Juno 3 (RAM-163CD)

disc art (copyright 2023 Ramble Records)
Art by Han-earl Park. Design by Atharwa Deshingkar. © 2023 Ramble Records.

Juno 3 (RAM-163CD), the debut album by the trio of Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas, is out now on Ramble Records!

The music on this album transports me to scenes from retro-scifi stories to those of present-day mass transit. It is, to my ears, the sounds of junction crossings, signals from space, and mysterious telegraphy; sometimes evoking impressions of walking by streams under footbridges, at others, of rushing through Manhattan Chinatown. Recorded live at Cafe OTO during the trio’s first meeting, we knew then that we had something special.

I think the sounds and the performances on this disc are all ’round captivating, gripping and fascinating, and the production work, exceptional. Take the journey with us: I’m super proud of the music, and I am thrilled to finally share this with you!

[Get the CD/download from Ramble (Bandcamp)…]

CD: $18 AUD plus shipping. Download: $8 AUD.

description

Get ready for the latest release of challenging and imaginative music from Ramble Records with Juno 3, the debut album from the trio of Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas. Recorded by Shaun Crook live at Cafe OTO, London, and mixed (refracted and rephrased) by Han-earl Park, the album is a particle sim of sounds which spelunks from derelict urban ravines to cybernetic rainforests, while catching auditory glimpses of crashing robotic waves, and strange telegraphic messages from space.

Nautiloid capsule tumbles
across field lines.
An impracticably agile,
graceful derailment.

Juno 3 is Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone and electronics) and Pat Thomas (electronics). The eponymous album document the first meeting—interactive, relational—by this trio as it takes a journey: launching from the familiar of the Hackney club space into future imagined By Others. We coax it into our space.

Motion and motifs. (Switching gears, shedding engines.) Modes of transport change from first principles: future-past transit networks give way to bioengineered surfboards.

Bodies collide, unwind, and we’re up again. Reaching crossings; navigating junctions.

Intermodal is the only game we know. Networks (and bodies and vessels) weave, twist, cross then interweave, intertwist and intercross. (We, nocturnal monstrous shapes, turn and return to the deep.)

And, as the album comes to a close (thump’n’snap—bodies unwind), we find ourselves awakened back in the familiar club space. Or: half familiar. The same chairs, the same tables, the same staff. But not the same chair, not the same table, not the same staff.

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.

recording details

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

Recorded live March 20, 2022, Cafe OTO, London.
Recorded by Shaun Crook.
Mixed by Han-earl Park. Mastered by Chris Sharkey.

Art by Han-earl Park. Design by Atharwa Deshingkar.

Thanks to Richard Barrett, Heather Frasch and Richard Scott; to Fielding Hope and everyone at Cafe OTO, Laura Cole and everyone at Fusebox, Wesley Stephenson of Jazz North East, and Peter O’Doherty of Northern Lights Project. Shoutouts to Corey Mwamba, Graeme Wilson, rit. and Una Lee. The performance was presented with funding from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

© and ℗ 2023 Ramble Records.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

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”

Balancing act between your body and physics

Jazz North East has just released The Sound of Science documentary by Euan Preston from The Palace of Science / Objectiv Pictures.

There’s this balancing act between your body and the mechanics of elastic collisions, and Newtonian physics, and all those things, and you’re creating music from balancing these things out…. [Watch to the rest…]

Sound of Science took place at Gosforth Civic Theatre in March 2022. If you missed my talk and performance as part of the festival, you can watch the archived livestream.

The word I use sometimes is ‘interface.’ So if you start thinking about creativity as this thing that happens between surfaces, that’s interesting in a way that the idea of the single auteur is much less interesting…. And as an artist you can do interesting things by kind of shifting you position within that boundary. [Watch to the rest…]

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Thanks: Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London and Newcastle, March 2022

Photo collage: Han-earl Park, Una Lee, rit., Lara Jones and Pat Thomas.
Photos © 2022 Pete Woodman (Han-earl Park), © 2022 Mickey Rooney (Una Lee and rit.), © 2022 Cath Roberts (Han-earl Park, Lara Jones and Pat Thomas), and © 2022 Han-earl Park (backgrounds).

