rocking chair

This thing on?

Short answer: no. I'm not blogging right now.

First, a practical note: If, as my website statistics indicate, you came here looking for advice on dealing with the credit crunch, I'm sorry but you came to the wrong place. When I chose the name I thought it was just a cunning musical in-joke, but now it seems the joke's on me.

Otherwise, what's the deal? Right now I'm writing a film score, working on a composition/recording project and generally taking a long break from gigs and being on the road. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I will be back on the road in the spring.

I'm also working on a few long-term writing projects (words, that is, not music). Last year I wrote two feature length screenplays. At this point whatever surplus time and energy I have for writing is going into projects like that, not blogging.

Talk to you later...

thanksgiving dinner

Jean Renoir on American cuisine, from a letter to his son, March 8, 1941:

At the very end of this little area, which is the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Sunset Boulevard, is Schwab's Drug Store. One finds everything there, even medicine. They sell cigarettes, bras, newspapers, fountain pens, lingerie, sweets, dishes, wine, and alcohol. There is a huge counter where they serve you strange food. I will not tell you much about the food because I want you to be surprised. Americans cook like litle girls playing with their toy plates, making themselves dishes with whatever they can steal from their mothers' kitchens: a raw carrot, a piece of chocolate, a leftover cauliflower, and some currant jelly.

from Jean Renoir - Letters

autumn rhythm

I'm pretty much an ex-blogger at this point. My writing jones is being channeled into less public areas. But if you want to see me in person, here is where I will be over the next month or so:

with Sam Phillips
October 27 - Seattle, WA, Triple Door
October 28 - Portland, OR, Doug Fir
November 1 - San Francisco, Yoshi's (the new one in SF, not in Oakland)

with the Claudia Quintet
November 6 - Albuquerque, NM, The Outpost
November 7 - Lubbock, TX, Texas Tech University
November 8 - Austin, TX, The Parish
November 10 - Heidelberg, GERMANY, Karlstorbahnhof
November 11 - Nevers, FRANCE, Theatre Municipal
November 12 - Brest, FRANCE, Espace Vauban
November 14 - Zagreb, CROATIA, University of Zagreb
November 16 - Katowice, POLAND, Jazzclub Hipnoza

I'll be in LA for a few more days and then, see below.....

September/October tour schedule:

with Sam Phillips:
September 6 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music
September 7 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music
September 8 - Grand Rapids, MI - Gezon Auditorium @ Calvin College
September 9 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
September 10 - Toronto, ON - Hugh's Room
September 11 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
September 12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe
September 13 - Somerville, MA - Somerville Theater
September 14 - Albany, NY - The Linda
September 15 - Annapolis, MD - Ram's Head Tavern
September 16 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Downstairs
September 18 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge

with The Claudia Quintet:
September 26 - Brooklyn, NY - Barbes
September 27 - New York, NY - Cornelia St. Cafe
October 2 - Leipzig, Germany
October 3 - Tilburg, NL
October 6 - Eindhoven, NL
October 7 - Köln, Germany
October 9 - Offenburg, Germany
October 10 - Viersen, Germany
October 11 - Berlin, Germany - A-Trane
October 12 - Berlin, Germany - A-Trane

man from the motor trade

Is there an emoticon for non-irony? I found this chowhound thread
very poignant.

It's been a madhouse over here. Lots of crazy travel. I mean, the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival... that is a heady emotional brew. Luckily I bounced back from that with a bracing dose of Wagner (in the piazza where he wrote Parsifal, no less) which, as you might imagine, contains zero freygish. If I could tell that Berklee girl anything, it's all about balance.

I've also been spending more time with the music of Sam Phillips, which has been deeply pleasurable, and thankfully it seems that particular pleasure will be continuing for a while. I'll be sitting in with her at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Mass this Sunday. More to come on that front too.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't been keeping up with the pop culture consumption I thought would nourish this blog. I watched "I'm Not There" a bunch more since it came out on DVD and it holds up excellently. A publicist sent me a copy of the Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis CD - a first for this blogger - and sadly, I'm not going to review it. Reviewing new CD's, even ones as thought-provoking as this one, is just not my thing.

