Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park at the Institute of Sonology, The Hague

Sonology
© 2002, 2018 Han-earl Park

Wednesday, December 12, 2018, at 7:30pm: Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) (a.k.a. Numbers) perform as part of the Sonology Discussion Concert. Event takes place at the Arnold Schoenbergzaal, Instituut voor Sonologie/Koninklijk Conservatorium (Juliana van Stolberglaan 1, 2595 CA The Hague, The Netherlands). Free entrance.

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

Plus, on the previous day (Tuesday, December 11), at 3:30pm, Han-earl Park will also be giving a presentation at the Colloquium at the Varèsezaal, Instituut voor Sonologie. He may be talking about:

Improvising automata, and improvising cyborgs; performing stories of salvation through technology, and amplifying the voices of everyday artifacts. Cautionary tales, and small triumphs, from the practice of an institutionally unaffiliated artist-engineer, as he attempts to evolve techniques and approaches while riding the lines between ambiguity, didacticism, the improvisative, virtuosity, and neo-Ludditism.

By Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd)

Numbers (CS 201 cd) [details…]

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

Track listing: tolur (15:38), tricav (10:42), ankpla (10:46), uettet (5:17), creens (6:03), ll……. (11:42). Total duration: 60:00.

© + ℗ 2012 Creative Sources Recordings.

performance diary (Berlin, The Hague) 090718

upcoming performances
date venue time details
September 30, 2018 sonic krause
[Contact me for address…]
Berlin, Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8pm) Audrey Chen (’cello and voice and electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
[Details…]
December 12, 2018 Arnold Schoenbergzaal
Instituut voor Sonologie
Koninklijk Conservatorium
The Hague, The Netherlands
7:30pm Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar) presented by the Instituut voor Sonologie
Free entrance.
[Details…]
[Facebook event…]

Continue reading “performance diary (Berlin, The Hague) 090718”

Eris 136199 (BAF001)

Cover of ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)
‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) © 2018 Han-earl Park

October 9, 2018: Eris 136199’s eponymous album is out now (compact disc and digital download)! Eris 136199 is the quick-reacting cyborg virtuosity of Han-earl Park, the mighty melodic imagination and big tenor sound of Catherine Sikora, and the diamond-cut precision and grind-meets-experimentalism of Nick Didkovsky.

[Get the CD/download (Bandcamp)…]

CD: €11 minimum (‘name your price’) plus shipping.*†
Download: €8 minimum (‘name your price’).†

CD photo: ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork and photo copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)CD photo: ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork and photo copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)CD photo: ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork and photo copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)CD photo: ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork and photo copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)CD photo: ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork and photo copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)

* Limited edition glass-mastered CD. CD includes additional material (liner notes, artwork, etc.) not included in the download version of the album.

† Both digital and physical purchases give you streaming via the free Bandcamp app, and option to download the recording in multiple formats including lossless.

news and updates

June 14, 2021: Lumbering 30 kilogram box of wood, metal, glass, paper, fabric, plastic and 1960s over-engineering

In case you missed it, I wrote a short piece for the June edition of The Wire (issue 448) in which I muse about speaker cabinets, cyborgs, simulations, rooms-within-rooms, and…

October 15, 2020: Peculiar Velocities (BAF002)

November 17, 2020: Eris 136199’s latest album is out now (compact disc and digital download)! Eris 136199 is the chaotic snap’n’pop of Han-earl Park’s cyborg virtuosity, the symphonies of power…

[All articles on Eris 136199 (BAF001)…]

description

Kaleidoscopic, thuggish, optical retina-effect astringent free jazz…. [More…]

— Paul Khimasia Morgan (The Sound Projector)

In a field of experimentation and free music, Eris 136199 stands as singular. [More…]

— John Pietaro (The New York City Jazz Record)

Exquisitely constructed, spontaneously messed-up, endless depth, kind of like letting an insane brain surgeon in through your ear. [More…]

— Dave Foxall (a Jazz Noise, Best of 2018)

“Yo man, you ever been hit by a car?” “Yeah, but maybe we should listen to this album I just picked up before I tell you about it.” [More…]

