After having rocked a jazz crowd in Charlottesville, we made a mighty return to Commercial Taphouse in RVA to jazz a rock crowd. I love playing Taphouse, because everyone’s so comfortable that it gives us a chance to try new things. In the first set we opened with a newer tune (aka a Ones and Zeros oldie) called Gary Glitter that we morphed into Turtle. We also played the newer tune Beach of the War Gods (based on the Jimmy Wang Yu movie). We then played the Poliziotteschi inspired Manhunt, and ended with an epic Winterlight.

The second set started with the new tune Revolver. We then took our tune One Armed Swordsman, and crammed some John Carpenter music from Halloween in the middle of it. The Halloween 1978 tune hadn’t been played since we initially premiered it at Taphouse last year. We followed that up with our favorite Carpenter medley, consisting of The Fog into Across the Roof into Halloween 3 into Assault on Precinct 13 (follow?). We then ended with two old favorites, the last of which we stretched way out on, but of course my recorder didn’t catch it all.

10.25.09 Commercial Taphouse RVA

Set 1

1) Gary Glitter > Turtle

2) Beach of the War Gods

3) Manhunt

4) Winterlight

Set 2

1) Revolver

2) One Armed Swordsman > Halloween 1978 + The Shape Stalks Laurie > One Armed Swordsman

3) John Carpenter Medley

4) Through a Glass Darkly

5) Nero

We had a great time playing on Tuesday as part of a music series put on by the Charlottesville Jazz Society. We played at a great new venue called Bel Rio, where the Society presents musicians. At least one new song was played, and the first tune (Nero) went unrecorded, but here is the rest of the music presented in all it’s mp3′ish glory!

10.20.09 Bel Rio, Charlottesville, VA

1) Revolver

2) The Silence

3) John Carpenter Medley

4) Up and Down

5) Winterlight

6) Gary Glitter

Many exciting things are happening in the Glowing Realm these days, one of which is the start of our next recording project. My love of genre movies has led me to start researching and writing tunes inspired by the Italian Poliziotteschi movies of the late 60’s through the 70’s. These are tough crime films, usually involving the mafia and a cop pushed over the edge, and vengeance always figures in there somewhere. All of these movies that I’ve seen so far have been a lot of fun, but also inspiring in a weird way. They are little seen, and not championed that much. In fact the only outspoken champion of the genre that I know of is Quentin Tarantino. Hell, he even remade re-imagined a movie by one of this genre’s masters Enzo G. Castellari. In an effort to spread the wealth, I will be writing about some of these films, and of course writing tunes as well. My goal is to get this project done quickly, in keeping with the spirit of the genre, and get this record to you people in due time.

To give you an idea for how sweet this genre is, and how big of an effect it’s had on Tarantino, here’s the opening to Sergio Sollima’s 1973 classic Revolver featuring a song from Inglourious Basterds over a scene from Reservoir Dogs!

Revolver Intro on YouTube!

This is a response to the recent debate started earlier this month by Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal. Patrick Jarenwattananon at NPR’s A Blog Supreme has a great link list of reactions. This debate has angered me, but I realize what a waste of time it is for a musician to respond, so I had to limit myself to the Twitters!

Just got back from NY, where Fight the Big Bull played an NPR Music Showcase at Joe’s Pub with Steven Bernstein’s amazing Sex Mob, and then a second show with Lee Fields and the Phenomenal HandClap Band. The experience was great, excusing the amazing amount of driving and the $18 cheeseburger I bought at Joe’s. It was great to see the Richmond scene in full networking mode, Matt White, Reggie Pace, Bryan Hooten and myself all talked with many NPR employees and insiders. The best part of doing this, for me, was getting into real conversations with people. Everyone I talked to seemed genuinely interested in the Richmond Jazz Scene, and as a result, I didn’t even feel douchey giving people the Glows CDs! I’m excited for the future of the scene, and I think that great things are in store as a direct result of las night!

