Bummer

In honor of his passing here are three of my favorite records he has played on, and a transciption of one of his tunes

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday at the Village Vanguard: No shit right. When I first started playing “Jazz,” I really disliked guitar players. So much in fact, that my face would put on this pretentious scowl everytime I went to the library and I saw a record with a guitarist playing on a pianist record. “What the fuck are you doing Bill, who is this Jim Hall guy, why would you play with a talent-less hack like him, and who would name their kid Jim?” High school was a weird time, and fortunately for me, I got the hell out of that mindset pretty quickly, (thank you Django/Jim Hall). This was the 2nd Evans CD I picked up, (the first being Explorations) and I was sold. I feel the most important thing about this record is not only the interaction, but the roles each member of the trio play. There has been sooo much writing on this subject I’m not even going to go into it  but Paul….you melt me. Soft, Sincere, Brilliant. Hits include: Alice and Wonderland and All Of You.

Paul Motian – Garden of Eden: So, what are you going to do if you hire Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby on the same record date? How are you going to top that? Easy, hire three guitarist….WHAT! This album features Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas, and Jakob Bro playing guitars…at the same time. It sounds like a guitarist wet dream, but it’s more like one of those romantic porno films instead of the over the top sexual romps with a male/female crush from high school. They play off each other super well, they take turns comping, and when they don’t, (specifically Etude which will be featured at the bottom of this page) it creates this pillow of sound that would make some clouds even weep with envy. Obviously everyone slays on the record, and features not one, but seven compositions of Motian’s. His playing on this record is in that “get whatever drum you want, and hit it in…time?” AND IT’S SOOO GOOOD. This record deserves to be heard on some nice headphones while walking in a downtown area, Slightly cloudy. Hits include: Etude, Mesmer,Pithecanthropus Erectus.

Bill McHenry – Roses: You have no idea, how lucky I am, and it is because of this record. I spent a few months in Connecticut a yearish ago, and I would head down to the Westport library almost everyday to fill out job applications, write some emails, and finally to check out some CDs/Books. Once a week, if there were any records in the “Jazz” bins that I hadn’t heard, (especially artist that I had no idea about) I would pick up two CDs and give a week of intensive listening to said records. Obviously, some weeks were pretty terrible BUT, one week I came across two records that made it worth it: Ben Goldberg’s The Door, The Hat, The Chair, The Fact, and Bill McHenry’s Roses. Paul slays on this record, as does everyone else. The tunes are beautiful, they all play perfectly together, and Reid Anderson is super attractive, what else do you want? I’ve posted about this record before, so i’m not going to go into it again, but: Don’t Sleep Any More. Hits include: African Song, Keys of C, Roses, The whole fucking record.

One of my favorite Motian compositions is Etude. He recorded it a handful of times with Bill Frisell, Geri Allen, Stephan Oliva amoung others, but I feel the recording on Garden of Eden really takes the cake. Listen to a recording (since I can’t load a tiny clip thanks to ECM): Paul Motian – Etude

Lead Sheet

And if you’ve made it this far: Paul on his favorite drummer

Aaron

So first off, my Nonet performed at Dick’s Den a few weeks ago. The band KILLED!! As soon as I get the recordings, i’ll post them with some pictures (!!!) In the mean time, at the end of this post, I’ll post a video!!!

That weekend, I gave an alumni concert at Capital University featuring my Small Large Ensemble. We played my new(er) quiet music, including Ping:Over which is a piece based on a text by Samuel Beckett. I think there might be a video of it…not sure…later. Here is/was the program:

Here is a recording of Theseus and Ariadne. I wrote the melody on my way home via bus a few months ago, and is about the feelings Ariadne had just before killing herself (one version of the myth). Unlike my other tune for sextet called Ariadne, this piece is more about coming to terms with Theseus not coming to meet her after the slaying of the Minotaur. My sextet tune, is a little darker and more….emo. G Major is a bitch.