— Gabriel Jermaine Vanlandingham-Dunn (Jazz Right Now, Best of 2018)

[More reviews…]

Formed in New York in 2012, Eris 136199 is the quick-reacting cyborg virtuosity of Han-earl Park (Sirene 1009), the mighty melodic imagination and big tenor sound of Catherine Sikora (Clockwork Mercury), and the diamond-cut precision and grind-meets-experimentalism of Nick Didkovsky (Doctor Nerve). Recorded during the 2017 European tour, Eris 136199’s eponymous album is the trio’s followup to their debut recording Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559, 2015) which was described as “a beautiful noise” (KFJC 89.7 FM) and “atmospheric as to become almost frightening” (The New York City Jazz Record).

Noise multiplies via telephone futz, riding the transcontinental signal; a clockwork tight-rope walker dances, navigating (gears shift and gear grind) tension; and, above all, rises the Big Note around which we all fall to orbit.

Han-earl Park variously occupies the role of Eris 136199’s drummer, bassist, and second horn-player. He is the instigator and mastermind behind Eris 136199, as well as groups like Sirene 1009 (with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh), and co-conspirator in projects with Richard Barrett and others. Park is navigator-engineer of the interactive, with playing that is by turns accommodating and interventionist. Changing direction and turning on a dime, Park demonstrates, with little more than a guitar, volume pedal and amplifier, a mutable, physical virtuosity.

In contrast, Nick Didkovsky creates anthems of glitch and distortion, playing the (analog and digital) signal chain from vibrating string to vibrating speaker via pedals and tube saturation. Demonstrating a deep understanding of rock, noise and experimentalism, Didkovsky rides the line between process-based mutations and heavy-rock riffage. Best known for his avant-metal big band Doctor Nerve, Didkovsky is also an active composer, working with ensembles such as Bang On A Can All Stars, ETHEL, and the Meridian Arts Ensemble, and the author of Java Music Specification Language, a system for algorithmic composition and real-time computer music.

Completing the trio is improviser, composer, saxophonist Catherine Sikora. Seated stage-center, Sikora brings a deep melodic and harmonic intelligence to the performances. In addition to long-standing collaborations with Eric Mingus, Christopher Culpo, Stanley Zappa, and Brian Chase, Sikora’s big, bold sound, and extraordinary melodic sense, has been in demand with artists such as Enrique Haneine, Elliott Sharp, and Ross Hammond. That same sound and technique grounds Eris, simultaneously rooting it in tradition while continually stepping beyond its borders.

Recorded with clarity and punch by Troels Bech and Charlie McGovern, and beautifully mastered by the amazing Richard Scott, the album presents two near-complete sets; from earlier in the tour (Copenhagen), and from the final date of the tour (Newcastle).

Update: thanks to everyone who pre-ordered! The pre-order period is now over, and the bonus album, Cryptogenic Animals, is no longer available to download. And free and exclusive to pre-orders of the album: the download-only Cryptogenic Animals. Recorded live in Cheltenham a day after Copenhagen, two days before Newcastle, Cryptogenic Animals, offers a unique opportunity to track the evolution of this improvising trio during the 2017 European tour, showcasing the trio’s adaptability to context, and creativity born from the contingent. [Listen/about Cryptogenic Animals…]

personnel

Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone), and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

track listing

Therianthropy I (≥ 3:43), Therianthropy II (8:56), Therianthropy III (3:55), Therianthropy IV (6:30), Adaptive Radiation I (6:44), Adaptive Radiation II (8:48), Adaptive Radiation III (5:54), Universal Greebly (10:58), Hypnagogia I (8:03), Hypnagogia II (4:45). Total duration ≥ 68:25.

recording details

Music by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky.

Tracks 1–4, 9 and 10 recorded live November 2, 2017, Bryggekælderen, Copenhagen.
Live-mix by Troels Bech. Recorded by Troels Bech.

Tracks 5–8 recorded live November 5, 2017, The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle.
Recorded by Charlie McGovern. Mixed by Han-earl Park.

