In attendance: Chris Paquette, Glenn Hughes, Victor McSurely, Dev Ray, Brad Hogg.
When Glenn and Brad arrive at roughly 7:35, Victor and Chris are already setting up the PA. Rick is unable to make it, due to a failed starter on his van. Dev comes in a few minutes later, apologizing beforehand for being a little unwell.
After a moment of silence, Victor mentions that there are some logistics that he'd like to touch upon, regarding "what comes next". We have just put two challenges behind us--the Oct. 30th gig and the Tony Geballe weekend--and it's time to both review and look ahead to the coming months. "But," Victor says, "maybe it's better to talk about that later, after we've done some playing."
We begin with a free circulation, with a somewhat ambiguous key (G Major?). After a minute or two, Victor lobs a note across the circle to Glenn, and the game changes from straight to random circulation, with both single notes and chords. The sense of "play" is very palpable in the room, as the circulation comes to a close.
Continuing warming up, we move on to work with Calliope, just working with the primary C Major part. We run this slowly at first (probably around 72 bpm), with the emphasis on accuracy in a staccato manner, and then bump the speed up to about 78, and then again to 84 (falling intentionally short of the marked tempo of 88).
Moving on from this, we jump into work with "Where is the Nurse?". Glenn has been working the mirror section of the lead pretty hard, and it shows. One straight playthrough, and then we move into more focused work. The timing on this piece is still giving us a bit of trouble: the aksak semai groove is easy and pleasant to fall into, but if attention is not paid, the timing in both the lead and the bass can start to shift. For the leads, this means that some spots can start in the wrong spot; with the bass, it can mean cutting the end of the bar off too soon, which throws the lead off. Victor suggests that we try tapping the time with our feet:
1-2-3-1-2-1-2-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-1-2-1-2-3-
R-----L---R---L-----R-----L---R---L-----
This is much more difficult than it sounds, and the idea meets with hesitance and protest. Most hold with simply tapping in time as best they can, and making sure they land on the one. "Sections" work with the end of the piece, then moving it back to the entering-outro, the Bb section, the full melody (which has some odd placements of notes). We run the piece once, work on a couple more details, and then run it once more. This last time sounds very tight, to the scribe's ears, and we break for a few minutes.
Back in the circle, Glenn presents "Prelude I", from The Well-Tempered Clavier. With some arrangement instructions (circulating, with a 5+3 pattern in the circle) and rhythmic circulation work, we hammer out the first eight bars, and agree to have the piece ready for next week.
Continuing repertoire work, Bicycling to Afghanistan is up next, with Brad sitting this out. Some small performance notes, and then Batrachomyomachy. Someone mentions the "frogs" part of this piece, and this gets replayed in a Freudian slip on the composer's name. In retrospect, it really wasn't that funny, but still. . . . Moving Force gets a good look, too.
At this, we call it a night on the actual playing, and took a good look at what we are to do. Our next just-about-confirmed gig will be in January or so, with something maybe popping up before then (hopefully). The push to get ourselves out there needs to start soon; just about everyone knows some venues to look at, and Dev can get us onto an opening gig without much trouble at all (now that he's no longer handling booking for his charge). The concept of a location-based regular performance is also presenting itself, with some potential spots in Cambridge and elsewhere in Boston. Promotional work will also be of priority, and there is quite a bit to do, there. Much of this comes down to what has been an apparently recurring theme for Victor, the "completion of the gesture", and everyone seems to be on-board, as best they can. More will present itself in the near future, but for now, this seems to be enough for the night, and we adjourn at roughly 11 pm.
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