Here is the score, Notice the spelling error…

Musicians are:

Fran Litterski: Voice
Joe Brenneman: Clarinet
Evan Oberla: Trombone
Abby Ciampa: Tuba
Seth Daily: Concertina
Aaron Quinn: Guitar/Composition
Nate Smith: Bass
Ryan Jewell: Percussion

Here is the recording:

Oh, and here is a video of the Nonet at Dick’s Den performing Hard-Boiled Wonderland, (and the End of the World)

I’ll post something interesting soon, sorry

Aaron

Photo by Subathra Thanabalan

Here is a new name piece. It is based off of a novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami….here it is:

The novel is about a “Calcutec” (basically a human number processor) who gets caught up with…well…shit.  The biggest attraction about this book, besides the beautiful imagery, plot line, and the writing style of Murakami, is that the odd chapters follow one story line, while the even chapters follow another, (not giving away anything about the book, sorry guys).  The even chapters are based in this place call “The End of the World,” in which upon entering you give up your shadow and you live in this town that is surrounded by a stone wall. Obviously no leaving, and no one dreams/worries/fights/etc.  The main character here is a “Dream Reader.” The two stories later converge, and on face value when read appears to be gimmicky. But how the book plays out, well, it’s breathtaking. I am a huge fan of Murakami, my favorite being The Wind Bird Chronicle, but the more and more I think about this book….It’s such a good fucking book and is inching closer and closer to my heart the more I think about it.

Within this piece, I wanted to have the idea of two separate textures happening on top of each other rather then in a  reactionary style, (which has been typical of my writing lately). The opening chord (what can be called a Db major 7b9/Ab) happens throughout the whole piece and is in reference to the main character in the novel, (this deals with how the two stories connect, which i’m not going to ruin). The melody being one story, and the soloist layer being the other.  The piece is utilizing an arc form.

This was recorded at The Brothers Drake Meadery in Columbus, Ohio with my Small Large Ensemble. Big ups to the performers:

Fran Litterski: Voice
Joe Brenneman: Clarinet
Dan White: Saxophone
David Fletcher: Trombone/Soloist
Aaron Quinn: Guitar/Compositions
Adam DeAsecentis: Bass
Ryan Jewell: Drums/Percussion

Hear it is

Aaron

That salad eating bastard thought it would be a good idea to stop blogging, as seen by this and his post on Circle Magazine, you see why I am so angry.

A picture post and a few cool links about William Burroughs.

Dr. Lewis Porter gives a look into the development of Louis Armstrong. That is all i’m going to say about that pt. 1 pt. 2

I still get choked up watching this video.

If anyone is going to be in NYC for this, I will trade you my testicle(s) to go with you. No Joke

So, Mary Halvorson. Let me count the ways.

Photo by Amani Willett

My introduction to Mary Halvorson was thanks to Trevor Dunn. I was checking out his other projects (besides Mr. Bungle/etc) and I stumbled onto this group called Trio Convulsant. In the first 4 seconds, I heard a sound that I seriously had wet dreams about afterwards. Its was jagged, lyrical, intense, quiet, firey, super super dry, (no reverb whatsoever) and it had all this weird portamento stuff going on. Ladies and gentleman, the beast from the east: Mary Halvorson.

She had everything I ever wanted. At this time, I was really struggling with the fact that I couldn’t bridge all the music I loved and that I really enjoyed playing due to genre restrictions. I felt like I had to choose “my poison.” This was right before I was going to enroll into Capital University for a Jazz Studies degree in Guitar. I love hxc/grind, noise, jazz, European Art music, improvisatory music, electronic, etc but I felt I needed to comprimise my upbringing and what I had become musically in order to fit in, and become what others call a “real musician.”  I realized as soon as I heard the track Liver Colered Dew, I didn’t have to, and for heaven’s sake I shouldn’t.

