Rerelease: Problematica

‘Eris 136199: Problematica’ by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)
Artwork © 2018 Han-earl Park.

Update: download no longer available. Thank you so much for your support, and thanks so much for listening!

Continuing Eris 136199’s decennial, we’ve just rereleased Eris 136199: Problematica.

[Download now (Bandcamp)…]

This digital-only album was originally made available exclusively to our Kickstarter-backers in 2018. We’re now making this available for a short time for everyone who missed out the first time.

Download: €5.00 minimum (‘name your price’).

Album available to stream via the free Bandcamp app, and to download in multiple formats including lossless.

And please remember that 𝑿: Eris 136199 Decennial is still available, and that you have only a couple of more weeks to download Cryptogenic Animals before that goes back to where all the good limited editions go.

Celebrate 10 years of Eris 136199

𝑿: Eris 136199 Decennial artwork (copyright 2020 Han-earl Park)

𝑿: Eris 136199 Decennial [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Let 𝑿 (7:56), Problematica I.ii (remastered) (8:34). Total duration: 16:30.

© + ℗ 2022 Han-earl Park.

Also by Eris 136199

cover art (copyright 2020 Han-earl Park)

Peculiar Velocities (BAF002) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Ballad of Tensegrity I (≥ 5:12), Ballad of Tensegrity II (2:28), Peculiar Velocities I (3:46), Peculiar Velocities II (3:36), Sleeping Dragon (5:22), D-Loop I (≥ 6:16), D-Loop II (5:13), Polytely I (≥ 5:01), Polytely II: Breakdown (5:33), Anagnorisis I (2:09), Anagnorisis II (2:19). Total duration ≥ 46:54.

© + ℗ 2020 Han-earl Park.

Cover of ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)

Eris 136199 (BAF001) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Therianthropy I (≥ 3:43), Therianthropy II (8:56), Therianthropy III (3:55), Therianthropy IV (6:30), Adaptive Radiation I (6:44), Adaptive Radiation II (8:48), Adaptive Radiation III (5:54), Universal Greebly (10:58), Hypnagogia I (8:03), Hypnagogia II (4:45). Total duration ≥ 68:25.

© + ℗ 2018 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…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nick Didkovsky (guitar; tracks 1 and 5), and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone and bass clarinet; tracks 2–4).

Track listing: Monopod (27:19), Pleonasm (Metis 9) (17:08), Flying Rods (Metis 9) (7:41), Hydraphon (7:34), StopCock (10:54). Total duration: 70:33.

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

updates

11-27-22: No longer available for download.

X: Eris 136199 Decennial

𝑿: Eris 136199 Decennial artwork
Artwork by Han-earl Park with Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky. © 2022 Han-earl Park.

Celebrate 10 years of Eris 136199 with the trio’s new EP, 𝑿: Eris 136199 Decennial!

On May 27, 2012 at ABC No Rio, NYC, Catherine Sikora, Nick Didkovsky and I took the stage for the first time as a trio. Ten years later, in celebration of this ensemble, Catherine, Nick and I have created a long-distance improvisative collage.

[Download now (Bandcamp)…]

Download: €3.00 minimum (‘name your price’).

EP available to stream via the free Bandcamp app, and to download in multiple formats including lossless.

description

I recall the exact moment I knew this group was something special, when, fifteen minutes into the 40 minute improvisation, the broken-machinery-rattle-buzzes-and-bumps of the guitars were joined by the melismatic lines of the soprano saxophone. And the trio refused to collapse that juxtaposition—letting that idiomatic dissonance remain standing—creating its own logic by force-of-will.

— Han-earl Park

Ten years ago, May 27, 2012, at ABC No Rio in the Lower East Side, Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky took the stage for the first time as a trio. Before the events of 2020, the plan had been for the trio, after the release of a new album, to go on tour. But, as the rogue piece of genetic material danced its dance with humanity, the trio had to rethink that plan.

Park selected an excerpt from the recording of the trio’s Derby, 2017 performance to serve as the foundation for a new piece by the trio. He created custom music-minus-one mixes starting with a mix without the saxophone part. Sikora then recorded a new saxophone part. Park then created a mix with this new saxophone part, but without Didkovsky’s 2017 guitar. Didkovsky then recorded a new guitar part, and finally Park recorded a new guitar part to replace his 2017 performance.

So fascinating—it is clearly, undeniably Eris, but also not Eris—the components are all there but the interactions/atmosphere is totally different.

