one seven-billionth

Reconnaissance Fly on January 9th

2012-01-11T15:41:00.001-08:00

Reconnaissance Fly
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels
Here we are at Luna's Cafe in Sacramento. We're playing this evening at the Cafe Rev in West Oakland!

Reconnaissance Fly in the new year -- West Oakland.

2011-12-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

We who have rocked salute you!

2011-12-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

ReCardiacs Fly, photo by Tom Djll

This Friday night at the Starry Plough!

2011-11-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

It's us, ReCardiacs Fly! Pre-watch us on our YouTube channel!

Before we got lost

2011-11-12T06:37:00.001-08:00

Branches Overhanging Ridge
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels
This was taken in familiar surroundings where we had hiked before on my birthday last year.

Also on my birthday hike

2011-11-11T10:41:00.001-08:00

Madrone
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels
Up close and personal with the madrone, my favorite tree.

Discovery on birthday hike

2011-11-10T12:32:00.001-08:00

Terrace Seep
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels
There is a slow, slow creek which only seeps. And it forms flat stepwise terraces of mineral deposits. I only got to see it because we got somewhat lost on our hike.

And here's an animation...

2011-10-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

Official ReCardiacs Fly photo!

2011-10-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Take a moment to pity poor ReCardiacs Fly. For no matter now diligently they rehearse or how many plastic surgeries they endure, they will never be real Cardiacs. Memento non Cardiacsi.

(Photo by Tom Djll)

Tom's review of "I, Norton"

2011-09-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

Tom doesn't usually review shows he is in, or that I am in, but Gino's opera was such a special, out-of-this-world experience, he made an exception just this once for Paris Transatlantic.

The latest piano music from Tom

2011-09-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://djll.bandcamp.com/album/spectral-parade">Spectral Parade by Tom Djll</a>

Save the date for joyously deranged art-pop!

2011-09-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

The members of Reconnaissance Fly and their pals are ready to cram themselves into a phone booth once again and burst forth all suited up and makeup-caked as ReCARDIACS Fly! Their set list has bloated up to over twice its first-gig size! And they've lured the delicious Dominique Leone and the wacky Wiener Kids to share the bill with them in a joyously deranged art-pop spectacular! Spread the word to everyone you know in the vicinity of the Starry Plough Pub, Berkeley, California, USA.

This Thursday night

2011-08-28T20:12:00.001-07:00

Thank all the gods.

2011-08-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

We have something incredible to celebrate today -- that the West Memphis Three have been freed. Damien Echols' statement below is excerpted from the article on this thrilling news in The Wild Hunt.

“To all my friends and family, my attorneys and advocates, and to those of you from every corner of this earth who have stood beside us these long years, please know that I will forever be indebted to all of you for helping me to become a free man. Each and every day I was the beneficiary of acts of kindness and humanity from people of all walks of life, of all ages, nationalities, religions and political persuasions. The enormity of the support Lorri and I received throughout this struggle is humbling.

I have now spent half my life on death row. It is a torturous environment that no human being should have to endure, and it needed to end. I am innocent, as are Jason and Jessie, but I made this decision because I did not want to spend another day of my life behind those bars. I want to live and to continue to fight for our innocence. Sometimes justice is neither pretty nor is it perfect, but it was important to take this opportunity to be free.

I am not alone as there are tens of thousands of men and women in this country who have been wrongfully convicted, forced into a false confession, sentenced to death or a lifetime in prison. I am hopeful that one day they too will be able stand with their friends and family to declare their innocence.

This whole experience has taught me much about life, human nature, American justice, survival and transcendence.

I will hopefully take those lessons with me as I embark on the next chapter in my journey and along the way look forward to enjoying some of those simple things in life like spending Christmastime, Halloween and my birthday with those I love.”

As Star Foster puts it bluntly in her own article on Pantheon, " ‎"Being Wiccan is not a crime. Being a goth doesn’t make you a murderer."

Amar's brief account of our Sacramento gig in June

2011-08-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

It was a hot day, yes. The FPR Trio were wonderful, yes. It was a good debut for the new lineup, yes. I like the photo, and yes, it makes it look like there was a lot more room on the stage than there really was. Read all about it!

Memory Select review of the Art of Composition

2011-07-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

When I see Craig Matsumoto in the audience I know there will be a thoughtful review to come. Here's what he thought of last night's Outsound Summit installment.

Me in the Aguascalientes Ensemble

2011-07-23T12:32:00.001-07:00

Polly Moller 2
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

Last night in the Outsound Summit's third night, The Art of Composition. We played Gino Robair's new suite inspired by the skull and skeleton paintings of Posada.

Report on the Outsound Summit so far

2011-07-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

We've had two free events at the Outsound New Music Summit so far -- the Touch the Gear expo and the composers' discussion panel which I moderated, shown above. Here's Amar's report.

He's performing with Grosse Abfahrt tomorrow night.

2011-07-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

So let him tell you all about it.

An illustrated review of "I, Norton"

2011-07-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Including a rather flattering likeness of me and the bass flute, here.

The latest iteration of "I, Norton" on July 5th

2011-07-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gino Robair's opera "I, Norton" morphs to fit any situation, and this time, it's one of the public events hosted by the American Guild of Organists' annual convention in San Francisco. It takes place at the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist at 110 Julian Street in the Mission District.

I will be a part of the wind section, contributing to the beautiful and spooky atmosphere on flute and bass flute. Kyle Bruckman (oboe/English horn), Matt Ingalls (clarinets), Tom Djll (trumpets) and Krys Bobrowski (French horn & gliss glass) will be lined up with me. Also look for me heterodyning with Matthew Goodheart on e-bow piano.

Tom Duff stars as Emperor Norton and Gino will conduct. Dave Hatt will play the 1902 organ and the Cornelius Cardew Choir will sing and hoot on bottles.

Seating is limited and a donation of $5 is requested at the door.

Amar's report on the Tim Smith benefit show

2011-06-19T10:39:00.001-07:00

Here it is. I was wondering if he would ever write it up, he's been so busy.

Just found out

2011-06-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

The lads and I as Reconnaissance Fly are playing on the Nebraska Mondays series at Luna's Cafe in Sacramento this coming Monday the 20th at 7:30 p.m. But we only just found out who we're sharing the bill with: the FPR Trio of Phillip Greenlief, Frank Gratkowski, and Jon Raskin. Saxophonic royalty! What a treat!

Reposted in honor of Bloomsday

2011-06-16T07:18:00.001-07:00

Excerpt from Penelope by Polly Moller

My partner, the movie star.

2011-06-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

3: Tom Djll (NOISY PEOPLE) from tim perkis on Vimeo.

