random overtones

the best

2009-04-12T12:25:00.003+10:00

I may add to this over the coming days, as my mind is still in that jet-laggy-sleep-deprived fog. But here's a start to my "Best Of" list:

Best Airline: 1. V Australia (help-yourself 24-hour free snack bar, way too many entertainment choices, staff who actually talk to you like a normal person, wide/comfy/good-reclining seats, pretty coloured lights inside the cabins - mood lighting, and a bar area!); 2. JetBlue (out of all the domestic US airlines this one was by far and away the best - no baggage fees, free snacks all flight, free individual TV/etc all flight, nice new planes inside and out); 3. Southwest (the cheap-n-cheerful of the bunch, no baggage fees, sit-where-you-like - first come best dressed); all the others were pretty dreadful, and I was appalled that they were 3 of the "big" airlines - each one charged a $15 bag fee, and the only snack they gave out free was a pissy little cup of soft drink and a bag containing 5 peanuts/pretzels/potato chips. I shall avoid these airlines from now on, and so should you! United, American, Delta - pah.)

Best Meal: jeez, this is going to be tough. It was all amazing and delicious. Maybe I'll do it by city...... LA - Bamboo Chicken Ramen at "Mr Ramen"; San Fran - hmm, it's a tie between the Chinese dumpling banquet and the creole fried chicken with mashed sweet potatoes; Austin - again a tie between the Brazillian meal and my sister's amazing home cooking; Chicago - purely for reasons of atmosphere, I'll give it to the Greek place. For service it would be the Italian. Both were incredible; NYC - this one is tricky... but I can't go past the amazing naan bread at the Indian restaurant on Thursday night!

*phew*, that was probably the hardest award!

Best Crowd: for size - Austin; for friendliness - all of them!

Best Venue: they were all amazing. Seriously. I can't fault a single one for helpfulness, staff, facilities, vibe. Brilliant.

Best Performance: hm, there were moments in all of the gigs that were really special... but I'll narrow it down to - LA, performing Cat Lamb's new piece for the first time; SF - we *nailed* the duos!, and premiering Jen's new piece; Austin - recovering after the score-slipping-incident; Chicago - performing Nomi's duo; NYC - getting to finally, after 2.5 years, perform "beautiful//fragment" for Jenny.

Funniest Moment: inflatible sheep. baaa.

Favourite Touristy Thing: again, too many amazing experiences to choose from! But a few stand out - the Frank Gehry buildings in LA and Chicago, seeing "Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom" at the Blanton in Austin, the California Academy of Science in SF (especially the Spiny Lumpsuckers!), and the Jenny Holzer exhibit at the Whitney in NY.

Best Nature Moment: definitely hiking in Austin, albeit brief!

Cutest Moment: Joshua (my nephew) wins this award, hands-down. He wrote/drew me a little sticky note when I was rehearsing in Austin, saying "good luck" for the performance. awww. Also performing at his school was a real treat.

...more awards to come!!

east coast style

2009-04-11T11:05:00.002+10:00

i'm currently sitting in Los Angeles airport, whiling away the last 4 hours before boarding my flight home. Here are some reminiscences about my time in NY...

Arrived Monday afternoon from Chicago, after encountering all sorts of flight cancellations, re-bookings, delays, and finally a green light to take off. In the end I got to NY at around the same time as the flight they'd originally booked me on! Crazy.

Found Jenny/Juice and Tes's place, and used my new arty-farty brolly to fend off the rain. Just had time for a cuppa tea before heading out to an Irish pub in Manhattan for a session that Tes was playing in. Nice cozy little pub, good music, good beer, good food, good times. Was really great to see them both again, and to catch up on plans, accomplishments, memories and life in general.

Tuesday was a chance to sleep in a little, before braving the chilly breezy spring air to have a wander in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Not much in bloom, but there was an eerie starkness to the landscape. The cherry blossoms provided a sudden burst of colour and cheer. At this point I discovered the greenhouses, containing tropical and desert plants........and WARMTH!!! yay! I walked niiiiice and slooooooooow to soak up the humidity (my glasses fogged up as soon as I stepped inside!), before braving the outside world once more.

A short stroll home, then we headed out to dinner at a nearby Austrian restaurant - yet another addition to the ever-increasing range of cuisines I've had the pleasure of experiencing on this trip! And stay tuned for even more!! Then it was off into Manhattan for an NYU composers concert. Venue was an interesting gallery (can't think of the name offhand) which I'll keep in mind for my future performances in NY. THe performers gave convincing interpretations, and the program was diverse and bold. An excellent glimpse into some emerging talent!

