New Stuff Soon!

Been working so fast recently, and of course not on what I should be working on.

A large chunk of the 2nd movement of "Passing a Penny," the song cycle of Rob Talbot's Poetry, has been completed - leaving 3 completed in draft and one still in limbo somewhere. I'm hoping to have this performed along with a few near complete solo accordion pieces and possibly one more at an Uncertainty Series sometime next spring.

I've also finished the recording of the next G. Zarapanecko e.p. "Glitterdammerung." Production and mastering may take a wee bit longer but it's definitely in the pipelines. Format Undetermined. Check out the first G. Zarapanecko release "Zaratozom and Magnus" at Bandcamp for now, and hopefully with a physical release in the future:
http://gzarapanecko.bandcamp.com/albums/zaratozom-and-magnus.

Also begun work again on a cello-and-accordion duet that has been kicking arond for awhile. Details forthcoming.

Finally, the 4 songs that will probably make a future An-Historic EP (with some bonuses, I expect,) are nearly complete, lyrics and everything. It will take me awhile to learn them now but many of these came out of extended accordion improvs that turned into riffs and melodies, so I've already got them in some form.

Seriously that's it. There are a lot of projects in the works for after that, but at the moment they've been put to bed.

obligatory promotional bollucks - NHIC @ Firehouse 12

If you live in New Haven and you like weird music, please check this out. Somehow I might be the only one who thinks that the NYTimes article is somewhat unflattering, making us seem like we're a bunch of white dudes philosophically and musically stuck in the past (I hesitate to address that fact directly...) but it will help with publicity, anyway. And the shows promise to be among the more tightly organized of NHIC performances. Both groups participated in some form or another in this year's New Haven Ideat Village festival most recently, and are drawing on some intriguing compositional and improvisational ideas to what is hopefully a rewarding end.

and now, the formalized promotional material....

The New Haven Improvisers Collective will be performing at Firehouse12 on Saturday, November 7th with sets at 8:30 and 10pm.

This performance will celebrate the release of the New CD, Inflection

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT http://firehouse12.com/events.asp?id=70911

There was a very nice article in the New York times about NHIC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/nyregion/01musicct.html

There were some strong reviews of Inflection in the New Haven Advocate and the Hartford Courant.

http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=15148

http://blogs.courant.com/richard_kamins/2009/10/the-youth-movement-new-music.html

The CD is now available at the following outlets.

Cutler's Records, 27 Broadway, New Haven www.cutlers.com

NHIC Records www.nhic-records.com

CD BABY http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/NewHavenImprovisersCollective

For the performance at Firehouse12, two different NHIC groups will perform.

The 8:30 set features the Erasmus Quartet and its hypnotic electro chamber minimalism. $15 includes second set.

The 10:00 set features Mayhem Circus Electric with some lowdown avant-groove jazz. $10 for set two only.

Tickets and Information at http://firehouse12.com/events.asp?id=70911

Hey wow I'm busy...

Busy both in brain and body.

Had a great debut gig as An Historic, despite my nerves. The crowd was fun and willing to sing along. I'll be doing another one in early November at the Elm City Infoshop - details forthcoming. In the past week I've also written almost four complete songs (with certain details still nebulous), which is really fast for me. I've even made it through the stage where I hate them and then revise many of them extensively until they meet my satisfaction. Who knows how they'll sound when they turn out?

Also, yesterday morning was the first meeting of an acoustic sub-grouping of the New Haven Improvisers Collective. We had Nathan Bontrager playing cello, Gabriel Bolanos playing acoustic guitar, Anne Rhodes singing, Nate Trier playing accordion and Euphonium, and myself playing accordion and clarinet. Everybody responded well to the thought and we hope to do it again sometime - the lack of drums or electric guitars meant that we had to rely on different strengths than what work in the NHIC at large, and it's definitely going to be some interesting exploring.

Fiddler on the Roof approaches, and damned if I'm not a little nervous...

Finally, I've been thinking a bit about revisions...I like the whole Kerouac idea of "imagine it better and move on," in terms of a creative output, but I'm also a little too neurotic to just learn from my mistakes and not revisit the piece itself. Currently I've begun radically restructuring a lot of drafts of compositions that never made the light of day, like the septet version of "Devil Horn Man" as well as "Smiling, Laughing and Taking Pictures," among others. There are several more fragments and fallacies from my early years that I've been wanting to re-compose, in a sense, almost as though I'm my own arranger. But I realize that after a point that can make you stagnant, and can be an easy way out rather than challenging yourself for new ideas...if anybody has any thoughts about this, I'd love to hear them.

An Historic Debut set and "My Czerny"

On October 16th at the Fucking Discovery Zone in New Haven, An Historic will play a debut solo set, alongside Bookslave, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, Todi Stronghands and Starla! Ubiquitous, in an all acoustic show. The doors open at 6:30 and there is a vegan potluck - bring cash for acts touring from as far away as Canada. If you need the address, the internet will tell you.

For the occasion, I hunkered down and finished up the oft-discussed demo "My Czerny." A limited run of handmade physical CDs will be available at the show, and the music will be up on my bandcamp page in the next few days:
http://gzarapanecko.bandcamp.com

After this performance I'll be disappearing into my hermit hole to practice the hell out of the Fiddler on the Roof score which is crazy hard, except to play with the Erasmus Quintet on November 7th at Firehouse 12. I'm also hoping to get together with some acoustic NHICers for somewhat different strain of improv, though details are quite nebulous at best.