Outsound's annual fundraising dinner is June 27th

2011-05-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

Outsound Presents is putting on its 3rd annual "Monday the Month Before" fundraising dinner to benefit the Outsound New Music Summit. This year we take a big leap forward, taking our dinner into the beautiful Numi Tea Garden in Oakland, with music by Vorticella, and dinner by chef Miles Ake. Here's the chef's description of the feast:

"The list of ingredients when put together form a classic Gazpacho. This will function as a prompt or an armature that dishes can be built upon. The root of the word Gazpacho is derived from a Mozarab word caspa, meaning "residue" or "fragments," which refers to the small pieces of bread and vegetables in a Gazpacho soup. throughout the meal the gazpacho as an entity wil go through a series of fractured movements. This fracturing is not a means to disconnect, but rather as a process of extraction, distillation and isolation of distinct parts. The structure of the menu is an anagrammatical game or a rewinding (moving backwards in time to replay a track) while simultaneously moving forward without redundancy in form/texture/taste using to compositional terms (verse, refrain, notes, scale, etc....) to build a lexicon of culinary elements."

I invite you all to view the full invitation and RSVP for the event. Hope to see you there!

Up next

2011-05-24T21:52:00.001-07:00

If we are great, it is because we stand on the shoulders of Cardiacs.

2011-05-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

raw from the camera of Amar Chaudhary

Here is a lovely review of the benefit show.

We rocked ourselves silly for Tim Smith.

2011-05-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

Photo by Tom Djll

Yes we did. ReCardiacs Fly was one of 6 artists and bands (Amy X Neuburg, Wiener Kids, Grex, Inner Ear Brigade, us, and the Dominique Leone ensemble) amassed for the occasion at Cafe du Nord.

This photo by Tom Djll too.

Left to right: percussionist Suki O'Kane, saxist Chris Broderick, me, guitarist Marc Laspina, and bassist Tim Walters. Moe! Staiano is behind the drums and keyboardist Amar Chaudhary is in the dark depths.

Our set was:
To Go Off And Things
Too Many Irons In the Fire
Hello Mr Sparrow
R.E.S.

It's the morning after! The shadowy forces in charge of the benefit concert are counting the money raised for Mr. Smith's care. The members of ReCardiacs Fly have reluctantly removed their makeup and unhyphenated their names from -Smith, and are waiting for the audio and video recordings to surface.

Interview with Erik Ehn about Cordelia

2011-05-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

These are the playwright's thoughts presented with a slideshow of images from the play and a little bit of my flute music.

Cordelia Interview with Erik Ehn from Theatre of Yugen on Vimeo.

Amar's review of Cordelia

2011-05-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

There are just three performances left - tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. Tickets can be ordered online from Brown Paper Tickets.

Here's Amar's review which I really like, especially the photos. That's me with the bass flute and the hat on.

ReCardiacs Fly rehearsing

2011-05-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

This is from our rehearsal on May 1st. From left to right it's Suki O'Kane on the xylophone, Marc Laspina on guitar, Tim Walters on bass, an empty microphone where I would be standing, and Chris Broderick on sax. Set up next to where I'm taking the picture is Amar Chaudhary on keyboard, and around the corner from Suki where you can't see him is Moe! Staiano, drummer and benefit concert ringleader! We hope to play for lots of you on May 8th at the Cafe du Nord.

It'll be here before you know it!

2011-04-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Cordelia review in SF Bay Times

2011-04-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Very thoughtful, I think. I recommend you click here.

Review of Cordelia by Gaetana Caldwell-Smith

2011-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Click here to read it. Anna does not, in fact do any singing in the play. We teased her about that all last evening to the effect of, "Well, Gaetana said so, so now you have to sing!"

Cordelia opens on April 20th

2011-04-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

And I will spend all day tomorrow in tech rehearsal. The show runs for three weekends, with 12 performances. Here's where to buy your tickets online, and I hope to see you in the audience!

Excerpt from Penelope

2011-04-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Penelope by Polly Moller

Amy Likar commissioned this piece from me, and she is playing it in this recording from December 18th. The music has three lines, one for piccolo sounds, one for vocal sounds, and one for footsteps. It's good to hear a piccolo player make all the sounds they're capable of! Or maybe just most of them.

Live recording of Alcyone from December 18th, 2010

2011-04-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alcyone by Polly Moller
Laura Malouf-Renning, mezzo-soprano
Phillip Greenlief, clarinet
Cory Wright, bass clarinet
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
Suki O'Kane, percussion

Blog post about the music of Cordelia

2011-04-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

A Theatre of Yugen board member blogs about the music of the upcoming play Cordelia, its basis in Noh tradition, and its modern innovations. And there's a picture of my back, rehearsing.

Next up after Cordelia: ReCardiacs Fly!

2011-03-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

On May 8th, three of us from Reconnaissance Fly (me, Tim, and Amar) will be joining ringleader Moe! Staiano, Suki O'Kane, Chris Broderick, and Marc Laspina to play a set in tribute to Cardiacs. Moe has organized this benefit show at Cafe du Nord to raise money for Cardiacs frontbeing Tim Smith's medical expenses.

We will be playing a four-song set under the name of ReCardiacs Fly. I am going to have to eat my Wheaties. And take my vitamins, and put in a few more hours a week at the gym, in order to do this music justice. Hope you will all be there!

Cordelia coming to NYC

2011-03-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

I like when I know what I'm doing 1.5+ years in advance!

Theatre of Yugen's Cordelia will be staged in New York City in November 2012 as part of the playwright, Erik Ehn's, Soulographie cycle.

17 plays will each deal with a facet of the terrifying gem that is genocide.

At CNMAT, Berkeley on March 4th

2011-02-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'll be joining Amar in a duo set, as part of his Regents' Lecturer Series part II. Here are full details:

Friday, March 4, 8:00 - 10:30 pm

Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)
1750 Arch Street
Berkeley, CA

CNMAT and the UC Berkeley Regents' Lecturer program present and evening of music by Amar Chaudhary.

The concert will feature a variety of new and existing pieces based on Amar's deep experience and dual identity in technology and the arts. He draws upon diverse sources as jazz standards, Indian music, film scores and his past research work, notably the Open Sound World environment for real-time music applications. The program includes performances with instruments on laptop, iPhone and iPad, acoustic grand piano, do-it-yourself analog electronics and Indian and Chinese folk instruments. He will also premier a new piece that utilizes CNMAT's unique sound spatialization resources.

The Regents' Lecturer series features several research and technical talks in addition to this concert. Visit http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/ for more information.

