Chris and Alex arrive at 5:45. Brad is here, already setting up the circle with a tape-measure and some math.
The team goes about its usual work, and others arrive intermittently. Thanks to a unique busking effort yesterday, we are anticipating a few more new faces and maybe some different energy tonight. Salsa classes are taking place downstairs.
Sound is relatively hassle-free, although something odd is going on in the mix (this would later be revealed to be a fried tweeter in one of the cabinets, the part of the speaker that is responsible for upper-end frequencies). For warm-up, rather than playing through entire pieces, we are looping sections of Askesis and Flying Home for some early guests. Later in the green room, before going on, there is some additional warming up of a different kind (featuring an unfortunate coloration of a familiar exercise), where we are freeing up our awareness:
first, we are on the exercise;
then, we direct some attention to sensation in the right hand;
keeping this, we put a little more attention toward visualizing the count of the exercise;
if we can, also feeling the pulse happening in the body.
After a little work, Victor reminds the group that music is not multi-tasking. Curious.
And with this, we go on for a performance that goes everywhere. In the very beginning, a double circulation (where two notes are independently circulated) occurs spontaneously, much different in quality than its more common, single-note cousin. There are some fluttering, harmonically lush tapestries next to chomp-and-stomp chording. A savory chromatic circulation is another jewel of the evening. Everything is supported by a strong sense of form, within the improvisations and the set as a whole. The performance ends on an improv.
There is a good deal of post-performance rehearsal tonight. We spend a lot of time tightening some screws on Debussy's The Sunken Cathedral, steadily making it sound more "together". We even give Shostacovitch a whirl.
Getting out late, at 11:00.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Mr. Eraser Man
Glenn filling in as scribe for Chris.
I arrived around 5:40. Brad was there already. Victor, Rick, Dev and Alex, arrived not long after. The usual chair, speaker and wire organizing took place with a sound check beginning around 6:50. A few guests came up the stairs and listened in the wings as we warmed up (Askesis, Third Relation).
The Circle took the stage just after 7:30. About 8 in attendance, including 3 young people (ages approximately 3 7 and 13). Victor had suggested we keep things light and fun for the kids, and although there were some dark harmonic passages, it was a sprightly night. We played a good number of interesting improvisations, including one for an absent toy friend named Mr Eraser Man which involved lots of string scraping and rubber bandish bent notes. The composed pieces we played included Flying Home, Where is the Nurse?, Eye of the Needle, Third Relation, Growing Circle and Block Head. Conspicuously absent was Asturias. This was interesting because someone had just mentioned last week how it seemed inevitable that we end with that piece. Not so!
No encore tonight. Victor left our post-gig circle right away to socialize with his guests. I took a break from the group, as serves me best after a performance, munching a salad downstairs. After the guests left we had a long band meeting, talking quite a bit about promotion. Hey, if you're reading this and haven't come to see us, what are you waiting for? Victor also told us about a conversation he'd been having with his kids about what makes a good person. Also, 'how to know the will of the group.' Discussion. Space reset. Heading out around 11pm.
I arrived around 5:40. Brad was there already. Victor, Rick, Dev and Alex, arrived not long after. The usual chair, speaker and wire organizing took place with a sound check beginning around 6:50. A few guests came up the stairs and listened in the wings as we warmed up (Askesis, Third Relation).
The Circle took the stage just after 7:30. About 8 in attendance, including 3 young people (ages approximately 3 7 and 13). Victor had suggested we keep things light and fun for the kids, and although there were some dark harmonic passages, it was a sprightly night. We played a good number of interesting improvisations, including one for an absent toy friend named Mr Eraser Man which involved lots of string scraping and rubber bandish bent notes. The composed pieces we played included Flying Home, Where is the Nurse?, Eye of the Needle, Third Relation, Growing Circle and Block Head. Conspicuously absent was Asturias. This was interesting because someone had just mentioned last week how it seemed inevitable that we end with that piece. Not so!
No encore tonight. Victor left our post-gig circle right away to socialize with his guests. I took a break from the group, as serves me best after a performance, munching a salad downstairs. After the guests left we had a long band meeting, talking quite a bit about promotion. Hey, if you're reading this and haven't come to see us, what are you waiting for? Victor also told us about a conversation he'd been having with his kids about what makes a good person. Also, 'how to know the will of the group.' Discussion. Space reset. Heading out around 11pm.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Guitar Circle Sundays #9, 3-13-11
Alex and Chris arrive: 5:30. There is daylight remaining!
Alex tends to his own business upstairs while Chris, taking a cue from a vivid dream he had the previous evening, makes tending the bathrooms his first task (this would turn out to be a misguided premonition, as a meeting was taking place in the adjoining room downstairs that would make any more than a quick effort . . . peculiar).
