reminder: Sirene 1009 at Brilliant Corners, Belfast

Sirene 1009 (Belfast)
Photos © 2016 Bruce Coates; icons © 2016 Han-earl Park; overlaid text © Brilliant Corners.

This Tuesday (March 7, 2017), at 8:00pm: Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) perform as part of Brilliant Corners, a festival of jazz presented by Moving on Music, at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (Cloreen Park, Belfast BT9 5HN, N. Ireland). Tickets: £10 [get tickets…].

By Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

Next performances…

Han-earl Park and Caroline Pugh are performing March 8, 2017: Derry, N. Ireland; and Sirene 1009 is also performing April 7 and May 19, 2017: Cork, Ireland. [Details…]

tonight: Sirene 1009 at IKLECTIK, London

Sirene 1009 (London). Copyright 2016 Han-earl Park
© 2016 Han-earl Park

Tonight (Thursday, March 2, 2017), at 8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm): Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) perform at IKLECTIK (‘Old Paradise Yard,’ 20 Carlisle Lane, London SE1 7LG, England). Admission: £8 (£6).

By Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

Sirene 1009 is also performing…

March 7, 2017: Belfast, N. Ireland; and April 7 and May 19, 2017: Cork, Ireland. [Details…]

reminder: Sirene 1009 at Queens Head, Monmouth

Sirene 1009 (Monmouth). Copyright 2016 Han-earl Park
© 2016 Han-earl Park

This Wednesday (March 1, 2017), at 9:00pm: Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) perform at Queens Head Inn (1 St James Street, Monmouth NP25 3DL, Wales). Admission is free.

Presented with support from Music in Monmouth and Plancktone Club.

By Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

Sirene 1009 is also performing…

March 2, 2017: London, England; March 7, 2017: Belfast, N. Ireland; and April 7 and May 19, 2017: Cork, Ireland. [Details…]

ideas as open as the night sky (reviews: Sirene 1009)

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)
© 2017 Han-earl Park

Music where the “gorgeous plucked theme”, the “maniacal wails”, “booming, thunderous landscape of percussion”, and “sweetly sung passages of melodic intrigue” coexists? John Morrison, reviewing ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) for Jazz Right Now, describes “a colorful, sometimes violent and revelatory listening experience that infuses modern aesthetics with the spirit of the ancient.” This, for example, is his take on Cliodynamics I:

Lash brilliantly alternates between bowed and plucked phrases as Sanders beats down a booming, thunderous landscape of percussion. Park provides a subtle bit of coloring strokes while Pugh leads the way, her maniacal wails and babbles briefly giving way to sweetly sung passages of melodic intrigue. Clocking in at ten minutes and forty four seconds, ‘Cliodynamics I’ drags listeners deep into the belly of the beast, a dark and ominous ocean of sound that only gets more intense with each passing minute. [Read the rest…]

— John Morrison (Jazz Right Now)

I love that Morrison hears a music that is “ancient and primordial with ideas as open as the night sky, it is not hard to imagine that some of humanity’s first music would have sounded something like this.”

Elsewhere, in Bad Alchemy [BA 93]: “Riffing madness”? A “meta-unsettling effect”? Why is the “Elk of Entropy… smooched with acceleration-bebop”? And who “eats broomsticks and pukes horses”? In his review, despite the limitations of language (“what is permitted by decency” and “can only be hint euphemistically”), Rigobert Dittmann (a.k.a. rbd) attempts to use words like the band use sound:

Die Gitarre als Heringsdosenöffner, der knarzige oder plonkende Bass, das perkussive Dingdong oder schrottige Geruckele, das alles ist nur Ummäntelung für das… poo. Die Schottin steigert sich nämlich von der Anstrengung, nur ein-, nicht auszuatmen zum Hyperventilieren, sie probiert, sich die eigene Zunge in den Hals zu stopfen, sie radebrecht kryptovolapük, jodelt Sirenenalarm, quirlt das LLLL, kirrt auf Iiiii, imitiert eine Singende Säge, spickt Maggie Nicols mit Shelley Hirsch, schlürft rohes Rattenschaschlik und zischelt Verboteneres als das kleine Hexeneinmaleins etc. Ich kann das nur umschreiben, damit meine älteren Leser nicht in Gefahr kommen, ihre dritten Zähne zu verschlucken. Sanders paukengrollt und cymbalzischt zwar zu sonorem Pizzikato und surrender Laubsägerei noch einigermaßen im Rahmen des Guten und Schönen, aber auch die Gitarre kratzt und wabert so verstörend gegen den Strich wie es nur geht.