Mastered by Richard Scott.
Design and artwork by Han-earl Park.

Copenhagen performance presented by Jazz Club Loco and Jvtlandt.
Newcastle performance presented by Jazz North East.

Thanks to Troels, Charlie, Richard, and Chris Trent; to Melanie L Marshall, Josh Sinton, Cath Roberts, Franziska Schroeder, Richard Barrett, Caroline Pugh, Alex Fiennes, John Pope, Don Mount, Scott Friedlander and Kevin Reilly; to Jakob Drong Jensen and everyone at Jazz Club Loco; Jonas Vognsen of Jvtlandt; Wesley Stephenson, Paul Bream and everyone at Jazz North East; Corey Mwamba of OUT FRONT!; Stuart Wilding, Mark Unsworth, Anthea Millier, Jamie Dawson and everyone at Xposed Club; Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg; Rica Zinn and the crew of MS Stubnitz; Mike Borella of Avant Music News; and Cisco Bradley of Jazz Right Now.

And a big, big thanks to the backers of our Kickstarter project for their awe-inspiring generosity!

© + ℗ 2018 Han-earl Park.

Also available as part of…

The Complete Eris 136199 on CD

The Complete Eris 136199 on CD

Limited number of Eris 136199’s two CDs at a special price.

• Eris 136199 (BAF001, 2018).
Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559, 2015) with Josh Sinton.

[Get the set…]

Included with pre-orders of Eris 136199

Cover of ‘Cryptogenic Animals’ by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)

Cryptogenic Animals [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone), and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Cryptogenic Animals I (5:26), Cryptogenic Animals II (6:46), Cryptogenic Animals III (5:01), Monkey Wrench I (6:09), Monkey Wrench II (7:59), Spherical Cow I (7:30), Spherical Cow II (3:05), Dendrobranchiata Murmurationis I (3:18), Dendrobranchiata Murmurationis II (5:10). Total duration: 50:23.

© + ℗ 2018 Han-earl Park.

Update: the pre-order period is now over, and Cryptogenic Animals is no longer available to download. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered!

about the trio

Eris 136199: Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (Hamburg, 11-01-17). Copyright 2017 Steffen Schindler
MS Stubnitz, Hamburg, November 1, 2017. © 2017 Steffen Schindler. [More images…]

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

Together, Park, Didkovsky and Sikora forge 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. [More about the trio…]

about the performers

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park (박한얼) has been crossing borders and performing fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, always traditional, open improvised musics for twenty years. He has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces across Europe and the USA.

Park engages a radical, liminal, cyborg virtuosity in which mind, body and artifact collide. He is driven by the social and revolutionary potential of real-time interactive performance in which tradition and practice become creative problematics. As a constructor of musical automata, he is interested in partial, and partially frustrating, context-specific artifacts; artifacts that amplify social relations and corporeal identities and agencies.

Ensembles include Sirene 1009 with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh, Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora, and Numbers with Richard Barrett. Park is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and instigator of Metis 9, a playbook of improvisative tactics. He has performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury, Pat Thomas and Franziska Schroeder, and as part of large ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker and Pauline Oliveros.

Festival appearances include Freedom of the City (London), Brilliant Corners (Belfast), ISIM (New York), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), CEAIT (Los Angeles) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam). His recordings have been released by labels including SLAM Productions, Creative Sources and DUNS Limited Edition.

Park teaches improvisation at University College Cork, and founded and curated Stet Lab, a space for improvised music in Cork.

“Guitarist Han-earl Park is a musical philosopher…. Expect unexpected things from Park, who is a delightful shape-shifter….”

Brian Morton (Point of Departure)

Saxophonist, improviser and composer Catherine Sikora was born and raised in West Cork, Ireland. Self taught to begin with, she moved to New York City to study and play with great improvisers.

Sikora works in a broad range of settings, from highly complex composed music, to folk songs, to free improvisation. She works regularly with Eric Mingus, Enrique Haneine, Brian Chase, Han-earl Park, Stanley Zappa, Christopher Culpo and Ross Hammond, as well as actively pursuing solo performance.