— Catherine Sikora

It’s like peering into a parallel universe and listening to what Eris in that world sounds like.

— Nick Didkovsky

And for the ‘B-side,’ the EP includes a remastered edition of the original source recording made in Derby five years ago.

Eris 136199 (Jazz em Agosto, Lisbon, 08-11-19)
Photo © Jazz em Agosto / Petra Cvelbar
Eris 136199

Eris 136199 plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. Eris 136199 is the corporeal, cyborg virtuosity of constructor and guitarist Han-earl Park; the noisy, unruly complexity of composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky; and the no-nonsense melodic logic of composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora.

Han-earl Park is the instigator and mastermind behind Eris 136199, as well as groups including Sirene 1009 with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and rit., and co-conspirator in projects with Richard Barrett and others. Park is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and of Metis 9, a playbook of improvisative tactics. He has performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Ingrid Laubrock, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury, Pat Thomas and Franziska Schroeder. His ensembles have performed at festivals including Freedom of the City (London), Brilliant Corners (Belfast), ISIM (New York), CEAIT (Los Angeles) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam).

Saxophonist, improviser and composer Catherine Sikora, known for her big sound and lyrical melodic work, works as a solo performer and with Eric Mingus, Enrique Haneine, Brian Chase, Han-earl Park, Ethan Winogrand, Christopher Culpo and Ross Hammond. In recent years Sikora has toured in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. She was a featured soloist in Eric Mingus’ radical reimagining of Tommy by the Who (Adelaide Festival 2015), and was artist in residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris in 2014 and in 2020.

Guitarist, composer, and computer music programmer Nick Didkovsky has composed music for Kathleen Supové, ETHEL, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Meridian Arts Ensemble, New Century Players, ARTE Quartett, as part of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, and his own bands Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist, Häßliche Luftmasken, and others. His compositions and guitar performances appear on more than 50 records. For over 30 years, his avant-metal big band Doctor Nerve has fueled Didkovsky’s intricate compositions with the energy of rock, punching holes through the walls between heavy metal, contemporary music, and improvisation, and performing at festivals including Moers, FIMAV, and the Whitney Museum’s ‘Whitney Live.’ With computer music pioneer Phil Burk, Didkovsky developed the computer music language Java Music Specification Language (JMSL).

personnel

Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone), and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

track listing

Let 𝑿 (7:56), Problematica I.ii (remastered) (8:34). Total duration: 16:30.

recording details

Music by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky.

Track 1 recorded March and April 2022, New York and Berlin.
Track 2 recorded live November 4, 2017, The Bless, Derby.
Recorded by Eris 136199 (track 1), and by Chris Trent (track 2).

Mixed by Han-earl Park.
Mastered by Chris Sharkey.

Artwork by Han-earl Park with Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky.

Special thanks to Corey Mwamba and Chris Trent. Derby performance presented by Corey Mwamba/OUT FRONT!, and with the awesome support of our Kickstarter backers. Track 2 includes material previously released on the limited edition album Problematica (2018).

© + ℗ 2022 Han-earl Park.

Also by Eris 136199

cover art (copyright 2020 Han-earl Park)

Peculiar Velocities (BAF002) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Ballad of Tensegrity I (≥ 5:12), Ballad of Tensegrity II (2:28), Peculiar Velocities I (3:46), Peculiar Velocities II (3:36), Sleeping Dragon (5:22), D-Loop I (≥ 6:16), D-Loop II (5:13), Polytely I (≥ 5:01), Polytely II: Breakdown (5:33), Anagnorisis I (2:09), Anagnorisis II (2:19). Total duration ≥ 46:54.

© + ℗ 2020 Han-earl Park.

Cover of ‘Eris 136199’ (BAF001) by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)

Eris 136199 (BAF001) [details…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophone) and Nick Didkovsky (guitar).

Track listing: Therianthropy I (≥ 3:43), Therianthropy II (8:56), Therianthropy III (3:55), Therianthropy IV (6:30), Adaptive Radiation I (6:44), Adaptive Radiation II (8:48), Adaptive Radiation III (5:54), Universal Greebly (10:58), Hypnagogia I (8:03), Hypnagogia II (4:45). Total duration ≥ 68:25.

© + ℗ 2018 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…]

Personnel: Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nick Didkovsky (guitar; tracks 1 and 5), and Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone and bass clarinet; tracks 2–4).

