Wed Sep 24, 2008
back from fretless fest
Well, it was quite an adventure -- sorry for those who may have tried to come out on Sunday: the venue that we were at on Saturday shut us out, claiming they didnt sell enough drinks at the bar :(
With nowhere to play at 5 pm and two hours before the event was to start, we split up, combing Manhattan and Brooklyn for a venue. We located one - Delancey's - and regrouped , kicking off at 10 pm with truncated sets.
At least the event went on, spirits were good, the energy high, and everyone's music great. Again, apologies for those who couldnt get to the new venue or didnt get word -- but i would love to come back to NY, and will plan to do so.
It was lovely to meet fretless colleagues from around the world -- many thanks to all for their great music and newly made friendships.
Helluva tribe we have going!
I should be posting video of the set in a day or two -- I'm having trouble getting it off the camera, but I did view it. Sound quality pretty poor, but its from a digital still camera in movie mode.
Using what I've outlined in a previous post, the work in preparation for NY was intense - 4 to 6 hours a night for several weeks - but in the end I think I had enough of a base to certainly go to NY with, although the stresses of Sunday's venue mash-up certainly took its toll against a completely optimum performance. Given those factors, it was what it was in its moment, and on that level, I'm reasonably happy with it.
I may try to do a better video under more controlled circumstances to showcase the instrument and current developments.
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Fri Sep 19, 2008
on the way to NY
leaving in a few hours for NYC but wanted to post pics of the new guitar -- so far so good, but ive really only had a few minutes to check it out... will premiere it on the fretless guitar festival gig Sunday.
the piece is going well, should be interesting...hope to see new yorkers there!
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Sat Sep 06, 2008
towards the vertical
I've been quite energized by preparing for the challenge of the upcoming solo fretless gig.
Last solo gig was about six years ago, and there has been a lot of absorption and intake of languages, experiences, musics, and instruments over that period.
The main impetus of course has been the re-immersion into Indian music.
Indian music is essentially linear -- which is beautiful and is what its instruments are geared to -- but a solo fretless guitar can be more, much more, than just an electric sarod (which might be cool as well, but that's another story).
Jefferson and I are still hammering out the subtleties of applying the fretless in the Duo setting, but as I've been developing the solo material for the fretless the past couple of weeks, it occurs to me that I'm still treating the fretless in an essentially linear, " electric sarod" fashion with the Duo. Ha ha, that may change significantly when we get together next as I go through this process.
In an earlier post I discussed some aspects of my previous solo work, applying very post modern improvisation concepts into an early flamenco medium:
Very, very disparate traditions, yet the lynchpins I heard connecting them were musical occurrences such as a certain dissonance in the harmonic voicings; the fluidity of tempo; the immense degree of subtle improvisational interplay between guitarist and singer. I was hearing a lot of connective tissue between the two, not parallel bundles but interesting, flexible hinges, joints, angles, sinews, tendons. I started working with that and then took that idea a bit further, trying to liberate the material from a metric confinement while still keeping rhythm and drive very much a part of it. That distinction between meter and time and rhythm -- all distinct elements in my book -- had been done a lot within the free jazz idiom itself, but hadn't really been applied in a flamenco context.
Conceptually, I'm trying to develop a similar methodology to working with Indian musical material; there's a lot of connective tissue I'm hearing here too.
While that post wasn't written that long ago, what's now apparent has been the impasse of treating the fretless in such a linear fashion.
But exploring the chordal and harmonic possibilities that a guitar can bring (and I mean both terms in the broad yet strict sense of any pitches sounding simultaneously, rather than implying any traditional sense of Western functional I-IV-V harmony or "standard" chord types) reveals the much larger challenge of applying some simultaneous pitch textures, filling the landscape with some vertical structures across the Indian music linear horizon.
Flamenco was easier in the sense that there was already prescribed harmonic procedures -- I just voiced them differently for added density and tension. Applying verticality to Indian music, so far I'm treating chords and tone clusters as more weighted, dense versions of any given melodic pitch, rather than any implied harmonic foundation or direction.
More to come.
More...
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solo set in new york sept 21!