In the past few years Sikora has toured in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. She was a featured soloist in Eric Mingus’ radical reimagining of Tommy by the Who (Adelaide Festival 2015), and was artist in residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris for the fall of 2014, working on a project inspired by stories from her female ancestors. Catherine’s first solo album Jersey was released on Relative Pitch Records in July 2016.

“Sikora has invited us into her musical world, and like the neighbor from Queens, it is our good fortune to be in its midsts.”

— Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz)

“Sikora resembles [Evan] Parker on tenor saxophone in that she has created a personal language in which she sublimates technique according to what she wants to achieve and maintains a discernible relationship to the free jazz tradition in her syntax; she recalls another English saxophonist, John Butcher, in her absolute control and deployment of overtones. Where she remains distinct from both Butcher and Parker is in how she incorporates such dissonance into a stream of delicate abstract lyricism. -John Sharpe, New York City Jazz Record”

— John Sharpe (New York City Jazz Record)

Nick Didkovsky is a guitarist, composer, and computer music programmer. His non-didactic approach to combining human and machine creativity is a unique musical fingerprint. Didkovsky has composed new music for Kathleen Supove, Ethel, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Meridian Arts Ensemble, New Century Players, ARTE Quartett, his own bands Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist, Häßliche Luftmasken, and others. His compositions and guitar performances appear on more than 50 records.

For over 30 years, Doctor Nerve has fueled Didkovsky’s intricate compositions with the energy of rock, often challenging the boundaries between heavy metal, contemporary music, and improvisation. Doctor Nerve has released nine albums of more than 50 of his compositions. The band has performed at numerous festivals including FIMAV, the Moers Festival, Musique Action, Creative Time, MIMI Festival, and ‘Whitney Live’ at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

As a guitarist and composer, Didkovsky was a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, contributing twelve compositions to its repertoire. Didkovsky’s electric guitar compositions continue to be performed by newer ensembles such as Dither Quartet, E-Werk, and Fracture Guitar Quartet, and by soloists such as Kevin Gallagher, Marco Cappelli, and Wiek Hijmans. As a soloist, he has performed at numerous events such as Bang On A Can festival, Guitarévolutions in Montreal, New Ballet festival at the Miller Theatre, and John Zorn’s East Asian Bar Bands. His 2015 Residency at The Stone in NYC resulted in numerous premiere performances of new works.

Collaborating with computer music pioneer Phil Burk, Didkovsky began developing Java Music Specification Language in 1997.

“Musicians (and listeners) who approach Didkovsky’s work find that part of the challenge derives from his mastery of unpredictability.”

— Linda Leseman (The Village Voice)

Also from Eris 136199

Cover of ‘Peculiar Velocities’ (BAF002) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2020, Han-earl Park)

Peculiar Velocities (BAF002) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Ballad of Tensegrity I (≥ 5:12), Ballad of Tensegrity II (2:28), Peculiar Velocities I (3:46), Peculiar Velocities II (3:36), Sleeping Dragon (5:22), D-Loop I (≥ 6:16), D-Loop II (5:13), Polytely I (≥ 5:01), Polytely II: Breakdown (5:33), Anagnorisis I (2:09), Anagnorisis II (2:19). Total duration ≥ 46:54.

© + ℗ 2020 Han-earl Park.

CD cover of ‘Anomic Aphasia’ (SLAMCD 559) with Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and Josh Sinton (artwork copyright 2015, Han-earl Park)

Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nick Didkovsky (guitar; tracks 1 and 5), and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone and bass clarinet; tracks 2–4).

Track listing: Monopod (27:19), Pleonasm (Metis 9) (17:08), Flying Rods (Metis 9) (7:41), Hydraphon (7:34), StopCock (10:54). Total duration: 70:33.

© 2015 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2015 SLAM Productions.

Eris 136199 T shirt

Eris 136199 T-shirt (limited edition) [details…]

100% heavy cotton, preshrunk jersey.
Screen printed with PVC-free, solvent-free ink.

Choice of ladies’ and unisex/men’s fit.
Available in S, M, L, XL, XXL.