All about Theatre of Yugen's Cordelia

2011-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Theatre of Yugen has a new blog, and they've posted an overview of their world premiere play Cordelia, which I'll be playing music in.

Oddball wares

2011-02-14T07:02:00.001-08:00

Review of December 18th concert

2011-01-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here it is. Thanks to Amar for being there, writing it up and taking photos.

My next performing project

2011-01-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

This is what's up next for me. I will be playing flutes and chanter, and percussionist Anna Wray will play piccolo snare and shruti box, to accompany this modern Noh play and its interpretation of King Lear, sideways through the eyes of Cordelia.

On this day in history...

2011-01-01T00:01:00.001-08:00

...my life ended, and somehow inexplicably, kept going on at the same time.

Polly By Columbia

2010-12-30T09:24:00.001-08:00

Polly By Columbia
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels

What I did on my winter vacation.

Archive of UBRadio Salon

2010-12-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

The music from December 22nd is downloadable free, and streamable, here.

Review of December 18th concert

2010-12-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

Here is an overview posted at Memory Select. Thanks Wedge!!!

Live on UBRadio Salon, 12/22/10

2010-12-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

I'll be improvising live with the marvelous John Hanes on Wednesday, December 22nd from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific Time, on UB Radio Salon. Do tune in!

Long Night's Moon wraps up the series for 2010

2010-12-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

For the Long Night's Moon on Thursday, December 16th, Outsound presents Droneshift, the longest set of the year for the Full Moon series, focusing on sustained notes.

Droneshift is a collaborative concert of improvised drone music. Between 15 and 25 musicians will gather to contribute to a
continuous 2 hour drone, each adding their acoustic or electronic
instruments here and there, and weaving their sounds together to create gradually shifting tapestries of music.

The performance will most likely meander from completely acoustic music to electric ambiance to post-industrial noise with many points in between.

Personnel thus far:

Tom Bickley - wind controller
CJ Borosque - trumpet
Bob Boster - processed voice
Amar Chaudhary - iThings
Matt Davignon - wine glasses/synth
Adam Fong - bass
Phillip Greenlief - sax/clarinet
Ron Heglin - trombone/trumpet
Jeff Hobbs - bass, clarinet or violin
Travis Johns - electronics
Andrew Joron - theremin
Aurora Josephson - voice
Sebastian Krawczuk - bass
David Leikam - Moog rogue synthesizer
Cheryl Leonard - viola
Marianne McDonald - didgeridoo
Melissa Margolis - accordion
Bob Marsh - voice
John McCallum - electronics
Chad McKinney - supercollider/guitar
Kate McLoughlin - bassoon
Joe McMahon - didgeridoo
Kristin Miltner - laptop
Ferrara Brain Pan - sopranino saxophone
Rent Romus - sax/tapes
Ellery Royston - harp w/effects
Mark Soden - trumpet
Moe! Staiano - guitar
Errol Stewart - guitar
Lena Strayhorn - tsaaj plaim / wind wand
Zachary Watkins - electronics
Rachel Wood-Rome - french horn
Michael Zelner - analog monophonic synthesizer, iPod Touch

Hiding in plain sight

2010-12-02T21:31:00.001-08:00

Hiding in plain sight
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels

KUSF interview on December 16th

2010-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

I'll be visiting the Bryan Chandler program on KUSF from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Thursday, December 16th, to tell listeners all about the December 18th Trinity Chapel concert.

This is an opportunity for folks who are out of the San Francisco area, or who otherwise can't make it to the show, to hear recorded excerpts of a couple of the pieces that will be performed. And if you can, and will, come to the show it will get you in the mood. Tune in to 90.3 FM in San Francisco, or listen on the web at www.kusf.org !

Just a month from now

2010-11-19T14:25:00.000-08:00

It's feeling very real indeed. Rehearsals are scheduled, and I'm putting together program notes! Here, by the way, is the program itself as it stands now.

-The Flip Quartet for four improvisers (2006)
performed by Karl Evangelista, Jason Hoopes, Thomas Scandura and Bill Wolter

-Duo No. 1 (premiere, 2008)
performed by Gino Robair, cymbal
and Krystyna Bobrowski, sliding speaker instrument

-Penelope (premiere, 2010)
commissioned and performed by Amy Likar, piccolo

INTERMISSION

-Three of Swords for a solo improviser (2009)
performed by Sarah Elena Palmer

- Alcyone, a new work for the winter solstice (2010)
Laura Malouf-Renning, mezzo-soprano
Phillip Greenlief, Bb clarinet
Cory Wright, bass clarinet
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
Suki O'Kane, percussion

-Genesis for twelve improvisers (2006-2010)
performed by Polly Moller (conductor)
Suki O'Kane, percussion (Universal Time)
Karen Stackpole, gongs
Marianne Tomita MacDonald, harp
Nancy Beckman, shakuhachi
Jayn Petingill, alto saxophone
Adria Otte, violin
Emily Packard, violin
Cheryl Leonard, viola
Ann Dentel, cello
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
and Matt Davignon, drum machine (New Universe).

Mourning Moon concert this Thursday in San Francisco

2010-11-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

THE PROGRAM:

FIGHTS MONSTERS will ritually bring in the Mourning Moon through the extensive exploration of drones, room harmonics and standing waves to bring about a meditation on loss—all by candlelight.

The contemporary people of LAWSON are the descendants of an ancient civilization. For many generations the ancient Lawsonites lived at sea in ships, traveling and exploring the seemingly endless reaches of the ocean. While it has been forgotten exactly why the Lawsonites suddenly left the ocean, many believe a large storm decimated the majority of the population, and the few remaining people chose to leave the ocean forever. The descendants of these people have never seen the ocean.

In honor of the Mourning Moon, the Lawson ensemble will continue its tradition of performing the ancient songs of the fallen Lawsonite ancestors.

PERFORMER BIOS:

Ryan Gregory Tallman (b. 1977) is an electro-acoustic composer, noise artist, sound experimentalist, multi-instrumentalist and improviser. Tallman’s primary compositional focus is the manipulation and exploitation of the inherent resonant frequencies of acoustic spaces—rendering his work site specific and experiential. As a graduate from the Master of Fine Arts in Electronic Music and Recording Arts program at Mills College, Tallman studied under Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, Maggie Payne, Roscoe Mitchell, and Zeena Parkins.

FIGHTS MONSTERS,the SloMo-PoMo, Atmospheric Noise-Metal project of composer Ryan Gregory Tallman*, was brought to life in East Oakland, CA in the Autumn of 2008. FIGHTS MONSTERS has released albums on Planetarium Records and Subspine Records, and has another full-length album in progress.