Track listing: Monopod (27:19), Pleonasm (Metis 9) (17:08), Flying Rods (Metis 9) (7:41), Hydraphon (7:34), StopCock (10:54). Total duration: 70:33.

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

Eris 136199: Problematica

‘Eris 136199: Problematica’ by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (artwork copyright 2018, Han-earl Park)
Artwork © 2018 Han-earl Park.

Exclusive album ONLY AVAILABLE to backers of the Eris 136199 Kickstarter campaign.

Out now: previously unreleased live recording by Eris 136199 specially prepared, and only available as part of, the 2017 Kickstarter campaign. Eris 136199 is Han-earl Park’s trio featuring Nick Didkovsky’s meditations in glitch, and Catherine Sikora’s melodic inventions. Recorded with energy and precision by the amazing Chris Trent, this recording captures the trio during their 2017 European tour.

This album, when promised to our backers, was previously known as the ‘Official Bootleg.’ It is, however, no longer of bootleg quality!

For those who didn’t catch our Kickstarter, sign up to my newsletter to be notified of when Eris 136199’s new album is released!

Signup to the newsletter [details…].

[About the newsletter…]

personnel

Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar).

track listing

Problematica: Prolog (11:17), Problematica I (9:00), Problematica II (10:15), Problematica III (5:23), Problematica: Epilog (10:05). Total duration: 46:00.

recording details

Music by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky.

Recorded live November 4, 2017, The Bless, Derby.
Recorded by Chris Trent.
Mixed and mastered by Han-earl Park.
Artwork by Han-earl Park.

Thanks to Corey Mwamba. Performance presented by OUT FRONT!, and with the awesome support of our Kickstarter backers.

Recording during the 2017 European tour made possible through the support from Jazz North East, Jvtlandt, Jazz Club Loco, OUT FRONT!, Xposed Club, Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg, and MS Stubnitz, and the awe-inspiring generosity of the backers of our Kickstarter project: Cath Roberts, Franziska Schroeder, Owen Green, Han-Ter Park, Richard Hollis, Tom Duff, Jan Langedijk, Thomas Buckner, Liam Nagle, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Randy McKean, Anton Hunter, Marte van der Loop, Ian Boswell, Nancy Meli Walker, David M. Morris, Nicholas Croft, Eva Zelig, Bart Mallio, Jeremy Clarke, Martin Pyne, Josh Sinton, Moon Soon Han, Eun-He Moon, Yoon-Mi Cho, 고항심, Katie O’Looney, Jamie Smith, Phil Burk, Andrea Wolper, Kyoko Kitamura, DIDI, Caroline Pugh, Edozie Edoga, Yu Seon Hee, Danny McCarthy, Richard Barrett, Leejiyoung, Ed Bennett, Young-Shin Park, Ga Hyun Noh, Inkyung Kim, Keith Stonell, Peter O’Doherty, Viv Corringham, Korhan Erel, Tony O’Connor, Vikram Kapur and Maneesha Chawala, and our anonymous backers.

© + ℗ 2018 Han-earl Park.

also by Eris 136199

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.

updates

08-25-22: Rerelease!
11-27-22: No longer available for download.

tonight: Eris 136199 at OUT FRONT! Derby

Eris 136199, Derby
© 2017 Han-earl Park.

Tonight (November 4, 2017), at 6:00pm: Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar), presented by OUT FRONT!, perform at Blessington Carriage (11 Chapel Street, Derby DE1 3GU).

And finally…

Tomorrow night (November 5): Eris 136199 plays the final date in this tour in Newcastle, England. [Details…]

Eris 136199 (Hamburg, Copenhagen, Cheltenham, Derby and Newcastle, November 2017)

November 2017: Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar) will perform in Hamburg, Copenhagen, Cheltenham, Derby and Newcastle (see the performance diary for up-to-date info).

As I’ve said: “Eris 136199 may be the closest to how I think music should sound like, or how I would like to imagine a music. Musicality and interactivity are tightly knotted together as we improvise, create, and explore. Making improvised music is a uniquely rewarding artistic struggle that brings exceptional joy to musicians and audience alike, who join in making and watching unpredictable events unfold…!

“Interaction with, and within, Eris is an always awesome experience; unique in bringing so many strands of the musically possible together. I’m very excited to be playing again with two of my favorite musicians, avant-rock legend Nick Didkovsky and the powerfully creative improviser Catherine Sikora, and finally bringing this trio to European audiences.” Hope to see y’all at these events!

