High Plains
An amazing recorded and live music event was had this last weekend (June 23 – 25) over at
ImprovFriday, the new music social community on the Ning network. The ‘thread event’ as it’s come to be known saw the creation of
43 new musical works by 25 regularly contributing ImprovFriday member artists and
4 live streaming video concerts by 5 member artists. With this
WhatsNewAtImprovFriday edition I join Paul in doing some review commentary of the weekends event. In addition we are pleased to have guest commentary by fellow ImprovFriday member artist
Chris Vaisvil.
First Paul’s comments…
As in weeks past, I’ve let the random number generator pick some of the pieces posted this week. Lots of good things to hear!
Steve Layton
- Playing Monomaze – Strong opening – almost Moshier-like – and then a sudden switch to something quiet and subdued. Now a definite beat and electronica at 1:00. Shots, explosions – game-like in a way; more JP Kervinen influence here. A convincing game track.
Shane W. Cadman –
Piece062411 – Lovely clarinet playing here – seems to rise out of the tuning of the band. Some beautiful passage work. Dark, mysterious – like being deep in the woods at night. Well crafted.
Adam Kondor –
BeginningOfTheEnd – All the way from Thailand, Adam is writing for a woodwind ensemble consisting of piccolo, oboe and clarinets. Agile, bright sounds with darting movement and lots of fast runs and trills. This will be a good workout for the players! Lots and lots of what woodwinds do best. Interesting harmonies and texture. A work in progress, according to Adam.
Steve Moshier –
Glass Blizzard – Very evocative title. High-pitched shards of sound but surrounded by warm moving tones and some gentle clanking. Fairly tame for a Moshier – maybe next time we will get ‘Glass Storm’ :)
Joel Sutton –
Escape by Train – Short staccato bursts – like telegraph code, accompanied by soft strings and a booming bass. At 1:50 the telegraph doubles in speed, then returns to its original rate. A sort of tension here – like we are waiting for the last train out. Intriguing.
Jeff Fairbanks –
hy – Dreamy, dance-like with a nice off-beat rhythm and floating passages. Develops nicely as layers of new sounds are added. Pleasantly addictive.
Steve Moyes –
Ducktrain – Sounds more like a train than a duck… Nice chimes. Announcements, talking – a busy place! Now a clarinet – the train seems to be moving. Is that a duck call at 2:30? More clarinet, voices – a strange trip!
Peter Thörn –
The Joy Of Travelling – Airport announcements – now I’m thinking there might be a bit of sarcasm in the title… Point taken!
Norbert Oldani –
Passacaglia #1 – Soft, gentle tones that drop off suddenly into distortion, then recur in a sort of pattern. Goes through a series of registers and various processing levels. A sort of ‘circle of fifths’ but in different tuning schemes, I think. Instructive of the possibilities.
Jim Goodin –
Trains (Soliloquy for Steve Moyes) – Love those violin loops! A solitary sound, despite the several layers – the texture is consistant and in keeping with the title. A feeling of stasis – waiting for a coming train, perhaps. Restful and introspective, even a bit mournful – tried stretching a piece of this for a mix this week.
Kavin Allenson –
Slojourn – High plains music – you can feel the sky and endless horizon. Evocative and reflective.
Chris Vaisvil –
Seeing the Doctor – The voice of a hypnotist – we are learning how to relax. Some ominous music builds underneath. At 4:30 the voice becomes fully electronic and a steady beat builds. At 5:00 we have vocal singing added. By 6:00 it is straight-ahead with guitar and by 11:00 we are in full game mode. A sense of being under anesthesia, I think. Quite a trip – I’d hate to see the bill!
Roger “ErocNet” Sundström –
The Giants Arduous Journey – Echoes of Wagner – Fafnir and Fasolt lumbering onto the stage to collect their loot! Suitably ponerous and thunderous footsteps here – truly giant. Very convincing!
Some Non-Random Thoughts –
Thanks to Jeff Duke, Jim Goodin, Jukka-Pekka Kervinen and Steve Moyes for playing live for us this week – great job as always!
Congratulations to Steve Layton on his successful escape from Florida to Dallas.
Good to see Adam Kondor and Ken Palmer back among us.
Congratulations to Peter Thorn on his new album ‘In Touch’ on Alonetone. If you are releasing a CD collection be sure to let us know!
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the ImprovFriday Fund Raiser last week – we have made our goal and will be able to pay ning fees for 2012.
Looking forward to a long weekend here in the US so bring your best to us next week!
Paul Muller
And as a special guest, review notes by ImprovFriday’s Chris Vaisvil.
Steve Layton
Playing Monomaze => this is such a trip – feel like I’m in a game.
J.C. Combs
Internal Excursion => I’m assuming Paul’s Extreme strech – very cool ambience.
Jérôme Poirier
#00CED1 => I like wide range of sounds you get out of your bass.