As you can see in the interviews i’m posting underneath this blurb, she went to school for music, and just got sick of playing in an academic enviroment, and just went head first into whatever she wanted to do, (noisy/free/whatevs). As she said, this really shaped who she became as a musician. Obviously, hearing her after the fact, it totally changed my perspective on the instrument, and my musicality, specifically with the “what’s good/bad/these are the right notes/etc.” This is one of the reasons why I performed Trevor Dunn’s tune Liver Colored Dew for my junior recital at Capital. This track, and how everyone played with/off each other, the influences of past music and playing on the compostion made me start to realize, I didn’t have to worry about being part of a scene really. I could be part of a fraternity of fellow musicians, and do whatever I wanted. I just need to be honest with myself, and my peers. Saying that, yes, I do play a lot of “straight ahead” gigs, but I don’t feel cornered anymore. I know deep inside I play sound. I know this seems pretty juvenile, but I was having a breakdown before I started my undergrad. It was terrible. So thank you Mary, thank you Trevor, and thank you Ches Smith. If you havent heard her Dragon’s Head, or Saturn Sings record, stop sleeping. I’m hoping to get a lesson with her in December when I visit NYC with a friend, and fellow blogger Aditya Jayanthi. I have transcribed all of her tunes on Dragon’s Head, and I feel kinda weird about it. But jesus christ, they are just that good.

Here are some links to some of my favorite stuff online dealing with Mary Halvorson.

Interviews:

Jazz Session

NPR

Roulette

Ten Questions

At Length

Videos:

These Arches (Ches Smith’s group)

Trio Convulsant (Trevor Dunn’s group)

Quintet (via Roulette, includes a little interview)

With Weasel Walter, and Peter Evans (This is the Electric Fruit group. Dan DiPiero fell out of a chair listening to this record)

Playing a Christian Marclay composition

13th Ensemble (Taylor Ho Bynum’s group)

Anthony Braxton Septet (this is 1 of 7, if you have time, just check out the whole concert. Will. Not. Disappoint.)

Mary Talks about guitars and stuff  (Follow the links for the other parts)

Internetzzzzzzz:

Her website

Her blog

And this is just the beginning.

Aaron

My one and only love, Kayla Sadowy has a guest post on my one and only love’s blog.

hunterquinn released some new tracks. For fans of 8-bit madness. Super pumped and excited for his shit, super proud. 1 2

Mira Calix tells people her top 10 headphone albums. 

Mira Calix’s recent installation/piece dealing with MRIs

Julian Lage Tiny Desk Concert. He’s alright at the guitar

I posted this before, but it’s killin. Local artist Corey Aumiller’s cartoon blog.

Jason Branscum hipped me to this. Here is Maths. Here is Sulphur, and here is Music

New Tyshawn record coming out soon. Here are two recent interviews 1 2

For anyone in the C-bus area, Nautical Alamanac is coming to Skylab. They always are awesome

Piano Becomes the Teeth just finished their new record, and are playing at Carabar on the 11th of September. Stoked

A piece i’m working on…or is it working on me (holy ouch batman!!)

Aaron

Recording:

Originally written as a piano piece for a friend of mine who was interested in learning piano, the piece utilizes a synthetic scale I picked randomly (dice) out of a book while I was living in New Brunswick, NJ.

Notice  the wide minor 3rds at the beginning of the scale building to a cluster at it’s nucleus. Resolving to it’s root by a major second stroll. The scale has an overt Db major sound, (probably due to the Db∆7 sitting in there….) plus a natural 6th for support of the aforementioned sound.

But then the Chuds came

We also have a #5 and a #9 sound, harkening back to a harmonic major 6th mode (∆7#5#11 #9 nat.13). This is where the juice is.

Here is the make up of the scale:

Notice the absence of Dominant 7th chords/fully diminished 7th chords and the massive amount awesome that is the augmented triad structure.

My kind of lady

(More on this scale in future post specifically dealing with improvisation and structures.)

As I said before, the piece was originally written for piano as a chorale, utilizing the lower end of the piano to supply the melodic role of the piece. I wrote it in a practice room at Rutgers University, and was one of the few times a tune just leaked out of my fingertips. The only thing I was really thinking about when writing this was to save certain “color” notes for later in the piece, (which I often neglect to do). This can be seen in the fourth measure: an overt Db major sound punched in the dick with the sharp 5. BAM!

Like I said, it was originally a solo piano piece that was only 10 measures long, and the problem was that I really liked this piece. I couldn’t be playing standards then just sit at the piano for a 10 measure tune, then go back to playing sweet and lovely. So I tried and tried and tried and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to perform/orchestrate/blah the original piano music.

