Proxemics (BAF003)

Proxemics (BAF003) (copyright 2025 Han-earl Park)
Proxemics (BAF003) © 2025 Han-earl Park

Proxemics (BAF003), Juno 3’s latest album (digital download and companion cassette tape*), is now available to pre-order! Masterminded by Berlin-based Korean-American improviser and guitarist Han-earl Park, Juno 3 is his trio with London-based experimental producer, saxophonist, and sound artist Lara Jones, and boundless experimentalist and pioneer of electroacoustics in free improvisation, Pat Thomas. Recorded at Cafe OTO, Proxemics (BAF003) captures the trio’s performance as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival’s outer left field.

I love, love, love this recording, and the camaraderie of the artists (and helpers and supporters behind-the-scenes) involved in its making. If the trio’s first performance in the spring of 2022, caught between lockdowns and post-pandemic ‘normality,’ was about that strange sense of cautious relief and optimism, then this later performance was something altogether more strident, brash, at times harsh and ugly, confrontational and combative. What I hear is Lara punching you unremittingly in the mid-rage gut; Pat throwing down beats of glitchy robotic wasps, and of impossible danceability; and my struggles with an unfamiliar guitar (a silver rocker) that wants to make it all a little too easy.

During the mix, I came to realize this unapologetically unrefined music was probably unreleasable, but I also came to love it more for being delicate as a slab of granite. Listen to it, and think of us. Enjoy.

[Pre-order download/cassette (Bandcamp)…]

Download: €8.
Cassette tape* plus download: €12 plus shipping.

Description

Elastic, doxastic collisions—
  hold two thoughts, both true.

Masterminded by Berlin-based Korean-American improviser and guitarist Han-earl Park, Juno 3 is his trio with London-based experimental producer, saxophonist, and sound artist Lara Jones, and boundless experimentalist and pioneer of electroacoustics in free improvisation, Pat Thomas. Recorded at Cafe OTO, Proxemics (BAF003) captures the trio’s performance as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival’s outer left field. Proxemics is the follow-up to the eponymous Juno 3 (RAM-163CD, 2023) described as having “wonderful energy, constant motion, and roiling in noise. And immense amount of grit and power” (Corey Mwamba, Freeness, BBC Radio 3).

The music was recorded with efficiency (and with a boldly creative live-mix) by Kevin Shoemaker, and mixed and mastered for release by Han-earl Park. If the trio’s previous album was an expansive and joyous flow of intergalactic urban transit, then Proxemics is altogether something more prickly, difficult, and at peace with its confrontational nature.

Recommended reading: N. K. Jemisin. The City We Became (Orbit, 2020).

Personnel

Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics).

Track listing

Derealization I (4:07), Derealization II (4:57), Derealization III (3:52), Derealization IV (6:19), Derealization V (5:55), Derealization VI (3:47), Proxemics I (5:05), Proxemics II (3:54), Proxemics III (6:10), Proxemics IV (7:15), Proxemics V (6:10), Proxemics VI: Rumble (5:13). Total duration: 62:44.

Cassette tape: Proxemics A (18:11), Proxemics B (17:27). Total duration: 35:37.*

Recording details

Music by Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas.

Recorded live November 13, 2023, Cafe OTO, London.

Recorded/live mix by Kevin Shoemaker. Mixed and mastered by Han-earl Park.
Design and artwork by Han-earl Park.

Thanks to On Yee Lo, Fielding Hope and everyone at Cafe OTO, Wesley Stephenson of Jazz North East, Corey Mwamba of Out Front! and a very special thanks to Alex Ward for the loan of his guitar. The performance was presented as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, and with funding from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community.

© + ℗ 2025 Han-earl Park.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community.

Note on the cassette tape


* The cassette tape release does not duplicate the digital album, but offers a complement to it. In contrast to the digital download album, the cassette album is the room mic recording of the second set only (corresponding to ‘Proxemics I–VI’). The cassette presents a vérité, ‘bootleg’-vibe documentation of the performance as heard by the audience on the night.