100% for the perfect noise-night-out.
Celebrate your love of skonkin’ improvised goodness by wearing the noisily official Eris tee.

updates

02-19-20: added reviews.
10-09-18: released!
03-04-19: add T-shirt.
03-24-19: add The Complete Eris 136199.
11-02-20: update discography with the addition of Peculiar Velocities.

performance diary (Cork, The Hague) 062018

upcoming performances
date venue time details
July 12, 2018 plugd
Upstairs @ The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:30pm (doors: 9:00pm) Han-earl Park (guitar) presented by CIMC.
€5 at the door.
[Details…]
December 12, 2018 Instituut voor Sonologie
Koninklijk Conservatorium
The Hague, The Netherlands
TBC. Numbers (Richard Barrett: electronics; and Han-earl Park: guitar).
Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary (Cork, The Hague) 062018”

The (Near) Complete Han-earl Park

The (Near) Complete Han-earl Park (covers art and design copyright 2013 Clockwork Mercury Press; copyright 2012 Creative Sources Recordings; and copyright 2010, 2011 and 2015 Han-earl Park)
© 2013 Clockwork Mercury Press; © 2012 Creative Sources Recordings; and © 2010, 2011 and 2015 Han-earl Park.

Update: last I checked, only two sets left. If you want to get one….

Get Han-earl Park’s (near) complete discography! (And help fund Sirene 1009’s debut album.)

Limited in number, my (near) complete discography is for sale at a special price. The set comprises of four glass-mastered CDs, and one limited edition CD-R (plus, for the first two lucky listeners, another limited edition CD-R). Available for €25 plus shipping, you can consider it €5 per disc (and a bonus CD-R for the first two customers).

Musicians featured on these albums include: Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky, Josh Sinton, Richard Barrett, Franziska Schroeder, Bruce Coates, Charles Hayward, Ian Smith, François Grillot and Lol Coxhill (plus Paul Dunmall, Jamie Smith and Mark Sanders for the first two customers).

In addition to offering many, many hours of stupendous listening, as I’m furiously raising funds for the upcoming release by Sirene 1009, you’ll also be helping the production of more.

[Buy now…]

Included are…

four glass mastered CDs

CD cover of ‘Anomic Aphasia’ (SLAMCD 559) with Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and Josh Sinton (artwork copyright 2015, Han-earl Park)

Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559) [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nick Didkovsky (guitar), and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone and bass clarinet). [About Eris 136199…] [Metis 9…]

© 2015 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2015 SLAM Productions.

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). [About this duo…]

© + ℗ 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). [About this project…]

© 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). [About this ensemble…]

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

plus a CD-R

Catherine Sikora, Han-earl Park and François Grillot, ‘Tracks in the dirt’ (copyright 2013, Clockwork Mercury Press)

Tracks in the dirt (Clockwork Mercury Press 003) [details…]

Performers: Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and François Grillot (double bass).

© + ℗ 2013 Clockwork Mercury Press.

and, for the first two customers, another CD-R

Han-earl Park, Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders and Jamie Smith: Live at the Glucksman gallery, Cork (owlcd002) CD cover (copyright 2012, Owlhouse Recordings)

Live at the Glucksman gallery, Cork (owlcd002) [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Mark Sanders (drums) and Jamie Smith (guitar).

© 2009 by Owlhouse Recordings.
℗ 2009 Han-earl Park/Paul Dunmall/Mark Sanders/Jamie Smith.

Live at the Glucksman is only available to the first two customers: I only have two copies left! (btw, I had been hoping to include the duo CD with Paul Dunmall, but it looks like I am completely out of those. For those who still have copies, consider yourself one of the lucky few 😉 )

trailers

small print

Glass-mastered CDs in shrink-wrapped jewel cases. CD-Rs in sleeves.

Live at the Glucksman is only available to the first two customers.

Thanks to all the musicians who’re represented here, and special thanks to George Haslam and SLAM Productions.

Return policy

It is vital that you contact me before returning items (click “contact Han-earl Park” on this page). I will do my absolute best to address any concerns and damaged (unplayable) items, but please note that some of these discs are limited in number, so replacements (unlike refunds) may be a non-trivial issue.

