Upcoming Shows 2009 (non promotional)

[rlrds]

So would you mind telling me what the date is and the name of the bar? Are they selling tickets or first come first serve kinda thing? I'm over in Asheville and would definitely want to see this. Much appreciation for any info.

[hatta]

So this year's SIMF Schedule has been posted, looking great again, with Greg Kelley, Kai Fagaschinski, lê Quan Ninh plus a bunch of East Coast-ers and PNW-ers...

The schedule posted at that link has several TBAs(?)
Have people pull out from the festival this year?

Here's the full schedule for this weekend, I'll hold off on posting next week's for the reasons Jon cited. BTW keep an eye on the Gallery1412 and Chapel Performance Space Websites for the most up to date info.

February 13th

7pm: Chapel Performance Space

1. Greg Kelley / Doug Theriault / Kelvin Pittman trio
Christine Sehnaoui solo
2. Greg Kelley / Gust Burns / Mara Sedlins / Mark Collins / Wilson Shook quintet
Andrew Drury solo
3. Liz Tonne solo
large ensemble

February 14th

12pm: Gallery 1412

Workshops with festival Improvisers TBD

7pm: Chapel Performance Space

1. Greg Kelley solo
Christine Sehnaoui / Liz Tonne / Mara Sedlins trio
2. Kelvin Pittman solo
Wally Shoup / Greg Kelley / Andrew Drury trio
3. Doug Theriault solo
large ensemble

February 15th

12pm: Gallery 1412

Panel Discussion with festival Improvisers TBD

7pm: Gallery 1412

1. Kelvin Pittman / Andrew Drury duo
2. Christine Sehnaoui / Greg Kelley / Doug Theriault / Gust Burns quartet
3. Large Ensemble

[faster]

Hehe I would pay money to go to a panel discussion with Kelvin Pittman. One of the weirdest people in Portland, and that's saying something. Wonder what his music's doing these days?

[hatta]

I'll let you know. Actually I've seen him fairly recently, its kind of post Butcher sax.

[jkudler]

Hehe I would pay money to go to a panel discussion with Kelvin Pittman. One of the weirdest people in Portland, and that's saying something. Wonder what his music's doing these days?

i met and played with him (and jp!) a couple years ago. (umm. . . 12/06) really nice stuff - i wish i paid attention more to kelvin (during and after). i have recordings from that night, but they suck. i should drop JP a line, though.

great post, kudler.

-jesse

[hatta]

Hehe I would pay money to go to a panel discussion with Kelvin Pittman. One of the weirdest people in Portland, and that's saying something. Wonder what his music's doing these days?

So Kelvin's playing last night was ultra-minimal and super quiet. Kelley was almost loud in comparison. As he was always playing in groups it was hard to say the exact sounds he was making with the sax, but definitely in a breathy barely there sort of realm. He played just the mouthpiece of his sax a bunch and the most audible thing from him by far was a section where he rattled the valve that's on the mouthpiece for a while before setting it aside for his sax. Good stuff, I'm looking forward to his solo and duo performances.

[jkudler]

hey robert - after looking at your blog, i realized you meant you didn't know christine sehnaoui's work at all. good stuff! she has a solo on mats gustaffson's label (i think there's very little chance i spelled both "sehnaoui" and "gustaffson" correctly) that i've been trying to track down (for less than the $20 direct from the label). she's part of that lebanese/french crew (along with kerbaj, etc.) but lately seems to be really active all around europe.

http://www.myspace.com/christinesehnaoui

-jesse

[hatta]

hey robert - after looking at your blog, i realized you meant you didn't know christine sehnaoui's work at all. good stuff! she has a solo on mats gustaffson's label (i think there's very little chance i spelled both "sehnaoui" and "gustaffson" correctly) that i've been trying to track down (for less than the $20 direct from the label). she's part of that lebanese/french crew (along with kerbaj, etc.) but lately seems to be really active all around europe.

http://www.myspace.com/christinesehnaoui

-jesse

She had a bunch of discs there that she was selling, I can look for that one and pick it up for you if it's less then 20 if you want.

I found her technique quite impressive, she generates some truly unique sounds in what is a pretty saturated endeavor (extended sax). But at least solo it just felt like a run through of those sounds. There wasn't anything deeper there I thought. I'm definitely interested in the upcoming collaborations though.

[kangaroo?]

jesse,
the only place i've found stocking OLOF BRIGHT at decent prices is metamkine. Right now Sehnaoui's solo is out of stock there, but regularly they sell it for 10 euros. might be worth it if you get 2-3 things together

but yea, as robert said, the solo might not feel as interesting as her collaborations. I know it wasn't liked by many, but her duo with the late Michel Waisvisz was where her playing opened up for me

[mudd]

i've only heard that duo disc on al maslakh, i'd be interested to know if there are other recordings that need to be tracked down. i liked that one more than i had expected to.

m

[Salty Swift]

jesse,
the only place i've found stocking OLOF BRIGHT at decent prices is metamkine. Right now Sehnaoui's solo is out of stock there, but regularly they sell it for 10 euros. might be worth it if you get 2-3 things together

but yea, as robert said, the solo might not feel as interesting as her collaborations. I know it wasn't liked by many, but her duo with the late Michel Waisvisz was where her playing opened up for me

Top notch label
Someone should start a thread on their output....

[fearandpanic]

I know it wasn't liked by many, but her [Sehnaoui's] duo with the late Michel Waisvisz was where her playing opened up for me

Really enjoyed that one (Shortwave) also.

