{"id":2951,"date":"2013-12-04T07:19:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T07:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2014-05-11T14:45:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-11T14:45:06","slug":"msppiano-w-sax-masters-steve-adams-of-rova-sax-quartet-aaron-bennett-sun-08-dec-outsound-orgs-simm-series-sf-730pm-set-2-daniel-pearce-teddy-rankin-parker-duo-730pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/04\/msppiano-w-sax-masters-steve-adams-of-rova-sax-quartet-aaron-bennett-sun-08-dec-outsound-orgs-simm-series-sf-730pm-set-2-daniel-pearce-teddy-rankin-parker-duo-730pm\/","title":{"rendered":"MSP\/piano, w sax masters Steve Adams of ROVA Sax Quartet & Aaron Bennett (Sun 08 Dec @ Outsound.org’s SIMM Series, SF, 7:30pm) + Set 2: Daniel Pearce & Teddy Rankin-Parker duo, 8:30pm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Outsound: A New Sonic Collective for the 21st Century<\/p><\/div>\n

I’m very excited to once more join sax masters Steve Adams<\/a> and Aaron Bennett<\/a> at Outsound\u2019s SIMM Series<\/strong> at 7:30pm, Sun 08 Dec<\/strong> (Set 1) at the Musicians Union Hall, 116 9th St @ Mission, SF (map)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Yakitori-ya in the rain at night, Shimbashi (\u591c\u306e\u96e8\u306e\u4e2d\u3067\u713c\u304d\u9ce5\u5c4b\u3001\u65b0\u6a4b)<\/p><\/div>\n

Outsound\u2019s SIMM Series<\/strong> reminds me of cozy parties among friends at my favorite yakitori joint, nestled under the Shimbashi Bridge in Tokyo in the night rain\u2026 from the outside a few hints of warm light and laughter, on the inside a serious wild time. The difference is that, unlike the yakitori joint, the SIMM Series<\/strong> is a spaceship that travels to other musical dimensions.<\/p>\n

An acoustic-centered sister of the Luggage Store Series, SIMM has brought the best cutting-edge acoustic jazz and avant-garde musicians in and out of the Bay Area to SF audiences and delivered one musical adventure after another.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(L \u2192 R) Joe Lasqo, Steve Adams and Aaron Bennett at the Makeout Room, 6 May 2013 (Photo by Michael Zelner)<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s my honor to return to this series, and I\u2019m especially excited to be doing so with Steve Adams<\/a> and Aaron Bennett<\/a>, whose highly disparate styles interlock in a unique fusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Steve Adams<\/p><\/div>\n

Steve Adams<\/a> needs little introduction to lovers of jazz and new music, having been a long-standing key player in various East & West Coast scenes. His work on various saxes, flutes, electronics and as a composer combines probing originality, playful improv structures and swing with a very specific angular momentum.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Steve Adams<\/p><\/div>\n

Steve is best known as a member of <\/span>ROVA Saxophone Quartet<\/a>, whom he\u2019s been with for more than 20 years. Steve is also a member of the <\/span>Bill Horvitz Band<\/a>, various <\/span>Matt Small<\/a> ensembles, and the <\/span>Vinny Golia<\/a> Large Ensemble<\/strong>, as well as leading his own projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve lived in Boston in the \u201970s and \u201980s, where he was a member of Your Neighborhood Sax Quartet<\/strong>, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic<\/a>, and Composers in Red Sneakers<\/a> among others. A remarkable collaboration with avant jazz bassist Ken Filiano<\/a>, which we in the Bay Area have the pleasure of hearing on his swings to the West Coast, was formed in this period.<\/p>\n

Steve\u2019s versatility, powerful musical imagination, commanding technique, and personal warmth and great sense of humor make him a wonderful collaborator, and it\u2019s been great to have my ears expanded by his beautiful ideas.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aaron Bennett in Space<\/p><\/div>\n

Aaron Bennett<\/a> has been bending space in the Bay Area jazz and improvised music communities for more than 15 years. Beyond his studies in composition and performance of western music at California Institute of the Arts, Aaron has also studied and played the music of West Africa, Indonesia, India, and Traditional Japanese\u00a0\u96c5\u697d<\/strong> (Gagaku) music. He has performed throughout the United States and abroad including performances with\u00a0Wadada Leo Smith<\/a>,\u00a0Peter Kowald<\/a>,\u00a0John Butcher<\/a>,\u00a0Donald Robinson<\/a>,\u00a0Marco Eneidi<\/a>,\u00a0Gianni Gebbia<\/a>,\u00a0Weasel Walter<\/a>,\u00a0Adam Lane<\/a>,\u00a0Larry Ochs<\/a>,\u00a0Steve Adams<\/a>,\u00a0John Raskin<\/a>,\u00a0Victoria Williams<\/a>,\u00a0Aphrodesia<\/a>,\u00a0Lagos-Roots<\/a>,\u00a0ROVA Saxophone Quartet<\/a> and many others.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aaron Bennett in Time<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the last year and a half it\u2019s been my honor and pleasure to play in Aaron\u2019s\u00a0Electro-Magnetic Trans-Personal Orchestra<\/strong> and have my mind thoroughly blown by his remarkable compositions for improvising ensemble, utilizing his unique graphic notation. If you don\u2019t know this band, download its first album (cover below) at\u00a0http:\/\/emtpo.bandcamp.com\/<\/a> today and hear what the fuss is about.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Electro-Magnetic Trans-Personal Orchestra (cover art: Nancy Bennett)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kim Seok-Chul (\uae40\uc11d\ucca0), shaman and hojoek (\ud638\uc801) virtuoso<\/p><\/div>\n