Wednesday was concert-preparation day, starting with a rehearsal of Nomi's flute duo (with my Bang on a Can flutey friend Jessica Schmitz). It was nice to work with Jessica again, I wish we'd had more time to prepare one of the other cool duos I brought on this tour. Next time, for sure. Allowed myself plenty of time to get in to the city and find The Tank - it's really close to the big Broadway/Times Sq theatre district, which I wasn't expecting at all! Much crowd-battling ensued, until I finally located the venue. It really reminded me of the Metro Arts space in Brisbane - very cute funky little space!

Concert went great, and it was a particularly special night as I got to perform "beautiful//fragment" for Jenny for the first time. She wrote it for me almost 2 years ago, and I've performed it several times since then, but I've always wanted to have her hear it. It was pretty emotional for a lot of reasons, and I felt that it was one of the most 'true' performances I've ever given of this intense and confronting work. Rock on, Juice - thanks for writing such an awesome piece for me.

Post-concert celebrations were held at a Ukranian restaurant (I told you there was more cuisine to come!), and once again I can't fault the food/beer/company in any way.

Thursday was a day of reflection. Felt strange to not have a performance to look forward to, after 6 gigs in 4 weeks. In a lot of ways I was just starting to settle into the travel-gig-rest cycle. But in other ways I was exhausted!! After another nice sleep-in I headed in to the city to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art. Wow, I didn't even know this place existed until Juice and Tes told me about it. Absolutely amazing. I was particularly struck by the exhibit of works by Jenny Holzer. Very bold, confronting, thoughtful, emotional, considered, and totally etched on my memory. It's the first time in a long time (can't remember when) that I've actually been so overwhelmed that I couldn't view every single piece in the exhibit. It was a good feeling to be able to say "ok, I've had enough now" - all in a good way, mind you!

Thursday night Jenny and Tes had organised a little gathering of various friends at "The Cubbyhole". Being the first to arrive I sat in the window with a beer and people-watched for a while. After the intensity of the art museum this was a much needed moment of calm. The bar was in a really lovely little area (The Village??), and was an insanely cute place! Filled with colourful ornaments hanging from the ceiling, daffy duck stools, and a great vibe. The gathering was great fun, and there were several periods when the Americans in our group were outnumbered by Aussies+Brits. Go the Commonwealth! hehehe... everyone was really lovely (as I'd expect any friends of J+T to be!) and I had a great night of relaxing chat and laughter.

Dinner was Indian - and was awesome of course. I love that my friends and family know such amazing places to eat! Thanks guys, I've been really spoilt on this trip!! The walk to the subway was tinged with hilarity as we passed several sex shops. The inflatible sheep was particularly amusing.... and yet also disturbing! Ahhhh good times.

Today was travel, travel, travel. Left the house at 10.30am, subway-subway-airtrain, then flight NY-LA, walk-walk-walk, and now all checked in for my 10.50pm flight to Brissie. Still 3.5 hours to fill in before boarding, and only 30 minutes of battery time left on my computer. agh! Hoping that books, newspaper, dinner and possibly a short snooze will be enough to pass the time.

See you all on the other side of the planet!

Chi-town

2009-04-07T08:07:00.004+10:00

it's hard to believe that i'm just 2 days away from the final gig of this crazy tour. in some ways the first concert in Brisbane seems a really long time ago, in other ways it feels like a whirlwind. it's been a great experience, and really rewarding in so many ways. performances in the 'classical' genre (in the broadest possible definition of the term!) generally don't get a season in the same way that a ballet or opera production might. all the hard work and months of preparation usually result in just a single performance. it's been fantastic, on this tour, to be able to spend more time developing the works in performance mode (which is totally different from practise mode), and to settle in to a rhythm of performance that's rare to find in this little niche of the music biz.

more reflections after i get home, but here's a quick run-down of the last few days.

during my week in austin i performed a small session for my nephew's 1st grade class. it went great! the kids were really attentive and asked some good questions. it was fun to see them getting up and dancing, and having a good ol' groove along to Zoom Tube. the next day i did a small session for my niece's kindy class, which was somewhat more chaotic, but pretty cute all the same. after realising that their attention span was pretty much non-existent i invited them up one at a time to try pressing a key down while i played. there were 3 or 4 kids who kept coming back time after time, and after all the others had gone back outside to play, this small group remained and just wanted to keep playing and investigating it all! very cute.