— Rigobert Dittmann (Bad Alchemy)

[About this recording…] [Bandcamp page (order CD/download)…] [All reviews…]

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

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

* Limited edition glass-mastered CD. CD includes additional material (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.

Culture Ireland logo

London performance presented with funding from Culture Ireland, and support from SLAM Productions.

improvisation workshop with Mark Sanders, Dominic Lash, Han-earl Park and Caroline Pugh (Cork, 2017)

Caroline Pugh, Mark Sanders, Dominic Lash and Han-earl Park (copyright 2016 Jordan Hutchings, 2016 Bruce Coates, Andrew Putler, 2010 Seán Kelly, and 2014 Han-earl Park)
© 2016 Jordan Hutchings, © 2016 Bruce Coates, © Andrew Putler, © 2010 Seán Kelly; and © 2014 Han-earl Park.

Friday, April 7, 2017, at 2:30pm (setup: 2:10pm): you are invited to a group improvisation workshop with drummer Mark Sanders, double bassist Dominic Lash, guitarist Han-earl Park, and vocalist and electronics performer Caroline Pugh. The workshop takes place at the Aula Maxima (University College Cork, Cork).

[Register for the workshop (€20)…]* SOLD OUT.

*Registration included free download/unlimited streaming of a track, Cliodynamics III, from the album Sirene 1009 (BAF000).

There are a small number of discount places for students at CIT Cork School of Music and UCC Department of Music. To claim your place, UCC Music students, please contact John Godfrey; CIT Music students, please contact Han-earl Park. SOLD OUT.

Places are strictly limited. It is the workshop attendees’ responsibility bring their own instruments, and any necessary amplification, etc. We ask that all attendees be on time as there is only a 20 minute setup time (2:10pm to 2:30pm).

Calling all ambitious, aspiring improvisers!

Are you a musician, artist, sound-maker or composer wanting to make music collectively? Are you an improviser in jazz, rock, folk or other tradition wishing to engage across traditions? Are you a performer finding it difficult to bridge the frameworks of idiom and the promise of open, free-play of improvisation? Are you an aspiring free improviser?

A practical, playful, hands-on masterclass, this workshop will offer a unique opportunity for performers to participate in musical interactions, and create spontaneous musical expressions. In addition to learning to realize the possibilities of improvisative play, the workshop will be an opportunity to meet and interact with local, national, and international practitioners of improvised musics.

The workshop is for:

  • Aspiring improvisers wanting to engage with a broader canvas of interactive strategies.
  • Performers and composers interested in alternative, collaborative music-making.
  • Performers seeking meaningful ways to deploy unorthodox or nonstandard sounds and gestures.
  • Those who want to meet, play and talk.

Who: workshop instructors

Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (copyright 2010 Seán Kelly, 2016 Bruce Coates, Andrew Putler, and 2016 Jordan Hutchings)
© 2010 Seán Kelly, © 2016 Bruce Coates, © Andrew Putler, and © 2016 Jordan Hutchings.

The quartet of improvisers who make up the ensemble Sirene 1009, represent many decades of professional experience in complementary fields. The artists have extensive experience as teachers and educators.

Mark Sanders has run music workshops in music schools from Cambridgeshire, England to Szeny, Poland, and at festivals such as the Poschiavo Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He has given masterclasses at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Trinity School of Music, Middlesex Polytechnic Music Department, and the Guildhall School of Music and the Music Therapy Department. He has been a tutor in Free Improvisation at The Royal Academy of Music, London for thirteen years.

Dominic Lash has been involved in leading improvisation workshops at Newcastle University (2006 and 2008), Oxford University (2008 and 2009), Falmouth University (2012 and 2013) and Trondheim Music Academy (2013).

He has given private bass lessons since 2001.

Han-earl Park taught improvisation at University College Cork (2006–2011). He founded and curated (2007–2011) Stet Lab, an alternatively pedagogical space in Cork.

He has lead, or co-lead, workshops at University of Hull: Scarborough Campus (2012), and the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast (2015). Park privately taught guitar and improvisation since 2004.