In the course of my travels I've been reading extensively about Iraq - which I don't recommend if you want to retain your perky demeanor. And in a bizarre, but related, twist, I went through a phase of listening to the Grateful Dead. This started as an exercise: listen to music you don't like (another piece of advice for the Berklee girl!). Somehow it spiraled out of control and I actually began to hear aspects of it that sounded really, well, good. My theory: all the travel warped my mind into a receptive state for the Dead. Maybe it was just the right time. I still have some issues with it though, especially from the improviser's point of view. I mean, seriously.

As for the movie stuff - it's still in the works. I'm launched on another big writing project but I've been too busy with work and other stuff to do much about it. Hopefully next month....

highly speculative

Hello everyone... There's a fair amount going on over here. The Sam Phillips and solo gigs I talked about below both went very well. More on that later, maybe. For now, pictures of the Sam gig are here and here . Took a quick trip to Berlin to play Wagner with Uri Caine over the weekend. Tonight and tomorrow I'm playing a surprise gig with the Boston Pops featuring Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls... My first time playing in Symphony Hall. Pretty awesome.

But that's not even the big news. One of the reasons my blogging slowed down over the last few months is that I started a big secret writing project: a screenplay. I didn't tell anyone about it until I finished a draft a little while ago. Since then I've learned that a script like this, written on spec by an amateur, is the most toxic substance in showbiz. Hardly anyone even wants to touch the damn thing. Or so I thought.

I can't really go into too much detail about what is happening, but I will just say that interest in my script suddenly has mushroomed to a level that I never thought possible. Will it continue? Who knows. But for now, I am, let's just say, excited.

If there's anyone who is interested in finding out more, feel free to email me - though I can't really send the thing out willy-nilly. And to answer some obvious questions: Yes, it is about a musician. No, it's not about an accordion player.

I hear music in the air

Been a while... Quick self-promotional update. I'm playing solo at the Stone this Sunday, June 8. I've been working on a long piece for accordion and electronics with a fairly involved backing track. This will be its first performance. I'm also going to play an Anthony Coleman piece from the By Night book in a new, slightly extended arrangement. The Stone is located in Manhattan at the corner of Avenue C and 2nd St. I'm playing at 8pm.

I'm also playing on Friday night (June 6) with the great Sam Phillips at the Borders books in Columbus Circle. I played one gig with Sam a few years ago through total happenstance (they were rehearsing in JD Foster's studio on the ground floor of my building in Brooklyn), which turned out to be a magical experience. Since then, I've spent an inordinate amount of time listening to her recent Nonesuch records, which are two of my favorite albums ever. If you haven't heard them, you're missing out. Start with "Fandance" - masterpiece. Her new record is just as good - I'm thrilled to be playing another gig with her.

June and July continue to be pretty insane with activity, so updates here will probably be infrequent. Some upcoming gigs:

June 15 - Potsdam, GERMANY - Uri Caine Ensemble - Wagner
June 28 - New York, NY - La Mar Enfortuna, The Stone
July 3-5 - Krakow, POLAND - La Mar Enfortuna, Krakow Jewish Culture Fest.
July 12 - Ravello, ITALY - Uri Caine Ensemble - Wagner

"The Memory Thief" is still playing at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills.

And I can't be silent about it... I am thrilled that Barack Obama (pictured above at dear old Wesleyan) has won the Democratic nomination... the first political candidate I ever actually supported, rather than just voted for out of a grudging sense of duty.

More soon....

all the critics love you in new york

If you read this blog regularly, you already know about this, but, yes, tonight is the opening of The Memory Thief in New York and San Francisco. I really hope you will support this excellent film. But don't take my word for it. Here is the review the New York Times just posted. More reviews are here and here.