I'll be performing a solo fretless guitar set at the NYC Fretless Guitar Festival 2008, Sept 21, 2008, at the Crash Mansion venue (199 Bowery, between Spring St. and Rivington).
If youre in NY please come, if you have friends in NY, please tell them!
I'll be posting some thoughts and ideas over the next day or two re the approach and language I'm developing for it. As some of you know, I did some solo CDs and festival work in Europe in the 90s in an avant-flamenco vein, but it's been years since ive done unaccompanied solo guitar.
It's an interesting medium to revisit after so many years, and I've been in a very active developing/preparing phase, getting ready.
Hope to see you there!
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Wed Aug 06, 2008
Jefferson Voorhees solo concert Thursday
Jefferson is back from a summer hiatus,and we're back at it, resuming rehearsals. Jefferson is also planning something rather interesting tomorrow: a solo percussion set.
He's bringing out the gongs, the drum set, the new custom quasi-gome, and who knows what else! should be a a great journey of rhythm and texture, and i'm looking forward to it.
second set is Bonnie Watts and City Reign.
Thursday , Aug 7, 7:30 p.m.
Summer Thursday Jazz Nights at The Outpost Performance Space
Sponsored by Southwest Gastroenterology Associates, PC
Outpost Performance Space 210 Yale SE • 2 blocks south of Central
$12/$7 Members & Students. Available in advance, by phone or in person, at the Outpost Performance Space (268-0044)
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Sun Jun 08, 2008
documentary done!
My sister's mini-doc on the duo is finally done. .. I think she did a fabulous job of condensing hours of interview and performance footage to encapsulate what we're about in less than 10 minutes. Very honored, sis, that you took this on. Thanks from all my my heart.
I may post some extended interview footage that didnt make it in over time, we'll see.
FYI, the footage from India I shot on a little point and shoot when i was there, trying to catch a snippet of Kolkata during a cab ride.
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Wed May 07, 2008
film shoot part of hookah gig this friday
We're back again for a late show at Hunab Hookah this Friday at 10 pm. this Friday at 10 pm...
We'll be filming also, as we're the subject of a documentary project being done, so come and be a part of it!
As mentioned in an earlier post, we also filmed some of the last HH performance. Clips are at http://www.youtube.com/norumba or http://www.myspace.com/norumba.
We have some new pieces -- and new tones to do them with, as well.
Hope to see everyone there!
Hunab Hookah
3400 Constitution NE
Friday May 9, 10 p.m., $5/3 members
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Wed Apr 30, 2008
Why Indian music?
I'm often asked, "why Indian music?" Sometimes the question is put in a more probing manner, such as "why do you think you can do this?"
I'll try to address some musical and philosophical aspects on those issues in this post.
In the late 90s I had some nice solo opportunities in Europe based on work using the most abstract modern free jazz and improv techniques within a springboard of *very* traditional flamenco ( pre-Paco, and really pre-soloist - my favorite flamenco players are the early cante accompanists). Very, very disparate traditions, yet the lynchpins I heard connecting them were musical occurrences such as a certain dissonance in the harmonic voicings; the fluidity of tempo; the immense degree of subtle improvisational interplay between guitarist and singer. I was hearing a lot of connective tissue between the two, not parallel bundles but interesting, flexible hinges, joints, angles, sinews, tendons. I started working with that and then took that idea a bit further, trying to liberate the material from a metric confinement while still keeping rhythm and drive very much a part of it. That distinction between meter and time and rhythm -- all distinct elements in my book -- had been done a lot within the free jazz idiom itself, but hadn't really been applied in a flamenco context.
Conceptually, I'm trying to develop a similar methodology to working with Indian musical material; there's a lot of connective tissue I'm hearing here too. On the sarod and tabla it's voiced in a much more subtle and melodic approach, though I think the electric instrumentation we're exploring will in some ways call for a return to some of my earlier rigour and more overt abstractness (but I think we'll maintain the lyricism of the acoustic setting as well).
Its very nice to be absorbed in the fretless electric, discovering what it can do as a tool to link the methodologies in avant free improv and Indian music.