Caroline Pugh has 10 years of experience giving vocal workshops to children, students, mixed ability groups and adults in schools, universities (Queen’s University Belfast, Northumbria University, Saint Louis University, University of California at San Diego, Royal Scottish Conservatoire Scottish Music Youth Singing Project) and community centres.

She has 10 years of experience one-to-one vocals lessons; and 10 years of experience in working with people with learning difficulties and a variety of different assistive technologies, plus related training (University of Central Lancashire, Napier University, and Edinburgh College of Art).

She emphasizes collaborative workshops alongside other artforms, including dance, psychology, visual art and drama.

By Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

updates

03-16-17: registration info for UCC/CIT music students.

performance diary 02-14-17 (Belfast, Cork, Derry, London, Monmouth)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
March 1, 2017 Queens Head Inn
1 St James Street
Monmouth NP25 3DL
Wales
9:00pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics).
Admission free. Presented with support from Music in Monmouth and Plancktone Club. [Details…]
[Queens Head page…]
March 2, 2017 IKLECTIK
‘Old Paradise Yard’
20 Carlisle Lane
London SE1 7LG
England
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics).
Admission: £8 (£6).
[Details…]
[IKLECTIK page…]
March 7, 2017 Sonic Arts Research Centre
Cloreen Park
Belfast BT9 5HN
N. Ireland
8:00pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) as part of Brilliant Corners. Also performing: FAINT (Franziska Schroeder: saxophones; Pedro Rebelo: piano and ‘instrumental parasites’; and Steve Davis: drums) with Ricardo Jacinto (cello and electronics). Tickets: £10. [Get tickets…]
[Details…]
[Brilliant Corners page…]
March 8, 2017 The Glassworks
33 Great James Street
Derry BT48 7DF
N. Ireland
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) and Caroline Pugh (voice and electronics).
Admission: £5, students free. [Get tickets…]
[Details…]
[Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin page…]
April 7, 2017 Aula Maxima
University College Cork
Cork, Ireland
1:10pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) presented by FUAIM Music at UCC.
Admission free. Presented with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland. Arts Council of Ireland
[Details…]
April 7, 2017 Aula Maxima
University College Cork
Cork, Ireland
2:30pm (setup: 2:10pm) Group improvisation workshop with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh.
Workshop fee: €20.* [Register…] SOLD OUT. * There are a small number of discount places for students at CIT Cork School of Music and UCC Department of Music. SOLD OUT. Presented with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland, and support from UCC Department of Music. Arts Council of Ireland
[Details…]
May 19, 2017 Stack Theatre
Cork School of Music
Union Quay
Cork, Ireland
8:00pm (doors: 7:45pm) Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics). Also performing: Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Dan Walsh (drums). Tickets: €16 | €10 | €5.
Online box office closes at 6:00pm. Tickets will be available from the door from 7:30pm. Presented with funding from Arts Council of Ireland, and support from CIT Cork School of Music and the Cork Improvised Music Club. Arts Council of Ireland
[Details…]
[CSM page…]
Autumn 2017 Europe I am seeking performance opportunities for the transatlantic trio Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Performance proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 02-14-17 (Belfast, Cork, Derry, London, Monmouth)”

Sirene 1009 (London and Monmouth, March 2017)

Sirene 1009 (London and Monmouth)
© 2016 Han-earl Park

March 2017: Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) will be performing in Monmouth and London (see the performance diary for up-to-date info):

It’s been over a year since we last performed as a quartet. It’ll be great to play again. As I said in a Jazz Noise, when I think of the group, I think of:

Dom Lash’s assured, steady-handed control of his technique and sound-making; Mark Sanders’ range, seemingly boundless imagination, ability anticipate anything and everything, and ability to make sense musically regardless of what surrounds him; and Caroline Pugh’s handle and knowledge of genre, and how she seemingly can just jump in regardless of context. I think the various ways we move—our bodies and their relationship with the instruments, say—complement each other. [Read the rest…]

A very special group, and I’m honored to find myself in its company.

By Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

Sirene 1009 is also performing…

March 7, 2017: Belfast, N. Ireland; and April 7 and May 19, 2017: Cork, Ireland. [Details…]

out now! Sirene 1009 (BAF000)

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)
© 2017 Han-earl Park

January 31, 2017: eponymous first album by Sirene 1009 is out now (compact disc and digital download). Sirene 1009 is the cyborg virtuosity of Han-earl Park, the indomitable low-end growl of Dominic Lash, the unstoppable hits and clangs of Mark Sanders, and the controlled vocal mayhem of Caroline Pugh.