up through the middle of the country to chilly chicago, and my composer friend Nomi. i was also reunited with my flutist friend Tara, who had flown in from LA for this gig. yay! it was a small crowd, but i was really happy with the performance (even running my own sound for the first time - and it all worked!!). just as the concert started, so did the snow! behind me were a row of large windows, so each time i finished a piece i'd get distracted watching the snow fall. i kept commenting on it, even though i realised that it was an everyday sort of occurrence for the crowd. had a nice chat after the concert with another 'new music' flutist from chicago, so will be great to keep in touch with her and exchange repertoire ideas etc. also was approached by a man who had just arrived at the end of the concert, and thought i was some other 'janet mckay - flutist' that he knew in the area. i have a doppelganger!

after an arduous day's travel (should have been a simple 2 hour flight, ended up as a 6 hour marathon!!) i've finally arrived in new york, and about to head out to an irish music session. tomorrow will hopefully be a bit of a rest day (and laundry, emails, etc etc) and doing a last big promo push for Wednesday night's gig. would be awesome to end the tour with a cracker!

catching up with myself

2009-03-31T13:53:00.004+10:00

After the initial flurry of travelling, rehearsing, meeting up with friends I haven't seen for years, and of course performing, I'm now entering a few days of down-time. I'm currently in Austin, Texas, staying with my sister Ruth, my nephew Joshua and my little niece Madeleina. It's a city I've visited frequently since my sister moved here, so there's a calming sense of familiarity about it.

Backtracking a little before I move on: I need to tell you about the SF and Austin performances! San Francisco had a disappointing turn-out, but was an otherwise awesome gig. Beautiful space, fantastic staff (thanks Adria!), and Tara and I felt like we really nailed all the pieces... especially the Caprices! It was again a very friendly and informal vibe, and I'm really enjoying the experience of developing my spiels and my overall performance (ie not just the playing) from one gig to the next. It's an adrenalin rush, keeps the creative juices flowing, and inspires me to do more of this kind of thing.

On now to Austin, where I performed last night. It was a bit of a rockstar moment, with my name up in big letters on the front of the Arts Center (see photo above). Once again, an exciting and intimate space to perform in, brilliantly colourful artworks, and fantastic staff who were ready, willing and able to do pretty much anything for me to get the performance to happen. Minor technical hitch #1 occurred in the rehearsal, when we just couldn't get the delay pedal to work for the final piece. agh! Finally, about 20 minutes before the performance, Russell (awesome tech/venue manager) got it working! yeah! A quick test and we were ready to roll.

A nice healthy crowd of about 40 came for the show. Excellent. My flutist friend Seetha joined me for the Caprices this time - we'd performed together a few years ago in Austin, and it was fun to work on a new piece with her. I was really impressed with how well the Caprices came together in just one full rehearsal and a second short top-and-tail run. Amazing. Thanks Seetha! Hermes (composer of the Caprices) was there, he's doing his PhD here in Austin at the moment, so it was wonderful to finally meet him. Thanks for writing such cool pieces!

I had a lot of audience members approach me after the concert, saying how much they'd enjoyed the evening. That's always great to hear, and gives me a boost of confidence that maybe I am on the right track after all...

Now I have some downtime before heading to Chicago on Saturday. Today I went for a massage (thanks Emily!!) and she went deeeeeeep into some seriously messed-up bits of my poor ol' body. Those muscles under the shoulder blades - owwieeeeeeee! and my right QL.... eeeeeek! I've since had a soothing bath in epsom salts and feel much better. Currently supplementing that with a heat-pad as I type this, so fingers crossed that tomorrow all shall be well.

Tomorrow is a designated "home day" for me. Not gonna go anywhere. I need to have some ME time, catch up on some work and plan ahead for Chicago and NYC. Ruth and I might go see a movie tomorrow night, as the kids' dad will be here to look after them.

Wednesday I get to go to Joshua's 1st grade class to perform for them and talk about Australia and flutes and whatever else they want to know. Then I do the same at Leina's preschool, fun!! I was thinking of making that one interactive, with tuned bottles for them to blow, and I'll improvise over the top. Hmm, still thinking about that. Anyone have any experience with getting 3 year olds to blow across a bottle top???

Still enjoying the great food, definitely soaking up the beautiful warm Austin weather (just like home!), and excited to continue the tour. Can't believe I'm almost half-way through my time here.

j*

a day off

2009-03-26T15:49:00.001+10:00

Another slow start to today - greeted by a tasty big bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, oh yeahhhhhh. Jen and I had decided to do something hideously touristy, but by the time we got going we'd missed a big chunk of the day. No problem, I was just happy to potter around and soak it all in. We took a lovely stroll down to the waterfront near where Jen lives, and I was amazed at how many eucalyptus trees there were. Just like home.