I then heard the album: Ben Goldberg’s The Door, The Hat, The Chair, The Fact. I’m not going to get into this record because, I want you to  hear it. When done listening to the recording, listen back to Facts. Both of them. After I heard this record, the orchestration of the piece, the form, the idea of textures happening all underneath the piece started to make sense. Thank you Ben Goldberg.

Next post will deal with that.

Aaron

First off, Melt Banana just added a few dates to there US tour. Check It.

Also Trap Them is heading out west. I saw them at Ravari room Wednesday. DONT FUCK UP. SEE THIS.

Recent Listenings:

Autechre – Oversteps: Obviously, anytime Autechre comes out with a new record people  go Ape Shit trying to get a copy of it, (hence the whole controversy of the 3 different  leaks when the record came out, all of which weren’t the record. A few conspiracy  theories suggest Autechre actually released the fake leaks). I got this record  little over  a month ago, and I was soo lost. I’m a huge fan of this band, and they keep changing  pretty much every record. This is awesome, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I  mean, I enjoyed it but it just didn’t click with me until last Sunday: Floored. The record  is a mix of Confield’s noisiness, and the beat/texture oriented Amber. It’s still has that glithchy thing too, but it really features a more “backbeat/hip-hop” quality throughout the record. It’s super  aggressive side features songs like ilanders and qplay, but it gets super moody on ever  other track. Classic Autechre moves of beats just getting repeatedly kick in the balls  until it turns into a puddle of vomit. Emo synth layers over reverbed-out textures. Quasi-sappy chord progressions with soaring melody lines that sound like dying seagulls. This record…Is. Don’t even think about sleeping on this one. If you are new to Autechre, check out: Tri Repetae+++ ; LP5 ; Confield. Fuck it, they’re all good: Collect them all.

Ned Rothenberg – Quintet for Clarinet and Strings: Mr. Rothenberg, woodwind extrodinare, composer, glasses. Playing only clarinet on this recording, the album consist of 5 pieces written for the Mivos Quartet. The tone of the record is suuuper fragile. I kept forgetting to breath it’s so quiet. The music ranges from (seeeminly difficult) written material to improvisatory parameters at every corner. If you haven’t heard Rothenberg play, you should really check out Inner Diaspora and this record. It shows all his strengths as a player, (multiphonics, circular breathing, microtonality) and all his strenghts as a composer (Holy Orchestration Batman)!! The quartet obviously kills it, making the written and improvisatory sections sound honest and owned. You HAVE to hear Mivos quartet do Webern’s Langsamer Satz. Wowzers!!  I can’t really talk anymore about this record, it’s just really really really great.

Okkyung Lee – Noisy Love Songs: Lee’s sophomore  release on Tzadik (thank you Mr. Zorn) is frightning. I posted about her first album HERE entitled Nihm which featured not only John Hollenbeck, but Tim Barnes….at the same time. The album, overall has the same vibe to it as Nihm, but her playing on the record is waaay more mature then the former; Solo performances all over the world will do that. There is a track (Steely Morning) that was recorded during the Nihm session that has Hollenbeck playing some of the most melodic shit ever heard on drumset. Obviously Ikue Mori held her own too. Overall, Lee once again does not disapoint, and I challenge anyone to give me an example on recording that she does. Everything she touches is GOLD. If you have heard Tyshawn Sorey’s For Kathy Change, you see what I mean. Play one to four notes for 45 minutes, and still have the endurance to sing every note as if it was your last….shit is powerful. If you are new to her music, PLEASE check this record out. Other records that kill me are Nihm,i saw the ghost of an unknown soul and it said… , and Wadada Leo Smith’s Spiritual Dimensions (the 2nd CD). Or just check this out, and tell me you don’t melt.

TTYL

Aaron

Mike Lockwood (LA) from such groups as Grampus, A Giraffe, and Stupid Man Suit released a solo record. $8 and it’s yours!!!

Phelps is at it again. I love the idea he can do this but: what a dick

Yingluck Shinawatra kicking ass in Thailand!

Doctor Cat has the best day of his life

The Jazz Gallery needs money, and it’s a good cause….