[bedouin]

Rouba 3i5: Boustros Sessions is a great disc (Mazen Kerbaj, Sehnaouix2, Zach). Probably my favorite of hers. Undecided (A Family Affair) on Creative Sources is pretty good too as is Sable on CONV (http://www.con-v.org/cnv28.html).

Gust Burns organized a workshop with the musicians from the show at the Gallery earlier today. There were a few of the musicians and a few more people turned up, one with a small chain a cellophane a rubik's cube(!), and a guy who was making sounds by blowing on his fists (who's was awesome btw). Greg Kelly and Liz Tonne (who i had never heard before) arranged the group in a circle, and gave a great intro on how to participate.
it was totally cool that i happened to sit next to Christine, which meant I had to blend with her music when it was my turn. I must say the sound from her alto (at lass than a meter away) was so intricate and spellbinding, i could really listen to that for hours. in fact it was so consuming i didn't feel like going to the gig later on. - looking forward to seeing them perform tomorrow though. - thanks to hatta for the reminder.

[jkudler]

i could see that criticism of christine's playing, but i haven't specifically felt that before. my experience is somewhat limited, though. we actually played together a few years ago, but i always forget about it, since the sound was really tough and i couldn't hear anything, and the recording doesn't reveal much more.

robert and kostis - thanks a lot for the offer and the info. robert, if there are cheap copies, let me know please. i did see mats gustaffson recently, and he said he could bring me a copy when he's back in philly in april, but it was left open whether that meant free or for a price and if so for what price. maybe i'll ask him what he plans to sell it for; his stuff is often pricey here, but i think he does $15 sometimes.

-j.

[Jason Bivins]

Schau, the Pinhook took Cecil Taylor (or was it ultimately "Cecil Taylor"?) off the website. Alas, it was too good to be true.

[jkudler]

maybe they just want to advertise it less so it's super small and intimate!

[MRS]

I email'd Bivins to back me up on this, to be fair, no longer listed on the venue's site. God dammit. Yes, too good to be true. Alas, it was great hearing the owner of the bar say "he plays hard bop."

[hatta]

i could see that criticism of christine's playing, but i haven't specifically felt that before. my experience is somewhat limited, though. we actually played together a few years ago, but i always forget about it, since the sound was really tough and i couldn't hear anything, and the recording doesn't reveal much more.

robert and kostis - thanks a lot for the offer and the info. robert, if there are cheap copies, let me know please. i did see mats gustaffson recently, and he said he could bring me a copy when he's back in philly in april, but it was left open whether that meant free or for a price and if so for what price. maybe i'll ask him what he plans to sell it for; his stuff is often pricey here, but i think he does $15 sometimes.

-j.

Well as I suspected I found her playing a lot more enjoyable with others. My favorite set from the first half of the festival was a quartet with her along with Gust Burns, Greg Kelley and Doug Theriault in which her sound fit in perfectly. More on that later.

As for the CD, well I didn't see your post until I got back from the show, but at the last minute I decided to pick up a couple of her CDs including that one. I just finished listening to it and I happen to like it even less then her solo performance. Since I probably won't be that compelled to listen to it again, its yours if you want it. She was selling her CDs for a very reasonable US$10.00 at the show, so that plus shipping is yours if you are still interested. Or we can work out some sort of trade, I'd almost always rather have more music then a few bucks.

[hatta]

Okay since part 2 of the SIMF begins tomorrow, and we aren't Googleable anyway, below is what I currently believe to be the line up. I'm wouldn't be surprised if there are changes from this as this schedule is derived from what was originally published on the SIMF site months ago. I only just found out that Michel Doneda is coming and I have filled his name in where it was previously 'special guest'. This of course is a bit of an assumption on my part, perhaps there are more then one special guest. Anyway I'll update this as I find out more. As always keep an eye on the SIMF website for more info.

February 20th

7pm: Chapel Performance Space

1. International Nothing (Kai Fagaschinski / Michael Thieke) duo
2. Rachel Thompson / Jonathan Zorn duo
3. Lê Quan Ninh & Michel Doneda duo

February 21st

12pm: Gallery 1412

Workshops with festival Improvisers

7pm: Chapel Performance Space

1. Lê Quan Ninh solo
Michel Doneda / Andrew Drury / Tari Nelson Zagar trio
2. Lê Quan Ninh / Gust Burns / Michael Thieke trio
Michel Doneda solo
3. Lê Quan Ninh / Michel Doneda / Rachel Thompson / Jonathan Zorn / Kai Fagaschinski / Michael Thieke sextet

February 22nd

12pm: Gallery 1412

Panel Discussion with festival Improvisers

7pm: Gallery 1412

1. Michael Thieke / Jonathan Zorn duo
Michael Thieke / Jonathan Zorn / Wilson Shook / Mark Collins quartet
2. Kai Fagaschinski / Rachel Thompson duo
Kai Fagaschinski / Rachel Thompson / Gust Burns / Mara Sedlins quartet;
3. Large Ensemble

[faster]

I had a dream last night that some guy struck up conversation with me in a bar and I recognized his name was Armenian and he was impressed. True story.

I'm in Hongdae, killing a little time before going to Dotolim, where Ryu Hankil, Hong Chulki, and Choi Joonyong will perform a live version of the compositions on 5 Modules V, with guest Jin Sangtae.

EDIT: and by "killing time" I meant "tomorrow night"