We'd decided to head towards Golden Gate Park to check out the California Academy of Sciences: http://www.calacademy.org/ which was amaaaaaaaaaazing! By the time we got there we only had about an hour and a half but boy did we make the most of that time! Mostly hung out in the underwater section, where I discovered the Alligator Gar and the Spiny Lumpsucker (I kid you not). After much oohing and ahhing we moseyed up to the "Living Roof" which was very cool and reminded me of Teletubby Land. We just managed to get downstairs again in time for the last Planetarium show of the day - thank goodness, it was incredible! High tech digital 3D stuff from earth to the solar system, galaxy, universe, etc etc. Brilliant.

Departing the show and feeling utterly insignificant, we battled the cold wind and decided to have a look at the oceanfront. It was so close, we just couldn't pass it up! But brrrrrrr it was chilly. Lasted all of about 5 minutes before turning right back around and discovered a lovely pond in the midst of the park (the park itself stretches for dozens of city blocks - huge!), so we sat in the remnants of sunshine, chatted to the beautiful ducks and chuckled at their waddly backsides.

Next stop was dinner - a little Chinese dumpling place that Jen had never been to, but had seen great reviews online. Fingers crossed! At least it was warm in there. Thankfully it was DELICIOUS!! Wow! O Great Internet Phenomenon, shall ye never fail us?? The dumplings were amazing, as was everything else on the table (there was A LOT of food ordered. ahem. lots of leftovers for lunch tomorrow!). Sean drove us back over the Golden Gate bridge which was a gorgeous way to end an awesome day.

Now I'm kicking back, waiting for my laundry to dry, and listening to the new Indigo Girls CD that was just released yesterday :-)

Next report will be post-concert, probably day after tomorrow...

next stop...

2009-03-26T03:31:00.000+10:00

...San Francisco! Had a lovely short flight in to Oakland yesterday, was nice to be in small airports instead of the scary big confusing ones. Flew in over soft green hills and sprawling farmlands, some hills even had a bit of snow still clinging to the slopes. From Oakland I was collected by my gorgeous composer friend Jen, and her husband Sean, and we travelled in to Berkeley where they both work. Jen treated me to a delicious lunch at a little French style bistro - I tried her gingerbread pancakes and was jealous ;-)

While Jen went back to work, I braved the public transport system and successfully got myself in to the centre of San Fran to visit the Meridian Gallery. It's a beautiful space, spread over 3 levels, and right in the heart of the city. Thankfully it's also just at the base of one particularly steep hill :-) Once again the staff were brilliant, really going out of their way to make sure everything was as it needed to be. Unfortunately one artwork has to be removed from the space as it's using the DVD screen that I'll need for one of my performance pieces (Jen says hi) but other than that all the groovy artworks are staying put. yay.

Back to Berkeley for some more pottering (including a wonderful bookshop, and a soul-warming mocha with whipped creammmmmmmmmmmm... and then dinner at a cajun/creole restaurant. I couldn't see a single thing on the menu that didn't sound absolutely mouthwatering. I went for the fried chicken with ginger-vanilla-mashed sweet potato and beans (drool), and shared some sides of hush puppies and baby back ribs (smothered with bourbon-BBQ-sauce). we drank beer from jars (I kid you not - I even have photographic proof) and finished with bread and butter pudding with brown sugar syrupy buttery sauce stuff. good lord. i could barely fit anything else in (but monsieur, it is only wafffffer thiiiiin....), but made a special effort for the sauce.

Today we're having a slow start, but plan to head in to the city and do something terribly touristy - maybe a ferry ride on the bay, maybe go to alcatraz, perhaps some wanderings around golden gate park. Jen has promised some amazing chinese food for lunch, and by the sound of it we're going to have a laundry party tonight as i'm down to my last pair of (holey) socks.

ciao!

sunday

2009-03-24T06:13:00.001+10:00

chilly cloudy small bursts of sunshine but not enough to feel warmth overslept mild panic eased after rehearsal lunch finally finished the burrito from yesterday managed to stretch it out to encompass 3 meals and they say that portion sizes here are the same as in australia uh i don't think so adventures at officemax to print programs should have taken 5 minutes ended up taking about 30 arrived at wulf much vacuuming had been achieved great space so friendly guests arrive music begins all well received one in particular deeply touched by the performance that kind of response always gives me hope some light mingling followed by mr ramen huge bowls there's that portion size issue again great comfort food and excellent company celebrating tara's birthday our concert erin's visit emily's departure off to find a bar to hang out stumbled upon shoji's birthday is this a private party yes but you can come in karaoke cake japanese beer hilarious fun what a birthday dancing queen stand by your man rock'n'roll suicide made a gracious exit before our welcome was worn out home to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

LA in the daylight

2009-03-22T16:26:00.001+10:00

Of all my trips to the US, this is the first time I've really spent any time in the LA suburbs. We're really close to downtown here, but it's been great to drive through different areas and see a bit of the reality of the city. Away from the typical hustle of the airport, or the glitzy touristy areas.