There's been a lot going on in my world, very little of which I can really write about, but I will have some exciting summer/fall concert dates to post very soon.

Recent viewing:
"Life.Support.Music" - Heartbreaking and inspirational film about guitarist/living miracle Jason Crigler (disclosure: he is also my friend and collaborator) and his family. See this movie!

Recent reading:
Hank Shteamer's amazing interview with AACM luminaries Muhal Richard Abrams and George Lewis. This should be required reading for all musicians and all critics. Hats off to George, Muhal & Hank.

Recent listening:
Willie Nelson "Shotgun Willie"
Clara Haskil, Mozart & Scarlatti
Ry Cooder "Film Music"

public stoning

Thanks to the generosity of Skirl CEO and Claudia colleague Chris Speed (pictured above on a rest stop in Trinidad, CO), I'll be in quasi-residence at John Zorn's performance space The Stone from Sunday, April 20 through Friday 4/25. I'm describing the Tuesday gig first because that's the one with my most involvement as "composer," or "leader," or "the guy who writes the checks," or however you want to look at it:

Tuesday, April 22
8PM

Two Trios

Shelley Burgon, Trevor Dunn, Ted Reichman
Jorrit Dijkstra, Ted Reichman, Eric Rosenthal

The first trio will play a new piece I just finished a few minutes ago for organ, piano, harp, and bass vaguely inspired by Christian Wolff, Anthony Coleman and the Necks, and with a title so pretentious I can't even bring myself to write it in public yet. I will be joined by my estimable Skirl labelmates Trevor and Shelley.

The second trio will play improvised music for accordion, electronics, saxophone, and percussion. This band has been refining its concept over the last year or so through a series of gigs in the greater Boston area and will be making its New York debut on Tuesday.

At 10, we will be followed by the Skuli Sverrisson/Anthony Burr duo which is really really worth hearing.

Working backwards:

Sunday, April 20
8PM

Chris Speed's Yeah No
Jim Black, Ted Reichman, Chris Speed, Skuli Sverrisson, Cuong Vu

Are the names not enough? As the so-called NYC downtown scene atomizes before our eyes, rumor is this could be the Last Yeah No Gig Ever. So do what you need to do.

Thursday, April 24
10PM

Ben Perowsky Quartet
Ben Perowsky, Ted Reichman, Chris Speed, Ben Street

Where the barrel house meets the opium den.

and finally

Friday, April 25
8 & 10
John Zorn Improv Night
with Zorn and many other excellent musicians.

You know the deal......

Hope you can make it!

***

I will be back in NYC in a couple of weeks for this exciting event on May 9:

for ernest bovine

Greetings from Wichita Falls, TX, home of "The Last Picture Show," a title of a Pat Metheney song, and I'm not sure what else.

I hope to see some of you at the Claudia Quintet shows in Texas, Arizona, and California. Details are available here.

Recommended ipod listening for an extended drive through West Texas during the "golden hour:"

Brian Eno "Pelisero Wine Promo CD" bootleg
Talk Talk "Wealth" from "Spirit of Eden"
Glenn Gould "Hugh Ashton's Ground" (William Byrd)
Bob Dylan "Highlands"

More to come eventually.... including important NYC screening information.....

monks, moods

Science confirms what hundreds of songs already knew.

*

Had an intense time down in NY last week. The main purpose of the trip was playing the music of Meredith Monk with the Claudia Quintet plus Theo Bleckmann. In the concert, John and Theo's deep gratitude and respect for Meredith were so powerful that I found myself able to inhabit the music in a way which had been impossible in rehearsal. It's really hard music- not necessarily technically, but emotionally, mentally, vibrationally as the Braxtonians might say. Theo's performance was stunning- this music really lets him shine.

