Archive

Greetings from NYC --

Item 1: I know it's not hard to calculate the true middle of Summer but I prefer to think of it as a kind of floating center, best arrived at in retrospect, depending on how the summer went. Good summers, since they can last well into September but might not start until mid-July, have a later middle than their less-appealing counterparts. So here's to a late middle-summer for us all, filled with health, safety, nourishment, companionship, and music.

Item 2a: Jawbox (it seems unlikely that you don't know my band Jawbox, or at least that I'm in a band called Jawbox, but just in case we've found each other without this information, now you know) was in Europe and the UK in June (see below for the drum sets I got to play). We had a wonderful time, not least for performing in Ireland and Portugal, places we had not been before. "Why stop there?" we thought, and so we're playing a three-night residency at Le Poisson Rouge here in New York on 7/20, 7/21, and 7/22 (dates link to tickets); and a sort of hometown show at The Black Cat in DC on 7/23. This latter performance is sold out, I think, but you might find it otherwise.  

 

Item 2b: Also re: Jawbox, we released a single on Bandcamp today, The Revisionist EP, which is re-visionings of two songs from our first LP + a cover. Click on over, as they say, and have yourself a time.

Item 3: There is a 2xLP New Freedom Sound release available for pre-order. Entitled Eight Freedoms, it fulfills the original four pieces from last year's Four Freedoms release (remastered, some additional instrumentation) and adds four more pieces to round out the first series in its entirety. It will be available from the Bandcamp page for download purchase in August, but the vinyl is and will only be available from the fine folks at Arctic Rodeo Recordings. 

Item 4: We remain, as far as some of us know, stuck mostly with each other here on Earth, so let's try a little harder to take care of each other: wear a mask; support women's health, not guns; give time or money to a charity that provides food and safe shelter to those who need it. Be well. 

Item 5: "Improvisation is informed by passion and conditioned by knowledge." Cecil Taylor

Hello, Subscribers!
This is sort of an interim or capsule newsletter to let you know about some music I just released on Bandcamp. It's called New Freedom Sound and you can read more about it, listen, and buy it for download via . The statement that went up on Facebook and Instagram was the following, and I reproduce it here because it still seems the best way to describe what New Freedom Sound is about and how it came to be.  

Item 1: I love Tsai Ming-liang's films for two things: first, they demonstrate a unique commitment to the possibility that things are made real by being filmed, that the process of materializing on film and being witnessed there might somehow provide for a cinematic occupation of space and time among the rest of us, that films can make their subjects and objects palpable. The other thing is that he knows that sometimes it takes awhile for events to unfold, for their important parts to become clear. Nowhere are these two elements at greater concentration than in his 26 minute film,  I can't imagine you've seen anything quite like this, but if you have, please let me know what it is.  : I came to Harry Smith through film, not music, so you can imagine my surprise when I learned he was a considerably influential anthologist of obscure American music. His odd and arcane films are unique in both style and philosophy, animations with an emphasis on evolution, one set of images into the next, a kind of extended conjuring. His  (1957) is the highpoint of this work. His , on the other hand, is an acknowledged masterpiece of record-collecting, anthologizing, and design. You can  and learn more at the page for the CD set that was released in 1997. just released a second set of CDs, , which has brought all of this to mind. It's a wonderful set, full of the kind of thing such sets are known, at their best, to provide. It's not streaming anywhere but I think you can get a feel for what it is by checking out the original . , which is no doubt an improvement on whatever I've written here. : , offers an important shift in focus in terms of both what constitutes the collapse of a society, and who among us is affected most (or least). The gist is in the piece's title but I recommend reading it through. It has left little doubt that we are currently living in a collapsed state. .  : was interviewed at . I saw her perform in Nicole Mitchell's quartet, and remain impressed by her art. I've especially enjoyed her own compositions which can be heard among other work at . : Our vote is our only foreseeable means to recuperate our government from its current leadership. I imagine I'm preaching to the choir here, but whoever you intended to vote for at the beginning of the campaigns leading up to the current elections, the gravest matters of import on which we must assert our influence are to flip the Senate and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. .

Item 1: This 2016 episode of the Death, Sex, and Money podcast is a conversation between two Sonias: Justice Sonia Sotomayor and author/actor Sonia Manzano, the latter of whom is best known for her role as, and the former of whom is best known as an accomplished voice of considered in her service to our Supreme Court. What more can I tell you? These women are extraordinary and inspiring. : A characteristically  comparing the current era to that of  Reconstruction following our Civil War. The similarities make an impression, of course, and the historical material makes for an informative read. But the accounting of how and why such moments fail to realize true equality and equity for Black Americans is critical and spot on.  Former D.C. musician Sohrab Habibion interviewed D.C. musician Mark Cisneros over at . Two of my favorite punk rockers!  : Pianist/composer was interviewed at the wonderful . All of the interviews are worth a look, not least , and of course, any conversation with delights. Also in need of your attention: Mr. Smith performing his back in 2017. : Last week marked Sonny Rollins's 90th birthday, and to celebrate, Nate Chinen (I loved his !) put together  . For those of you who don't know, WBGO is a premier jazz radio station of longstanding. You might dig around elsewise at their site -- you'll no doubt find something you'll enjoy. : Did you know that John Cage wrote a piece of music whose performance is intended to last until 2640? , the first such change since 2013. Item 7: "The heart is more than a pump." --

Item #1: There's more Day's Plays up at my blog. If you're looking for some musical fortification, inspiration, investigation, or emancipation, have a look. The series is ongoing for the foreseeable future. , Flutist  continues her  journey with . It follows among her works derived from and directly inspired by 's novels.