Shane W. Cadman
Piece062411 => an interesting collection of sounds – metallic and organic.
Kenneth Palmer
Imagination => this sound slike the title. Really an excellent dreamy
realization!
Adam Kondor
BeginningOfTheEnd => would be quite excellent performed by a flute choir.
Steve Moshier
Glass Blizzard => commented already – some very classic electronic sounds
Joel Sutton
Escape by Train => suspense!
Jeff Fairbanks
hy => enjoyed!
Steve Moyes
Ducktrain => cool soundscape.
Peter Thörn
The Joy Of Travelling => Nice field recording!
Norbert Oldani
Passacaglia #1 => using the ring modulator (it sounds like) was an excellent idea! – enjoyed!
Bruce Hamilton, Jon Bash, Kramer Elwell, Austin Richey, Todd Smith, Jordan Watson
mind-melds improv excerpt => sounds very advant guarde – which is great in my book!
mind-melds excerpt 2 => much of the same but the opening sound slike it is occuring at a carnival.
Richard Sanderson
Pivothowl => hard to say what I think of this because it is so far off the
beaten path – but in a good way. Is that guitar feedback – or are you makng your water pipes sing?
Trickleglint => mad accordian?
Paul Muller
Simple Piece for Two Pianos and Two Cellos => I can’t remember if I commented on this already or not – I will say I really enjoyed it.
High Plains Soliloquy (Feat. Jim Goodin) => excellent drone.
Jim Goodin
Trains (Soliloquy for Steve Moyes) => Is this violin through a looper pedal? Very cool idea / sound.
Parellel Lines => nice middle eastern flavors
Benjamin Smith
Ben.improv.Jun.19.2011 => wow! this is excellent!! Drama, anger!
Ben.improv.Jun.20.2011 => very mysterious sounding.
Ben.improv.Jun.23.2011 => aggitated.
Kavin Allenson
Head West => this is really great! I love the very classic slide sound you
have here and the piece is very bluesy cool.
624Anum (feat. Chris Vaisvil) => thanks for adding me!
Slojourn => Nice combination of textures here. Is that violin over the guitar? Later on it sound like a ebow – I presume a looper composition.
IF624262010 (is this a unique piece or a part of soljourn?)
Roger “ErocNet” Sundström
Traveling String => very interesting collage
Finger Walking => obviously involves a steel string but I’m not sure what you are doing.
Forward => not sure if it is thunder or wind on a mic
Fetter Zither = This I quite enjoyed seeing how I also own a zither (which I assume you used)
summer cottage => I like this odd – prepared string instrument
The Giants Arduous Journey => really cool – I especially like the huge string sound.
Hy Slojourn (Feat. Jeff Duke & Jim Goodin, Jeff Fairbanks, Hussam Jefee, Kavin Allenson) => A nice journey!
Improvouting (Feat. Jérôme Poirier, Adam Kondor, Benjamin Smith) => spooky!
Galactic Trip (Feat. Steve Layton, J.C. Combs, Kenneth Palmer, Steve Moshier, Norbert Oldani) => my fav of the mashes.
And now my thoughts. Paul and I had some unforeseen crossover of tracks reviewed but naturally a mix of insights that hopefully will make for positive reads.
J.C. Combs – Internal Excursion – thinking industrial and steam press, going through District 9 the first time and yet suddenly at Cannon Beach, wind and the waves late evening.
Chris Vaisvil – Roadie Demo – nice reflective melancholy excursion on new inspiration.
Roger Sundstrom – Hy Slojourn (Feat. Jeff Duke & Jim Goodin, Jeff Fairbanks, Hussam Jefee, Kavin Allenson) – Improvouting (Feat. Jérôme Poirier, Adam Kondor, Benjamin Smith) – Both wonderful evolving scapes like journeys through time, passages. Hy weaves from playful to solitary from circus to haunt. Improvouting grooves from lyrical exploring to wandering through an arcade near the boardwalk as a storm approaches. Great to have Adam return who is in this mash/mix.
Peter Thörn – The Joy of Traveling – The sense of being in Europe to an American who has never seen the continent, the sense of the travel the sense of confusion, the sense of commentary, all an interesting stretch of moment in the life aural snapshot of being in a traveling place and yikes our car might get towed! Nice environmental Peter.
Benjamin Smith – Ben.improv.Jun.23.2011 – pensive at first like dropping random yellow pigment on to the canvas as the pressure and intensity grow on the keys. Bartok grows to processed layerings of argeggiated lines and intense pounding clusters to maddening repetitive to stellar early morning quiet and the birds outside my window.
Chris Vaisvil – Just Zither Me – my fav of your mix, Chris. Organic, simple and letting the instrument carry you.
Roger “ErocNet” Sundström – Finger Walking – Roger great texture, feeling of prepared not prepared. Evolves like traveling the fingerboard in an operative way, akin to tapping about looking under things, discovering sounds. Cool.