Saxophonist Jacob Zimmerman recently completed his Masters Degree in Composition at Mills College in Oakland, where he had the privilege to study privately with Roscoe Mitchell and James Fei. In May of 2008 he graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Saxophone Performance. There he studied primarily with Anthony Coleman, Jerry Bergonzi, and Joe Morris. Demonstrating a firm knowledge of the history of the alto saxophone in jazz, classical, and improvised music, Jacob is a highly active performer working in a wide range of diverse musical contexts.

The newly formed Lawson Ensemble performs original music inspired by the rich cultural heritage of the Lawsonite people. Comprised of an exceptional cast of local improvising musicians, the project is focused on the navigation of a unique pitch network system recently developed by Zimmerman in his solo work. Current members include Drew Ceccato, Cory Wright, Matt Nelson (saxes), Matt Ingalls (clarinets), Theo Padouvas (trumpet), Rob Ewing (trombone), Michael Coleman, Dan VanHassel (keyboards), and Dan Good (electronics and trumpet). In performance the Lawson Ensemble collectively improvises varying textures of complex, slowly shifting counterpoint. Through the use of pre-composed material, improvisation, and a specific vocabulary of conducting cues the performers actively engage in the discovery of new formations of melody and phrasing, with an emphasis on shapes and contours. Notable influences for the project include Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera music, Bill Frisell, Sun Ra, Anthony Braxton, and the improvisations of Lee Konitz and the “Tristano School.”

My birthday night

2010-11-13T16:05:00.001-08:00

Night Sky, for Cheap
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels

On my birthday hike

2010-11-11T06:07:00.001-08:00

The little puff that shone a shadow
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels

GOAL!!!!

2010-10-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yes! The Kickstarter appeal for the December 18th performers has made it to $1,000 raised!

But don't let that stop you from making a pledge to benefit these great musicians. The more money we raise for them, the more money can be split among them -- and December 18th will cease to be just another underground gig.

Blood Moon concert this Thursday in SF

2010-10-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

How dark can it get and the moon still be full? Find out this Thursday, October 21 at the Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market Street at 6th Street, San Francisco. Admission is $6.00 - $10.00 sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds.

8PM: Forms of Things Unknown
9PM: Big City Orchestra

Forms of Things Unknown will attempt to measure the pulse of the Blood Moon using a meter-long cylinder of grenadilla wood paired off with a triangular spruce resonant chamber, piped through a Lexicon MX200 fitted with a handblown telescoping pocket compass of pure fucking titanium.

Big City Orchestra makes sound on the moon: Melody mainly pressure wave moving through a series of conditions. Thus, we often hear at the sky. As the transfer of so-called "Kaleidoscope." After back and forth nature of the lie, if you go back. This means that it is in our vibration of the eardrum ear. Thus, you will not sound when the vacuum of space, but you can hear the air or cooling, or semen. How it all, especially at a distance, or as audio, high-frequency or low frequency current evaporation depends on the media publishing projects or clothing.

Forms of Things Unknown was launched as a solo studio project in 2002 and continues to serve as the primary creative vehicle for the music of Ferrara Brain Pan. Utilizing various woodwinds as primary sound sources, these and other acoustic instruments are interfaced with signal processors, electronics and sampled sounds to fabricate drone-oriented soundscapes of a dark ambient designation, occasionally veering into neofolk, jazz dirge or art-rock territory. While live performances are infrequent, audience members have sometimes reported odd somatic hallucinations, feeling as though interdimensional portals were spontaneously erupting throughout the abdominal cavity, with tiny glass helicopters entering and exiting these dilating orifices.

Big City Orchestra: Back in 1979 in crappy little towns south of LA such as Torrance and Hawthorne a cassette-trading, noise-embracing, non-musician-friendly band was formed and the darned thing still exists today under the same name.

Kickstarter appeal for artist fees

2010-10-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Time to seek funding for the 22 performers I told you about last week! Please check out the appeal and back them as generously as you are able.

All performers are now confirmed for December 18th!

2010-09-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's an exciting moment in the journey towards this concert. There are 23 musicians in all, and here is the program as it stands now:

-The Flip Quartet for four improvisers (2006)
Karl Evangelista
Jason Hoopes
Thomas Scandura
Bill Wolter

-Duo No. 1 (premiere, 2009)
Gino Robair, percussion etc.
Krystyna Bobrowski, inventions

-Penelope (premiere, 2010)
commissioned and performed by Amy Likar, piccolo

INTERMISSION

-Three of Swords for a solo improviser (2009)
performed by Sarah Elena Palmer

- Alcyone, a new work for the winter solstice
Laura Malouf-Renning, mezzo-soprano
Phillip Greenlief, Bb clarinet
Cory Wright, bass clarinet
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
Suki O'Kane, percussion

-Genesis for twelve improvisers (2006-2010)
performed by Polly Moller (conductor)
Suki O'Kane, percussion (Universal Time)
Karen Stackpole, gongs
Marianne Tomita MacDonald, harp
Nancy Beckman, shakuhachi
Jayn Petingill, alto saxophone
Adria Otte, violin
Thea Farhadian, violin
Cheryl Leonard, viola
Ann Dentel, cello
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
and Matt Davignon, drum machine (New Universe)

For more information and whens and wheres, please visit Trinity Chamber Concerts.

At the Harvest Moon show

2010-09-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

Polly Moller
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

My welcoming remarks were very brief, since this show came with its own Master of Ceremonies in Bernard Meisler from Sensitive Skin magazine. But Michael Zelner was there to photograph it nonetheless. :)

Harvest Moon concert this Thursday in SF

2010-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Kids begin school in the autumn because, when most of us subsisted through agriculture in the Northern Hemisphere, kids were needed to help gather in the harvest. Once they were done with that, they could go to school. September is therefore steeped in harvest and learning lore.

Dan Plonsey, Steve Horowitz, and Bernard Meisner have all of that in mind, plus the special knowledge that September 23rd is the birthday of the late great John Coltrane. Their Harvest Moon concert at the Luggage Store Gallery (1007 Market Street, near 6th Street, San Francisco) will serve up all they have harvested and learned from him as musicians.

Here are the particulars:

Music by:
Dan Plonsey
Steve Horowitz
Vinny Golia
Plus other special guests TBA

Readings by:
Craig Clevenger - novelist
Nicole Henares – poet
D. Scott Miller – afro-surrealist

Master of ceremonies: Bernard Meisler (publisher, Sensitive Skin Magazine)

Admission is $6.00 - $10.00 sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds.