Details

Forged in the avant-what of Downtown New York City, Eris 136199 is coming to Europe this fall, performing in Hamburg (1 November), Copenhagen (2), Cheltenham (3), Derby (4) and Newcastle (5).

A meeting between intrepid guitarists and cyborg interactionist Han-earl Park, legendary avant-metal composer-guitarist Nick Didkovsky, and the muscular, impeccably melodic saxophonist Catherine Sikora, Eris 136199 has been described as “a beautiful noise” (KFJC 89.7 FM), and “ein glorioser Bastard aus Noise und süßer Träumerei” (Bad Alchemy).

This tour has been made possible through the support from Jazz North East, Jvtlandt, Jazz Club Loco, OUT FRONT!, Xposed Club, Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg, and MS Stubnitz, and the awe-inspiring generosity of the backers of our Kickstarter project:

Cath Roberts, Franziska Schroeder, Owen Green, Han-Ter Park, Richard Hollis, Tom Duff, Jan Langedijk, Thomas Buckner, Liam Nagle, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Randy McKean, Anton Hunter, Marte van der Loop, Ian Boswell, Nancy Meli Walker, David M. Morris, Nicholas Croft, Eva Zelig, Bart Mallio, Jeremy Clarke, Martin Pyne, Josh Sinton, Moon Soon Han, Eun-He Moon, Yoon-Mi Cho, 고항심, Katie O’Looney, Jamie Smith, Phil Burk, Andrea Wolper, Kyoko Kitamura, DIDI, Caroline Pugh, Edozie Edoga, Yu Seon Hee, Danny McCarthy, Richard Barrett, Leejiyoung, Ed Bennett, Young-Shin Park, Ga Hyun Noh, Inkyung Kim, Keith Stonell, Peter O’Doherty, Viv Corringham, Korhan Erel, Tony O’Connor, Vikram Kapur and Maneesha Chawala, and our anonymous backers.

About Eris 136199

Eris 136199: Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Nick Didkovsky (Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn, June 5, 2013). Photo copyright 2013 Scott Friedlander.
Photo © 2013 Scott Friedlander.

Impressive in scale, overwhelming in execution, it’s a cyclic frenzy of fragmented sounds without an ounce of entropy, yet somehow with a sense of clear movement and progression.

— Dave Foxall (a Jazz Noise)

‘Free’ is a barely sufficient to describe this approach, as the trios explore various angular constructs and effects. The vocabulary of sounds here is as broad as it is unconventional.

— Mike Borella (Avant Music News)

Atmospheric as to become almost frightening.

— Ken Waxman (The New York City Jazz Record)

Eris 136199 plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. Eris 136199 is the corporeal, cyborg virtuosity of constructor and guitarist Han-earl Park; the noisy, unruly complexity of composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky; and the no-nonsense melodic logic of composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora.

Described by Brian Morton as “a musical philosopher… a delightful shape-shifter”, Han-earl Park is drawn to real-time cyborg configurations in which artifacts and bodies collide. He has performed with some of the finest practitioners of improvised music, leads Sirene 1009 with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh, and is part of Numbers with Richard Barrett.

A composer who enjoys blurry boundaries, Nick Didkovsky founded the avant-rock big band Doctor Nerve, and is a member of Swim This with Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle. He is a pioneer of small-systems computer music, and has composed music for ensembles including Bang On A Can All Stars, ETHEL, and the Meridian Arts Ensemble.

Catherine Sikora is “a free-blowing player’s player with a spectacular harmonic imagination and an evolved understanding of the tonal palette of the saxophone” (Chris Elliot, Seacoast Online). She has a long-standing duo project with Eric Mingus, and has performed as part of ensembles led by Elliott Sharp, François Grillot, Ross Hammond, and Ursel Schlicht.

Together, Park, Didkovsky and Sikora forge an improvisative space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, metal becomes metal, bluegrass turns to bluegrass, jazz transforms into jazz, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures.

about the performers

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park has been crossing borders and performing fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, always traditional, open improvised musics for twenty years. He has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces across Europe and the USA.

Ensembles include Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora, and Numbers with Richard Barrett. Park is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and instigator of Metis 9, a playbook of improvisative tactics. He has performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury, Pat Thomas and Franziska Schroeder. His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions, Creative Sources and DUNS Limited Edition.

“Guitarist Han-earl Park is a musical philosopher…. Expect unexpected things from Park, who is a delightful shape-shifter….”