Today I spent some time at home practising, which felt good. I was a touch woozy from the long arduous flight (I forgot to mention that, as comfortable as the plane was, there was a *lot* of turbulence on the way here!) but wanted to force myself to adjust as quickly as possible. After hitting "snooze" a few times I finally made it into the day.

Practise was followed by lunch - my request for mexican food was granted at a little restaurant up the road. yum. HUGE portions (I had a another serving for dinner and there's still enough left for lunch tomorrow!) but so so so good. I always try to get my fill of great mexican food when I come to the states. that and cinnabons ;-)

Tara and I did some rehearsing in the afternoon, then I met with local LA composer Cat Lamb, who has written a new piece for me to perform tomorrow night (bass flute and viola). We drove over to the venue to rehearse and meet the venue owners. It's essentially the living room of a 'warehouse' type apartment, in which live 2 really great ex-CalArts students (one is a composer, the other plays violin and also composes I think). It was a lovely relaxed and welcoming vibe there, and I'm excited to perform in the space tomorrow. The rehearsal went a lot better than any of us were expecting (!!!!) though by the end of it my chops were totally blown out. pluhhh! the piece involves a lot of unusual microtones (based on just intonation), and it's hard work with the brain and the embouchure working overtime to figure it all out on the fly. We were all pretty happy with the results though, and are looking forward to putting it all together at the gig.

Coming home we got stuck in some traffic and got called at by some guys on the side of the street walking along the lines of traffic selling baseball t-shirts. We thought this was a bit odd until it dawned on us that this was the reason for the traffic jam - the 'world series' starts today at the Dodger Stadium, which is really close to home!! There's been a large blimps circling in the sky most of the day. Tonight we watched it float behind some low clouds and it all seemed very UFO.

I just now got home from a concert by the California E.A.R. Unit, at the new(-ish) Redcat hall - it's the latest contemporary performance space in LA, and is housed in the back corner (of course) of the amazingly impressive Frank Gehry-designed Disney concert hall. Stunning. Breathtaking, in fact. It's the same architect who designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao, which I was lucky enough to visit way back in 1997 or so. he is truly a unique architectural voice, and I wonder what the world would be like if ALL buildings were as beautiful and interesting and inspiring as his. Would we still see them that way if we had nothing bland and boring to compare them to???

The concert itself was - well - interesting. It was a series of works by young American composers. Lots of different styles represented, but I particularly enjoyed the last work, by Oscar Bettinson. Was really nice to get out and see a little glimpse of the LA new music crowd, and it was encouraging (in a strange sort of way) that the crowd wasn't really that different in size than a lot of Aussie new music concerts.

First concert of the tour tomorrow, so it's time for my beauty rest. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon (haven't actually taken very many yet). And of course stay tuned for the next instalment!

j*

back in the USS......A!

2009-03-22T03:20:00.001+10:00

Greetings to all from an unexpectedly chilly City of Angels. I checked the weather forecast before I left and I could have sworn it said LA would be a delightful 24 degrees. hmm. In any case, I've arrived and am still in that slightly surreal, vaguely dream-like state that exists when you step off a plan on the other side of the planet.

I'm staying with my good friend Tara - we studied together in Sydney for our Masters a couple of years ago. I've really missed having her around, being another flutey soul drawn to the weird and wonderful world of new music. And she's also a whole lotta fun. I'm really looking forward to doing a few gigs with her here - she's joining me here in LA as well as San Francisco and Chicago!

Not much else to report, other than the usual stories of barely making it to the flight on time (NOT my fault!), having things taken away from me at customs (my toothpaste! gahh!), and long, long immigration queues at LAX.

Oh, on the bus from the airport to downtown LA I was looking out the window and noticed all the palm trees. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Sometimes in large clumps, more often standing alone or in long, spaced out rows. They're not the lush tropical sort of palm trees though, they're reeeeeeeeally tall, with just a little clump of leaves right at the top. I wondered how they even stay upright, it just seems so off balance. I couldn't see any buildings at all, just the tops of these weird alien-like palms, so it really did feel like another world for a while.

Have to wake myself up now for a pretty full day of practise and rehearsing. I'm off to see the venue a bit later today, and to rehearse a new piece with the composer (Cat Lamb - bass flute and viola). Stay tuned for more travel tales!

j*

on tour

2009-03-20T12:15:00.003+10:00

I'm about to head off to the USA for my first solo tour, bringing a whole slew of brand new works for flute by awesome Australian and American composers, including Julian Day, Stephen Adams, Katia Beaugeais, Kathryn O'Halloran, Dominik Karski, Jen Wang, Jenny Olivia Johnson, Nomi Epstein, Hermes Camacho and Cat Lamb.