Coming up:

I am going to be writing some music for two short films by local artist Dan Gerdeman and Cory Aumiller for Columbus’s Cinemusic Fest on October 15th. More details soon

I’ll be playing BASS for Dennis Hodges on his Faculty Recital at Capital University. We will be playing THIS song. By far the best album by these guys too. Killin’

I am booking my sextet now in hopes to record the group mid-september. No kickstarter, just me being broke for a very long time. Will also keep you posted.

Next time will be some music i’m checking out…. I’m excited……

And now for what we all have been waiting for:

Sharks!!!!!

Here is a recording of a Charles Bukowski poem entitled Dark. It’s a duet between Columbus drummer Seth Daily and myself. The idea was for one player to perform the poem using the letters of each word and spaces/punctuation to create melodies, while the other played it as being read. Where there was a break between the two stanzas, we had a brief  solo section. I am currently at the Winking Lizard, (yes like a penis)  and about to CHOW DOWN on this pizza so I’ll post the poem in my scores later on today. Here it is…

And here is a recording of one of Seth’s tunes

If you are in the Columbus, Ohio area this weekend. You should check out all of these:

Larry Marrota and Sue Harshe are providing a live soundtrack to a Yasujiro Ozu film entitled “I Was Born But…” as part of the Kinema fest at Wexner Center this coming Thursday at 7pm. I think it’s $5

Later that night Matt Adams is having a B-Day bash at Dicks Den, featuring Aditya “I’m from Brooklyn” Jayanthi, Nate “Big Willie Style” Smith, and Maxwell “Thunder” Button. 10-2 $4

Friday my new large ensemble called: Aaron Quinn’s Large Ensemble (killin title, I know) is playing at The Brother’s Drake. The band will feature:

Ishmael Ali
Jason Branscum
Alex Burgoyne
Mike Kamper
Frances Litterski
Ryan Jewell
Billy Wolfe
Tony Zilincik

This is the actually version of the band I wanted to get together for Gerard Cox’s What You Will Fest. Super stoked to play with this group. The night will also feature a duet between Justin Campbell and Hasan Abdur-Razzaq, beautyofmyland, and Alex Burgoyne’s “too lazy to rehearse 2nd-line band” which I will also be a part of. Mad live painters, dancers, and (hopefully) people. Starts at 6pm with my group, ends about 1am. Free but donate some funds brah.

Some stuffz on the webz of Inter.

CHES SMITH TALKS ABOUT STUFF. What a dream boat.

KRIS DAVIS TALKS ABOUT STUFF. What a boat of dreams.

AkaTako has a summer shipping deal. It’s good until the 31st. SOOOO getting one of those kinbaku cellphone straps. So cute.

And if you havent checked her photoblog out. PLEASE do. It’s sooo fucking good. In my opinion, up there with This Isn’t Happiness

A listening session with party monster Rudresh Mahanthappa. This is old news, but pretty sweet nonetheless.

Interesting documentary on William Burroughs via streaming Netflix. Lots of video of him getting shitty drunk and shooting guns. How did he live to 83, how?

Has anyone seen this. Albert Ayler was such a wonderful musician, and I have been trying to see it. WHERE WHERE WHERE!!??!?

Two Youtube videos you must see:

Birdflesh music video, (i’m giggling as I type this). If you have not heard this band YOU MUST GET Night of the Ultimate Mosh AND Carnage on the Fields of Rice.

Teletubbies. That shit has always been out, but this is KILLIN’

And     Here      It        Is….

JERRY HSU HAS A PHOTO BLOG. If you do not know who this is, it is probably because you rollerbladed in high school, (insert any offensive word here)

Dj Double-Dee has a mix up on his blog. Super hip, but I feel the peak is after Berg’s Violin Concerto. Not a bad thing…

Mary Halovorson updated her blog (!!!) about what airlines suck for traveling. Complete with MS paint poop. (Thanks to this guy)

Dr. Cat can’t practice medicine anymore

Be Prepared: In the fall, Melt Banana is releasing a new record and is touring the US. Bodies will be laid.

If you like some new music, check these blogs out:

Haji Maji
Western Swing 78s
Raga Blog
A Closet of Curiosities
Radio M
Alice Rabbit
Bossa Brasileira
Anthems for the Nation of Luobaniya