Apologies for the delay in posting these acknowledgements (but no pandemic-era tour would be complete without at least a little drama), but I would like to quickly post a note of thanks to everyone who made my return, after two+ years, to touring.

A warm, heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined me on my travels, to those who worked behind-the-scenes to make the performances happen, to my hosts, to my fellow performers, and to those who came to listen. Thanks to everyone at Gosforth Civic Theatre, Hyde Park Book Club, Unit 44/Kirkos Ensemble, Regional Cultural Centre Letterkenny, and Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin. Special thanks to Fielding, Shaun and Conal at Cafe OTO, and to Laura, Pete, Oli and Chris at Fusebox. Shoutouts to Johnny Hunter and his Pale Blue Dot ensemble, to Crawler’s Kyra, and to Corey and Graeme, and I’m grateful to have shared the stage with Lara and Pat, and with rit. and Una.

And finally I would like to thank Wesley Stephenson at Jazz North East, and Peter O’Doherty of Northern Lights Project for their enthusiasm, hard work, genuine love of the music, and care for the artists who make it. In Wesley and Peter, I know two of the greatest supporters of creative musicians and adventurous listeners. Thank you so very much.

I am truly grateful to everyone’s support. Despite the difficulties of traveling and performing in the present-day condition, it has been a pleasure to bring my music to you.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Out now 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.

Bodies, agency, ‘the material,’ automata, cyborgs and improvisation

“Once I have those parameters, I can reconfigure the body and the instrument so it kind of runs itself….

“The word I use sometimes is ‘interface.’ So if you start thinking about creativity as this thing that happens between surfaces, that’s interesting in a way that the idea of the single auteur is much less interesting…. And as an artist you can do interesting things by kind of shifting you position within that boundary.” [Listen to the rest…]

Tonight

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 8:00pm: Han-earl Park performs at Hyde Park Book Club (27–29 Headingley Lane, Leeds LS6 1BL).

Also coming up

Han-earl Park is also performing with rit. and Una Lee, in Dublin (24), Letterkenny (25), Derry (26) and Belfast (27). See the performance diary for details.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Reminder: The Sound of Science, Newcastle (plus London, Leeds, Dublin, Letterkenny, Derry and Belfast)

Platinum electron configuration (© 2022 Andrew Delanoy and Wesley Stephenson)
© 2022 Andrew Delanoy and Wesley Stephenson

This Saturday (March 19, 2022), at 7:00pm (doors: 6.30pm): Han-earl Park performs as part of The Sound of Science event at Gosforth Civic Theatre (Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle NE3 3HD). The event is free, but booking is recommended. [Get tickets…]

Also in March 2022

Han-earl Park is also performing in London with Lara Jones and Pat Thomas (March 20), performing a solo set in Leeds (22), and, with rit. and Una Lee, in Dublin (24), Letterkenny (25), Derry (26) and Belfast (27). See the performance diary for details.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Performance diary (Belfast, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Newcastle) 030622

upcoming performances
date venue time details
March 19, 2022 Gosforth Civic Theatre
Regent Farm Road
Gosforth
Newcastle NE3 3HD
England
7:00pm (doors: 6:30pm) Han-earl Park (guitar). A solo performance, plus a discussion (with Corey Mwamba) as part of The Sound of Science. Also performing and presenting: Johnny Hunter’s Pale Blue Dot with Mark Hanslip, Seth Bennett, Gemma Bass, Aby Vulliamy and Michael Bardon. Presented by Jazz North East.
Free but ticketed.
[Details…]
[Gosforth Civic Theatre page/tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 20, 2022 Cafe OTO
18–22 Ashwin Street
Dalston
London E8 3DL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone) and Pat Thomas (keyboards).
£12, £10 advance, £6 members.
[Details…] [OTO page/tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 22, 2022 Hyde Park Book Club
27–29 Headingley Lane
Leeds LS6 1BL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: James Banner and Stephanie Lamprea. Presented by Fusebox.
£5 (free to Leeds Conservatoire students).
Details to follow…
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 24, 2022 Unit 44
44 Prussia Street
Dublin
Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 25, 2022 Regional Cultural Centre
Cove Hill, Port Road
Gortlee
Letterkenny
Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 26, 2022 Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin
37 Great James Street
Derry BT48 7DF
N. Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 27, 2022 The Black Box
8–22 Hill Street
Belfast BT1 2LA
N. Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and EuropeEVENT CANCELLED.