In other news: I am currently conducting the next Ten Questions on Twitter with Ken Vandermark. The rules are simple: I ask one of the questions, and he answers in three tweets or less. Follow @glowsinthedark for the questions, and @kenvandermark for the answers. If you get lost in the Twitter-verse, don’t worry, I will be collecting all the questions and answers and posting them on the blog at the end.

Glows was recently featured on RVA Magazine’s new Sonic Cartographer Podcast. Our friend Reggie Chapman recorded us quite a bit on our recent tour, and one of those recordings was used for this show. I will be reviewing some of the collected works for possible release…which leads me to my next point.

The Live Music Archive that you all know and love has not been forgotten, but is being reassesed. We have some great hi-quality recordings on file now, and I’m currently trying to figure out what exactly to do with them. There will be updates from time to time, but I find that the time I spend updating the archive might be better spent, you know, composing and shit! Who knows, I might just reorganize it or something.

I was interviewed, along with Reggie Pace and Matt White,  for Dean Christesen’s article on Richmond Music Moguls (Dean’s word, not mine). Dean also mentioned all of us and our bands in his article in the new RVA Magazine.

This blog says Glows is a great up and coming band.

And finally, here’s a sweet video recorded by Lauren Serpa of us playing Through a Glass Darkly in New Haven!

Steve Lehman is a composer/alto saxophonist living in NY. I first saw him as part of Anthony Braxton’s 12 + 1tet at the Iridium in 2006, and since then have really gotten into his music. His writing is very complex, but clear enough to be easily digestible. He also has a knack for coming up with great concepts and translating them clearly to an improvised setting. On his latest album Travail, Transformation and Flow Lehman leads an Octet of musicians (featuring Ten Questions alum Tyshawn Sorey and former VCU’er Mark Shim) through a set of music derived from studies in spectral harmony. There’s a great description here, and it sounds complicated, but the resulting music sounds amazing from start to finish. Also, the album features a cover of GZA’s masterpiece “Living in the World Today,” and what collection of spectral harmony music would be complete without it!

Check out his music here

For more on the man himself, go here

1: What got you into creative/improvised music making, and what keeps you there?

When I first heard Charlie Parker’s music, at age 10, everything
changed for me. I definitely had one of those thunderbolt moments that
so many people seem to experience when hearing Parker’s music for the
first time.

For me, making music and performing music is about connecting with
other people, finding out about myself, and trying to find some sense
of meaning as a result of my own experiences and my shared experiences
with my colleagues and everyone else who feels they can relate to the
music I’ve involved with.

2: Breakthrough album(s) and Why?

There are hundreds of albums that have been incredibly meaningful to
me and taught me a lot about myself and the possibilities for what
music can be. A few that immediately come to mind…

1. Charlie Parker – Walkman Jazz Compilation
2. Dexer Gordon – Homecoming (Live at The Village Vanguard)
3. Aceyalone – Book of Human Language
4. Jackie McLean – The Jackie Mac Attack Live
5. Michael Finnissy – String Trio
6. Anthony Braxton – Fall 1974
7. Evan Parker – Monoceros
8. Gerard Grisey – Les Espaces Acoustiques
9. Mark Shim – Turbulent Flow
10. Antipop Consortium – Tragic Epilogue

3: How do other art disciplines affect your work?

This question is hard for me to answer. I think when I’m inspired by a
filmmaker or an artist it usually has to do with formal design and
structure. Sarah Sze and Julie Mehretu are two visual artists whose
work often has a lot of resonance for me. Their work is so expressive
but it also seems to privilege meticulous attention to detail and
technical expertise.

4: Favorite Film(s)?

My wife is a filmmaker, so I’ve seen a ton of incredible films thanks
to her. A handful that I seem to keep coming back to…

Killer of Sheep
Blazing Saddles
Cache
Jackie McLean on Mars
La Promesse

5: Favorite Film Score(s)?

I love Neil Young’s score/playing for the Jim Jarmusch film “Dead Man.”

6: Favorite Fiction Reading?

Edward P. Jones
James Baldwin
Aleksandar Hemon
Herman Hesse

7: Favorite Non-Fiction Reading?

It’s rare that I get to do non-fiction reading that isn’t music-related…

The New York Times
The New Yorker
The Economist
The Wire
Music Perception

8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music?

