Releases

Closing in on the album art for the "Seicremllams" EP cassette release. As the release draws near I'll be leaking some of the tracks for it online.

In the mean time, here's a rough mix of "I'll Regret This Tattoo When You Regret Ending The World," from the followup LP recorded with the help of Dr. Caterwauls and Carl Testa, entitled "Small Mercies."


This September marked the release of the October '11 performance by the Syntactical GTM Choir on New Braxton House recordings. It's available online in MP3 and FLAC formats at the Tricentric Foundation Website.

Finally, I'll be releasing a cassette of G. Zarapanecko material, two new tracks composed for a film, as well as one remix and one track from "Little Black Dots on the Air." Stay tuned for notice on that - I'm very excited for my first physical release by this project.

In upcoming performances, I'll be helping out in an undisclosed fashion on the performance/discussion by vocalists Anne Rhodes and Kyoko Kitamura as they discuss and perform the Ghost Trance Music of Anthony Braxton as well as original compositions by each of them. Performance is at the Downtown Music Gallery in Manhattan, 11/11/12 at 7PM.

I'll also be performing the Earthseed Songs again with Anne Rhodes and Brian Slattery, with some new additions to the cycle on December 1st, at a TBD location in New Haven. Also on the bill are the Emerging Voices Project, soprano Elisabeth Halliday and saxophonist Zach Herchen, performing music commissioned for the duo. Stay tuned for event location info, time probably 7PM...

Dr. Caterwaul's (now featuring Chris Cretella!) is performing a vaguely holiday themed show with the Cygnet Sisters on December 9th at the Big Room, New Haven CT. The time will be late-afternoon/early evening and family friendly!

Finally, we've set the date for the Wesleyan New Music Ensemble concert - it'll be in the evening, specific time TBA, on Tuesday, December 11th.

Last but not least, here's the flier for the upcoming show with Mal Blum and Zoe Boekbinder. This is the first time I've done a flier by hand, and this flier is exceptional for no other reason.

Stay tuned as always for further announcements, details, clarification.

Summer Stasis

Well, it's obviously been entirely too long since I've updated this blog. I won't attempt to cover everything I've done since the last update, but chief among them was a sendoff for cellist Nathan Bontrager with whom I've played with in Broadcloth and Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps for the last several years. So before he left, Broadcloth finished up recording our debut CD, and we recorded the debut releases for both Dr. Caterwaul's AND An Historic in the same session. Stay tuned for more info on all of those as it comes. Most recently, I performed Saturday with Anne Rhodes and Brian Slattery. The occasion was last minute but the deadline prompted three short compositions which set some of the central tenets of Earthseed, the fictional religion/philosophy created by Octavia E. Butler in her books "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents." I've wanted to engage with Butler's text for awhile, and this was a great opportunity to do so without getting into as large-scale of a composition I eventually hope to. Here's an excerpt from the first performance: Expect these compositions to be developed and performed again, and potentially added to.

 Immediately ahead, An Historic is coming out of a bit of a stasis with some new material and performances. Still waiting on the art for the upcoming "Seicremmllams" tape, but now that the LP is finally recorded (currently being mixed), I've felt OK moving on to new material with gusto.

An Historic will be performing:
 10/21 with Brian Slattery at the Rhymes with Opera Fall Salon, 2012. Christ Church NYC, 520 Park Avenue, 6PM.
 10/27 with Mountain Wasp, Clara Engel. At Le Cagibi, Montreal, PQ. 9PM.
 11/27 with Mal Blum, Zoe Boekbinder and Jacket Thor. Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 9PM.

 There are a few other things up in the air at the moment - stay tuned. And check the sidebar for more upcoming performances including a Halloween show with Dr. Caterwaul's and the Cygnet Sisters.

Gebrauchsmusik Release!

Today marks the small, mostly unheralded digital release of "Gebrauchsmusik" the short collection of music I've written for dance over the last three years. Developed simultaneously with works by dancer Judie Clark and her students, these pieces represent an extremely wide sonic framework, from full electronic/keyboard pieces to electro-acoustic processing, solo piano (and sometimes clarinet) to (synthesized) ensemble pieces. The other thing they all have in common is being recorded very quickly, with the final leap from sketch to arrangement being made in the recording process, allowing some unfussed-with good ideas to slip through to the final product (as well as some outright glaring mistakes). I have learned a lot from the work done on these over the past few years, and I hope some of that comes across in this collection.

Check it out HERE, free to stream and download (although you have the option to donate if you wish.)

New EP, Opera Clips, Broadcloth Tour, Upcoming Shows

First off, I've decided to release an EP of some of the music I've composed for the dance classes I've worked for in the last 3 years. Titled "Gebrauchsmusik" after the German ideal of "utility music," or music that had both functional merit as well as artistic, one of the only things each of these pieces have in common is their intended use. Otherwise you find a range, from solo to studio "ensemble" pieces, from through-composed to fully improvised and various stages in between, from tonal to completely atonal. The other common thread is them all being recorded in a hurry, which provides for some wonderful accidents under pressure as well as a few glaring mistakes. But the short amount of time between inception and final draft forced me, while working, into some corners that I don't usually find myself in, which places these pieces between the cracks of all of my main focuses. I hope they provide some enjoyment, or at least insight. I'll be releasing this in early July.




Above are two clips from Sunday's performance of Red Giant in New Haven. Rhymes with Opera did a fine job interpreting the music and working with them last weekend was truly a blast and a privilege. The company got a nice multi-channel recording from the room, and I'll post some bits of that in a few weeks when it is available.

Broadcloth is on tour again VERY soon, this time heading South. I'm very excited for this run of shows. Check the sidebar for the information about each of the 7 tour dates, as well as info about our just-confirmed homecoming show in New Haven, at Intercambio on June 29.

Finally I've got a few odd shows coming up - this Friday, a long overdue An Historic duo show with Brian Slattery, at Greenwell Organic Coffee and Tea (6PM), Saturday and Sunday as part of the CitySeed Farmers Markets, as well as Saturday evening  as part of the Ideat Village Festival, all with Dr. Caterwauls. Check the sidebar for more info.

with Nina Nastasia at BAR

Once again a show has come up that I've forgot to post about on my blog (although in my defense I was added only a week ago...) If you're in New Haven, come to check out An Historic solo, my first set in awhile, opening for Nina Nastasia. This promises to be a fun show, and I've been itching to do more An Historic sets recently. The next after this is June 15th at Greenwell Organic Coffee and Tea in New Haven, duo with Brian Slattery.










 Also approaching, of note, is this date:
   Dr. Caterwaul's is opening for Secret Swing Society, from Amsterdam. They're a quality quartet, and we are definitely looking forward to that date, and returning to the Outer Space. 7:30, on June 11th.

Interview with Tri-Centric Orchestra Blog

This is probably the first actual written interview I've done, and what an honor that it comes from the Tri-Centric Orchestra's blog, which has provided interviews and information about various projects that members/affiliates of the Tri-Centric Orchestra are involved in. The Tri-Centric Orchestra is a large group devoted to performing the music of Anthony Braxton, and involves some incredibly talented musicians of extremely diverse backgrounds. Check the interview out HERE.

Opera Podcast

I recently recorded a tri-city podcast with George Lam and Ruby Fulton, co-artistic directors of Rhymes with Opera, who are premiering my opera "Red Giant" in just under two weeks. Have I mentioned how stoked I am for this? Yes? No? Some of that should come across in my babbling on this podcast. Check it out here!