PERFORMER BIOS:

Dan Plonsey was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied composition with Martin Bresnick and David Lewin at Yale, with Roscoe Mitchell at the Creative Music Studio, and with Anthony Braxton at Mills College. Since 1978, he has written several hundred works, mostly for his own ensembles, but recent commissions have come from The Jewish Music Festival (Berkeley), Real Time Opera (New Hampshire), the Bang on a Can People's Commissioning Fund (New York), Theatre of Yugen (San Francisco), the Museum of Children's Art (Oakland), Milkbar International Film Festival (Oakland), the Berkeley Symphony Children's Concert Series, and New Music Works (Santa Cruz). Plonsey was awarded several "Meet the Composer" grants, and an American Composers Forum "Subito" grant for the work with Theatre Yugen. Plonsey was one of just seven musicians nationwide to win a United States Artist Broad Fellowship in 2009. Much of Plonsey's music has been documented on more than 20 CDs. As a saxophonist, clarinetist, and oboist, he has recorded the music many others, including Anthony Braxton, Eugene Chadbourne, and Tom Waits. Plonsey is profiled in Tim Perkis's documentary film, Noisy People.

Steve Horowitz is a creator of odd but highly accessible sounds and a diverse and prolific musician. He has released 15 albums of original music ranging from classical to funk and back again. He penned the score to the indi-film sensation Super Size Me as well as other high profile TV and Video Game projects. Mr. Horowitz is a bass player and the founder of The Code International. Steve studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts with Morton Subotnik, Mel Powell, Steven Mosko, and Mike Fink, and has received performance underwriting and commissions from numerous organizations. For more information on Steve Horowitz, visit www.thecodeinternational.com.

Dec. 18th is really happening.

2010-09-19T12:33:00.001-07:00

It's gone up on San Francisco Classical Voice!

Frontwoman-ulator

2010-09-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

I ran into Peter Kaars last night and he informed me that he'd uploaded photos from the 2010 Outsound Summit. Here's one of me during the Reconnaissance Fly set. I think this is when I say "Damned swindling young crook upset our whole lives!"

Me and Amar performing at the Skronkathon

2010-09-04T11:19:00.001-07:00

Amar Chaudhary and Polly Moller 1
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

While you're looking, admire the portion of the amazing proscenium arch you can see to the right of me. It's made entirely out of backlit 35 mm slides. It was a wonderful backdrop for the performances. Thanks to Michael Zelner for the photo!

Me enjoying the Corn Moon show

2010-08-28T12:51:00.001-07:00

Polly Moller 2
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

Thanks to Michael Zelner for the photo!

Amar and Polly have a duo gig at the Skronkathon

2010-08-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yes we do. At 6:25 pm this Saturday, August 28th, we will take our place in the all-day experimental music fest. We kind of had to, because last year, we found out that Amar's review of LAST year's Skronkathon had been, well, spamogrified:

http://keyboardnotes.walrusclub.com/2009/07/22/catsynth-above-all-blog-archive-above-all-degrading-2009-annual-transbay-skronkathon/

This will be the text we'll be working with. It should be quite a thing. Hope to see you there!

Corn Moon concert this Thursday in SF

2010-08-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Waving fields of corn, prairie heat evaporating into the night, and the element of fire all inform the Corn Moon performances at the Luggage Store Gallery this Thursday, August 26th at 8:00 PM.

8 PM: Dina Emerson, voice

9 PM: Myles Boisen, guitar

THE PROGRAM:

8 PM: To honor the Corn Moon Dina Emerson will be focussing on the element of fire, conceptually and sonically, metaphorically and literally. Dina has composed a short song cycle with both verbal and non-verbal sections. The set will close with a song of celebration to illustrate the ripening of the elements to achieve fruition.

9 PM: Myles Boisen was born in Omaha Nebraska, the land of corn. In the spirit of the Corn Moon and seasonal harvesting, his solo guitar performance gathers together diverse influences from the heartland; blues, country, improvisational hymns, the sounds of silk and husk.

PERFORMER BIOS:

Dina Emerson is a vocalist known for her chameleon-esque ability to sing in a multitude of styles as well as her ability to use her voice as an instrumental or sound effects source. She has worked steadily in New Music circles since 1989 when she joined the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble in NYC, with whom she toured, performed & recorded for over a decade. Dina Lived in NYC from 1988-2000 and worked with such artists as Tan Dun, Ken Butler, David Soldier, John Kelly & Company and many others. Dina lived in the SF Bay Area from 2002 to 2007 and during that time performed and improvised with many wonderful musicians, notably Jonathan Segel with whom she had a duo called Chaos Butterfly. She also taught voice at Mills College and managed a cheese shop in the SF Ferry building. Dina currently resides in Las Vegas, NV where she sings 10 shows a week for Cirque du Soleil's "Mystere," a job she first had in 2001 and has been performing again continuously since 2007. Dina thanks Polly Moller for the opportunity to stay in touch with the SF Bay Area music scene, which she misses mightily....

Myles Boisen is a guitarist, composer, improvisor, and record producer/engineer, best known around the Bay Area for his twin-necked twanging in The Splatter Trio, as well as musical exploits with The Club Foot Orchestra. Over the past two decades Myles has performed with John Zorn, Rova Saxophone Quartet, John Tchicai, Nina Hagen, Eugene Chadbourne, Vinny Golia, Myra Melford, Glenn Spearman, Ralph Carney, Eddie Marshall, and his own "Guitarspeak" ensembles. In collaboration with guitarists Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser, Elliott Sharp, Robert Fripp and others, he has developed a potent musical language that combines a wealth of traditional and contemporary styles, focusing particularly on prepared guitar technique and improvisation. Myles' discography numbers over 30 compact disc recordings, including his "Guitarspeak" disc, ten CD's with The Splatter Trio, and musical work for MTV, film director David Lynch, and CBS, as well as dozens of production and mastering credits on recordings by other artists from 1979 to the present.

Tunes for the listening

2010-08-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Reconnaissance Fly MySpace profile has been updated with our three favorite spongs from the Outsound Summit, complete with Moe!'s drumming.

Amar's gig report

2010-08-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

As the official blogger of Reconnaissance Fly (and many other contexts and endeavors), Amar goes to gigs ready to review and take pictures as well as play in the band. Here's his official report on our Luna's Cafe show a week ago.

In the not-too-distant future...

2010-08-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

... December 18, 2010, to be exact! Save the date!

2010-08-06T13:26:00.001-07:00

Now hear this!

2010-08-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Of all the albums Matt Davignon has recommended to me, this is my favorite: 14 Footballers in Milk Chocolate, by MIDIsport. In my mind it's the soundtrack for the ecstatic dancing of Octopus Paul.

An insider's view of Reconnaissance Fly and Genesis

2010-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Read it here, courtesy of Amar.