Continue reading “Performance diary (Belfast, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Newcastle) 030622”

Han-earl Park at The Sound of Science, Newcastle

Platinum electron configuration (© 2022 Andrew Delanoy and Wesley Stephenson)
© 2022 Andrew Delanoy and Wesley Stephenson

Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 7:00pm (doors: 6.30pm): Han-earl Park performs as part of The Sound of Science event at Gosforth Civic Theatre (Regent Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle NE3 3HD):

Cyborgs, bodies, chaos, simulation and improvisation…

Han-earl Park will visit Newcastle to perform solo, and discuss [with Corey Mwamba and Graeme Wilson] his ongoing interest in chaotic systems, computation, and the collision of physiology and physics in his music, from guitar technique to the construction of musical automata.

Also performing will be Johnny Hunter’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Sextet (Johnny Hunter: drums; Mark Hanslip: saxophone; Seth Bennett: bass; Gemma Bass: violin; Aby Vulliamy: viola; and Michael Bardon: ’cello).

Set order
  1. 7.00pm: Han-earl Park (guitar).
  2. 7.40pm: Panel Discussion: Han-earl Park/Corey Mwamba/Graeme Wilson.
  3. 8.15pm: Panel Discussion: Johnny Hunter/Corey Mwamba/Graeme Wilson.
  4. 8.40pm: Johnny Hunter’s ‘Pale Blue Dot.’

The event is free, but advance booking is strongly recommended. [Get tickets…]

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

The Sound of Science

To celebrate British Science Week 2022 music promoters Jazz North East are proud to present ‘The Sound of Science.’ With additional support from Newcastle University’s Faculty of Science and Gosforth Civic Theatre, audiences are welcomed to experience a series of concerts and discussions drawing connections between science and music.

Programmed events will specifically explore the interplay of chemistry, physics, ecology and biology, and the ways in which these disciplines have been employed by, and communicated through, composers and musicians. We will hear from 28 musicians, artists and scientists across the four day event.

“From climate change to vaccines, the importance of science to the way we live has never been clearer. Its relationship to music however is rarely explored and it is for that reason we have assembled those working in and between these two seemingly disparate fields. Our events shine a spotlight on the role of science within music composition and improvisation, with a view to inspiring audiences new to one or both subjects.

“Presented and discussed through music making practice, this project aims to increase understanding of science and its social implications, and build audience confidence in discussing these issues. Inviting all ages and every level of expertise, the festival will spark new ideas around how science and music can be communicated and combined.” — Wesley Stephenson (Festival Producer)

Acknowledgements and Thanks

Jazz North East gratefully acknowledges and thanks the support of Arts Council England, Golsoncott Foundation, Scops Arts Trust, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Newcastle University Faculty of Science, British Science Association, Soapbox Science, Euan Preston and Palace of Science, Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Fonds Podium Kunsten Performing Arts Fund NL, Jazz North, Sound and Music, Sunderland Culture, New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings and Gosforth Civic Theatre.

Also in March 2022

Han-earl Park is also performing in and Leeds, and in London with Lara Jones and Pat Thomas, and, with rit. and Una Lee, in Dublin, Letterkenny, Derry and Belfast. See the performance diary for details.

Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Performance diary (Belfast, Berlin, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Wiesbaden) 121621

upcoming performances
date venue time details
January 6, 2022 Sowieso
Weisestraße 24
12049 Berlin
Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen (saxophone).
[Details…] [Reserve seat…]
Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur
January 7, 2022 Secret Location*
Berlin
Germany * Contact me for details.
9:00pm (doors: 8:00pm) QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen (saxophone). Also performing: Dirar Kalash. [Details…]
Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur
January 13, 2022 Au Topsi Pohl
Pohlstraße 64
10785 Berlin
Germany
8:00pm QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar). Also performing: Jasper Stadhouders (guitar) and Christian Marien (drums). [Au Topsi program…]
Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur
January 14, 2022 Petersburg Art Space
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
8:00pm QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) with Catherine Sikora John Dikeman (saxophone). Also performing: Deep Turtle (Conor Cunningham, Alessandro and Joey Gavin). [PAS program…]
Musikfonds / Neustart Kultur
January 15, 2022 TBA
Wiesbaden
Germany
TBA QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar).
Details to follow…
March 19, 2022 Gosforth Civic Theatre
Regent Farm Road
Gosforth
Newcastle NE3 3HD
England
7:00pm (doors: 6:30pm) Han-earl Park (guitar). A solo performance, plus a discussion (with Corey Mwamba) as part of The Sound of Science. Also performing and presenting: Johnny Hunter’s Pale Blue Dot with Mark Hanslip, Seth Bennett, Gemma Bass, Aby Vulliamy and Michael Bardon. Presented by Jazz North East.
Free but ticketed.
[Details…]
[Gosforth Civic Theatre page/tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 20, 2022 Cafe OTO
18–22 Ashwin Street
Dalston
London E8 3DL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar), Lara Jones (saxophone) and Pat Thomas (keyboards).
£12, £10 advance, £6 members.
[Details…] [OTO page/tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 22, 2022 Hyde Park Book Club
27–29 Headingley Lane
Leeds LS6 1BL
England
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: James Banner and Stephanie Lamprea. Presented by Fusebox.
£5 (free to Leeds Conservatoire students).
Details to follow…
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 24, 2022 Unit 44
44 Prussia Street
Dublin
Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 25, 2022 Regional Cultural Centre
Cove Hill, Port Road
Gortlee
Letterkenny
Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 26, 2022 Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin
37 Great James Street
Derry BT48 7DF
N. Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
March 27, 2022 The Black Box
8–22 Hill Street
Belfast BT1 2LA
N. Ireland
7:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Una Lee (voice and electronic) and rit. (voice and electronics).
Presented by Northern Lights Project.
[Details…] [Get tickets…]
Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe

Continue reading “Performance diary (Belfast, Berlin, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Wiesbaden) 121621”

Performance diary (Belfast, Berlin, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Münster, Newcastle, Wiesbaden) 102021

upcoming performances
date venue time details
December 19, 2021 cuba cultur
Achtermannstr. 10–12
48143 Münster
Germany
6:00pm QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar Jasper Stadhouders: guitar).
[cuba program…] HAN-EARL PARK’S APPEARANCE CANCELLED.
January 7, 2022 KM28
Karl-Marx-Str. 28
12043 Berlin
Germany
TBA QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen (saxophone).
Details to follow…
January 14, 2022 Petersburg Art Space
Kaiserin Augusta Allee 101
10553 Berlin
Germany
TBA QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar) with Catherine Sikora (saxophone).
Details to follow…
January 15, 2022 TBA
Wiesbaden
Germany
TBA QLH (Quentin Tolimieri: organ; Luca Marini: drums; and Han-earl Park: guitar).
Details to follow…
March 19, 2022 TBA
Newcastle
England
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…
March 20, 2022 TBA
London
England
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar) plus.
Details to follow…
March 22, 2022 TBA
Leeds
England
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…
March 24, 2022 TBA
Dublin
Ireland
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…
March 25, 2022 TBA
Letterkenny
Ireland
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…
March 26, 2022 TBA
Derry
N. Ireland
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…
March 27, 2022 TBA
Belfast
N. Ireland
TBA Han-earl Park (guitar).
Details to follow…

Continue reading “Performance diary (Belfast, Berlin, Derry, Dublin, Letterkenny, Leeds, London, Münster, Newcastle, Wiesbaden) 102021”

Kaleidoscopic, thuggish, optical retina-effect astringent free jazz (review: Eris 136199)