I’m too old to be embarrassed by any of the music I listen to. I do
love to play NBA Live 2008 on my PSP (Playstation Portable) which is
definitely something of a guilty pleasure…!

9: Favorite Under Rated Musician(s)?

A few that come to mind…

Arthur Blythe
Michael Finnissy
Stanley Cowell
Freddie Waits
Fats Navarro
Saafir
Kevin O’Neil

10: Recommended Artist(s)/Shout Outs?

Too many to list. This time around I’ll give a big shout out to the
amazing Paris-based percussionist/composer Karl Jannuska. If you don’t
know now you know.

We just got back from a 5 day, 4 show tour that went amazingly well. This was our first time out, and while the money was not overflowing, we had a lot of fun playing and learning. I’ll go through a brief description of each shows for the true believers.

June 10-Live Set for WFMU’s Long Rally, NJ

We were in terrible traffic all day, but somehow managed to arrive at New Jersey’s WFMU with plenty of time to set up and play before our live set. We were a little stressed from the long drive, but Long Rally’s host Scott McDowell immediately put our minds at ease, and we were able to unwind and relax in the studio. We played Through a Glass Darkly, a John Carpenter mashup, and The Silence, and everything was captured crystal clear by Sean Austin, who engineered the session. A short interview and some beers made for a great first show. Hopefully we will be back sooner than later!

The whole set can be downloaded at the Free Music Archive here:

Glows Set at WFMU

and you can stream the whole show from the Long Rally Archive

June 11 Pianos in NY

We were scheduled to play at midnight, and at the last minute were bumped up to 11pm. This show was the only one that I was unsure of, because I kept getting the run around from everyone I talked to at the club. We weren’t listed on their schedule until the day of the show, and we were to play a set right after Ninjasonik-a hip hop dance group. We arrived to see a packed house of 60+ with the band pumping loud tunes in the box that is the downstairs stage at Pianos. The music was great, but we could tell that it would be tough to keep the crowd around with our music. The extremely jerky sound guy rushed us on stage, and kept giving us shit for not having a singer. He literally couldn’t believe that a band could exist without a singer on ANY songs. We proceeded to play our asses off, and scare all but 10-15 people away. The people that stuck around really enjoyed it, and I had some great conversations after, but that was not the right lineup for us. Maybe next time? Some recordings from our engineer/roadie Reggie Chapman should be up soon.

June 13 Uncertainty Music Series, New Haven, CT

This show went great, and was definitely the highlight of the tour. The Uncertainty Music Series, run by composer/bassist Carl Testa highlights improvisers from the area and gives them a great space to play in (at Never Ending Books). We played two short sets that felt strong to an appreciative crowd of locals. Chapman also got some great recordings that we will be mixing up for a possible release! Check out the Uncertainty Music website for more info, and interviews with the performers (including us). Also check out Carl’s music. He gave me a CD and it’s great!

June 14 RVA Band Day at Artomatic, Washington DC

Once again, traffic stressed us out, but we managed to make it to the show in time for our bassist Cameron to play with the first band of the day: Magrelos. Artomatic was a 9 story industrial building featuring much much art. On the first floor, there was a warehouse space for the music and the sound was rough. We worked our way through it and ended up having a pretty solid set. Met Patrick from NPR’s “A Blog Supreme” and our friend Dean from RVAJazz was there to cover the whole thing (including pictures). Go to his article for a more detailed account of the evening.

Joe Lally is a bassist/vocalist who first gained international acclaim as a member of the D.C. band Fugazi. Since then, he has started a solo career that has lead to tours all around the world. His solo work is really good, and we’re excited to be playing with Joe on Monday, June 1 at The Camel at 9pm!

For more info and to purchase Joe’s solo albums, check out his website:

joelally.com

1: What got you into creative/improvised music making, and what keeps you there?

Discovering bands that no one else seemed to know about and watching them play in theaters or small clubs really opened an alternative world to me. None of the friends in my neighborhood would even go see these bands with me. I was in an art class in high school in which people came from their school in the county and spent 3 periods there. In that class I met a guy named Ivan Martinez who turned me on to everything punk rock and took me to many shows. Although I wouldn’t play an instrument until I was out of high school it was seeing all the local bands that made me feel I could do this.

