video recordings: YouTube playlist updates

As part of the general house keeping duties, I’ve updated the playlists at my YouTube channel. The ‘Han-earl Park’ playlist, at this time, features performances with Sean Ali, Chris Chafe, Chris Corrigan, Nick Didkovsky, Andrew Drury, Paul Dunmall, Michael Evans, Jonathan Goldberger, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Will McEvoy, Manuela Meier, Jonathan Moritz, Pauline Oliveros, Gascia Ouzounian, Pedro Rebelo, Bradford Reed, Mark Sanders, Franziska Schroeder, Catherine Sikora, Jamie Smith, Doug Van Nort, Ben Wright, Jack Wright and Justin Yang, and videography by Don Mount, Kevin Reilly and John Hough.

And Eris 136199 now has its own playlist.

thanks: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

Thanks in to the members of my local trio (as Richard pointed out, it’s very hard not to feel the pull of tribalism), Ulrich Mitzlaff and Gascia Ouzounian; to the emergent section leader of the neighboring trio Pedro Rebelo (with whom, during the rehearsal/trial run, I would share looks when things (creatively) self-destructed); to the Simon Rose-Dan Goren-Paul Stapleton unit which, in the best possible sense, seemed to have an agenda entirely their own; to the two bass players, Dom Lash and Christopher Williams, who entertained my left ear; to the remarkable drummers, Gustavo Aguilar and Steve Davis, who always knew, better than the rest of us put together, how to push/pull such a large ensemble during free play; to Franziska Schroeder for soaring over the group; Chris Brown for the asymmetrical hocket between Pedro, Justin and myself; to the electro-dudes, Mark Trayle and Richard Scott, who always sounded like themselves (especially the bass sample, Richard) and who generously gave visual/physical cues in relation to their performance; to the other guitarist, Nuno Rebelo, who artfully avoided collisions—I think we played well together, even if we rarely played at the same time; and to Justin Yang for creating, with Gustavo, that all too brief Shepp/Sanders moment—a moment of ascension—that helped to remind me what this was all about.

And of course, thanks to Pedro, Steve and Franziska for hosting, organizing and inviting, and to Evan Parker for taking time to guide us and the music.

I feel privileged to have been part of a large ensemble of improvisers of that caliber… and to have, through necessity and accident, found myself seated in the ideal position on stage (right in the middle—between the two pianos, the two drummers). I’m still thinking through the implications of tactics within such a context (especially in open improvisation), and am itching to do it again.

reminder: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

This evening (Sunday, November 7, 2010) at 6:00 pm: the closing event of Sonorities, ‘Call them Improvisors!,’ an ensemble performance led by Evan Parker takes place at the Sonic Arts Research Center (Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland). [Details…] [Sonorities page…]

performance diary 11-01-10 (Belfast, Cork, Dublin)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium.
[Paper abstract…]
[Details…]
November 7, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
6:00pm Call them Improvisors! Performance as part of an ensemble led by Evan Parker.
[Details…]
[Sonorities page…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event featuring Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €10/5. Matana Roberts will also be presenting a talk, ‘Coin Coin: a Blood Narrative in Blacks, Browns, Reds and Blues’ at the UCC Music Building at 11:00 am on the day. The talk is free, and open to the public. [Details…]
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010 featuring Corey Mwamba (vibrophone).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 11-01-10 (Belfast, Cork, Dublin)”

performance: Call them Improvisors! at Sonorities 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 6:00 pm: the closing event of Sonorities, ‘Call them Improvisors!,’ an ensemble performance led by Evan Parker takes place at the Sonic Arts Research Center (Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland).

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

[Sonorities page…]
[facebook event page…]

On Saturday, November 6, 2010, I will also be presenting a talk,‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs,’ at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium [Paper abstract…].

description

The final event in this year’s festival is a celebration of improvisation with one of the most renowned free improvisors of our time – saxophonist Evan Parker. A day of workshops and rehearsals led by Parker culminates in a public performance by an improvisation collective especially created for this event with musicians from around the world including Mark Trayle (electronics), Gascia Ouzounian (violin), Chris Brown (piano), Paul Stapleton (percussion), Dan Goren (trumpet), Don Nichols (percussion), Simon Rose (sax), Gustavo Aguilar (percussion), Han-earl Park (guitar), Ulrich Mitzlaff (’cello), Tasos Stamou (zither), Dominic Lash (double bass), Christopher Williams (bass), Nuno Rebelo (guitar), Richard Scott (synth), Steven Davis (drums), Pedro Rebelo (piano), Justin Yang (sax) and Franziska Schroeder (sax).

