‘Halt’ (#onetakestudy Nº 5)

Latest single-take improvisation, this one is, in part, a response to the shortcoming of study Nº 4. Of that study, I wrote:

There’s aspects of this I really, really don’t like. I hate that it’s that constant, artless thud-thud-thud through out. But there’s some parts—the way it’s contoured like waves—that might be salvageable. [Source…]

Let me know what you make of this one.

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

cover art (copyright 2021 NEWJAiM)

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.

© 2021 NEWJAiM Recordings.
℗ 2021 Han-earl Park.

‘Grace’ (#onetakestudy Nº 4)

Latest improvisation part of the ‘#onetakestudy’ series. Enjoy! (I honestly couldn’t tell you if that’s an ironic title.)

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

cover art (copyright 2021 NEWJAiM)

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.

© 2021 NEWJAiM Recordings.
℗ 2021 Han-earl Park.

‘Drift After’ (#onetakestudy Nº 3)

A quick, ‘no-prep’ improvisation as part of the ‘#onetakestudy’ series: here’s what my guitar sounds like, straight out-of-the-case, the day after a gig. (Guitar tuning thanks to Aidan Baker and Katharina Schmidt, plus lighting design courtesy of the Berlin sky.) Enjoy!

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

cover art (copyright 2021 NEWJAiM)

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.

© 2021 NEWJAiM Recordings.
℗ 2021 Han-earl Park.

‘On The Way Out’ (#onetakestudy Nº 2)

A quick one-take made before heading out. A simple, take-a-line-for-a-walk improvisation as part of the ‘#onetakestudy’ series. Enjoy!

Out on NEWJAiM Recordings

cover art (copyright 2021 NEWJAiM)

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.

© 2021 NEWJAiM Recordings.
℗ 2021 Han-earl Park.

SPLICE: ‘Bandwidth’ (coda)

Watch the closing six minutes of ‘Bandwidth,’ my audio-visual piece performed as part of SPLICE back in October. [Watch another excerpt…]

What happens to interaction when gesture and context are removed by distance? A playful, noisy exploration of the oblique fictions of Here and Now, and Then and There.

Thanks again to Carina Khorkhordina for the audio and video recording, and to initiative neue musik berlin for funding this project.

SPLICE: ‘Bandwidth’ (excerpt A)

Watch the first eight minutes of ‘Bandwidth,’ my audio-visual piece performed as part of SPLICE back in October.

What happens to interaction when gesture and context are removed by distance? A playful, noisy exploration of the oblique fictions of Here and Now, and Then and There.

As I wrote previously, this was the first public, on-stage performance of my videographic compositional work which I’d been developing since the lockdowns, but became, over time, a broader explorations of ambiguity, and the possibilities of drama and narrative in tension with the improvisative. I hope to take this work on the road next year. More to be announced soon.

A big thanks to Carina Khorkhordina for the audio and video recording, and to initiative neue musik berlin for funding this project.

‘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

cover art (copyright 2021 NEWJAiM)

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.

© 2021 NEWJAiM Recordings.
℗ 2021 Han-earl Park.

updates

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

Reminder: SPLICE: Improvisation + Videografie at KM28, Berlin

Next week! Friday, October 13, 2023 at 8:30pm (doors: 8pm): SPLICE, an evening of improvisative performance and videography, takes place at KM28 (Karl-Marx-Str. 28, 12043 Berlin).

What happens to interaction when gesture and context are removed by distance? Han-earl Park and Carina Khorkhordina each perform their compositions for solo improviser and video projection. Building on their work developed before (and during) ‘all-our-lockdowns,’ SPLICE is a playful, noisy exploration of the oblique fictions of here and now, and then and there.

Some of you know of my travels in audio-visual compositions that started, in part, as a response to lockdowns and isolation, but ended up becoming broader explorations of ambiguity, and the possibilities of drama and narrative in tension with the improvisative. SPLICE will be the first on-stage, in-person performance-presentation of this work.

It’s an unusual situation for me, as an improviser, whose work depends on a certain kind of immediacy of response—of audience feedback—to present a work for the first time ‘for real’ after having lived with it for this long. ‘Nervously excited’ doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling. Please, please join me next week on this moment of discovery.

[Details…] [KM28 program…] [Facebook event…]

Performance diary (Berlin, Derby, London and Newcastle) 100523

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 13, 2023 KM28
Karl-Marx-Str. 28
12043 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) SPLICE: an evening of improvisation and videography with new works composed and performed by Han-earl Park (guitar and videography), and by Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet and videography).
[Details…]
[KM program…] [Facebook event…]
Initiative Neue Musik Berlin
October 14, 2023 Werkhalle Wiesenburg
Wiesenstrasse 55
13357 Berlin
Germany
8:00pm (doors: 7:00pm) Kriton Beyer (daxophone) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
[Facebook event…]
November 12, 2023 The Globe
11 Railway Street
Newcastle NE4 7AD
England
8.00pm (doors: 7.30pm) Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics) presented by Jazz North East.
£11.
[Facebook event…] [Get tickets…]
Senate Department for Culture and Community
November 13, 2023 Cafe OTO
18–22 Ashwin Street
Dalston
London E8 3DL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics) perform as part of EFG London Jazz Festival.
£14, £12 advance, £7 members.
[OTO page/tickets…]
Senate Department for Culture and Community
November 15, 2023 Déda
19 Chapel Street
Derby DE1 3GU
England
6:30pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Heather Roche (clarinets) and Anton Hunter (guitar) presented by OUT FRONT!
[OUT FRONT! page…] [Get tickets…]
Senate Department for Culture and Community
December 4, 2023 Morphine Raum
Köpenicker Str. 147
10997 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone).
€10 at the door.
[Morphine page…]