2: Breakthrough album(s) and Why?

Both the Sex Pistols and Ramones first records for their overall energy delivered with such simplicity. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures and the First Public Image record. Again for their gut level energy and spare musical approach but artistically got my imagination going.

3: How do other art disciplines affect your work?

Other than constant work, practice, I’m not sure what you might mean here.

4: Favorite Film(s)?

If this is determined by how many times we watch a film I would have to say Duck Soup or Animal Crackers. Otherwise I think it changes a lot.

5: Favorite Film Score(s)?

Ennio Morricone’s Crime and Dissonance on Ipecac is a great sampler of songs from films. This doesn’t contain the spaghetti westerns at all.

6: Favorite Fiction Reading?

Anything by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

7: Favorite Non-Fiction Reading?

Studs Terkel, for example: Hard Times or The Good War.

8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music?

I’m not sure there’s anything left to feel guilty about liking.

9: Favorite Under Rated Musician(s)?

Billy Cox, Bobby Leibling, Christina Billotte.

10: Recommended Artist(s)/Shout Outs?

Hamid Drake, Nina Simone.

We’ve been looking forward to this show for a while, and this Friday it’s finally happening! Fight the Big Bull, Glows with Matana Roberts sitting in, and Matana Roberts solo with video projection! I’ll put the poster below, and it will stay here until after the show. I hope to see everyone out at MUSE. It’s gonna be sweet!

Also, to find out more about the bands and the venue, head over to RVAJazz and check out the “Featured Gig” section.

Finally, this show would not be possible without some very generous local sponsors, which you can find by clicking on their links to the right. Richmond Jazz Society, Ipanema, RVAJazz, and RVANews rule hard!

Tyshawn Sorey is a NY based composer and drummer. He first came to my attention as the drummer in pianist Vijay Iyer’s Quartet on the “Blood Sutra” album. He still plays with Iyer in the trio Fieldwork, with Steve Lehman rounding out the trio on sax. When Sorey’s debut as a leader came out on Firehouse 12 Records, I kind of freaked out about it here. It was so unlike anything I expected after hearing him in other contexts, and pretty much blew me away.

Tyshawn stays busy writing and performing, and in August, he’ll be curating the shows at The Stone in New York so you will be able to see him in a wide variety of settings.

1: What got you into creative/improvised music making, and what keeps you there?

During my formative years in Newark (N.J.), I was always interested in creating things…  I drew a lot, painted, wrote short stories, etc.  But it’s nothing important, really.  My father, in particular, exposed me to many different types of music growing up.  Since around the age of 2 or 3, I knew I wanted to be some kind of musician.  I was never the type to associate myself with any genre of music, because I knew that somehow there was much more to absorb and learn from than what I was exposed to.  So then I began listening to music from other cultures and then delving more into gospel music (my mother was an aspiring gospel singer in a local church, and I still think about how amazing she was at it), country, blues, other types of jazz expression, classical, and dance music.  It was always in me to try and check out as many things as possible, and it was only natural for me to simply listen to the music for what it was.  I mean, there was never any real “way” I became aware of my interests in music and creating, because it was already there from the get-go.  All I would listen to back then was more traditional sounding stuff from WBGO or WKCR only to later discover that I became somewhat of a “jazz purist”.  It became apparent to me that I was listening to music in one “way”; that it was time for me to eliminate the idea of taste, likes, and dislikes and take from whatever I listened to and let it be a part of my musical makeup.  I believe that every listener of music listens in their own way, and I did not want to listen in ANY WAY…but to JUST listen – no feelings that “something sucks” or “something is catchy”, etc.  then, my tastes would not let me fully experience what was happening in the moment.  To listen to something without “listening”.

2: Breakthrough album(s) and Why?

3: How do other art disciplines affect your work?