Also by Juno 3

disc art (copyright 2023 Ramble Records)

Juno 3 (RAM-163CD) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics).

Track listing: Orbital Dusk I (6:04), Orbital Dusk II (4:20), Orbital Dusk III (2:29), Orbital Dusk IV (6:03), Diel Vertical Migration I (6:31), Diel Vertical Migration II (4:38), Diel Vertical Migration III (4:33), Diel Vertical Migration IV (7:36), Metastability (7:24). Total duration: 49:36.

© and ℗ 2023 Ramble Records.

Coming soon! Juno 3: Proxemics

Coming soon! Proxemics (BAF003), the new album by Juno 3 (Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas). Proxemics (BAF003) will be available as a full-length, digital download album, and a limited edition companion cassette tape.

The music is strident, brash, at times harsh and ugly, confrontational and combative—it’s unlike anything else I’ve been a part of—and I’m very excited to share it with you, and very, very curious to know what you make of it. More soon!

Be first in-line to hear the new album! Please sign-up to my newsletter:

Signup to the newsletter [details…].

[About the newsletter…]

Thanks to On Yee Lo, Fielding Hope and everyone at Cafe OTO, Wesley Stephenson of Jazz North East, Corey Mwamba of Out Front! and a very special thanks to Alex Ward for the loan of his guitar. The performance was presented as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, and with funding from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community.

Also by Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas

disc art (copyright 2023 Ramble Records)

Juno 3 (RAM-163CD) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics).

Track listing: Orbital Dusk I (6:04), Orbital Dusk II (4:20), Orbital Dusk III (2:29), Orbital Dusk IV (6:03), Diel Vertical Migration I (6:31), Diel Vertical Migration II (4:38), Diel Vertical Migration III (4:33), Diel Vertical Migration IV (7:36), Metastability (7:24). Total duration: 49:36.

© and ℗ 2023 Ramble Records.

‘Salvo and Echo’ (#onetakestudy* Nº 16)

* If you’re wondering what the asterisk on ‘#onetakestudy’ is about, it’s because this one—the only one in the series—is not the first take. I recorded the first couple of phrases on an aborted take before starting again—I had not felt quite ready yet.

I’ve taken the title, ‘Salvo and Echo,’ from Doctor Nerve’s The Monkey Farm—I hope you don’t mind, Nick. If you don’t know it, check out The Monkey Farm, it’s my favorite Nerve album.

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.

Gonggong 225088 at Kühlspot, Berlin

Next week (Tuesday, November 19, 2024), at 8:30pm (doors: 8pm): Dream a little noisy, sweetly disquieting dream with Gonggong 225088 as Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone) perform at Kühlspot Social Club (Lehderstraße 74–79, 13086 Berlin).

Blue-green iridescence
(Crunch and more scatter)
A vacuum of warning

Here be dragons.

It’s been a while since Gonggong played in the trio’s hometown, and it’s been longer since we’ve had an opportunity to really stretch out (we’ll be playing two complete sets at Kühlspot). It’s always a joy to be performing with Camila and Yorgos, and I am super excited to see where the music takes us (and where we take the music). One of the many things I love about this group is how everyone is inviting the others to occupy spaces by actively creating constantly shifting gaps and cracks in the arrangement and moment-by-moment composition.

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

Out now on Waveform Alphabet

Gonggong 225088 cover art (copyright 2024 Han-earl Park)

Gonggong 225088 (wa008) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone).

Track listing: Autopoiesis I (≥ 10:14), Autopoiesis II (≥ 4:29), Niche Shift I (16:09), Niche Shift II (≥ 4:45), Niche Shift III (4:35), Niche Shift IV (≥ 12:52), Autopoiesis III (3:26), Autopoiesis IV (≥ 5:03), Autopoiesis V (≥ 3:17), Autopoiesis VI (3:37). Total duration ≥ 70:14.