Review of Reconnaissance Fly & Genesis

2010-07-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Joe McMahon wrote this review of Friday night's show as a guest blogger on CatSynth.

Blessing Moon concert this Thursday in San Francisco

2010-07-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

The upcoming Full Moon concert at the Luggage Store Gallery is a musical offering.

8 PM: Krystyna Bobrowski will start the set with a Gliss Glass solo; then she and Gino Robair will play as an improv duo with Gino on percussion and Sliding Speaker Instrument, and Krys on Gliss Glass, kelp horn and Sliding Speaker Instrument.

About the instruments:

Gliss Glass is an original instrument consisting of a series of custom glass vessels of various sizes, interconnected by a hydraulic system of tubes and valves. Though much larger than a wineglass, the instrument is played in much the same way, by running a wet finger or hand around the rim. The glass vessels are lightly amplified to pick up subtle squeaks, sloshes and scrapes.

The musician controls the water level and flow through the instrument by manipulating the valves and vessel heights. As water drains or fills a glass vessel, the frequency rises or falls respectively. By making use of the simple principle of hydraulic equilibrium, the instrument creates naturally slow, shifting glissandos.

The Sliding Speaker Instrument consists of a loudspeaker tied to a string inside a five-foot long acrylic tube. The loudspeaker acts as a movable stop for the tube, in effect changing the tube’s length and resonance. As the musician slides the speaker up and down the tube, she/he slides through the harmonics of whatever sound is coming through the speaker. One gets the sense of fishing for overtones while playing the instrument.

Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is a large, hollow, naturally conical-shaped seaweed found along the Northern California coast. After shaping and drying for several weeks, the kelp may be cut and played in a similar fashion to a brass instrument such as a bugle, trumpet, French horn or trombone. Since 1989, Bobrowski has made a habit of gathering kelp on trips to the coast and has amassed a collection of kelp horns, each having its own unique sound.

9 PM: Phillip Greenlief

The blessing moon is one that delivers gifts of abundance to the community. For this performance, renegade saxophonist Phillip Greenlief is presenting works that come of inspiration - the greatest gift of all, and one that can not be codified or mass produced.

Greenlief's newest solo saxophone release, lines combined, was inspired by the drawings of Eva Hesse and the combined works of Robert Rauschenberg. These works explore the extremes of the saxophone's sound potential and create both austere minimalism and over-dubbed texture landscapes. This is music inspired by art, and originally conceived as works to be performed in an art gallery (as sound installation). The saxophonist will respect the blessing moon by offering new forms of inspiration to the community.

The Luggage Store Gallery is located at 1007 Market Street near 6th Street in San Francisco. Admission is $6.00 - $10.00 sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds.

The second performance of Genesis

2010-07-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

Cornelius Cardew Choir 5
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

The Cornelius Cardew Choir is creating me, the New Universe, in their lab.

Before the Friday night show

2010-07-25T11:55:00.001-07:00

Pre-Concert Q&A 5
Originally uploaded by michaelz1

Another Q & A on Friday night with my Reconnaissance Fly bandmates, Tim and Amar, plus Amy X Neuburg and Cardew Choir Artistic Director Tom Bickley.

Q and A

2010-07-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Angela Villa took this photo of Thollem McDonas and me taking part in the Q & A session on Wednesday night at the Outsound Summit. Rent Romus, the Executive Director of Outsound Presents, is the one interviewing us and standing in the way of the projector.

Outsound New Music Summit, this Friday

2010-07-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's imminent -- the day after tomorrow, in fact. Reconnaissance Fly's last rehearsal is tomorrow night. We have decided on our Flower Futures set list, and here it is:

1. Small Chinese Gong
2. One Should Never
3. Neat As Wax
4. Emir Scamp Budge
5. Seemed to be Divided in Twain
6. Electric Rock Like a Cat
7. Sanse is Credenza
8. Oh! Goldfinch cage
9. An Empty Rectangle

Those of you who already know Flower Futures has ten movements, and who've noticed just 9 movements in the set list, you're right. We are leaving out one of the longer ones so as to fit the length of our set.

The Cornelius Cardew Choir is having its final rehearsals for the Summit gig also. I'll be joining them to portray the New Universe in my piece Genesis for twelve improvisers. Amar is also going to be in the Cardew Choir, but as Universal Time. All this came about separately, and landed together on one date: Friday, July 23rd. For full details, click here.

Our special guest

2010-07-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here's the marvelous Moe! Staiano, Reconnaissance Fly's special guest percussionist for the Outsound Summit. In this photo he is all set up and ready for our performance live in the KFJC Pit yesterday afternoon. It has been a blast working with somebody so creative and accomplished. It is certainly a far cry from my drum-machine days.

Anniversary number 13

2010-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

There was the Door to which I found no Key
There was the Veil through which I might not see
Some little talk a while of Me and Thee
there was - and then no more of Thee and Me.

- Omar Khayyam

Bluehawk Down 1

2010-07-11T21:22:00.001-07:00

Bluehawk Down 1
Originally uploaded by Dill Pixels

I can't help but love him.

2010-07-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

Paul the Octopus arrived in this world as Paul the Human was leaving. And he is good with divinations.

Genesis, to be performed again

2010-07-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

I just found out, and I'm excited to report, that the Cornelius Cardew Choir will be the next ensemble to perform my piece Genesis, for twelve improvisers. Artistic Director Tom Bickley has selected it to be a part of the choir's set at the upcoming Outsound Summit, coincidentally (and unrelatedly) on the same night as my performance with Reconnaissance Fly. Tom will be the conductor and carrier of wind chimes, and I've been assigned the role of the New Universe, portrayed so effectively by Matt Davignon at the premiere performance. Here are the particulars:

MultiVox
Reconnaissance Fly, the Cornelius Cardew Choir, and Amy X Neuburg
July 23rd, 2010
The Outsound New Music Summit
Community Music Center
San Francisco, CA

Greetings from...

2010-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings from...

2010-06-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings from...

2010-06-22T12:43:00.001-07:00

Strong Moon 2010 this Thursday in SF

2010-06-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, June 24th, we celebrate power within, the power of sound. It's the Strong Moon concert in the Full Moon concert series, offered by Outsound Presents at the Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market Street near 6th Street, San Francisco. Admission is $6.00 - $10.00 sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds.