Thats a long way of saying that I don't think musical fusions have to be terribly closely related to be successful; it may be helpful, but I think the exploration can be quite fertile by looking at where and how things *connect* (and how different musics approach their detail and methodology in developing improvisation -- that improvisational aspect, then as now, is key --), in addition to looking at what parallel streams of commonality there are. Anchor the connecting elements, celebrate the differences. Unity in diversity ( a parallel Sufi concept also).
For me, it's not about trying to be an Indian Classical Musician. I love it, respect it immensely, learn it, learn from it -- but I'm not an ICM, won't ever be, and in truth, it wouldn't interest me musically to completely go that path. I also respect it too much to pretend to do it.
What drives me, what interests me is how this music merges into what I already am.
Somehow, what I'm sensing just as a person and also what I'm hearing musically calls for a certain kind of cultural articulation to complete it. That cultural articulation isn't just limited to the music, either, as I'm driven to be engrossed in many aspects of it - learning the languages (Hindi and Bengali), cooking, absorbing dance, film, reading history and current trends, etc, etc. There's so much more I need to immerse in still, to make the music work, to better integrate myself as a being, I feel. But this is the life process.
And yet, while somehow I'm connected to that culture, that land in this very broad and deep way, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Albert Ayler, Peter Brotzmann, Led Zeppelin are all just as much a part of me and the music I make. To sell either tradition short is dishonest to myself and dishonest to both legacies.
Its my hope that I honor and respect the Indian musical tradition by being *internally* honest with it, folding aspects of it into myself while offering my own traditions to it in return.
I think people sense that, given the feedback we've gotten by people from India and other accomplishments such as the film project.
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Tue Apr 29, 2008
Three Videos From Hunab Hookah
While the sound quality is from the camera -- and the lighting dark -- we have three videos from the last gig at Hunab Hookah, including oud and fretless guitar/ drum set performances:
Viraha (electric version) - The introductory section of a performance of "Viraha", adapted to fretless electric and drum set (see a previous video for the tabla /sarod version).
This is a good example of the free jazz/modern improvisation element Jefferson and I also bring to the table ( to see more on where this idea is coming from, see "The Next Phase" post on this site.
In other words --this is not your auntie's alap :)
Her Words Bring Me To Life Again - Haven't posted an oud video , so here it is -- a meditative cover of a Sufi piece by the Ibn Arabi Ensemble of Morocco. Jefferson does a lovely subtle solo near the end featuring his multi-cajon (hard to see, but you can hear it).
Opening Improv - Todi Thaat - Completely unstructured,we opened the Hookah set with this brief improv, based on the Todi thaat but not any specific raga.
We will be back next Friday at Hunab Hookah May 9 - we look forward to seeing you there!
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Sat Apr 12, 2008
repertoire explored; the quest for tone
After two Hookah gigs, the explorations continue as Jefferson and I drill down in late night rehearsals, trying to find what works and what doesnt...It all works to a degree, but works better? Existing sarod/tabla repertoire goes through various trials to test its adaptability to the fretless/drum set combination: a new groove or tempo, or abandoned altogether.
How to improvise on it, even on pieces that adapt well, is a whole other level. The grammar of the dialogue, the nature of the conversations change with the new textures available. Form and shape are also shifting under the influence of new timbres. New pieces are also emerging and developing as well.
Should have video up from the last Hookah gig next week - footage is in the hard drive, waiting for CD burns from the miniCD recording for better sound than whats on the videotape.
One of the more elusive aspects has been nailing down a good fretless tone. Havent been happy with the Roland AC-60 for this application, so ive dusted off the all-tube Peavey Delta Blues... much much better, but perhaps way too loud! May need it modded.but i love the presence and depth of the tube response, and the primordial earthy low end of the 15" speaker.
We'll sound pretty different at the next Hookah gig on May 9th.
These Hookah gigs are good for us, and its a great chance to see the evolution of the group in progress - We're laying bare the experience of the music's evolution, so its an exciting time to see the group.
Should have video up from the last Hookah gig next week - footage is in the hard drive, waiting for CD burns from the minidisc recording for better sound than whats on the videotape.