Brad arrives close to or around 6:00, and reports that both Rick and Victor are dealing with challenges that may preclude their respective appearances in the Circle for tonight's performance. The reduced crew is left to continue set-up (oddly more work with fewer people) and assume a circle of five seats. But on the bright side, the performance space is once again jungle-themed and even slightly reminiscent of a luau setting...
Meanwhile, somewhere on the Mass Pike, Rick musters a plan to get out of a roadside predicament and calls to announce that he will arrive ready-to-go at 7:30; this news is received with gaiety on the other end and serves as a morale boost to the team, but leaves them with the problem of reconfiguring the circle for six seats.
At first glance, a circle with six evenly spaced points seems straightforward: just take either all the odd or all the even numbers off the face of a clock, and there's a model. However, lacking the requisite mathematical formulas, and using only approximate measuring tools (e.g. a 1/4" cable and half a bottle of diet coke), it is a slippery slope indeed, and Dev and Alex retool the seats quite a bit until a satisfactory circle is reached.
Backstage Rick arrives as promised, and the GCNE goes on at 7:40. Tonight's performance will be captured on film, via Glenn's digital recorder on the roof of the tiki bar.
A good showing with Third Relation feeling particularly in-the-pocket; Blockhead also has some extra juice. There is an improvisation that begins with a slimy, low bass note circulation and evolves into a slinky stomp, with added percussion and slapped accompaniment. Compelled strictly by the spirit of the moment, a Victor-less Batrachomyomachy is given summons, with Dev, Glenn and Brad taking on the acerbic lead part. As an encore: a spirited, unplugged Calliope.
A little after-show talk, and a tear down to be out by 10:00.
Alex tends to his own business upstairs while Chris, taking a cue from a vivid dream he had the previous evening, makes tending the bathrooms his first task (this would turn out to be a misguided premonition, as a meeting was taking place in the adjoining room downstairs that would make any more than a quick effort . . . peculiar).
Brad arrives close to or around 6:00, and reports that both Rick and Victor are dealing with challenges that may preclude their respective appearances in the Circle for tonight's performance. The reduced crew is left to continue set-up (oddly more work with fewer people) and assume a circle of five seats. But on the bright side, the performance space is once again jungle-themed and even slightly reminiscent of a luau setting...
Meanwhile, somewhere on the Mass Pike, Rick musters a plan to get out of a roadside predicament and calls to announce that he will arrive ready-to-go at 7:30; this news is received with gaiety on the other end and serves as a morale boost to the team, but leaves them with the problem of reconfiguring the circle for six seats.
At first glance, a circle with six evenly spaced points seems straightforward: just take either all the odd or all the even numbers off the face of a clock, and there's a model. However, lacking the requisite mathematical formulas, and using only approximate measuring tools (e.g. a 1/4" cable and half a bottle of diet coke), it is a slippery slope indeed, and Dev and Alex retool the seats quite a bit until a satisfactory circle is reached.
Backstage Rick arrives as promised, and the GCNE goes on at 7:40. Tonight's performance will be captured on film, via Glenn's digital recorder on the roof of the tiki bar.
A good showing with Third Relation feeling particularly in-the-pocket; Blockhead also has some extra juice. There is an improvisation that begins with a slimy, low bass note circulation and evolves into a slinky stomp, with added percussion and slapped accompaniment. Compelled strictly by the spirit of the moment, a Victor-less Batrachomyomachy is given summons, with Dev, Glenn and Brad taking on the acerbic lead part. As an encore: a spirited, unplugged Calliope.
A little after-show talk, and a tear down to be out by 10:00.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Guitar Circle Sundays #8, 3-8-11
Dev is back from two weeks on the road, but Rick is sick and taking rest time; Victor is indisposed and without a babysitter but will be making what is called a "heroic" effort to be part of the performance; Glenn is arriving late from Connecticut; and the show will take place in the downstairs room for the first time. All-in-all, it will be pretty touch-and-go this evening at Spontaneous Celebrations.
Alex and Chris arrive around 5:30. This week's performance space is a jungle-themed converted-cafeteria, now used mostly for various meetings and workshops, and as an arts & crafts space. Luckily, the room is clean, but there are still some decisions to be made about it, such as "plugged or unplugged?" and "how do we set up the gear without blocking an entrance to the bathrooms?" Moving stools and speakers downstairs and back up will be laborious. Meanwhile, a disco rages overhead.