The Strong Moon will be portrayed by Grosse Abfahrt #8:

Tom Djll, instigator, trumpets, electronics
Matt Ingalls, clarinets, violin
Tim Perkis, electronics
Gino Robair, energized surfaces & voltage made audible
John Shiurba, electric guitar
+
guests
Frank Gratkowski, reeds
Lisa Mezzacappa, contrabass
Kjell Nordeson, percussion
Phillip Greenlief, reeds

THE PROGRAM:

Grosse Abfahrt is always a Big Departure from something, be it your home country or mother tongue or your ears' comfy couch. GA#8, "Der Heftige Mond," is a near-identical reassembly of GA#6, "Luftschifffeiertagserinnerungsfotoalbum." So it might be that the fierce moon gives rise to a confrontation with its airship holiday memorial photo album from 14.5 months previous. We won't be checking fingerprints.

ENSEMBLE BIO:

Grosse Abfahrt ("Big Departure") is the ongoing project of Tom Djll, showcasing the art of improvised music by a large group (8-9 players). The group uses a core quintet of Djll, Robair, Perkis, Shiurba and ingalls, and adds out-of-town guests. Grosse Abfahrt's restrained, thoughtful sound has yielded international acclaim and three albums on Creative Sources and EMANEM.

This is a rare chance to experience huge, carefully cultivated sound constructions that delight and surprise the senses.

Greetings from...

2010-06-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Tag Team Trio Shift

2010-06-04T15:57:00.001-07:00

Polly Moller
Originally uploaded by michaelz1
This is me in last night's Trio Shift, featuring a cast of many -- but only allowed to play three at a time. It was the first night of the annual SperryFest in memory of composer, improviser, husband, father, and so much more, Matthew Sperry.

Flower Moon 2010 this Thursday in SF

2010-05-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

It is happening...AGAIN.

At 8:00 p.m. on May 27th, at the Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market Street at 6th, San Francisco! $6.00 - $10.00 sliding scale! No one turned away for lack of funds! New music in bloom!

8PM: particle board
9PM: Angela Hsu and Jim Kaiser

THE PROGRAM:

8 PM: May 27, 2010 will be the debut performance of the San Francisco-based trio particle board, featuring Jacob Felix Heule (percussion), Kristian Aspelin (guitar), and Tony Dryer (double bass). While the group is still in its infancy, it is this newness that truly embodies the spirit of the Flower Moon slogan "New music in bloom." Listeners can expect to hear improvised music played with a hushed propulsion as the group patiently explores the broad variety of sounds they generate on their acoustic instruments.

9 PM: For the Flower Moon of May, the Kaiser / Hsu Duo perform for the first time in 2010. This rebirth will include new field recordings of sounds from springtime mixed into the fertile ground of improvised bowing by both sonic gardeners. Musique Concrete elements from tapes and live mics will be left as sound seeds and others manipulated into roaring thunderstorms of noise. All shall combine to flourish into a delicate audio bloom.

PERFORMER BIOS:

Jacob Felix Heule
Jacob Felix Heule is a drummer and electronic musician whose music directly expresses sonic texture and timbre through the discipline of free improvisation. Spanning extremes of physicality and intensity, stasis and restraint, his music follows from the traditions of electro-acoustic improv and noise.

In 2004 he founded the acoustic grind duo, Ettrick, with both members playing both drums and saxophones in a style often described as a hybrid of free jazz and black metal.

Heule has worked extensively with double bassist Tony Dryer since 2006, exploring heavy electronics as Basshaters since 2008. Their textural acoustic improv trio with clarinetist Jacob Lindsay released its debut album, Idea of West, on Creative Sources in 2008. Heule and Dryer also have a trio CD with saxophonist Jack Wright, and have performed live with diverse musicians such as Michel Doneda, C Spencer Yeh, Gino Robair, and Damon Smith.

http://www.heule.us/

Kristian Aspelin
Guitarist Kristian Aspelin has been an active member of the San Francisco Bay Area music community for over 20 years. While playing in rock bands in his youth, he was first drawn to the power and possibilities of improvisation through the 30-second guitar solos that he improvised as part of this genre's songs. After hearing John Coltrane in his teens, he realized that there were other avenues of musical expression via improvisation and so began to seriously examine jazz, playing in numerous small groups and large ensembles as well as studying jazz harmony, theory, and composition. Still wanting for more opportunities of extended improvisation and group interaction, he eventually discovered and found his calling in the worlds of free jazz and non-idiomatic free improvisation.

Using an unadorned, pure sound as his template, Kristian's goal is to rigorously explore and extract from his instrument the melodies, rhythms, harmonies, and/or textures needed to express or complement a given moment in the context of improvisation.

Kristian has studied with a number of leading improvisers in various genres, including Joe Morris, Steve Lantner, Gerald Cleaver, Larry Ochs, Bill Bell, Morris Acevedo, Liberty Ellman, David Fiuczynski, Bennett Friedman, and John Schott. He has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Damon Smith, Tony Buck, the Oakland Active Orchestra, Kyle Bruckmann, Joe Morris, Scott Looney, Weasel Walter, Jerome Bryerton, Paul Hartsaw, Marco Eneidi, Ralph Carney, Henry Kaiser, Moe! Staiano, and Phillip Greenlief.

www.myspace.com/kristianaspelin

Tony Dryer
Tony Dryer has played bass guitar and toured extensively with rock groups including the Flying Luttenbachers, the Cold War, and Usurp Synapse. In recent years he has focused his attention on the double bass, and has completed a solo tour of the US supporting Ettrick. His trio with Jacob Felix Heule and Jacob Lindsay has a CD on Creative Sources. In addition, he is a member of Basshaters with Jacob Felix Heule, a duo using double bass, drum set, and electronics to integrate acoustic free improv and electronic noise. Striving to match the fluidity of their textural acoustic music, electronics expand the timbral and dynamic options to new extremes. The duo seeks directness and intensity in execution; subtleties emerge from the bold statement of simple ideas.

www.heule.us/basshaters

http://www.myspace.com/tonydryerbass

Angela Hsu
Angela Hsu's violin playing, featured in recordings and performances with Arturo Sandoval, Quartet San Francisco, Dean Santomieri, Sean Smith, Moe!Kestra!, the Shotgun Players, and in the SF premiere of Radiohead player Jonny Greenwood's "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" continues to challenge traditional norms of the instrument. As a musician, her interests lie in orchestral and chamber playing, as well as improvisation, experimental noise and folk/rock, as evidenced in her recent playing with
both Bob Marsh's Emergency String (X)tet and the string quartet that accompanied Josh Ritter at Noise Pop 2009.

James Kaiser
Jim Kaiser's tape manipulation and bowed metals feature in numerous duo and trio improv settings as well as larger group ensembles throughout the SF Bay area. Shortwave radio, field recordings and layered drones are typical components of his solo works, presented under the Petit Mal moniker, which are likened to the works of Taj mahal Travelers, Organum and Tony Conrad. Recorded material appears on the Zenflesh, Troniks, and Sick Muse labels among others, as well as several limited releases with the groups French Radio, Le Morte de la Mer, and NF Orchest with Hsu.