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

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

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

* Limited edition glass-mastered CD. CD includes additional material (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.

Culture Ireland logo

London performance presented with funding from Culture Ireland, and support from SLAM Productions.

Seven days and counting… (Kuramoto Synchronization)

Update: download no longer available (“limited availability…until January 30, 2017”). For those who got it, big thanks for your support; wishing you good listening!

An exquisite exploration of space, time, nightmares, and dreamscapes.

— David Menestres (Free Jazz)

A friendly reminder that you have about seven days to download the live recording by Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Caroline Pugh. Limited availability, you can get the album free only with pre-orders of the CD/digital album ‘Sirene 1009’.

Kuramoto Synchronization is the kind of recording that, had I not had another album scheduled, would have been its own release. I think the performance really shows off Dom’s steady-handed, assured skills as an improviser. And if you don’t know Caroline’s work, I think this might be an excellent place to start—she sounds phenomenal here. (Oh, yes, and because the weather conspired to cancel Mark’s flight, you get to hear three non-drummers alternately playing the role of the percussionist.)

But don’t take my word for it, please listen for yourself:

[More about this recording…]

Included with pre-orders of Sirene 1009

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 [details…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums), and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

updates

01-31-17: no longer available for download.

performance diary 01-24-17 (Belfast, Cork, Derry, London, Monmouth)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
February 3, 2017 St Peter’s Cork
North Main Street
Cork, Ireland
9:15pm Sky, Horse and Death (Kevin Terry: voice and clarinet; Ros Steer: electronics and voice; Dan Walsh: drums and saxophone; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Diarmait MacCárthaigh: accordion) perform as part of Quarter Block Party.
Tickets: €20.
[Quarter Block Party page…]
March 1, 2017 Queens Head Inn
1 St James Street
Monmouth NP25 3DL
Wales
9:00pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics).
Admission free. Presented with support from Music in Monmouth and Plancktone Club. [Details…] [Queens Head page…]
March 2, 2017 IKLECTIK
‘Old Paradise Yard’
20 Carlisle Lane
London SE1 7LG
England
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics).
Admission: £8 (£6).
[Details…]
[IKLECTIK page…]
March 7, 2017 Sonic Arts Research Centre
Cloreen Park
Belfast BT9 5HN
N. Ireland
8:00pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) as part of Brilliant Corners. Also performing: FAINT (Franziska Schroeder: saxophones; Pedro Rebelo: piano and ‘instrumental parasites’; and Steve Davis: drums) with Ricardo Jacinto (cello and electronics). Tickets: £10.
[Details…]
[Brilliant Corners page with ticket info…]
March 8, 2017 The Glassworks
33 Great James Street
Derry BT48 7DF
N. Ireland
8:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) and Caroline Pugh (voice and electronics).
Admission: £5, students free.
[Details…]
[Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin page…]
April 7, 2017 Aula Maxima
University College Cork
Cork, Ireland
1:10pm Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics) presented by FUAIM Music at UCC.
Admission free. Presented with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland. Arts Council of Ireland
Details to follow…
May 19, 2017 Stack Theatre
Cork School of Music
Union Quay
Cork, Ireland
TBC Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics). Also performing: Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Dan Walsh (drums). Tickets: TBC. Presented with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland, and support from CIT Cork School of Music and the Cork Improvised Music Club. Arts Council of Ireland
Details to follow…
Autumn 2017 Europe I am seeking performance opportunities for the transatlantic trio Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! [Performance proposal…]

Continue reading “performance diary 01-24-17 (Belfast, Cork, Derry, London, Monmouth)”

improvisation, animation, sociality, tradition and politics (a Jazz Noise: 7 Questions)

Want to know what and who I’ve been listening to? or what I’ve got planned (hint: see video above)? read my take on the late-capitalist (spotified, airbnbified, uberized) bootleg economy? or how about my non-musical influences:

Politics.

Even in these so-called cynical times I find politics (in, for example, the interactions between basement-level activism, and the, to quote Zappa, ‘entertainment division of the military-industrial complex’; in the friction between good, sometimes great, journalism, and the for-profit-lubricated popularity-contest we call publishing) inspiring.