How does “barnstorming saxophone” relate to “alien facehugger tendrils”? “a mad scramble up loose terrain” to “incendiary guitar wrangling”? and “shimmering vibrating guitar screeds” to “subversion of traditional rock guitar tropes”? Find out in Paul Khimasia Morgan’s Sound Projector review of Eris 136199:

I’m impressed…. I’ve found myself coming back to this album again and again. The more attention you give it, the more you get out of it. I find it an exhilarating, intense space to inhabit for an hour and ten minutes. Park, Sikora and Didkovsky have constructed an extremely captivating slew of wistful improvised post-jazz noises. Han and Nick’s guitars are approached as sound-making devices much of the time, and as such take on tight supporting roles for Catherine Sikora’s barnstorming saxophone in muscular and fascinating ways. This is none of your dour, worthy, self-sacrificing hair-shirt improvising or take-no-prisoners blast of willful abandonment; you can hear the musicians bouncing off each other and having fun. These musicians are working at their limits, both physically and psychically. [Read the rest…]

And as a bonus, according to Morgan, the CD’s “geometric designs on the sleeve recall a hyperactive quasi-sci-fi futurism of late 80s and early 90s rave/acid house flyers”!

Thanks so very much to Morgan and to The Sound Projector for the wonderful review. It’s the kind of review that would’ve persuaded me to go get the album right then and there 🙂 (Plus, I think “a kind of melding of prog-jazz and No-Wave” might be tied as my favorite description of the album.)

[About this album…] [Get the CD/download (Bandcamp)…] [All reviews…]

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.

Un trio d’une radicalité absolue (reviews: Eris 136199)

A “control of noise”, “saturated electricity” and “fighting… with the underground”? or “free-wheeling” with experiments in sound injected with lyricism? or “electronic mayhem” with “a full bodied sound”? In among the reviews of Eris 136199’s performance at Jazz em Agosto, David Cristol, writing in Jazz Magazine, follows “a trio of an absolute radicality”, and concludes by discovering “art music!”

Pour la dernière soirée, le directeur artistique Rui Neves nous a réservé un trio d’une radicalité absolue, proposition courageuse voire casse-gueule dans le contexte d’une salle de plusieurs centaines de places…. Et même pour les spectateurs aguerris, il s’est agi sans nul doute du concert le plus difficile d’accès du festival, présentant peu de repères auxquels se raccrocher. Il faut ici saluer la grande majorité des spectateurs, déterminés à suivre les musiciens dans leur recherche ou idée fixe, voir où le voyage va les mener. Le son est magnifiquement restitué. Park joue beaucoup de l’accordage de la main gauche, dans le registre de la basse. Les guitaristes dessinent des paysages métalliques, via un jeu non conventionnel, selon leurs propres codes, multipliant les dissonances…. Catherine Sikora est une révélation, son jeu oblique, sensible et lumineux offrant un contrepoint idéal aux élucubrations crépusculaires de ses partenaires. Le ténor adopte une approche décidément tonale et mélodique, et néanmoins exploratoire. D’un bout à l’autre un set sans concession aucune, dont on ressort essoré, mais ravi que de telles expériences soient tentées. Art music! [Read the rest…]

Meanwhile, Erik Ellestad, reviewing Eris’ most recent album, sketches a verisimilar portrait of the trio (Han-earl Park “functioning as the de facto rhythm section in Eris 136199”; Catherine Sikora’s “unvarnished and unapologetic sound… while at the same time maintaining a core of melodicism”, and Nick Didkovsky expressing “digitally warped washes of static-like sound and angry slashes of melody”):

It is 50-plus minutes of riveting music making from three fantastic and fascinating musicians. I’ve been listening avidly to Eris 136199 all week on my commute and have looked forward to it every day. Wondering what new thing I will discover in Sikora’s technique while at the same time trying to pay attention and tease out which guitarist is playing what.

Obviously, Eris 136199 isn’t Lawrence Welk, however, there is something in the players expressiveness and in their interactions which prevents it from being too harsh or overwhelming.

Rough enough to keep it exciting, yet tender enough to keep you coming back. [Read the rest…]

I think I might want “Eris 136199 isn’t Lawrence Welk” on a T-shirt.

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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.

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