Kavin Allenson – Head West – Kavin okay this one is on the money man, love it, you’re always on the money but this one is okay on the money. Resaonator or close, slippery slopes and the blues seeping out of the Mississippi or Rio Grande. Congrats on the ‘Best Guitarist’ category Kavin.
Norbert Oldani – Dense Forest Trip – Birds Chirp – (Mix of 3 tracks – all improvised using Reason) Dig the exploring Norbert. Wave forms from expansive to pointed droplets of rain. Nice expansive fat tones on the end. This is more vast in depth Norbert, nice piece.
Steve Moyes – Ducktrain – Inventive scape between the solitary reflective mournful zaphoon and the feeling of so many in a small space, traveling through memories, seeing Jude and Richard live on the stage finding the joy in the tragedy.
Paul Muller – Simple Piece for Two Pianos and Two Cellos – Lovely and wonderful Paul. Haven’t heard you do thins in while though your new directions are great in ambient. Love the flav of this though.
Bruce Hamilton – mind-melds – improv excerpt featuring Bruce Hamilton, Jon Bash, Kramer Elwell, Austin Richey, Todd Smith and Jordan Watson. In preparation for a performance an alchemy of ideas emerge. Structure with freedom launches new vision. Reminds of Lee Noyes a bit Bruce. mind-melds excerpt 2 – A briefer statement from the same pre-performance session, ideas are jelling. Great mix of percussion and ice like tones like weaving through a clock shop, growing density in this. Like to hear the final on Sunday.
Ken Palmer – Imagination – Welcome back Ken! Man there is so much subtly in your work, particularly here. The clanging percussion like wind chime sounds floating over musicians wandering and settling in to an orchestra warming up. Spontaneous tuba sounds are the glue that binds in this.
Richard Sanderson – Trickleglint – Preparation of ideas, subtle tones and percussive hits as if playing a marimba with the hands. Your title reminds me of Robin Williamson for some reason.
Shane W. Cadman – Piece062411 – Lots of mysterious color in this Shane. Impressive for junior high clarinet player(s), lovely color. I’m playing a bit these days after years of not, lots of great intrigue in the reedal tones as are rising here.
Hussam Jefee – A State of Contemplation – Reflective blend of hand percussion, our and harmonic which drifts off nicely in the piece’s close. Hussam your our sound has a lovely authentic traditional indigenous sound.
Adam Kondor – Beginning of the End – Wow traveling in Thailand which I hope was wonderful Adam, I’ve often hoped to travel through South East Asia, but equally so we’ve missed you, great to have you back. Brings to mind Paul Hertz in these lines in your piece who we’ve not heard from in some time as well. Also feels delicate and takes on some of your ‘traveling’ influence from Thailand maybe. Welcome home and ‘home’ here in IF Adam.
Steve Moshier – Glass Blizzard – Steve you have these cool sounds that you use throughout all the work I’ve heard you do, they are haunting and ghostlike, darting in and out in character, no less in Glass Blizzard and captures the sense of crystalline clear glass, as if sliding about in sock feet.
Joel Sutton – Escape by Train – Traveling west as in looking for gold in another time. I hear the sound of geiger counters seeking signs of mineral deposits. Perhaps we are in a mine descending down perhaps we are on the moon, looking for lunar treasure. Nice feeling Joel.
Thai Electric by Adam Kondor
Jeff Fairbanks – hy – Jeff you can’t write sad man, your pieces sound so darn happy and playful and that’s wonderful. Slightly novelty at times but joyfully with a big old smile as in this piece, sounds like we’re just off on a splendid adventure somewhere, full of all the good things. Cool beat and color.
Steve Layton – Playing Monomaze – On leaving Florida perhaps. Nice explosive hits in this circled with sparkling synth cymbal like splashes indicating anticipating summer rains breaking the heat of west Texas. Maybe this piece has nothing to do with any of this but it’s cool and wishing you and the misses best in the new home of Dallas Steve.
Jerome Poririer – #00CED1 – catchy title Jerome, dig it! Nice exploratory solo bass work, jacoesque clusters and tight twisted like notes at times. Would be cool to see you and Gerald take something like this and improvise off each other, would dig it. I like dig it.
Paul Muller – High Plains Soliloquy – As the plains stretch across the heartland and the huge skies about so as a manipulated interpretation of my piece Trains (soliloquy for Steve Moyes) by Paul.
For Paul and I thanks for checking out this edition of WhatsNewAtImprovFriday with a rundown on the recent ImprovFriday music event. Remember to check out the ImprovFriday Radio Podcast series, member artist releases and all the goings-on on the ImprovFriday website where you can join us as either participating musician or listener. Special thanks to all the member artists who joined in the recent fundraiser to raise support for the upcoming year’s hosting services. Thanks to you we as a community have met the hosting fees for our ‘home’ for the next year, yey folks!
See you next time,
Jim & Paul
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