Shipping

Physical items shipped by standard post. Please contact me (click “contact Han-earl Park” on this page) before making your order for special delivery instructions and/or alternative shipping methods.

updates

07-14-16: only two sets left.

support Downtown Music Gallery!

In addition to being an awesome record store, Downtown Music Gallery is an institution that supports left-field, creative music. Part archive of sound recordings and folk knowledge, part performance space, NY Times described DMG as “one of the last remaining Manhattan outposts of Downtown music, defined by a melting-pot aesthetic inspired by the stew of cultures.” Over the years, DMG has been a tireless champion of creative people, communities and culture in an oftentimes indifferent world, but The Best Record Store in the World now needs our support:

This is has been a very difficult year for us financially speaking. Our Used & Sale CD lists get little response no matter what we do. We are selling a bit more Used vinyl through Discogs and here in the store but not enough. What can you do to help us survive? Donate money if you can afford it, order something from us, get someone you know to subscribe to the DMG weekly newsletter or come visit us when you can. Currently some 6,000 folks get our newsletter but only a hundred or so actually order from us with any regularity. If nearly everyone who does get the newsletter just contributed $5 or $10 each, this would help to make it to the end of the year and maybe beyond….

If you still care about DMG and enjoy reading our newsletter than please help us in any way that you can. Tell those you know who still care about our future as well. [Read the rest…]

I am privileged to have had DMG’s support over the years (they gave me one of my first gigs after I arrived in New York). Please help them offer that support to many others in the years to come.

See below for my CDs available from DMG.

Above video from a performance with Michael Evans and Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen hosted by the Downtown Music Gallery.

available from Downtown Music Gallery

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

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) [details…] [Get it from DMG…]

Performers: Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar). [About this duo…]

© + ℗ 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…] [Get it from DMG…]

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…] [Get it from DMG…]

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.

Paul Dunmall and Han-earl Park: Boolean Transforms (DLE-067) CD cover (copyright 2010, DUNS Limited Edition)

Boolean Transforms (DLE-067) [details…] [Get it from DMG…]

Performers: Paul Dunmall (saxophone and bagpipes) and Han-earl Park (guitar).

© 2010 DUNS Limited Edition.
℗ 2010 Paul Dunmall/Han-earl Park.

Han-earl Park, Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders and Jamie Smith: Live at the Glucksman gallery, Cork (owlcd002) CD cover (copyright 2012, Owlhouse Recordings)

Live at the Glucksman gallery, Cork (owlcd002) [details…] [Get it from DMG…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Mark Sanders (drums) and Jamie Smith (guitar).

© 2009 by Owlhouse Recordings.
℗ 2009 Han-earl Park/Paul Dunmall/Mark Sanders/Jamie Smith.

cross-cultural entanglements (reviews: Anomic Aphasia)

CD cover of ‘Anomic Aphasia’ (SLAMCD 559) with Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and Josh Sinton (artwork copyright 2015, Han-earl Park)
‘Anomic Aphasia’ (SLAMCD 559) © 2015 Han-earl Park

Yet more reviews of ‘Anomic Aphasia’ (SLAMCD 559) with Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and Josh Sinton. Following up on Cisco Bradley’s profile in JazzTokyo, Takeshi Goda locates my work within the context of cross-cultural meetings in New York, and draws attention to the names and titles:

ジャケット写真に写るのはギターのピックとサックスのリード。アルバム・タイトルは「失名詞症(失語症のひとつ。ものの名称を言ったり認識できない症状のこと)」の意味。便宜的にトラック・タイトルは付されているものの、言葉のない楽器同士の対話である即興演奏に名前をつける事は出来ない訳で、ギターとサックスの音響が重なり合う物音の交歓を総称するのにこれほど適したタイトルはないだろう。

友人たちに「ハン」(ハン・ベニンクと同じ発音)と呼ばれているというパクの在籍するグループには他にも数字絡みの名前が多い(Mathulde 253、io 0.0.1 beta++、Numbersなど)。数学を突き詰めると具体的な数値の存在しない哲学思想に近づくというから、名詞化できない即興の極致を求めるハンたちの活動理念の表出かもしれない。

2013年末にアイルランドに帰国し、現在はヨーロッパ中心に演奏活動を続けるハンだが、このアルバムにスナップされたNYシーンとの恊働が、今後も失われる事なく継続することは間違いない。[Read the rest…]

— 剛田 武 Takeshi Goda (JazzTokyo)

And this is probably a good point to remind those in Japan that you can order the CD from Disk Union.