Here are the details:

LOS ANGELES: March 22 @ the wulf.
http://www.thewulf.org/

SAN FRANCISCO: March 26 @ Meridian Gallery
http://www.meridiangallery.org/index.html

AUSTIN: March 29 @ Dougherty Arts Center
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/dougherty/

CHICAGO: April 5 @ Heaven Gallery
http://www.heavengallery.com/

NEW YORK CITY: April 8 @ The Tank
http://www.thetanknyc.org/

******************************************

Stay tuned for regular updates from the road!

(the awesome artwork is by Julian Day: www.lightinanemptyspace.blogspot )

synchronicity

2008-10-17T15:11:00.003+10:00

I've just been told that Romanian composer Horatio Radulescu passed away a couple of weeks ago. September 25th, to be exact.

Strangely, this was just 2 days before our mega-flute-project Critical Mass, directed by Julian Day and myself, which was partially inspired by Radulescu's monumental work for 40 flutists: Byzantine Prayer. I remember hearing this work for the first time just a couple of years ago at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival in the USA. One of my composer friends from that course burned a few CDs with some interestingly awesome (or awesomely interesting!) flute works, of which BP was one. I'd never heard a flute ensemble sound so intense, fascinating and beautiful, and I knew I wanted to recreate that somehow.

After many enquiries, the original idea to perform BP itself went up in smoke. They wanted 1300 Euros for score hire! And they all but insisted that we fly Mr Radulescu out to Australia to conduct the performance. Pah!, we said. And we set our minds to coming up with our own massed flute performance project. 18 months later, Critical Mass was born. She was a lovely child, though rambunctious at times, but we loved her despite her faults.

Part of me wishes I'd had the chance to meet Radulescu, another part is satisfied in letting his music speak for him. Rock on, Radulescu.

fussy?

2008-10-05T20:56:00.003+10:00

hmmm... am I just too picky? I've been to 2 gigs in the past 2 days, and both have left me feeling - on the whole - uninspired and unenergised. Is it just me? Are my expectations too high or too narrow and inflexible that I start to switch off as soon as I realise my musical needs aren't being met?

Both performances were lacklustre for different reasons. The first was one which I knew was going to be a challenge for me - it included elements of improv, electronica and complexity - these being three of the musical genres I struggle to identify with the most. And here they all were in one concert, agh! I gave it my best, most focussed attention though, and managed to find several moments of really stunningly beautiful sound. These were cluttered up with swarms of busyness and loudness, which perhaps made them all the more beautiful when they arrived. The music was difficult for me, but the performers were utterly engaged and to their huge credit communicated really well amongst themselves and to the audience. This was a big factor in getting me through it intact!

The second gig had music which was more in my preferred realm. Fantastically diverse and SO MANY exquisite moments. I often found myself transfixed by the simple, subtle beauty of several of these works. But in this case it was the performers themselves that let me down. Brilliantly talented, there is no doubt. But with looks of total disinterest, and avoiding eye contact with each other even when there were extended bars of rests. I found myself almost willing them to pleeeeeease look at each other! None of the ensembles configurations had any sense of unity of musical intent. I couldn't believe that there were so many moments of potential connection that just passed by as another crotchet or quaver. It was bordering on infuriating!

So, you see, even when there IS a strong visual element to a performance (as opposed to laptops - see below!), it's no guarantee that it'll make the music any more engaging!

Sigh.

late-night laptops

2008-07-26T18:05:00.002+10:00

Wollongong – ¼ Inch @ Music Farmers (Peter Newman, Aaron Hull, Metalog)

After a day full of nephews, pilgrim-dodging and nausea-inducing rides at Luna Park, what better way to unwind than to hop on a train and head to the ‘Gong for an evening of improv, sound art and electronica?!

Stepping off the train into the chilly sea breeze, Wollongong was unfamiliar territory. I had expected a somewhat bustling town centre, but was surprised to discover a series of dark, empty streets leading to the main mall. Recently-abandoned shopfronts with “For Lease” signs stood alongside bridal shops, ??? and a sewing machine store which looked like it had been transplanted there from 1972. The “mall” wasn’t much better, with the piped muzak making us feel like we were trapped in the world’s biggest elevator...going nowhere...

Finally some signs of life greeted us, in the form of a small strip of cafes and restaurants. The welcome warmth of a latte was all we needed to keep us going, as we trekked on to seek out the venue.