Both in NF Orchest and as a duo, Hsu and Kaiser have recorded and
performed together throughout the SF Bay area for the past five years, sharing bills with Blixa Bargeld, Con-Dom, John Wiese, Phroq, Bruce Anderson, irr.app.(ext.), Barn Owl, and Heavy Winged among others. Their combination of bowed metal, strings and magnetic tape provides a layered soundscape of varied tonality to accompany usually invisible films.
Cost : $6-10

The Second Annual Monday a little more than a Month Before

2010-05-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

That's the name Outsound Presents has come up with for its annual fundraising dinner to benefit the New Music Summit.

This year's soiree will be on Monday June 7, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at a private location in San Francisco, California. Dinner will be provided by Massimo’s Organic Gourmet of San Francisco, and there will be desserts from DeLessio's, tea, coffee, beer and a case of 2002 Napa Valley Merlot from the Harbor Winery's last reserve.

There will be a set of music by drummer Jacob Felix Heule, bassist Tony Dryer, and Ron Heglin on tuba.

Do you wanna attend? Then we need you to RSVP with your tax deductible donation by June 4, 2010. There's more detailed info here. If you can't attend, please consider making a tax deductible donation.

Something I am staring at today

2010-05-19T12:18:00.001-07:00

Public garden in Canongate
Originally uploaded by pollymoller

A beautiful memory of my 2004 Scotland trip -- the public garden in Canongate, Edinburgh.

Reconnaissance Fly in SF, Saturday May 22nd

2010-05-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Amar, Tim, and I will be performing at the Watermelon Sugar party #841, this Saturday night at 8:30. It's officially known as a "noise series" curated by Nice Ass Records and hosted by KUSF's Bryan Chandler in his home in Potrero Hill.

Here's our set list, which will be the same one that we played at the In the Flow festival:

Small Chinese Gong

One Should Never

The Animal Trade in Canada

Ode to Steengo

Emir Scamp Budge

Seemed to Be Divided in Twain

An Empty Rectangle

We will be sharing the bill with Sarah Elena Palmer and the Shortwave Surfers. You can find us at 238 Missouri Street near 18th Street in San Francisco, and you should BYOB.

Reconnaissance Fly at Sacramento's In The Flow Festival, May 15th

2010-05-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Lisa Mezzacappa, bassist superheroine, is the fast-moving character on the In The Flow Sacramento poster over there to the right. There will be two stages at Beatnik Studios, with music all day Saturday and Sunday.

Reconnaissance Fly goes on at 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon in the Gallery. Probably the most exciting thing about that is, we're playing right before the duo of Nels Cline and Yuka Honda.

This is the first of three gigs coming up for Reconnaissance Fly. On May 22nd, we'll be performing at the latest Watermelon Sugar party in San Francisco. Then after a long rehearsing break we will play on July 23rd at the 2010 Outsound Summit, also in San Francisco at the Community Music Center. We'll be sharing the bill with the Cornelius Cardew Choir and Amy X Neuberg.

Wind Moon 2010 this Thursday in SF

2010-04-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday at the Luggage Store Gallery (1007 Market Street, San Francisco), it's all about the wind, and its moonlit travels through tubes.

8:00 PM: Ghost in the House

The band will present the Wind Moon Suite, an elemental arrangement featuring: On the Weight of the Wind, Beehive Memory, Knife In The Fog, Vilia's Whisper, and others.

9:00 PM: Sabbaticus Rex

Wind and sound are both the movement of air, and it is air, one aspect of the Invisible, that connects all things. The movement and presence of air and the invisible; the shaping of matter and events by the cycles of the moon: these are realities that we can benefit from paying more attention to. In sonically portraying the Wind Moon, we will be reminding ourselves of the core perspective of the group: The instruments themselves are treated with reverence and are given as much if not more command over the path that the music takes. Inasmuch as metal particles or stalks of bamboo *want* to become instruments, at the point at which we discover them, the gongs and shakuhachi themselves are approached in a highly collaborative manner, i.e. letting sounds emerge from them, guiding rather than forcing, generally unifying with the instrument as much as possible. This requires a complex skill set that intertwines the rational, problem-solving and skill-acquiring mind with the realm of uncertainty, chaos, and intuition. There is an animistic, primordial perspective at play here; the idea of letting the instruments play what they want to play: guiding sounds from sound sources, building directly upon the intentions of the instrument maker, builder or designer, thus creating a kind of intentional feedback loop of a creative process combining imagination and utility.

PERFORMER BIOS:

Ghost in the House is:

David Michalak- Lap Steel, Buffalo Drum
Karen Stackpole - Gongs, Percussion
Tom Nunn - Inventions
Kyle Bruckman - Oboe, English Horn
Special guest appearance by Cornelius Boots - Bass Clarinet

The music of Ghost in the House is a soundtrack for the subconscious. It could suggest a murder mystery, a visitation in a dream or a cataclysmic storm.

Conceived by filmmaker & musician David Michalak, Ghost in the House explores the ethereal and elemental soundscapes where music suggests an image. Stackpole's small distinct sounds and swelling gongs resonate with Nunn's sculptural inventions creating other worldly scenarios with texture and direction from Bruckmann's ominous horns and Michalak's haunting lap steel.

Sabbaticus Rex is:

Karen Stackpole--overtone gongs
Cornelius Boots--shakuhachi, taimu-shakuhachi, throat-singing
Mark Deutsch--Bazantar

Sabbaticus Rex is an ensemble rooted in the supremacy of sound over music, the triumph of tone over time and thought. This process uses haunting and beautiful acoustic instruments and methods: overtone gongs, shakuhachi (bamboo Zen flutes), Taimu (bass) shakuhachi, throat-singing, and the Bazantar (an upright bass with sympathetic strings). This is sound, but not music. It is primordial easy-listening for dinosaurs: slowly shifting elemental dialogues between fat flutes and big gongs.

Through spontaneous, sustained sound structuring, these sources combine to form a resonant, expansive and raw environment. Creating music with a majority emphasis on slow-evolving sound and texture, there is no narrative, socio-political, or otherwise extra-musical plot or agenda involved with this non-music. That being said, it does derive form and perspective from elements such as breath, overtone/harmonic resonance, imagination, and simplicity within chaos.

Reconnaissance Fly's next gig...

2010-04-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

...will be here, on May 15th. It will be the debut of our new quartet lineup -- me, Amar, Tim, and guitarist Noah Phillips.