Meanwhile Beppe Colli at CloudsandClocks, while writing a detailed blow-by-blow account of the record (with two guitarists as Sunny Murray and Jimmy Garrison), also takes time to unpack the names and terms enrolled in the album:

Given my background in sociology, I thought I understood what ‘anomic aphasia’ stood for, but had a look at the dictionary anyway, and that’s what I found: that while words such as ‘anomie’ and ‘anomy’ are part of the vocabulary of social sciences, the Medical meaning of the word ‘anomia’ is ‘a form of aphasia in which the patient is unable to recall the names of everyday objects’. Interested readers are invited to think about the ways in which the above-mentioned definition and the questionnaire that appears in the CD booklet—a series of questions which investigate important issues with a light tone—relate to improvisation….

Then there’s the trio of Park and Sikora plus Josh Sinton on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, a trio that on two occasions employs ‘tactical macros’ devised and specified by Park himself bearing the name METIS 9. At first I thought that ‘macro’ stood for ‘meta-rule’, but the ‘anomic’ episode made me interrogate my dictionary one more time, so I found a meaning of macro as “a single instruction that expands automatically into a set of instructions to perform a particular task”. In fact, the transition from Monopod—the long improvised track that opens the CD—to Pleonasm—a track that has musicians making use of ‘tactical macros’—runs parallel to a transition towards shared rules that are correctly understood by the featured musicians. [Read the rest…] [In Italian…]

— Beppe Colli (ClocksandClouds)

[About this recording…] [All reviews…]

Also from SLAM Productions…

‘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). [About this project…]

© 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). [About this ensemble…]

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

updates

08–15-15: add new video trailer.

video discography

I’ve created a video discography—a YouTube playlist of video ‘trailers’ for selected albums. (This now joins the video playlist of selected performances and 13 hours or so of ‘recent’ performances.)

The albums currently represented in the playlist are Numbers (CS 201 cd) with Richard Barrett [more info (get the CD)…]; io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) with Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder [more (CD/download)…]; and Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith plus Lol Coxhill [more (CD/download)…]; with more to come.

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). [About this duo…]

© + ℗ 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). [About this project…]

© 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). [About this ensemble…]

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

updates

09–22–14: embedded playlist starts with Numbers.

Prepared Guitar: 13 Questions

13 Questions (Han-earl Park. Harvestworks, NYC, October 29, 2013. Photo copyright 2013 Emilio Vavarella.)
Han-earl Park (Harvestworks, NYC, October 29, 2013). Original photo © 2013 Emilio Vavarella.

For Miguel Copón, Prepared Guitar is a “metaphor about metamorphosis” and a “place to support independent artists”. Prepared Guitar recently published my response to Copón’s 13 Questions, so you can now read, among other things, about my first guitar, my musical roots (as contradictory as they may be), and what I’m currently working on:

A CD with Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and Josh Sinton in the works. Looking to fire up a couple of European projects after a hiatus: the duo with Richard [Barrett], and Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith.

But the thing that’s tugging at me right now is the possibilities of the score in the context of improvisative performance. Ideas, some specific, some nebulous, all as yet untested about what might be possible…

I’m not sure at all where this is leading, but having through some combination of ideology and necessity (ain’t it always the way?) found myself somewhat involuntarily in the ‘Total Improvisation’ camp, I’m beginning to look on the other side of the fence. Let me be clear, the, to borrow Lewis’ term, Eurological conception of the score and the practice that surrounds it (theorized in detail by Small, Cusick, Nicholas Cook and others), with its limited models of control and dogma of reproducibility, and naive notions of aesthetics, does not interest me at all.