— Brian Morton (Point of Departure)

“Though short, percussive, hard-to-notate sounds dominate Han-earl Park’s sound, he does utilize the totality of the guitar’s sonorities—just not in the proportions demanded by the nostalgic (retrospective, reactionary, etc.) owners of major media….”

— Stanley Zappa (The New York City Jazz Record)

Nick Didkovsky is a guitarist, composer, and computer music programmer. His non-didactic approach to combining human and machine creativity is a unique musical fingerprint. Didkovsky has composed new music for Kathleen Supove, Ethel, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Meridian Arts Ensemble, New Century Players, ARTE Quartett, his own bands Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist, Häßliche Luftmasken, and others. His compositions and guitar performances appear on more than 50 records.

For over 30 years, Doctor Nerve has fueled Didkovsky’s intricate compositions with the energy of rock, often challenging the boundaries between heavy metal, contemporary music, and improvisation. Doctor Nerve has released nine albums of more than 50 of his compositions. The band has performed at numerous festivals including FIMAV, the Moers Festival, Musique Action, Creative Time, MIMI Festival, and ‘Whitney Live’ at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

As a guitarist and composer, Didkovsky was a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, contributing twelve compositions to its repertoire. Didkovsky’s electric guitar compositions continue to be performed by newer ensembles such as Dither Quartet, E-Werk, and Fracture Guitar Quartet, and by soloists such as Kevin Gallagher, Marco Cappelli, and Wiek Hijmans. As a soloist, he has performed at numerous events such as Bang On A Can festival, Guitarévolutions in Montreal, New Ballet festival at the Miller Theatre, and John Zorn’s East Asian Bar Bands. His 2015 Residency at The Stone in NYC resulted in numerous premiere performances of new works.

Collaborating with computer music pioneer Phil Burk, Didkovsky began developing Java Music Specification Language in 1997.

“Musicians (and listeners) who approach Didkovsky’s work find that part of the challenge derives from his mastery of unpredictability.”

— Linda Leseman (The Village Voice)

Saxophonist, improviser and composer Catherine Sikora was born and raised in West Cork, Ireland. Self taught to begin with, she moved to New York City to study and play with great improvisers.

Sikora works in a broad range of settings, from highly complex composed music, to folk songs, to free improvisation. She works regularly with Eric Mingus, Enrique Haneine, Brian Chase, Han-earl Park, Stanley Zappa, Christopher Culpo and Ross Hammond, as well as actively pursuing solo performance.

In the past few years Sikora has toured in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. She was a featured soloist in Eric Mingus’ radical reimagining of Tommy by the Who (Adelaide Festival 2015), and was artist in residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris for the fall of 2014, working on a project inspired by stories from her female ancestors. Catherine’s first solo album ‘Jersey’ was released on Relative Pitch Records in July 2016.

Current working projects include Clockwork Mercury (duo with Eric Mingus) and an improvising duo with drummer Brian Chase; Sikora’s first solo recording will be released in fall 2015.

“Sikora has invited us into her musical world, and like the neighbor from Queens, it is our good fortune to be in its midsts.”

— Paul Acquaro (Free Jazz)

“There is almost always one enigmatic person at every gathering…. Inevitably, there is an expert storyteller there as well. With any luck, it happens to be the same person. These rare folk have the ability to spin a tale you have possibly heard before but can retell it with such clarity that you are captivated or better yet hypnotized. They can give you a new understanding of something you thought you already knew. This is a beautiful power and an ability that is rare to possess. Catherine Sikora is such a person/player.”

— Philip Coombs (Free Jazz)

by Han-earl Park, Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora

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.