© 2024 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2024 Waveform Alphabet.

Pre-order: Thoughts of Trio

Thoughts Of Trio cover art (copyright 2024 Aidan Baker)
Thoughts Of Trio (ACU 1080 / C344) © 2024 Aidan Baker

Thoughts Of Trio by Aidan Baker, Han-earl Park and Katharina Schmidt is now available to pre-order from attenuation circuit (CD/digital) and Cruel Nature Records (cassette/digital).

The Names at PAS and Richten25, Berlin

The Names returns to Berlin this month! The Names (Heather Frasch: flute; Carina Khorkhordina: trumpet; Koen Nutters: upright bass; Han-earl Park: guitar; Quentin Tolimieri: melodica; and Gert-Jan Prins: percussion) will be performing:

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

Out on Waveform Alphabet

The Names: The Alte Münze Sessions (cover artwork)

The Alte Münze Sessions [details…]

Personnel: Heather Frasch (flute), Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet), Koen Nutters (upright bass), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Quentin Tolimieri (bass and soprano melodicas). Melodies, harmonies, and basic arrangements by Koen Nutters.

Track listing: GEL (George E. Lewis) 6:20, QT (Quentin Tolimieri) 10:08, AYD (Angela Davis) 6:20, GMGS (Germaine Sijstermans) 14:15. Total duration 37:03.

© + ℗ 2023 Waveform Alphabet.

Tomorrow: Hugo Costa, Han-earl Park and Rudi Fischerlehner at PAS, Berlin

pink, fluorescent gaffer’s tape

Tomorrow! (Tuesday, November 5, 2024), doors at 8:00pm, music “a little later”: Hugo Costa (alto saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Rudi Fischerlehner (drums) perform at PAS (Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101, 10553 Berlin). Also performing are Guilherme Rodrigues (’cello), Camila Nebbia (tenor saxophone), Davide Piersanti (trombone) and Evi Filippou (vibraphone).

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

Gonggong 225088: ‘Niche Shift I’

New video (‘Niche Shift I’) from Gonggong 225088! As I wrote in the chat:

This was one of those videos that I almost decided against posting. ​​I think this one really highlights the discrepancy, or dissonance, between the visual and the auditory. ​​I felt like maybe uploading the video might take away from the magic of the listening experience (if that makes sense). ​​Reveal[ing] too much of the nuts’n’bolts and pulleys’n’curtains’n’backdrops behind the sounding processes. ​​Anyway, I love the pace—tides ebb’n’flow—that Yorgos and Camila created here. [More…]

What became ‘Niche Shift I’ was, for me, the key transitional passage from the album—the part of the performance that really caught the entire trio by surprise on the evening. Enjoy.

Out now on Waveform Alphabet

Gonggong 225088 cover art (copyright 2024 Han-earl Park)

Gonggong 225088 (wa008) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone).

Track listing: Autopoiesis I (≥ 10:14), Autopoiesis II (≥ 4:29), Niche Shift I (16:09), Niche Shift II (≥ 4:45), Niche Shift III (4:35), Niche Shift IV (≥ 12:52), Autopoiesis III (3:26), Autopoiesis IV (≥ 5:03), Autopoiesis V (≥ 3:17), Autopoiesis VI (3:37). Total duration ≥ 70:14.

© 2024 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2024 Waveform Alphabet.

Gonggong 225088 at Parallel Universe, München

This Friday (October 18, 2024): Dream a little noisy, sweetly disquieting dream with Gonggong 225088 as Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone) perform as part of Parallel Universe presented by Offene Ohren.

Gonggong 225088 entführt die Zuhörerschaft in eine Traumwelt voller Gegensätze: krachend-subtil, irritierend-melodisch, wundervoll dissonant.