We’ll open with\u00a0 blast of high energy from Steve Adams’<\/a> piece In The Waterfall<\/strong>, inspired by Emma Franz’s great film Intangible Asset \u2116 82<\/strong><\/a>, which documents Australian jazz drummer Simon Barker’s<\/a> 7-year, 17-trip quest to find and meet the late Kim Seok-Chul (<\/strong>\uae40\uc11d\ucca0<\/strong>)<\/strong>, Korean shaman and virtuoso of the piercingly powerful Korean double-reed instrument hojoek<\/strong> (\ud638\uc801<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bae Il-Dong (\ubc30\uc77c\ub3d9), Korean Pansori (\ud310\uc18c\ub9ac) singer, who spent 7 years singing next to a waterfall to learn how to sing with force<\/p><\/div>\n

On the long and winding road to eventual success in meeting Kim Seok-Chul (<\/strong>\uae40\uc11d\ucca0)<\/strong>, Simon Barker<\/a> encounters another apostle of intensity, acclaimed singer of the Korean traditional opera pansori<\/strong> (\ud310\uc18c\ub9ac), Bae Il-Dong<\/strong> (\ubc30\uc77c\ub3d9), who spent 7 years singing next to a waterfall to learn how to develop the spiritual force to match and overpower it.<\/p>\n

Music critic John Shand<\/a> once remarked that \u201cIf volcanos could sing, then they would sound like Bae Il-Dong<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

And if volcanoes could play Giant Steps<\/em><\/strong>, they would sound like Aaron Bennett<\/a> and Steve Adams<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Inspired by this kind of intensity, the improvisational structures of Steve Adams’<\/a> piece In The Waterfall<\/strong> challenge its players to burn through<\/em> the waterfall by being in<\/em> the waterfall, an experience you’ll not soon forget.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anthony Braxton<\/p><\/div>\n

Next we’ll present 2 original pieces “interpolated” into Anthony Braxton\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> Ghost Trance Music<\/strong> piece, Composition #255<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Braxton\u2019s Ghost Trance Music<\/strong> series lays track to interconnect the destinies of two marginalized groups in the struggle for the full decolonization of American culture, while at the same time taking complete advantage of the explosion of musical thinking that started in centers like Darmstadt, Paris and New York after the war.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cosco Ghost Dance Petroglyphs from Site CA-INY-4836, the Gallery (Death Valley)<\/p><\/div>\n

From the essay Like A Giant Choo-Choo Train System<\/strong> by Jonathan Piper (liner notes to 9 Compositions<\/strong> [Iridium] &\u00a0 2006<\/strong> [Firehouse 12 Records]):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anthony Braxton (L) & Dave Holland (R)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c\u2026In 1993 Braxton told Graham Lock he was looking for \u201ca system of tracks, like a giant choo-choo train system that will show the connections, so where a soloist is moving along a track, that will connect to duo logics, trio logics, quartet logics. So, for instance, if you\u2019re traveling from Composition 47<\/em><\/strong>, which is a small town, to a city like Composition 96<\/em><\/strong>, the model will demonstrate the nature of combinations and connections in between systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Ghost Dance<\/p><\/div>\n

Things fell into place in 1995 after Braxton sat in on a Native American music course and studied the Naniss\u00e1anah<\/em><\/strong> (“Ghost Dance”) rituals promulgated by Native American prophet Wovoka in the late 1800s. For Braxton, the Ghost Dance had great resonance. \u201cThe Ghost Dance music, when it was put together, that came about in a time after the American Indian had been decimated, 98 percent of their culture destroyed,\u201d Braxton recalls. \u201cVarious tribes came together and compiled whatever information they had left. And the Ghost Dance music was described as a curtain\u2014one side is reality for us, and the other side is the ancestors. And the Ghost Dance music would provide a forum to connect with the ancestors. That had a tremendous impact on me.\u201d\u00a0 Drawing on the example of all night Ghost Dance ceremonies (and other world trance musics), Braxton looked to construct a \u201cmelody that doesn\u2019t end\u201d to serve as the train tracks to cohere his system. The Ghost Trance Music<\/strong> was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ghost Dance Song (Arapaho)<\/p><\/div>\n