performance diary 10-14-17 (Cheltenham, Copenhagen, Derby, Hamburg, Munich, Newcastle)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
November 1, 2017 MS Stubnitz
Kirchenpauerkai 29, 20457 Hamburg, Germany
8:30pm (doors: 8:00pm) Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar). Presented with funding from Verband für aktuelle Musik Hamburg.
Tickets: €12 (€6 students), €8 advance [get tickets…]
[Details…]
[Stubnitz page…] [VAMH page…]
November 2, 2017 Bryggekælderen
Njalsgade 15
2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark
8:00pm Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar) presented by Jazz Club Loco and Jvtlandt. Also performing: Sonja LaBianca (saxophone) and Heine Thorhauge Mathiasen (guitar). Admission: Kr. 60.
[Details…]
[Loco page…]
November 3, 2017 Francis Close Hall
University of Gloucestershire
Swindon Road
Cheltenham GL50 4AZ
England
8:00pm Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar) presented by Xposed Club. Also performing: Eugene Chadbourne. Admission: £7 (£3).
[Details…]
[Xposed page…]
November 4, 2017 Blessington Carriage
11 Chapel Street
Derby DE1 3GU
England
6:00pm Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar) presented by OUT FRONT!
[Details…]
November 5, 2017 The Bridge Hotel
Castle Square
Newcastle NE1 1RQ
England
8:00pm Eris 136199 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Catherine Sikora: saxophones; and Nick Didkovsky: guitar) presented by Jazz North East. Also performing: Inclusion Principle (Herve Perez and Martin Archer: woodwind, electronics; and Peter Fairclough: percussion). Tickets: £8 (£6) [get tickets…]
[Details…]
[Jazz North East page…]
November 30, 2017 KlangBüro
Ruffinihaus
Sendlingerstrasse 1
80331 Munich
Germany
7:30pm Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Norbert Stammberger (saxophone). [Details…] [Halle 6 page…]

Continue reading “performance diary 10-14-17 (Cheltenham, Copenhagen, Derby, Hamburg, Munich, Newcastle)”

tonight: Josh Sinton, Han-earl Park and Dominic Lash presented by A Little Bit of Nothing, Derby

Tonight (November 15, 2016), at 6:30pm.: Josh Sinton (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Dominic Lash (double bass) perform at The Bless (11–17 Chapel Street, Derby DE1 3GU, England). Admission: £10 (under 18s free).

performances: Josh Sinton, Han-earl Park and Dominic Lash (Derby, Newcastle and Sheffield, November 2016)

Josh Sinton (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Dominic Lash (double bass) will be playing a short tour of England in November 2016 (see the performance diary for up-to-date info):

Reasons to be excited? These will be Josh’s first performances in England. Plus, though there have been numerous Sinton-Lash, Sinton-Park and Lash-Park collaborations over the years, this will be the first time you get to hear all three of us together. As Jazz North East says, “an opportunity to combine their unique takes on free-form improvisation. So this is a gig that promises to be a revelation for them as well as for us.”

Above video playlist of various performances by Josh, Han and Dom. Videography by Kevin Reilly, Don Mount, Scott Friedlander.

By Josh Sinton, Han-earl Park and Dominic Lash

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.

alt CD cover of ‘Signal Gain’ (ONR 023) with Josh Sinton and Dominic Lash (copyright 2015, Sinton and Lash)

Signal Gain (ONR 023)

Performers: Josh Sinton (amplified contrabass clarinet, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet) and Dominic Lash (double bass) with Ingrid Laubrock (tenor and soprano saxophones), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Kyoko Kitamura (voice) and Alex Ward (clarinet).

© + ℗ 2015 Josh Sinton and Dominic Lash.

CD cover preview of ‘Sirene 1009’ © 2017 Han-earl Park

‘Sirene 1009’ (coming soon!)

Performers: Sirene 1009 (Han-earl Park: guitar; Dominic Lash: double bass; Mark Sanders: drums; and Caroline Pugh: voice and electronics).

© + ℗ 2017 Han-earl Park.

performance diary 09-28-16 (Belfast, Cork, Derby, Newcastle, Sheffield)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
November 10, 2016 Over The Top
78 Kingfield Road
Sheffield S11 9AU
England
8:00pm Josh Sinton (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Dominic Lash (double bass).
[Details…]
November 13, 2016 Bridge Hotel
Castle Garth
Newcastle NE1 1RQ
England
8:00pm Josh Sinton (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Dominic Lash (double bass) presented by Jazz North East. Also performing: Improvisers Workshop Ensemble. Tickets: £8 (£6).
[Details…] [Jazz North East page…]
November 15, 2016 The Bless
11–17 Chapel Street
Derby DE1 3GU
England
6:30pm Josh Sinton (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Dominic Lash (double bass) presented by A Little Bit of Nothing/Corey Mwamba.
Admission: £10 (under 18s free).
[Details…] [Facebook event…]
March 7, 2017 Sonic Arts Research Centre
Cloreen Park
Belfast BT9 5HN
N. Ireland
TBC 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). Details to follow…
April 7, 2017 Venue TBC
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…
2017 Europe I am seeking performance opportunities for Sirene 1009 with Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh. Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch!

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