Goodbye Iceland
Still in bliss. (Especially in this new house. Though there are those boxes to unpack and things to put away…)
Sounds Like Now
A blog by saxophonist Brian SacawaArchive for Travel
Flight delay
A short delay at the airport. What better way to pass the time than eavesdropping and clicking around the internet. Overheard at MDW:
Female twenty-something: “So, like we got this new girl in the office. Yeah, she’s from the LA Times, she’s really nice, and she’s really good. Those kinds of people really worry me.”
I’m shipping up to Boston
Flying from Chicago to Boston tomorrow for rehearsals and this Sunday’s Microtonal Society concert. I’m thankful for connecting flights.
Overheard in Bismarck
(On a blustery 35-degree morning.)
Middle-aged woman in short sleeves: Great weather for the first week of November, eh?
Second middle-aged woman: Oh, ya. I remember last year this time when it was cold.
***
Update: Phil Blackburn from innova responds:
“Yes, you have discovered how we recycle back catalog; the CD plastic is all biodegradeable and has the taste pets prefer (except for some of the former string quartets, those get stuck in the teeth…).
You also discovered why we don’t have innova.com…”
Roma
We’re off to Rome today, a trip which will include sightseeing, relaxation, merriment, and of course, a concert of some very hard music. (Sadly, though, the Giro will be nowhere near us.) Don’t know if blogging will be possible from our pensione, so in the event that it’s not, ciao for a week. In the meantime, here are some photos from the 4/25 show at An die Musik LIVE! courtesy of my lovely assistant.
Busy, busy, busy
Okay, first let’s play a bit of catch up. I have to keep reminding myself that this happened just over 2 weeks ago since it already seems like last year, but I did in fact play a recital in Baltimore at An die Musik LIVE!, a cool little performance space upstairs from the best classical music record store in the city. We were fortunate to be graced by the presence of three of the composers featured on the program—Alexandra Gardner, whose piece Tourmaline has easily become one of my favorites, Michael Dupstrom, whose piano playing prowess rivals his considerable compositional talent, and Erik Spangler appearing as his ultra-hip alter-ego DJ Dubble8, the dedicated turntablist of Hybrid Groove Project. I was also aided by the rock solid, yet sensitive, percussion playing of Phil Kiamie and three virtuoso crystal glass players on David T. Little’s descanso (after omega), another one of my all-time favs. Many thanks to everyone who came out the show and subsequent “unnofficial” CD release party, especially to those who travelled from far and wide just to be there.
I was able to get a little R & R in after the show and immediately fled to NYC, where I finally got to meet Jerry Bowles, the patriarch of Sequenza21 and the reason I write online today, live and in person. We had a splendid lunch at Ralph’s and Jerry shared many stories about the good ‘ol days. NYC-ness continued the following weekend in the form of a performance at the Look & Listen Festival, where I once again trotted out Alex’s wonderful work Tourmaline. And although the event’s come and gone, you can still read the really nice preview from Time Out NY.
Just last weekend I was up in Boston performing music of the microtonal variety as Non-Zero teamed up once again with the ensemble NotaRiotus to perform Hillary Zipper’s the time of insects at the Boston Microtonal Society’s spring concert.
This weekend will be spent practicing feverishly in anticipation of a week-long sojourn to Rome which will culminate with a performance of music by Rome Prize winners Ken Ueno and Andrew Norman at the American Academy. whatWALL? comes out of hiding for its Rome-debut, Non-Zero conjures Rasheid Ali and John Coltrane in WATT and Andrew Norman joins me on piano for a reading of his work The Garden of Follies. With all this music to have under my fingers I’m having trouble appreciating the fact that I’m going to Italy, but luckily I’m traveling with a companion who will no doubt remind me to relax, look around, and enjoy my surroundings.
MATA notes
The 2007 MATA Festival has come and gone and SLN has been delinquent in posting about the event. I performed Alexandra Gardner’s Tourmaline on the Tuesday night’s “Solitary Confinement V” concert at the Brooklyn Lyceum, which featured works for solo performers w/ or w/o electronics. I had quite a journey that day, flying in from Dallas extremely early that morning, heading straight to the venue, sound checking, and then playing the show. Rather than making me tired, the day’s journey had more of a romanticizing effect and the performance went wonderfully. A comment was made to me to the effect of, “It’s been a while since I’ve been to a new music concert where all the pieces were great.” Indeed. It was a splendidly enchanting evening, made a just little sweeter by the review in the Times.