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Fri Mar 28, 2008
Happiness at Hunab
the last gig at Hunab Hookah was even stronger - attendance is increasing, but still not where we'd like it to be. Come and see us, we'll be back in April...
A lot of footage was taken courtesy of Jefferson's visiting brother Steve - havent seen it, but glad we're gathering some documentation for the fretless/drum set pairing. Ill start putting it together next week, hopefully.
in unrelated news, Ive resurrected the two other blogs: new media analysis and trends, particularly for India and South Asia is covered here: http://newmedianewmexico.blogspot.com/, and Bollywood and Indian cultural current affairs are at the sister ( or is it cousin) blog here: http://morethanbollywood.blogspot.com/.
The Bolly one is a little slower in getting ramped up, but im organizing sources to make coverage of that beat a little more efficient.
Bookmark, and enjoy.
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Sat Mar 15, 2008
Hunab Hookah tomorrow
We've been shedding and putting it together - it gets more and more intriguing with every rehearsal.
My sister is taking some interview footage she shot ,along with the Body footage from last year and putting together a little mini-documentary. We're aiming to get tomorrow filmed as well - fretless and drum set the only thing not really caught yet.
C ya there!
Hosted By: samaduo
When: Sunday Mar 16, 2008
at 8:30 PM
Where: Hunab Hookah
3400 Constitution NE.
Albuquerque, New Mexico|32 87106
United States
Description:
samaduo
Click Here To View Event
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Wed Feb 27, 2008
do it again!
The gig at Hunab Hookah went well -- great vibe and atmosphere, and proprietor Brian is the best!
Turnout was a little slow on a rainy night, but we will be back on March 16th, Sunday, at 8:30 p.m. Do mark that one and come join us. Its a more palatable hour for a lot of folk, so I do hope to see you there :)
Sarod, oud, fretless electric guitar, drum set , tabla -- what more do you wish, lol?
Should have some more sound clips from rehearsals and the gig up by this weekend - stay tuned.
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Wed Feb 20, 2008
Hunab Hookah gig is this Friday!
Its a new year, and a new duo, as you know if youve been following this....
Weve been working hard on the drum set/fretless formation ( see previous post for a solo sample), and I also dusted off the oud and thats working well in the new set up.
Weve taken several months off from the sarod , but with Jefferson's much improved new tabla set, we hit on that tonight and it was amazing -- just like it always had been there, with with some nice freshness to it after its long rest, and a renewed vitality and ease that comes from the better tabla. Jeff says he doesnt have to work nearly as hard for tones, and it was immediately apparent that he could focus on the music rather than tone production and instrument stability.
We're pumped -- probably haven't been this jazzed since the film project came our way. Plans are to bring it all out -- drum set, electric fretless guitar, oud , sarod, tabla.
Do join us as we launch this new phase of the duo this Friday, 10 p.m. at Hunab Hookah , 3400 Constitution NE. $5 non-members/$4 members.
C ya there!
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Sun Jan 27, 2008
solo electric
We're still rehearsing and documenting the new direction of the Duo, but Im doing a lot of woodshedding on my own. I ve been recording some of that as well -- the first time i've really recorded solo work with a view towards self-analysis -- so here's a result I thought I'd share.
So I uploaded last night a fretless alap and jor, based loosely on Rag Kirwani. It utilizes a mix of sarod and Indian violin techniques, as well as some unique things that only the guitar could do , like the sustained chordal work around the 3 or 4 min range... i like the ability to slowly bend some of the notes in the chord around, it gives it a nice tension and something only possible on the fretless.
Its very nice to be absorbed in this instrument, discovering what it can do as a tool to link the methodologies in avant free improv and Indian Classical music.
The very abstract nature of the jor at about 6 minutes in, certainly reveals my free jazz past, haha -- but i think it works -- but im curious to what you think. It works best under headphones, as the jor portion also has some interesting stop and start elements with low stuff going on underneath it.
Its entitled "Alap Jor Solo Fretless" - and you can find it on our myspace page.
Enjoy!!
In other news, we'll make our Albuquerque debut here soon ( ill post details in a couple of days), I ve dusted off the oud, and am thinking of a fretted /fretless doubleneck, maybe twelve string fretless -- just not sure how it will all pan out...
stay tuned.