Other things…?

Animators whose subject matter are things like movement, weight, physics, physiology, intent, volition, presence, personality, empathy, when their materials, in many respects, are working against those expressions. It helps to remind those of us who work in practices where it is too easy to take those same things—movement, weight, physics, physiology, etc.—for granted because they are so effortlessly part of the form. [Read the rest…]

Over at a Jazz Noise, you can read my answers to Dave Foxall’s 7 Questions such as my take on collaboration or what I seek in collaborators:

Imagination, skill and reliability. In that order.

Probably.

Someone who has a levelheaded understanding (consciously or not) of their niche within the transnational improvised music ecology….

I gravitate towards improvisers who are always prepared for that which is, in a way, unforeseeable.

Also people who can patch the holes and weaknesses in my musical skill-set. So, thinking about those three-quarters of Sirene 1009, I think: Dom Lash’s assured, steady-handed control of his technique and sound-making; Mark Sanders’ range, seemingly boundless imagination, ability anticipate anything and everything, and ability to make sense musically regardless of what surrounds him; and Caroline Pugh’s handle and knowledge of genre, and how she seemingly can just jump in regardless of context. I think the various ways we move—our bodies and their relationship with the instruments, say—complement each other.

(I’ve said this before, but getting a group together is a kind of composition.) [Read the rest…]

Plus, the “opening track [from ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000)]—Psychohistory III (very Asimov!)—[is] exclusively available to a Jazz Noise readers (hear it here and nowhere else, folks) for this interview.” [Listen/read the rest…].

selected discography

Cover of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

Sirene 1009 (BAF000) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass), Mark Sanders (drums) and Caroline Pugh (voice and tape recorder).

© + ℗ 2017 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…]

Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nick Didkovsky (guitar), and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone and bass clarinet).

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

into the unknown (reviews: Sirene 1009)

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)
© 2017 Han-earl Park

Animals? minerals? and monsters? The first review of ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000), the CD/digital download album by Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh comes from Takeshi Goda, writing in JazzTokyo, who describes a dynamic ensemble:

ここでも音楽の概念を拡張する創造性が遺憾なく発揮されている。ギター、ベース、ドラムというオーソドックスな編成で繰り出されるアンサンブルは、彼らしくそれぞれの楽器の「気配」を過剰に抽出した物音狂想曲を奏でる。演者の感情がまったく伺えない硬質な世界はパクの使うピック同様に鉱物的な響きを供するが、合同演奏の向こうに垣間見える風景は人間の営みを動物に例えた鳥獣戯画の如きカリカチュアに他ならない。それはすなわち、岩石絵具で彩色筆された水墨画である。[Read the rest…]

— 剛田 武 Takeshi Goda (JazzTokyo)

Meanwhile, David Menestres at Free Jazz, giving the album ☆☆☆☆½, hears in it “a cyborg slowly coming to terms with having a consciousness”, “drums like an octopus”, and “syllabic squeaks”, “animalish noises” and “full sentences”:

There are few bands that cross as much territory as this one does. From thrashing, spastic aggressive riffs that put most punks to shame to explorations of the quietest of spaces in-between thoughts, Sirene 1009 is a fierce, adventurous band that goes where most bands don’t: into the unknown, fearlessly in search of the new….

Don’t expect the band to hold your hand. There isn’t any way off once they take flight. Go along for the ride. If you bail out mid-flight you’ll just end up another D.B. Cooper, lost to time, never to be found again. [Read the rest…]

— David Menestres (Free Jazz)

Menestres also described Kuramoto Synchronization, the free bonus album that comes with pre-orders of ‘Sirene 1009,’ as “an exquisite exploration of space, time, nightmares, and dreamscapes.”

Elsewhere, A Closer Listen writes that “Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh make quite a racket on Sirene 1009, tossing clatter and gentle obscenities all around the playroom….” Finally, although it’s not even released yet, ‘Sirene 1009’ still manages to get on Avant Music News’ 2016 Runners-Up list (Mike Borella, thanks for listening!).

[About this recording…] [Bandcamp page (order CD/download)…] [All reviews…]

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

‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000) with Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh (artwork copyright 2017, Han-earl Park)

* Limited edition glass-mastered CD. CD includes additional material (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.

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London performance presented with funding from Culture Ireland, and support from SLAM Productions.