Music Farmers is a real treat! An oddly-shaped corner warehouse space, it’s been converted into a mish-mash of hang-out lounge, café, music store and performance space. Racks of vintage clothing sat behind the well-worn pool table, and the walls were filled with posters from gigs and album releases from Wollongong and beyond.

Featuring some of the leading musicians of the genre, this gig certainly held a lot of promise. I am quite open about my difficulty with understanding laptop performers, but am also quite open about my desire to get to a point where I do understand and appreciate it more. Hence my attendance here - I really am trying!

The first performer was Peter Newman, presenting a laptop piece accompanied by visuals. These were projected onto a side wall, making it a tad difficult to see easily. Admittedly I closed my eyes for much of the performance. What I did see of the visuals was interesting, but for me they didn’t seem to have much of an effect (positive or negative) on the music itself. I was drawn in by some of the sounds emanating from the speakers, but once again was left feeling a sense of needing more. I’m not sure exactly what the “more” should be, but it has been a common element in almost every laptop performance I’ve seen. And I think that might be the key word – “seen”. I miss the tangible sense of performer interacting with instrument. I don’t understand how the sounds are created, blended, performed. I don’t get any clues as to the origin of the sound and how it might then be manipulated. I was challenged on this point by my gig-partner – let’s just call him JD – who asked whether I felt the same when watching, say, a cellist or a trombonist? I don’t play either of these instruments, but I have a fundamental knowledge of how a performer produces the bulk of sounds, and can easily see how this happens in a live performance. It was then proposed by JD that maybe I had the same feeling when listening to a CD as when I’m at a laptop gig. Hmmm, yes I guess in some ways I do. I miss the interaction of human to instrument, and the physicality of performance. So there doesn’t seem to be much point in being at a live laptop gig when nothing would be lost by listening on my own stereo at home.

The second performer, Aaron Hull, was another laptop artist though this time without the visual element. At least in terms of projections. I did find this performance slightly more engaging, as I could actually see Hull moving knobs on his effects panel during the piece. There was an interesting sequence of sounds, particularly towards the end when a sudden crescendo dropped off to nothing. I was actually hoping that this was the end of the piece – not because I didn’t want to hear more, but because it would have been a fantastic and unexpected ending point! Another of my gripes with improv/laptop performances is the seeming need to always start softly, crescendo into a more assertive and ‘busy’ mid section, and die away slowly at the end. How about finishing with a ‘bang’?! The formulaic and predictable nature of much of this genre seems to also be inhibiting my ability to bond with it...

After another short interval break the final ensemble ‘Metalog’ gathered on stage – Natasha Anderson with her customary array of massive recorder, laptop and various mics, pedals and other gadgets; Jim Denley with sax and flute; Amanda Stewart on voice; Ben Byrne on live effects; Dale Gorfinkel on percussion; Robbie Avenaim on drumset (with his fabulous collection of bits’n’pieces and robotic drumsticks). What a wealth of improv talent! I was looking forward to hearing what they came up with – after hearing most of the players in various other incarnations (as soloists, or performing in other ensembles) it was fascinating to hear them all together.

The sounds which struck me the most were the vocal utterances from Stewart. Un-vocalised clicks, smacks and slurps added a surprising and refreshing layer of sound to the ensemble. They fit perfectly with the delicate smatterings of sound brought forth by Robbie Avenaim and his instruments. Anderson and Denley are undoubtedly masters of improv, however I didn’t really get anything new from them this time. Gorfinkel made his way through a swag of instruments, big and small, including vibraphone and a kind of ‘extended trumpet’ replete with clear hose tubing to extend both the physical and tonal range of the instrument. Initially this was an intriguing concept, but as the session wore on it became too much of a cliché to have any profound musical effect.

Again I felt that there were several opportunities for a natural ending to this work, but just as the moments arrived they were snapped back into action by one ensemble member or another. It seemed mostly to be Jim and Dale who would take one of these endings and force it into a new direction. I felt myself becoming more and more impatient with the work, shuffling in my seat and letting my thoughts wander, so was actually a bit relieved when JD mentioned that we had to leave to get to the train on time.

A short jog downhill and we were a few minutes early for that late night train, hurrah. It would have been another hour until the next one. The broken coffee machine on the platform was a disappointment, but plenty of crosswords made the long dark journey home seem not so long, nor so dark.

Thanks to JD for having the sense of spontaneity to propose this little adventure, and for having the patience to help me understand more about all this stuff!

asking the big questions

2008-07-09T11:41:00.001+10:00

What is not art?

Is there actually a boundary to what can be categorised as art or music? An ordinary object may be transformed into an artistic one simply by an intention to do so.
Photographs of mandarins or cows, percussive sounds created from bowls, paper, food, all of these items in their original context would not be considered art, but placed into the hands of an artist suddenly take on a new life.