Then, on Friday I was working the merch table at the Andrew D'Angelo benefit at the Tea Lounge. Also very intense- and gratifying to see the place packed. Due to my fiscal duties, I didn't get to listen as closely as I would have liked. I did get to hear the Oscar Noriega/Chris Speed/Trevor Dunn/Jim Black quartet though- it was impossible _not_ to hear this band. Their urgency and, forgive the redundancy, intensity, reflected their actual day to day devotion to Andrew in a way that all the blogging and articles can't.

A special highlight: the alto saxophone playing of Oscar Noriega, all too rarely heard at length. I can't wait for his Skirl record to get finished. I'm tempted to kidnap it and finish it for him, in a Teo Macero-esque (RIP) fashion.

*

Lots of new stuff happening, and as usual, I'm not sure how much of it I will make public, or when, but here are a few future events that I _can_ talk about:

Wednesday, March 5

Jorrit Dijkstra - alto saxophone, lyricon, electronics
Ted Reichman - accordion
Eric Rosenthal - percussion

7:30
Audible Think
Gallery X, 169 William Street, New Bedford, MA

My only ongoing improv project, this has turned into a real band. Three (sometimes more) strong voices, points of view, positions. Negotiations, occasional agreements, but no backing down.

Saturday, March 8

Jason Crigler Band/Goats in Trees

Jason Crigler - guitar, vox
Monica Crigler - guitar, vox
Ted Reichman - accordion, organ
Richard Gates - bass
Dave Mattacks (!) - drums

6 PM
Atwood's Tavern
877 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA

I'm working on a bunch of stuff with the great Jason Crigler, some of which I will be telling you more about very soon. But in the meantime, I will be playing his songs with some truly spectacular musicians, including one of my all-time favorite drummers, Dave Mattacks. You know, the guy who played with, let's see, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Brian Eno, Richard & Linda Thompson, Sandy Denny, John Martyn and God only knows how many other hipster mix tape favorites. I'm really looking forward to this. As a bonus, Atwood's is a highly pleasant place to spend some time- fine food and drink and a non-annoying, non-collegiate clientele.

Monday, March 10
The Theater of Cruelty
Anthony Coleman's Contemporary Improvisation Ensemble

I'll be playing with a couple of things, including the Dijkstra/Reichman/Rosenthal trio, as well as conducting and generally making a nuisance of myself.

Jordan Hall
New England Conservatory
Boston, MA

Claudia Quintet European Tour

March 15th Bergamo Jazz Festival, ITALY
March 16th Snow Jazz Gastein, AUSTRIA
March 18th A-Trane Berlin, GERMANY
March 19th Kaleidoskop K1, Copenhagen, DENMARK

Claudia Quintet Southwest US Tour

April 3rd Dazzle Denver,CO
April 4th U of Colorado Boulder, CO
April 5th High Mayhem Studios Santa Fe,NM
April 7th U of TX@Arlington TEXAS
April 8th NTSU Denton,TEXAS
April 9th Austin, TEXAS
April 10th Phoenix, AZ
April 11th UCSD San Diego, CA
April 12th The Stone NYC

Andrew D'Angelo

Some of you already know about this, but regardless, please help spread the word. And if you can, please give generously.

SAXOPHONIST ANDREW D'ANGELO HAS BRAIN TUMOR

On Friday, January 25, 2008 world-renowned saxophonist/composer Andrew D'Angelo suffered a major seizure while driving in Brooklyn, NY. Tests in the hospital revealed a large tumor in his brain. Andrew will undergo brain surgery at some point in the next few weeks. At this time, it is believed that the tumor is not cancerous, but this will not be confirmed until a biopsy is performed.

Andrew is providing updates on his experiences in the hospital via his blog at www.andrewdangelo.com.

Like many Americans, Andrew has no health insurance. A fund has been established to help with the costs of his surgery and recovery. Donations can be sent via PayPal at donate@andrewdangelo.com. We deeply appreciate any efforts that can be made to spread the word about Andrew's situation.

Benefit concerts are currently being planned for New York City, Seattle, Reykjavik, and Boston. More information about these concerts will be posted on www.andrewdangelo.com as soon as it is available.