Well, besides art disciplines…Zen Buddhism, literature, and painting has had a very profound affect on my work in many ways as well as the way I listen to music, which is really no way at all – positively speaking.  Those two things are the primary generators for my work, as well as the experience of everyday life…which, for me, is improvisation in all senses.  As far as favorites in these fields: Robert Rauschenberg, Alan Watts, and Charles Bukowski are among my favorites.

4: Favorite Film(s)?

5: Favorite Film Score(s)?

No specific film scores come to mind, although I have a fond appreciation of the work of film score composer Bernard Herrmann,  as well as all of the scoring for Sherlock Holmes and Perry Mason.

6: Favorite Fiction Reading?

Right now I’ve been getting into the works by Phillip Pullman – His Dark Materials; Henry Miller – Tropic of Cancer; Samuel Beckett – Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I, and a bunch of other stuff; J.D. Salinger – The Catcher In The Rye; Charles Bukowski – Burning In Water Drowning In Flames; Arthur Miller – The Crucible, and a few others.

7: Favorite Non-Fiction Reading?

8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music?

None I could think of…for me, there is no such thing.  I have been checking out a lot of stand-up comedy recordings of the following artists in particular: Richard Pryor, Andrew Dice Clay, Eddie Murphy (his early stuff), Lenny Bruce, some Redd Foxx, Lewis Black, George Carlin, Paul Mooney, and a few others.  But I don’t see any qualitative difference in their work and how it has also been influential to me.  The same goes for listening to Joni Mitchell, Tupac, D’Angelo, Blondie, Wu-Tang Clan, Elliot Smith, Autechre, Meshuggah, or any other type of music.  I mean, I can listen to anything I want and to simply let it come to me…if it doesn’t come to me then I’ll go to it.  But then, if I don’t like the music, the fault is on me – I create the problem with listening to it…  I have to know this for myself, as a human being, that I am not interested in creating a “guilty pleasure” music that has the potential of being brought down to its’ lowest common denominator to sell a lot of CD’s and all.  However, it should also be clear that I do respect it for what it is and for the effort these people put in to express themselves as they wish.  As far as feeling guilty of listening to this is concerned, I don’t.

9: Favorite Under Rated Musician(s)?

I’ll go out on a limb with this one…since this is something that has been bothering me for some time.  There are so many people I wish to list, but the underrated COMPOSERS who I want to discuss are also percussionists that we all know.  Susie Ibarra is my favorite percussionist/composer around right now, and I find that it’s a shame that not many people know that she has a lot to offer as a composer, not to mention the amazing work she is doing.  The same should go for Paul Motian, Mark Guiliana, Gerald Cleaver, Andrew Greenwald, Dan Weiss, Billy Martin, Joey Baron, Marcus Gilmore, Milford Graves, Tommy Crane, among others…  I personally believe that these drummers who are also composers and/or play other instruments should be recognized for all of how they express themselves, as opposed to only being credited for their sideman work and/or for their drumming abilities. It’s interestingly ironic because what these drummers contribute to the music of their respective bandleaders is so strong and powerful that what they create becomes an essential part of the music itself; they MAKE the composition, as far as I’m concerned.

10: Recommended Artist(s)/Shout Outs?

All of the above, as well as Aaron Stewart, Todd Neufeld, Otis Brown III, Jesse Elder, Steven Ruel, Sara Serpa, Thomas Morgan, Fay Victor, Carlos Homs, Eric McPherson, Ingrid Laubrock, Nate Wooley, Russ Lossing, Greg Scrulloni, Steve Lehman, Kris Davis, Randy Peterson, Jacob Sacks, Meilana Gillard, Frank Rosaly, Jen Shyu, Darius Jones, Andre Matos, Matana Roberts, Ben Gerstein, Okkyung Lee, Terrence McManus, Joe Albano, Michele Rosewoman, Carl Maguire, Rich Woodson, Mat Maneri, Billy Mintz, Aaron Burnett, Nasheet Waits, Jeff Parker, John Hebert, Loren Stillman, Vardan Opsevian, Pete Robbins, Taylor Ho Bynum, Judith Berkson, John Escreet, Adam Niewood, and many others…this will take forever to finish.