Continue reading “Performance diary (Berlin, Derby, London and Newcastle) 100523”

SPLICE: Improvisation + Videografie at KM28, Berlin

Friday, October 13, 2023, at 8:30pm (doors: 8pm): SPLICE, an evening of improvisative performance and videography, takes place at KM28 (Karl-Marx-Str. 28, 12043 Berlin). The event will be the first performances of audio-visual compositions by Han-earl Park, and by Carina Khorkhordina:

Was passiert mit Interaktion, wenn Geste und Kontext aufgrund von Distanz nicht mehr vorhanden sind? Han-earl Park und Carina Khorkhordina stellen jeweils ihre Kompositionen für Solo-Improvisatoren und Videoprojektion vor. Aufbauend auf ihrer Arbeit, die sie vor (und während) der “all-our-lockdowns” entwickelt haben, ist SPLICE eine spielerische, lautstarke Erkundung schräger Fiktionen im ‘Hier und Jetzt’ und des ‘Dann und Dorthin.’

What happens to interaction when gesture and context are removed by distance? Han-earl Park and Carina Khorkhordina each perform their compositions for solo improviser and video projection. Building on their work developed before (and during) ‘all-our-lockdowns,’ SPLICE is a playful, noisy exploration of the oblique fictions of here and now, and then and there.

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [KM28 program…] [Facebook event…]

Above video trailer by Han-earl Park. Original video and music by Carina Khorkhordina, and by Han-earl Park. © + ℗ 2023 Park/Khorkhordina.

about the artists

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, Korea and the USA.

Park is the mastermind behind ensembles including Eris 136199 with Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky; Juno 3 with Lara Jones and Pat Thomas; and Sirene 1009 with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and rit.; and has a duo with Richard Barrett. He 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, Pauline Oliveros, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury and Franziska Schroeder.

His ensembles have appeared at festivals including Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon), Freedom of the City (London), Brilliant Corners (Belfast), ISIM (New York), dialogues festival (Edinburgh) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam). His recordings have been released by labels including NEWJAiM, SLAM Productions and DUNS Limited Edition. Park taught improvisation at University College Cork, and founded and curated Stet Lab, a space for improvised music in Cork.

Carina Khorkhordina is a trumpet player, photographer and an interdisciplinary artsit living in Berlin since 2014. Aside from developing her music on the trumpet and playing concerts she is working on a series of site-specific performances in the public space of Berlin in collaboration with different musicians, presented as short films and bringing together her interest in urban space, sonic possibilities of the trumpet, field recordings and video documentation.

She has been performing in the context of improvised and experimental music since 2017. The active groups include the duo with Eric Bauer, Slurge (with Eric Bauer, Burkhard Beins, Wolfgang Seidel), Klub Demboh, the duo with Axel Dörner and the trio with Eric Bauer and Lena Czerniawska, as well as a variety of ongoing collaborations.

Between 2016 and 2020 she was a student of various photography programs at FotoDepartament Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Performance diary (Berlin, Derby, London and Newcastle) 081223

upcoming performances
date venue time details
September 17, 2023 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone). Also performing: Soporose (Sara Neidorf: drums; and Marco Bianciardi: guitar). [Details…]
[PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
September 26, 2023 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
TBC QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: synthesizers; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar).
Details to follow…
September 27, 2023 Café Plume
Warthestraße 60
12051 Berlin
Germany
6:00pm (doors: 5:30pm) Camila Nebbia (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics)
[Details…]
[Facebook event…]
October 4, 2023 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) QLH Move! with QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: synthesizers; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) and dancers Jessica Gaynor, Anna Athanasiou, Jessica Akers and Lea Fulton.
[PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
October 13, 2023 KM28
Karl-Marx-Str. 28
12043 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) SPLICE: an evening of improvisation and videography with new works composed and performed by Han-earl Park (guitar and videography), and by Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet and videography).
[Details…]
[KM program…] [Facebook event…]
Initiative Neue Musik Berlin
November 12, 2023 Venue TBC
Newcastle
England
TBC Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics) presented by Jazz North East.
Details to follow…
Senate Department for Culture and Community
November 13, 2023 Cafe OTO
18–22 Ashwin Street
Dalston
London E8 3DL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics) perform as part of EFG London Jazz Festival.
£14, £12 advance, £7 members.
[OTO page/tickets…]
Senate Department for Culture and Community
November 15, 2023 Déda
19 Chapel Street
Derby DE1 3GU
England
6:30pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Heather Roche (clarinets) and Anton Hunter (guitar) presented by OUT FRONT!
Details to follow…
Senate Department for Culture and Community
December 4, 2023 Morphine Raum
Köpenicker Str. 147
10997 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone).
€10 at the door.
[Morphine page…]

Continue reading “Performance diary (Berlin, Derby, London and Newcastle) 081223”

SPLICE: ‘Trace,’ A Study

An experiment: testing out ideas for a piece, and a preview of a work-in-progress. The piece will premiere on October 13, 2023 at KM28 (Karl-Marx-Str. 28, 12043 Berlin).

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