However, I’m feeling a gravitational tug. Maybe it’s due to coming into close contact with musicians who have a much more sophisticated (if often, from an non-practitioners POV, misunderstood and under theorized) relationship with the score and the possibilities of notation. But it’s a distinct pull. Still working—struggling—through some ideas, and studies, and have far, far more questions than answers about the possible role notation and the score might have in an improvisative context, but that’s the new thing that’s exciting me at the moment. [Read the rest…]

You can also read my struggle with a question about the necessity of music, my take on the current digital music scene, and the politics of ‘extended technique’:

So what’s being ‘extended’ by ‘extended technique’? Is it akin to, say, a colonial explorer extending their influence and territory; ‘discovering’ a land (regardless of whether some other people were there first)?

Had an interested online exchange with Hans Tammen on the subject, and it struck me how much the term ‘extended technique’ is a way to distinguish pioneers from the rest of us. Where you draw those lines (between common practice and extended technique) says much more about your own history and prejudices than some essential quality of the technique in question.

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith once pointed out how Stockhausen claimed the invention of certain ‘extended techniques’ for the trumpet that were patently false if you had even a passing knowledge of practices outside of West European traditions. Did Stockhausen, and his supporters, claim these techniques because of a kind of ignorance, or as a deliberate erasure of other traditions? Either way, it requires a heavy dose of privilege to ignore, to justify your ignorance, or to mark peoples and cultures as irrelevant. [Read the rest…]

Looking through the list of respondents to the 13 Questions, I’m honored to find my name among those guitarists whose work I admire. I’m grateful that Miguel Copón asked me to participate.

farewell, Brooklyn, it’s been a blast

Let’s start with a kind of personal Top Ten. In no particular order: Han-earl Park with Ingrid Laubrock; with Tim Perkis and Harris Eisenstadt; as part of Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora; with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen and Michael Evans; Gerald Cleaver; Tom Blancarte; Dominic Lash; Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton; and with Evan Parker, Brooklyn and New York, 2012–2013. Videos by Scott Friedlander, Don Mount and Kevin Reilly.

I moved to Brooklyn back in December 2011, and I’m grateful and privileged to have been part of, even briefly, such a gracious, vibrant, creative, fun and welcoming community.

I’m particularly indebted to Andrew, Jesse, Michael, Adam, Anna and Andrea for introducing me to the (cultural) geography/neighborhood(s); to Bruce, Wadada and Ras who gave me my first few gigs; and to Tim and Evan for offering me sideman gigs. And a very big thanks to Josh, Catherine and Nick for much of the above, and for collaborating on some long-term projects. To everyone, I hope to repay the your generosity (and hope to catch up when I’m back in Brooklyn/NYC).

Now back in Cork, and, for what feel like the first time in a long time, I’m arriving without a gig in town (and, to my surprise, I’m not too unhappy about that). Some plans ahead (solo performance at SARC for starters), fingers crossed, something will work out.

Anyway, as posted earlier, I’m seeking performances for Numbers (Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park), Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) and Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward, Han-earl Park and Ian Smith). Interested promoters, venues, festivals and sponsors, please get in touch! [Details…]

seeking performances (Europe, 2014)

I will be moving back to Cork this month, and I am seeking performances for the following projects/ensembles in Europe, 2014. Interested promoters, venues, festivals and sponsors, please get in touch!

In addition, I (Han-earl Park) will be available for performances in solo or (ad-hoc) ensemble contexts.

Contact me for further information, audio recordings, etc. (some material only available to promoters).

audio clips: Numbers: Richard Barrett + 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) © 2012 Creative Sources

Previously posted individually, I’ve now collated the audio excerpts from Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park’s CD, ‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) on the album specific post, on my discography, on the project page, and below:




Audio clip courtesy of Creative Sources Recordings.
Music by Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park.
Audio ℗ 2012 Creative Sources Recordings. Please do not distribute audio file, but instead share the link to this page.

‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) is available from Creative Sources Recordings. [More info…] [Get the CD…] [About this duo…]

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