May I suggest a much more promising line of investigation…. it is the musical process known as group improvisation. This offers an escape from a composer’s inevitable intentions forced on the hierarchically inferior performers (drones?) and leads to a unique sound event made by a group of equal individuals working in social equality in relation to the unique environment (acoustics, listeners, etc.) of the performance. (Evan Parker)

performance diary 10-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Maynooth, Vienna)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 21, 2010 Renehan Hall
NUI Maynooth
Maynooth, Ireland
8:00pm Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) with others as part of EIMM (Evenings of Improvised Music, Maynooth).
Admission free.
October 22, 2010 Lichtblik Kino
Kastanienallee 77
10435 Berlin, Germany
10:00pm
(doors: 9:00pm)
Performance by Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Jaap Pieters (super 8 films) presented by AUXXX.
Donation: €5.
[Details…]
[AUXXX page…]
October 25, 2010 Celeste Jazz Bar
Hamburgerstrasse 18
Vienna, Austria 1050
9:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of the Neu New York / Vienna Institute of Improvised Music.
[Details…]
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium. More info to follow…
[Paper Abstract…]
[Details…]
November 7, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
6:00pm Call them Improvisors! Performance as part of an ensemble led by Evan Parker. More info to follow…
[Details…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event featuring Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €10/5. Matana Roberts will also be presenting a talk, ‘Coin Coin: a Blood Narrative in Blacks, Browns, Reds and Blues’ at the UCC Music Building at 11:00 am on the day. The talk is free, and open to the public. [Details…]
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010 featuring Corey Mwamba (vibrophone).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 10-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Maynooth, Vienna)”

performance diary 10-04-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 11, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab returns! With Kevin Terry (guitar), Marian Murray (violin) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums), plus Han-earl Park (guitar), Claudia Schwab (violin) and Dan Walsh (drums).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
October 22, 2010 Lichtblik Kino
Kastanienallee 77
10435 Berlin, Germany
10:00pm
(doors: 9:00pm)
Performance by Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Jaap Pieters (super 8 films) presented by AUXXX.
Donation: €5.
[Details…]
October 25, 2010 Celeste Jazz Bar
Hamburgerstrasse 18
Vienna, Austria 1050
9:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of the Neu New York / Vienna Institute of Improvised Music.
[Details…]
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium. More info to follow…
[Paper Abstract…]
[Details…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event featuring Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €10/5.
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010 featuring Corey Mwamba (vibrophone).
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 10-04-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)”

performance diary 09-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 2, 2010 Basement Project Space
1 Camden Place
Camden Quay
Cork, Ireland
1:00pm Solo (or guitar-guitarist duet) performance by Han-earl Park (guitar).
Free admission.
[Details…]
October 11, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab returns!
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
October 22, 2010 Lichtblik Kino
Kastanienallee 77
10435 Berlin, Germany
10:00pm
(doors: 9:00pm)
Performance by Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) presented by AUXXX.
Donation: €5.
[Details…]
October 25, 2010 Celeste Jazz Bar
Hamburgerstrasse 18
Vienna, Austria 1050
9:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of the Neu New York / Vienna Institute of Improvised Music.
[Details…]
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am
(my paper at 2:00pm)
Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium. More info to follow…
[Paper Abstract…]
[Details…]
November 15, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Stet Lab’s third birthday event.
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
Admission: €15/5.
December 6, 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm
(doors: 8:45pm)
Final Stet Lab of 2010.
Admission: €10/5.
[Details…]
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the Improvised Music Company. Details to follow…
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)). Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award and support from the UCC School of Music. Details to follow…

Continue reading “performance diary 09-14-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)”

‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ at TWO Thousand + TEN

November 6, 2010: I’ll be presenting a paper ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium at the Sonic Arts Research Center, Belfast, N. Ireland.

Abstract:

The instrument—that’s the matter—the stuff—your subject. (Steve Lacy)

Approaches to music analysis based on ideas of musical ‘material’ and their ‘manipulations’ privilege simplicity and coherence, creating problems when approaching performance, and, in particular, real-time interactive improvisation. Such approaches assume rigidly hierarchical causal processes and simplistic notions of agency and volition. The effects of such analysis render physicality and the body largely invisible or, at best, peripheral to the site of creation.

Donna J. Haraway’s cyborg, a playful and disruptive boundary-breaching entity, suggest a way to theorize the relationships between the various entities (such as bodies, instruments and traditions) during improvisative play. Partly a socialist feminist subversion and reinvention of Bruno Latour’s network, cyborgism also promises a mode of analysis that takes relationships and interaction seriously while avoiding the easy impulse to erase difference, complexity and contradictions.

With particular focus on techniques associated with Derek Bailey, I will reverse engineer and demonstrate modes for illuminating cyborg relations; arguing that the cyborg is a possible generator and subject of improvisative play. Techniques such as tone clusters and natural harmonics can amplify the historical and physical contingencies of the guitar-guitarist network, exploding and exposing normally hidden instabilities (and creative possibilities) in that relationship. Tone clusters, for example, may be identical on the fretboard and the keyboard in terms of a discorporate abstraction of ‘musical material,’ but they have very distinct implications for practice (their significance in terms of traditions) and performance (their physical articulations). Consequently, what might be articulated in improvisation is not ‘unfettered choice’ or ‘limited musical material,’ but the dynamic interactions of agencies and identities, and of the temporary and the durable.