Following the performance tradition of Phillip Greenlief<\/a>, under whose baton I had the honor to play this piece with Orchesperry<\/strong> in August at Berkeley Arts Festival, we’ll “interpolate” other pieces into the Braxtonian matrix, a procedure which introduces kaleidoscopic shards of color into the trance (see 32 min of that performance below).<\/p>\n

Our interpolations on this occasion will send the piece in a wildly different direction and will lead off with the graphic-score state-transition-diagram composition for improvisers by Steve Adams<\/a>, #30<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

#30, \u24b8 Steve Adams<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s total fun to play these witty and dynamic graphical games from Steve’s book.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Whale Form, \u00a9 Aaron Bennett<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019ll also do the improv-ensemble composition Whale Form<\/em><\/strong> by Aaron Bennett<\/a>. Like the \u201calphabet pieces\u201d we do in\u00a0Electro-Magnetic Trans-Personal Orchestra<\/em><\/strong>, it encodes the perfect amount of info in its specialized language to ensure the contradictory fusion of structure and openness, with each performance like a fresh encounter with a complex ecosystem in a new season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joe Lasqo @ Meridian Gallery, 11 Jan 2012 (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http:\/\/www.peterbkaars.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ll contribute an improv composition combining musique concr\u00e8te<\/em> concepts with laptop synthesis and live acoustic instruments, Emergent 2<\/em><\/strong>, first heard earlier this year in performances at Berkeley Arts Festival and Trinity Chamber Concerts. Its 5-part series of transformations trace the emergence of complexity from clarity, sound from music, music from sound, & clarity from complexity.<\/p>\n

Plus, of course<\/em><\/strong> there will be free improvs.<\/p>\n

Set 2<\/span><\/strong> at 8:30pm<\/span><\/strong> will be the indescribable duo of cellist Terry Rankin-Parker<\/a> and percussionist Daniel Pearce<\/strong>. I have heard them play recently at the Luggage Store, and they will open your ears with sounds you’ve never dreamt of.<\/p>\n

Originally from Chicago and\/or other planets, they’ve recently moved to the Bay Area and describe themselves as “improvisers whose music considers friendship”. It is a very apt description, because the intensity of their telepathic musical rapport is unique and will hit you like a 2×4. You will hear original music of rare power.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Teddy Rankin-Parker<\/p><\/div>\n

A Jimi Hendrix of the cello (and a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music), Teddy has performed, toured, and\/or recorded with dozens of artists, including the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)<\/a>, Eighth Blackbird<\/a>, Ensemble N_JP<\/a>, Iron & Wine<\/a>, Glen Hansard<\/a>, Birthmark<\/a>, OosImaginary Art Collective<\/a>, the Kirtan Choir<\/a>, the Chicago Sinfonietta<\/a>, Joffrey Ballet<\/a>, AACM<\/a>, Chicago Folks Operetta<\/a>, Opera Cabal<\/a>, Renee\u2019 Bakers Mantra Blue Free Orchestra<\/a>, Henry Grimes<\/a>, Chicago Modern Orchestra Project<\/a>, and Nicole Mitchell\u2019s Black Earth Ensemble<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Daniel Pearce<\/p><\/div>\n

Daniel is a one-of-a-kind drummer, as well as a writer, who’s performed, toured, and\/or recorded with numerous groups, including Tenebre<\/a>, the Ghost Shirt<\/a>, the Odilon Swan Ensemble<\/strong>, the Canyon Rays<\/strong>, Cardboard<\/a>, and Ex-Nihilo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

His drumming redefines rhythmic gestures as primal grammatical acts that do not so much as keep time as create<\/em> time.<\/p>\n

Each of them is an original pathbreaker who’s developed a completely new language for their instrument, and the dialogue of these languages in the duo is unforgettable and will widen your definition of music (recent EP,\u00a0Companion Pieces, Vol. 1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cover of Companion Pieces, Vol. 1, new EP by Teddy Rankin-Parker and Daniel Pearce \u2014 what lurks within?<\/p><\/div>\n

This show will be a wild journey \u2014 look forward to take it together!<\/p>\n

See you there\u2026<\/p>\n

Joe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m very excited to once more join sax masters Steve Adams and Aaron Bennett at Outsound\u2019s SIMM Series at 7:30pm, Sun 08 Dec (Set 1) at the Musicians Union Hall, 116 9th St @ Mission, SF (map). Outsound\u2019s SIMM Series … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2951"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2957,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions\/2957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joelasqo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}