Das international besetzte Trio… changiert mühelos zwischen Kulturen, mechanischen Effekten und tonalen Wechselwirkungen in einem beständig vorantreibenden Prozess. [Read the rest…]

The festival takes place at Schwere Reiter (Dachauer Straße 114a80636 München / Kreativquartier), and the event starts at 6:00pm (our set expected to be around 7:30pm). Also performing that evening are Espresso & Mud invites Ute Wassermann, and Le 7ème Continent.

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [Offene Ohren page…] [Get tickets…]

Out now on Waveform Alphabet

Gonggong 225088 cover art (copyright 2024 Han-earl Park)

Gonggong 225088 (wa008) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Yorgos Dimitriadis (percussion and electronics) and Camila Nebbia (saxophone).

Track listing: Autopoiesis I (≥ 10:14), Autopoiesis II (≥ 4:29), Niche Shift I (16:09), Niche Shift II (≥ 4:45), Niche Shift III (4:35), Niche Shift IV (≥ 12:52), Autopoiesis III (3:26), Autopoiesis IV (≥ 5:03), Autopoiesis V (≥ 3:17), Autopoiesis VI (3:37). Total duration ≥ 70:14.

© 2024 Han-earl Park. ℗ 2024 Waveform Alphabet.

Han-earl Park at PAS, Berlin

Next week I’ll be in Munich performing as part of Gonggong 225088, but before then…. This Sunday (October 13, 2024), at 8:30pm (doors: 8pm), catch me playing a solo set at PAS (Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101, 10553 Berlin). Also performing are Marcus Wärnheim (alto saxophone) and Thomas Jaspers (drums).

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

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.

‘Coefficient of Friction’ (#onetakestudy Nº 15)

Taking a short break from The Big Hustle, and all the extra-curricular activities that surround music (to borrow an expression from CT), to do this short improvisation. Enjoy the noise!

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.

Performance diary (Berlin and München) 092024

upcoming performances
date venue time details
October 13, 2024 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8pm) Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Marcus Wärnheim (alto saxophone) and Thomas Jaspers (drums). [Details…]
[PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
October 18, 2024 Schwere Reiter
Dachauer Straße 114a
80636 München (Kreativquartier)
Germany
6:00pm Gonggong 225088 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Yorgos Dimitriadis: percussion and electronics; and Camila Nebbia: saxophone) performs as part of Parallel Universe presented by Offene Ohren. Also performing: Espresso & Mud invites Ute Wassermann, and Le 7ème Continent. [Details…]
[Offene Ohren page…] [Get tickets…]
November 5, 2024 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8pm) Hugo Costa (alto saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Rudi Fischerlehner (drums). Also performing: Guilherme Rodrigues (’cello), Camila Nebbia (tenor saxophone), Davide Piersanti (trombone) and Evi Filippou (vibraphone). [Details…]
[PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
November 17, 2024 PAS
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8pm) The Names (Heather Frasch: flute; Carina Khorkhordina: trumpet; Koen Nutters: upright bass; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Quentin Tolimieri: melodica). Also performing: Masahide Tokunaga (alto saxophone), Takako Suzuki (dance, movements) and Lucio Capece (bass clarinet, mini speakers in feedback); and Hugo Costa (alto saxophone), Johannes Fink (’cello) and Jan Leipnitz (drums). [Details…]
[PAS page…] [Facebook event…]
November 19, 2024 Kühlspot Social Club
Lehderstraße 74–79
13086 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8pm) Gonggong 225088 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Yorgos Dimitriadis: percussion and electronics; and Camila Nebbia: saxophone).
[Details…]
[Kühlspot calendar…] [Facebook event…]
November 20, 2024 Richten25
Gerichtstraße 25
13347 Berlin
Germany
8:00pm (doors: 7pm) The Names (Heather Frasch: flute; Carina Khorkhordina: trumpet; Koen Nutters: upright bass; Han-earl Park: guitar; Quentin Tolimieri: melodica; and Gert-Jan Prins: percussion). Also performing: Pierre Borel (alto saxophone). [Details…]
[Facebook event…]

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