The presentation will be a practitioner’s report, and a demonstration of baby steps towards a mode of music analysis that foregrounds real-time interaction. I argue that, if performance in general, and improvisation in particular, is the (re)enactment and (re)negotiation of identities, boundaries and relationships, then the space between entities must be a site of (re)construction and (trans)formation. It is in the (re)negotiations, and the fluid motions, of the boundaries, the (temporary) creation of hybrids and networks that radical music can be improvised.

performance diary 08-25-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 2010 (TBC) Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Stet Lab returns!
[Details…]
October 22, 2010 Lichtblik Kino
Kastanienallee 77
10435 Berlin, Germany
10:00pm (doors: 9:00pm) Performance by Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar) presented by AUXXX.
Donation: €5.
[Details…]
October 25, 2010 Celeste Jazz Bar
Hamburgerstrasse 18
Vienna, Austria 1050
9:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of the Neu New York / Vienna Institute of Improvised Music.
[Details…]
November 6, 2010 Sonic Arts Research Center
Queen’s University
Belfast, N. Ireland
9:30am Not exactly a gig, but a presentation, ‘Subject Matter: Improvising Cyborgs’ by Han-earl Park at the TWO Thousand + TEN symposium. More info to follow…
[Details…]
November 25, 2010 Ó Riada Hall
UCC Music Building
Sundays Well
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm Performances by Matana Roberts (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums) as part of the UCC concert series. More info to follow…
We’re also looking for dates between 22 and 24 November. Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!
March 30, 2011 Venue TBC
Dublin, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)).
Details to follow…
Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award, and support from the Arts Council of Ireland, and support from the Improvised Music Company.
March 31, 2011 Venue TBC
Cork, Ireland
TBC Performances by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) with Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn)).
Details to follow…
Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award, and support from the Arts Council of Ireland, and support from the Triskel Arts Centre and the UCC School of Music.

Continue reading “performance diary 08-25-10 (Belfast, Berlin, Cork, Dublin, Vienna)”

audio and video recordings: Sonorities 2009

Thanks to Franziska Schroeder, audio and video documentation of the performance on May 16th 2009 at the Sonic Arts Research Center, Belfast, N. Ireland (the closing concert of Sonorities 2009) is now online.

The performers were Chris Corrigan, Manuela Meier, Pauline Oliveros, Gascia Ouzounian, Han-earl Park, Pedro Rebelo, Franziska Schroeder, Justin Yang, plus Chris Chafe and Doug Van Nort. [Details…]

arts council logo

My trip to Belfast was made possible with the generous support of the Arts Council of Ireland.

performance diary 12-15-09

upcoming performances
date venue time details
January 9th 2010 Basement Project Space
1 Camden Place
Camden Quay
Cork, Ireland
1:00pm Debut performance by the Jitney Trio: Marian Murray (violin), Neil O’Loghlen (double bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Admission free.
[Details…]
[BPS page…]
[Poster…]
January 11th 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm (doors: 8:45pm) First Stet Lab of 2010. Featuring Istanbul-based improviser Korhan Erel (electronics).
Admission: €10 (€5).
[Details…]
January 16th 2010 Basement Project Space
1 Camden Place
Camden Quay
Cork, Ireland
1:00pm Performance by the Jitney Trio: Marian Murray (violin), Neil O’Loghlen (double bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Admission free.
[Details…]
[BPS page…]
[Poster…]
January 23rd 2010 Basement Project Space
1 Camden Place
Camden Quay
Cork, Ireland
1:00pm Performance by the Jitney Trio: Marian Murray (violin), Neil O’Loghlen (double bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Admission free.
[Details…]
[BPS page…]
[Poster…]
January 30th 2010 Basement Project Space
1 Camden Place
Camden Quay
Cork, Ireland
1:00pm Performance by the Jitney Trio: Marian Murray (violin), Neil O’Loghlen (double bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Admission free.
[Details…]
[BPS page…]
[Poster…]
February 8th 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm (doors: 8:45pm) Stet Lab of 2010. Featuring Evan Dorrian (drums).
Admission: €10 (€5).
[Details…]
March 8th 2010 The Roundy
Castle Street
Cork, Ireland
9:00pm (doors: 8:45pm) Stet Lab of 2010. Featuring Paul Stapleton (new musical instruments / sound sculptures).
Admission: €10 (€5).
[Details…]
2010 (TBC) Blackrock Castle Observatory
Cork, Ireland
TBC Debut performance by io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself) with Bruce Coates (saxophones), Franziska Schroeder (saxophones) and Han-earl Park (guitar), plus iWife (itself) with John Godfrey (guitar) and Francis Heery (diffusion).
Presented with funding from the Music Network Performance and Touring Award, and support from the Arts Council of Ireland, Blackrock Castle Observatory, The Castle Bar and Trattoria and the UCC School of Music.
[Details…]
2010 (TBC) Venue TBC TBC Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar), Mark Sanders (drums) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones).
Details to follow…
Interested promoters and venues, please get in touch!
2011 (TBC)
Postponed!
Sonic Arts Research Centre
Queen’s University Belfast
Belfast, N. Ireland
n/a Recording session by Peter Elsdon (piano), Han-earl Park (guitar), Mark Sanders (drums) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophones).
Details to follow…
Postponed: We are seeking sponsorship of this project. If you would like to help, please get in touch!

Continue reading “performance diary 12-15-09”