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Mon Dec 17, 2007
fretless + drum kit update
Jefferson and i have been rehearsing, getting used to the new instrumentation. Its coming together, we're finding our way in this new sea of timbres.
i ve dialed in some good tones on the effects board - unknown yet is how to optimize the program switching on the unit so you can easily transition through gradations of reverb, overdrive, etc.
Im finding ways to emulate a little bit the ambience and fullness of the sarod , with all of its echo from the sympathetics. Im using a lot of harmonics and harmonics+fretted notes ( an earlier technique i used in my avant-flamenco days).
I'm also fascinated by the waves of beats created when you linger on a Ni before it glides up to Sa in a long alap, when all of the other open string or harmonics are ringing...a nice wash of color to hang and revel in, a very dimensional and absorbing stillness, if you manage all the attacks and voicings right.
Im listening to a lot of Carnatic violin playing as of late, as that kind of phrasing and articulation seems very well suited to the fretless.
Hopefully we'll put up some raw samples soon.
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Sun Dec 02, 2007
a next phase
A little bit more about last week's rehearsal...
Im intrigued by the potential.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, its an interesting transition from the acoustic sarod and tabla to fretless electric and drum kit.
Some of the methodology we incorporate in our acoustic setting didnt quite work and some of it did; some of the tunes adapted well, some didn't. So what needs to happen next is to figure out the new rules of engagement, so to speak.
Its tricky, because it runs the very big risk of being a bad world music fusion clone, a second -rate Mahavishnu or Shakti or Tabla Beat Science. All great, but those are what they are, they've been there, done that.
The past few years have been a tremendous intake phase - with the trip to India, learning the language, etc., and the Duo has taken its time in development, no pressure, no rush.
Im feeling very strongly a lot of information percolating, ready to explode - if we can nail down the approach for an electric duo (and/or electric 4 piece).
Its possible. In the late 90s I had some nice solo opportunities in Europe using the most abstract modern free jazz and improv techniques from a springboard of very traditional flamenco. I developed a successful methodology for that at the time, and the Duo now has a pretty good acoustic methodology in its own right , a much more subtle and melodic approach.
I think the electric instrumentation we're exploring will in some ways call for a return to some of the rigour and abstractness of some of my more experimental work of years past, but i still hope to maintain the lyricism of the acoustic setting as well.
Im in a mental and spiritual feeding frenzy right now, the apex of the intake phase before its release -- reading a lot of various material (Tagore, architecture, some classic Sufi texts, etc).
Its all about to connect. Stay tuned.
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Wed Nov 28, 2007
First Video from 06/24
Another clip from the same venue as the previous ones, a week later. A good represenation of what we do, with a lot of spontaneous twists and turns.
Best viewed with the minimized internal window (320x240).
Viraha, 06/24
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Mon Nov 26, 2007
videos from June 17
Finally got these going, after quite some time trying to find a decent codec. Finally decided they look reasonable sent to YouTube as wmv. Do minimize the internal window on your player so that it plays at the proper encoded rate of 320x240.
I have two ready from the June 17 Body set:
Love and
Rang Ki Chaiyya, a loose improv piece we do in Raag Marwa.
More to come, from June 24th soon; the June 23Ethnosphere set is a little more complicated to to do an audio mix to video for ( varying levels of drone, etc) so those will be little later in coming.
In other developments, Jefferson and I had an interesting rehearsal with a bass player and tabla player, whith Jefferson switching to kit and i took on the fretless. Interesting transition to a new instrumentation, and i think it has some promise.
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Sat Nov 10, 2007
June samples up
Ethnosphere, 6/23
I've finally finished mixing up some of the material from the June shows, at least the two shows from Body.
We're also trying to have a bit more cyber/community presence, so we have a myspace page as well:
http://www.myspace.com/norumba
The audio samples are there, as well as a little photo gallery of more still grabs from the Body and ethnosphere video footage.
Speaking of which, the next phase is to optimize the audio mixes for the video footage: once thats done, I'll be adding some video clips to our YouTube page (probably in a week).
Here's a few more stills:
Body, 6/17
Body, 6/24
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