thanks: Eris 136199 (Brecht Forum, NYC) and Evans-Jensen-Park (DMG, NYC)

A somewhat belated set of thanks for the gigs on January 13 and January 20, 2013. Very big, big thanks to fellow performers Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora of Eris 136199 (I’ve been told ours was a fantastic performance, I’m very sorry that, zombified with a virus, I have little recollection of it :-/ ), and to Michael Evans and Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen.

Kudos to Ras Moshe and everyone at The Brecht Forum, and to Bruce Gallanter (hey, it was good to talk and catch up, Bruce!) and Manny Maris of Downtown Music Gallery for hosting and curating the events. (And apologies to Ras and the other performers at The Brecht Forum for not being able to stick around for the other sets.) Thanks again to Kevin Reilly for the video documentation of the DMG performance, and thanks, as always, to all who came to listen and witness music in interaction and in real-time.

By the way, ‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd), the duo album with Richard Barrett (the one that got selected for Délire actuel’s 2012 Demanding Music Top 30), should now be available from Downtown Music Gallery. [More about this CD…]

Eris 136199: seeking performances (North America, 2012–2013; Europe, 2013–2014)

Seeking performance opportunities; particularly in North America during 2012–2013; and Europe, late-2013 and 2014 onwards (contact us for other locations and dates): composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky, guitarist, improviser and constructor Han-earl Park, and composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora (saxophones).

See performance proposal for further information (availability, technical requirements, performers’ biographies, etc.).

overview

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

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 ensemble including Bang On A Can All-Stars and the California EAR Unit.

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, is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and Numbers with Richard Barrett.

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 performs as part of ensembles led by Elliott Sharp, François Grillot and Matt Lavelle.

Together, Didkovsky, Park and Sikora forges 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.

Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora are also available for performance/improvisation/composition workshops and talks.

further information

Audio recordings, images and other material available on request.

[Full performance proposal…]

video recordings: YouTube playlist updates

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

And Eris 136199 now has its own playlist.

thanks: Perkis-Park-Eisenstadt (The Stone, NYC) and Evans-Jensen-Park (DSMC, Brooklyn)

Tim Perkis, Han-earl Park and Harris Eisenstadt (The Stone, NYC, September 7, 2012). Photo copyright 2012 Tom Djll.
Harris Eisenstadt, Han-earl Park and Tim Perkis (The Stone, NYC, September 7, 2012). Photo © 2012 Tom Djll.

Big thanks to all the performers over the weekend: Harris Eisenstadt, Michael Evans (drums), Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, and, especially for the initial invite to perform at The Stone, to Tim Perkis, one of the very finest computer performers, and one of the few who understands the nuts’n’bolts of musicianship and performance.

Thanks also to Miguel Frasconi for curating the series at The Stone, and to Josh Sinton and Prom Night Records for putting together Save The Date #8 at the Douglass Street Music Collective; and to Kevin Reilly and Don Mount for the documentation. And, nothing to do with my own performances, but I want to mention Tom Djll who, with Andrew Drury (thanks for the transport back home, Andrew!) and Tim, presented borderline genius deconstructions—diabolical combinations of intelligent critique and humorous pastiche—that followed our set at The Stone.

And, as always, thanks to everyone who came to listen and witness real-time music in motion… including the one person in the audience who really did not dig what I was doing… at all %^}

Video of the Day at All About Jazz: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora)

The video of Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) is Video of the Day at All About Jazz. The video was captured at the May 27, 2012 performance presented by COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda at ABC No Rio, NYC.

[AAJ page…] [YouTube…]
[About Eris 136199] [Performance diary entry…] [About this performance…]

thanks: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) at On The Way Out, Brooklyn

Videography: Don Mount.

Thanks to our hosts Freddy’s and, in particular, Michael Evans of On The Way Out for their generosity in offering us the stage to perform last night (July 24, 2012). Thanks also to Jesse Stacken and Don Mount for the recording and documentation, to Christine Bard’s cast of thousands for sharing the stage, and to all who came to listen.

And of course my thanks to the always creative Nick Didkovsky and endlessly imaginative Catherine Sikora. After the swift, seemingly effortlessness of the first performance by Eris 136199, this was much more of a struggle for me (in the best possible sense), ranging as it did from the loud, heavy machinery noises to the quiet, delicate sounds. Thanks, Nick, Catherine, for pushing and pulling the music into ever more interesting spaces. Really looking forward to the next time we get to play!

Side effects of Eris 136199 may include temporary deafness, involuntary teleportation, spontaneous combustion, and molecular implosion. In addition, lab animals have been shown to dance without skill to the sound of double guitars and saxophone. …But you’ll love what it does to your brain! 😉

updates

02–13–13: updated video: complete performance now available to view.

thanks: Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora at ABC No Rio, New York

Nick Didkovsky, Catherine Sikora and Han-earl Park
Thanks to Blaise Siwula of COMA: Citizens Ontological Music Agenda and everyone at ABC No Rio for hosting the performance on Sunday (May 27, 2012). Thanks to Jim Goodin, Frederika Kreier, and the Rocco John Iacovone ensemble for sharing the stage.

Mono kudos to the Ultimate Nick Didkovsky and the Astonishing Catherine Sikora for the noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. For forging a space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, bluegrass can be bluegrass, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures. To Nick’s noisy, unruly complexity, where ‘extended technique’ doesn’t mean you can’t jam-on-C. To Catherine with her big, big sound, formidable technique, and impeccable melodic sense, who to quote Michael Lytle’s description of the performance “sailed around and through” the “sound machines.” Let’s return to this trio soon!

And if you’re wondering what we sounded like…

video recordings: Paul Dunmall and Han-earl Park, ‘Boolean Transforms’

A couple of short video clips of the November 6, 2009 performance by Paul Dunmall and myself. The full concert available on the CD ‘Boolean Transforms’ [Get the CD…].

video credits

Improvised music performance by Paul Dunmall (saxophone and bagpipes) and Han-earl Park (guitar).

Video: John Hough
Audio: Han-earl Park

Presented by the UCC Concert Series at the Ó Riada Hall, UCC School of Music, Cork, Ireland, on November 6, 2009. Thanks to Paul O’Donnell, Jesse Ronneau, Carmel Daly and John Hough.

Full concert available on DUNS Limited Edition CD ‘Boolean Transforms’ (DLE 067).

© 2010 Dunmall/Park

audio and video recordings: Sonorities 2009

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

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

arts council logo

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

video recordings: Dunmall-Park-Sanders-Smith

Video clips of the February 11th 2009 performance by myself with Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders and Jamie Smith are now on YouTube.

video credits

Improvised music performance by Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Han-earl Park (guitar), Mark Sanders (drums) and Jamie Smith (guitar).

Video: John Hough.
Audio: Jamie Smith.

Presented by the UCC Concert Series at the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland, on February 11 2009, during the exhibition Eye for An Eye: Representations of Conflict in 20th Century Ireland.

Thanks to Paul O’Donnell, Jesse Ronneau, Ciarán Meade, Carmel Daly, John Hough and Chris Paton.

Full concert available on the CD ‘Live at the Glucksman Gallery, Cork’, Owlhouse Recordings (owlcd002).

© 2009 dunmall/park/sanders/smith

updates

05-01-21: replace old Flash-based embeds.

Han-earl Park on YouTube

Okay, okay, in addition to Facebook, MySpace, iLike and All About Jazz, here’s yet more waste of bandwidth:

www.youtube.com/hanearlpark

Currently, the videos are duplicates of those found on Google Video, but more should be forthcoming. As before, however, www.busterandfriends.com is likely to remain the most up-to-date source of info on yours truly.