So, is art merely a matter of perception? Context?

“if you listen, you can hear music in a school bell” – Michael Franti

What parameters do we work within when we define music? Is music as a whole definable? Of course each genre of music has its own set of boundaries and characteristics, so on this more detailed level music may be more easily categorised (though of course with some degree of flexibility). I’ve heard music defined as ‘organised sound’, but this somehow falls short of encapsulating the essence of musical art.

Maybe art and music are actually ways of perceiving things, rather than the things themselves?

a railway overtone (truly random)

2008-07-08T17:39:00.002+10:00

1/4 of an abandoned sausage roll sitting silent teenager snoozing on her mother's lap 2 girls in front same age excitedly spotting sheep playing cards sitting crosslegged cogh cough grandma on left sun disappears makes already chilly carriage seem colder still clouds seem to take on an ever more fluffy snow-like look cough cough as we head south 2 chimneys water tank HAHA cough cough toilet engaged 3 people with snacks a line of pines about 4 or 5 deep now ends at the drop of a hill banks of orangey dirt wobbling with the speed curve speed white ute travelling opposite brake slightly another station tarago followed by bungendore mother spreads shawl over teenage child girls in front see another sheep tractor green roof that's good isn't it men on laddres fixing the roof orage vested warm hooded red sticker scaffold step step step step cap and sunnies look around thunk thunk thunk hammer on tin roof kchhhhh-click soft drink can being opened games book games book rattle of tools being carelessly dropped cough cough toilet engaged stationary train hum air con hush oh thanks now it's gonna be awkward crunch the sound of chip eating snack people a few rows back HA HA HA HA HA indian lady with baby looks stressed power drills cherry picker chugging away slowly annoying singing boy sleeps pink bucket 3 bedrooms cough cough power lines drop below the windows white dot cockatoos black block cows 8154 diesel engine shipping containers cough cough cough cough cough barbed wire sprawling eucalypts rock spindly rocky smooth curved hills triangle train sign moving slowly not far cough cough to next station on the right smooth hills dip into shadowy sunlight left yellow tufty grass see the line of the hill under the tree canopy woody broken branches crunch crunch crunch cough cough rusty barbed wire hehehehehehe

overtone #2

2008-05-18T18:17:00.007+10:00

One of the ways I hope to address some of my artistic goals is to move away from using 'conventional' performance spaces, and taking music to where people are... rather than the other way around. Maybe this won't be a hard and fast rule, but it's at least a way to start thinking about how music is perceived and embraced when it's outside the confines of a more traditional concert hall type venue.

I'm planning to start with art galleries, as I've had some fantastic experiences performing in this type of space. I think the way that music and art can reflect, complement, challenge and enhance each other is pretty cool - for audience as much for performer. I'm really looking forward to the "Clocked Out" gig next weekend, at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts - in an interview last night one of the members of the Clocked Out duo was talking about how the performance would work. From what I gleaned, it's going to be more of an 'installation' style performance, where the 'audience' is encouraged to move freely during the performance, giving listeners the opportunity to experience the works from whatever perspective they choose. My good friend Julian has also talked about wanting to move ahead with a similar idea for a performance event, with different performers in different rooms, and the audience moving between them as and when they desire.

Along these same lines of thought, I was recently thinking about the different experiences and roles of various people involved in a performance, and discovered a posting to a bulletin board which I'd written some months ago. I'm really glad I found it, as I really think it's worth thinking about why so many audiences may be resistant to 'new music'. Here's the post:

"The way I see it there are 3 levels of interpretation: the composer, the performer, and the audience. The composer spends weeks, months, maybe even years, creating the work. They have an intimate bond with it and a clear vision of what they want to say through their work. The performer gets a few weeks (or months if they're lucky) to delve into the score, usually without any help from the composer, and has to then communicate the ideas to the audience. The audience then has to digest the work in real-time, they only get one chance to hear the music and piece it all together in their minds. Whether they "get it" is beside the point. Whether they are moved in some way (positive or negative) is entirely the point.

The beauty of music is that it is an essentially personal expression. Yes, the composer may have had a specific intention in mind, but it's what each individual gains from the music that really counts. Were they disturbed by it? Excellent! Were they uplifted? Great! Did it make them sad, angry, confused, joyful, reflective? Then we have done our job. "

What are your thoughts?

j*

the first overtone

2008-05-17T22:20:00.002+10:00

greetings, and welcome to my new blog! Over the next few weeks I hope to make this a place full of visions, ideas, hopes and musings on what "random overtones" is destined to be. Feel free to chime in!

j*