Hooray!!!


My Czerny by An Historic is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at gzarapanecko.bandcamp.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://myspace.com/adammatlock.

Two upcoming Gigs and Bandcamp!

On October 16th An Historic will be playing a solo set at a folk-punk show at the Fucking Discovery Zone in New Haven, CT. Other performers and time TBA.

On November 7th I'll be playing with The Erasmus Quintet as part of a back-to-back doubleheader showcasing two New Haven Improvisers Collective groups. I'll be playing the first set, which starts at 8:30 PM. The Mayhem Circus Electric, (which had a debut performance as an open jam during this year's Ideat Village festival) will be playing the second set, at 10 PM. Info and tickets at: http://firehouse12.com/events.asp?id=70911&seriesid=54271

(Earlier that week, look in the NY Times for an article about the NHIC, due to be published on November 1st.)

Additionally, I'll be playing Accordion in the pit orchestra of Sacred Heart Academy's (Hamden) production of Fiddler on the Roof on November 13th, 14th at 7:30 and November 15th at 2:00. It'll be a high-school production but this is a Catholic academy with a significant arts budget, so who knows?

Finally, you can listen to the entire debut album from G. Zarapanecko streaming (and pay to download) at my new Bandcamp page, here: http://gzarapanecko.bandcamp.com/
I didn't realize how this site was setup, so despite the focus suggested in the url, this will probably be the Bandcamp home for all of my projects, unless I get suddenly quite OCD about setting up multiple pages...

Adam the Session Player/Collaborator

I'm appearing on two upcoming releases, both in very different settings and playing very different roles.

First is Elm City Guitar 4tet + 3, with "Crash." A grouping of the New Haven Improvisers Collective that has so far met only once in concert, last December. The recording is an edit of the live recording made from this performance. Featuring Tom Gogola, Chris Venter, Jeff Cedrone, Bob Gorry - Guitars, John Venter, Baritone Sax, Bass Clarinet, Steve Zieminski - Drums, Narration, and myself on Clarinet and Accordion. Due to be released on NHIC Records on September 15th. (Look also for another recording with another lineup, Inflection, also out this fall.)

Second is Sigh, with "Scenes from Hell." I'm much less audible on this release, coming January 2010, but a part of a large "studio orchestra," contributing bass clarinet, clarinet and accordion on 5 tracks. Sigh is a pioneering metal band utilizing complex orchestration and psychedelic keyboards and production sounds across doom, black and thrash metal backdrops - this is the first album to feature an almost entirely live orchestral palette, (perhaps one or two parts are backed on synth) which includes trumpet, trombone, tuba, flute/piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, and a string quartet. There might be an oboe in there, too, and fulltime band member Mikannibal contributes alto sax at points. Suffice it to say the final master is REALLY crushing and dynamic, featuring some of the most accomplished and focused songwriting of the group's history.

Also in the process of trying to form a local group for playing acoustic jazz, gypsy jazz, etc. We'll see how well this goes, but early meetings have been promising.

A Progress Post

In brief:

G. Zarapanecko - Zaratozom and Magnus is due out at the end of August, after finally getting a duplication order together that I can afford...

I'm also real close to finishing the An Historic demo tape, "My Czerny," which will hopefully be ready for self-release soon. Two more tracks to finish!!! The title references Carl Czerny, who (any piano student will tell you) wrote some fairly boring but essential exercises to build technique. The tunes on this demo are, in essence, my equivalent - songs that I love playing, but have also helped me to build some basic skills for the type of accordion I play. Plus, it'll have a few originals, too. Time and money both have been restrictions upon the completion of An Historic's "Ephemeral Stampede," which I still hope to record at Dirt Floor Studios in Chester, CT. But it is coming, dammit...

Progress on the release of "Intravene, Pt. 1" has stalled temporarily, as I have only so many synapses that can fire simultaneously and I'm a wee overwhelmed. It's coming, though...

-I'm also working on a few scattered longer-form works. The song cycle based on Rob Talbot's poetry is coming along, about halfway done, and I'm still hoping to have it finished at least in draft by the end of August, hopefully with a performance (and possibly recording?) to follow before the year's end.
-Additionally, I'm working on another "Drama Mit Musik," which will probably exist first as a multi-tracked recording. Using some of the techniques and instrumentation of Japanese Noh theatre to illustrate a modern supernatural tale of occult warfare, the piece will be scored for narrator/vocalist/recorder, as well as a backing choir of four (serving the function of a classical Greek "chorus" that has been adopted by Balinese and feudal Japanese parents) that also handles percussion.
-I'm hoping to finish revisions of "Smiling, Laughing and Taking Pictures," soon, in a way that will hopefully be presentable with the resources I've currently got available.
-I've also begun sketching and working out some more vocal techniques for the other two parts of "Intravene," which I hope to perform in full next year.
-I've also begun tentative work on another G. Zarapanecko release, an EP entitled "For Accordion." Not much can be said about this yet, but this will be studio music largely created by accordion and tweaked heavily in post. More to come...!