The circlers arrive and begin setting up sound. The guys have opted to use amplification for tonight's performance, which is a much different beast in the new room. Victor has an assistant sound engineer, Elspeth McSurely, who aids during this painstaking process with advice and gestures of support and solidarity. She does not care for the group's slow pacing, however, and some repertoire is decided upon to propitiate her. It is seen whether or not Opening will be possible for tonight, with Alex taking up Rick's part.
With hats and lollipops, the Circle goes on a little after 7:45. A brief set of mainly improv, with some liberties in form and style being taken during certain portions of the program. An encore is called for, which tonight includes Love is Green and Opening.
After the show, Victor has a few words about some upcoming events, and is out the door to relieve a generous last-minute babysitter. The group will have the first page of the recently-introduced Shostakovitch prelude (accompanied by a rather ominous warning from Tuning The Air 's Curt Golden) ready as a priority for next week. Tear-down is left to the rest of the group, who are finished before 10:00.
Alex and Chris arrive around 5:30. This week's performance space is a jungle-themed converted-cafeteria, now used mostly for various meetings and workshops, and as an arts & crafts space. Luckily, the room is clean, but there are still some decisions to be made about it, such as "plugged or unplugged?" and "how do we set up the gear without blocking an entrance to the bathrooms?" Moving stools and speakers downstairs and back up will be laborious. Meanwhile, a disco rages overhead.
The circlers arrive and begin setting up sound. The guys have opted to use amplification for tonight's performance, which is a much different beast in the new room. Victor has an assistant sound engineer, Elspeth McSurely, who aids during this painstaking process with advice and gestures of support and solidarity. She does not care for the group's slow pacing, however, and some repertoire is decided upon to propitiate her. It is seen whether or not Opening will be possible for tonight, with Alex taking up Rick's part.
With hats and lollipops, the Circle goes on a little after 7:45. A brief set of mainly improv, with some liberties in form and style being taken during certain portions of the program. An encore is called for, which tonight includes Love is Green and Opening.
After the show, Victor has a few words about some upcoming events, and is out the door to relieve a generous last-minute babysitter. The group will have the first page of the recently-introduced Shostakovitch prelude (accompanied by a rather ominous warning from Tuning The Air 's Curt Golden) ready as a priority for next week. Tear-down is left to the rest of the group, who are finished before 10:00.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Guitar Circle Sundays #7, 2-27-11
The circlers begin arriving around 5:30 and commence preparing the space. Dev is still on tour, so it will be another night of six players.
As Glenn and Chris finish in the bathrooms, Victor is teaching Alex, Rick and Brad parts to a short but stately canon by Haydn; when the group is assembled, this is set aside and a formal soundcheck and warm-up begins. Askesis is the first piece, with some interrogation of the basses acting wonky in the "bridge" section. Calliope and a slow Batrachomyomachy each receive a briefing, and Victor makes a timbre suggestion for the melody section of Where's the Nurse.
At 7:30, the Circle is on. The mood in general is almost somber, and there are strong showings of Eye of the Needle and Where's the Nurse. The improvisation is more restrained than last week, but sinewy and coherent, with a thoughtful solo from Brad as a highlight. Meditative circulations cushion many of the pieces in the near-hour set.
After the performance, there is a conference between the circlers, who opt for some extra rehearsal before tearing down. The group reconvenes work on the Shostakovich prelude, addressing mainly the pattern of the melody circulation, then adding a few bars of notes. The Debussy prelude, which has been left out of the set with Dev's absence, gets a hearing in anticipation of his return (with counting out-loud as an added challenge/aid).
After this, some cleaning up and out the door by 10:40.
As Glenn and Chris finish in the bathrooms, Victor is teaching Alex, Rick and Brad parts to a short but stately canon by Haydn; when the group is assembled, this is set aside and a formal soundcheck and warm-up begins. Askesis is the first piece, with some interrogation of the basses acting wonky in the "bridge" section. Calliope and a slow Batrachomyomachy each receive a briefing, and Victor makes a timbre suggestion for the melody section of Where's the Nurse.
At 7:30, the Circle is on. The mood in general is almost somber, and there are strong showings of Eye of the Needle and Where's the Nurse. The improvisation is more restrained than last week, but sinewy and coherent, with a thoughtful solo from Brad as a highlight. Meditative circulations cushion many of the pieces in the near-hour set.
After the performance, there is a conference between the circlers, who opt for some extra rehearsal before tearing down. The group reconvenes work on the Shostakovich prelude, addressing mainly the pattern of the melody circulation, then adding a few bars of notes. The Debussy prelude, which has been left out of the set with Dev's absence, gets a hearing in anticipation of his return (with counting out-loud as an added challenge/aid).
After this, some cleaning up and out the door by 10:40.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)