanley Jason Zappa would be in town. As a last minute event, with little time for organization, I proposed an evening of duos. Pragmatically, if I’d asked for larger ensembles, people would have to check the availability of a larger number of people; something that can be time consuming in this town. So I asked Ingrid Laubrock, who I’d just been talking about playing with when I saw her at Gowanus Company in April, if she’d be interested in a duo. I also asked Andrew Drury if he could put somthing together, and he got Kris Davis onboard. When the dust settled, catching my breath, I looked at the lineup of the evening, and realized what a kick-ass group of musicians we had for the event.

Thanks to all involved in the May 16 event. For the music: Ingrid, Catherine, Andrew, Stanley and Kris; and for pitching the initial idea for the event: Catherine; for the documentation: Don Mount and Kevin Reilly (what we may lack in other resources, we more than make up for in documentation 😉 ; and for the help: Kevin. Thanks for listening: all who came to witness music in real-time!

Next up: performances coming up in June as part of Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora), and with Michael Lytle. See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

performance diary 04-26-13 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
May 16, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Kris Davis (piano) and Andrew Drury (drums), and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Stanley Jason Zappa (saxophones). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
June 5, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones). Also performing: Ras Moshe (saxophones), Shayna Dulberger (bass) and John Pietaro (percussion). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
June 9, 2013 ABC No Rio
156 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
7:00pm Performance by Michael Lytle (bass clarinet) and Han-earl Park (guitar) as part of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda. Also performing: Craig Flanagin Ensemble. Admission: $5.
[Details…]
July 26, 2013 Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street
Gowanus
Brooklyn, NY 11217
8:00pm Performance by Swim This (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Gerry Hemingway: drums; and Michael Lytle: bass clarinet) with Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Patty Franceschy (vibraphone) and Kate Gentile (drums). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[DSMC page…]
2013 North America Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, and, in 2014, elsewhere in the world.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]
2014 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2014 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 04-26-13 (Brooklyn, New York)”

recording: Eris 136199, New York

Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) are recording this evening at NYU. Expect special things from this special ensemble.

Depending on how things go with the recording session (and depending on the traffic in New York), Catherine and I may be at Gowanus Company later tonight at Douglass Street Music Collective. Regardless of our presence, the evening, with performers including Kyoko Kitamura, Dominic Lash, Ingrid Laubrock, Dan Peck, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Patrick Breiner, Tom Blancarte, Sara Schoenbeck, Will McEvoy, Josh Sinton and Aryeh Kobrinsky, promises to be a fun one. Maybe see you there. [DSMC page…]

thanks: Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton at On The Way Out, Brooklyn

Thanks for all involved in the performance on March 26. Thanks to Michael Evans and Anders Nilsson of On The Way Out, and to Freddy’s Bar, for hosting the event; to Michael Lytle’s ensemble (with Mari Kimura, Nick Didkovsky and Andrew Drury) for sharing the bill, and for the imaginary slow-burn cartoon Kafka nightmare music as might be edited by Tex Avery and orchestrated by Carl Stalling; to Don Mount for yet again documenting music in motion (above videography by Don Mount); and to all who came to listen.

And of course a very special thanks to Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton for their imaginative leaps, surprises, left-field interventions, and for keeping me on my toes. I appreciate your impeccable choices, and the time and effort you’ve put into making music out of the broad tactical sketches that I brought to the rehearsals. Thanks for finding a play-space, and forging a living game.

Some exciting performances coming up in April with Catherine Sikora, Eric Lyon, Piotr Michalowski, Lominic Dash Dominic Lash, Joe Moffett, Andrew Drury, Ed Rosenberg, Owen Stewart-Robertson, Kate Pittman and others. See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

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

Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at 8:30pm (our set: 10:00pm): a performance of Metis 9 by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet) 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, Mari Kimura (violin), Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Andrew Drury (drums and percussion) and Michael Lytle (clarinet and analog electronics). $10 suggested donation.

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

details

An orchestrated, real-time, interactive collision between the cyborgism of guitarist Han-earl Park, and the incomparably original melodic and timbral sensibilities of saxophonist Catherine Sikora and saxophonist-clarinetist Josh Sinton. The trio will render into music, Metis 9, a collection of improvisative tactics, and higher-level interactive macros for group improvisation designed, designated and specified by Han-earl Park.

Metis 9 has ‘glorious noise’ or ‘frenzy’ at its root, yet it is not so much structuring the noise as it is a meta-layer of complexity that performers can introduce at will. Metis 9 does not tell the performer what to play, or provide all the details of how to interact, but it is an additional network protocol for interactive possibilities. Group improvisation is always the primary protocol; Metis 9 provides secondary or tertiary tactics that create an additional focused complexity. The decision for each bloop and bleep is still retained by the ensemble. These macros enable specific interactionist schemes to be expressed in an open improvisative context; it is improvisative play channeled by group consent.

performance diary 02-26-13 (Brooklyn, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
March 26, 2013 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
8:30pm Performance of Metis 9 by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet) as part of On The Way Out. Also performing: Mari Kimura (violin), Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Andrew Drury (drums and percussion) and Michael Lytle (clarinet and analog electronics). Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
[Freddy’s page…]
April 7, 2013 The Backroom @ Freddy’s Bar
627 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
9:30pm Performance by Ed Rosenberg (saxophone), Owen Stewart-Robertson (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Kate Pittman (drums) as part of Out Of Your Head Brooklyn. Also performing: Jasmine Lovell-Smith (reeds), Kenny Warren (trumpet), Jesse Stacken (keyboards), Adam Hopkins (bass) and Max Jaffe (drums). [Details…]
[OOYH page…]
April 11, 2013 Andrew Drury’s home
[Contact for location…]
Lefferts Gardens
Brooklyn, NY
7:00pm Soup and Sound House Concert with Piotr Michalowski (saxophone and clarinet), Lominic Dash Dominic Lash (double bass), Joe Moffett (trumpet), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Andrew Drury (percussion).
Recommended donation: $10.
[Details…]
April 21, 2013 ABC No Rio
156 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
7:00pm A performance by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Eric Lyon (piano) as part of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda. Also performing: Elliott Levin and Denis Beuret with Gene Janas. Admission: $5.
[Details…]
[ABC No Rio page…]
2013 North America Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is seeking performance opportunities in North America, and, in 2014, elsewhere in the world.
Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Detailed proposal…]
2014 Europe Seeking performances in Europe, 2014 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 02-26-13 (Brooklyn, New York)”