Apologies for the paucity of updates. I’m working on several things behind-the-scenes, and will be back shortly with news of performances coming up in Berlin, Manchester, Belfast and elsewhere; updates on Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559); and news of a new amplifier. Be right back….
Happy New Year: 2015

Hats off to Bandcamp
My hat goes off to Bandcamp. For those of us watching, reading, anticipating, and, in many cases, worrying about the implications of the new EU law on VAT and electronic services (see: Steve Lawson’s excellent account of the drama), this item from The Bandcamp Blog came as a relief (to put it mildly):
If you’ve seen the recent news of changes to EU tax law, you may be wondering how this affects you as an artist or label selling on Bandcamp. The good news is that for digital sales, there is no need for you to register for VAT, submit quarterly reports, and so on. We will take care of all of that for you. [Read the rest…]
Seriously, Bandcamp, you guys rock something awesome!
Available via Bandcamp [more…]

Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11) [details…]
Performers: Paul Dunmall (saxophones and bagpipes), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums).
(cc) 2013 Paul Dunmall/Han-earl Park/Mark Sanders.

Gargantius Effect +1 +2 +3 (Nor Cal, 08-2011) [details…]
Performers: Murray Campbell (violins, oboe and cor anglais), Randy McKean (saxophone, clarinets and flutes) with Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Gino Robair (energized surfaces, voltage made audible) and Scott R. Looney (hyperpiano).
(cc) 2012 Murray Campbell/Randy McKean/Han-earl Park/Gino Robair/Scott R. Looney.

Park+Murray (Cork, 07-29-10) [details…]
Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar) plus Marian Murray (violin).
(cc) 2012 Han-earl Park/Marian Murray.

Jin-Park-Weeter (Cork, 01-24-11) [details…]
Performers: Jin Sangtae (electronics), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Jeffrey Weeter (drums and electronics).
(cc) 2012 Jin Sangtae/Han-earl Park/Jeffrey Weeter.

Park-Schroeder (Cork, 03-26-09) [details…]
Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar) and Franziska Schroeder (saxophone).
(cc) 2012 Han-earl Park/Franziska Schroeder.

Sikora-Smith-Park (Cork, 04-04-11) [details…]
Performers: Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Ian Smith (trumpet) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
(cc) 2012 Catherine Sikora/Ian Smith/Han-earl Park.
teaser: Anomic Aphasia
Short preview of the forthcoming Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559). To be released by SLAM Productions in February 2015, as previously announced, the recording features the ensemble Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones), and renderings of Metis 9 (a collaboration between Park; Sikora; and Josh Sinton: saxophone and clarinet).
Anomic Aphasia will be available from Downtown Music Gallery, Squidco, Wayside Music and all AWESOME record stores, and as download from iTunes, eMusic, etc. More info to follow…
For the latest, check back at: www.busterandfriends.com/aphasia
recording details
Music by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora), and by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton. Tactical macros (‘Metis 9’) devised and specified by Han-earl Park.
Recorded live at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn on June 5, 2013.
Recording engineered by Scott Friedlander.
Recorded live at Harvestworks, New York City on October 29, 2013.
Recording engineered by Kevin Ramsay. Mixed by Han-earl Park.
Design and artwork by Han-earl Park.
© Han-earl Park. ℗ SLAM Productions.
Available from SLAM Productions…

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) [details…]
Performers: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone). [About this project…]
© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) [details…]
Performers: Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn) plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone). [About this ensemble…]
© 2010 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2010 SLAM Productions.
updates
02–18–15: link to SLAM catalog entry.
thanks: Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Mark Sanders (Birmingham and London, October 2014)
Quick note of thanks to all involved in the October 28 and October 30 performances. Thanks mightily to Cath Roberts and Dee Byrne, instigators of LUME, and Andrew Woodhead, the new mastermind behind Fizzle, for hosting the performances, and for their support and enthusiasm. Thanks to Ben Lee (who also managed Fizzle on the night) and Roberto Sassi (and Roland Ramanan for the intro) for allowing this itinerant guitarist to borrow the use of their amplifiers. Thanks to the other ensembles who shared the bill: Lee Allatson, Stewart Brackley and Bruce Coates (Lee, Bruce, great to see you guys again!); and Sam Andreae and Rodrigo Constanzo.
Mondo kudos to Dom Lash and Mark Sanders. I am indebted to these two smart, perceptive, crafty and imaginative improvisers. They make every moment sound that much more brilliant, and every turn that much more unexpected. Looking forward to playing again! (tell your local music org to book us! 😉
Finally, as always, thanks to all who came to listen to the real-time noise, and to witness the jump-cuts between chaotic frenzy and delicate, pretty open spaces. It’s been a while since I performed in these two cities; always a pleasure.
excerpt: Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Mark Sanders at Fizzle, Birmingham
In anticipation of the performance tonight (October 30) with Dominic Lash and Mark Sanders, I’ve uploaded a short clip from our October 28 performance at Fizzle, Birmingham. Taken from the last few minutes of our first improvisation, I think the breadth of landscape the ensemble covers in that short time is impressive. [More about this performance…]
In a few hours, Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Mark Sanders will be performing at LUME (Long White Cloud, 151 Hackney Road, London E2 8JL). Come down for more real-time, interactive noise and serendipity.
CD in preparation: Anomic Aphasia

To be released by SLAM Productions in February 2015: Anomic Aphasia (SLAMCD 559) featuring two New York/Brooklyn-based projects, the collision of noise and serendipity that is Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones), and the real-time rendering of the improvisative playbook Metis 9 (a collaboration between Park; Sikora; and Josh Sinton: saxophone and clarinet).
I am very proud of the work represented by these projects, documenting some of the best playing that I have had the honor of being part of. Super excited that this is coming out.
Anomic Aphasia will be available from Downtown Music Gallery, Squidco, Wayside Music and all AWESOME record stores, and as download from iTunes, eMusic, etc. More info to follow…
For the latest, check back at: www.busterandfriends.com/aphasia
Available from SLAM Productions…

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) [details…]
Performers: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone). [About this project…]
© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) [details…]
Performers: Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn) plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone). [About this ensemble…]
© 2010 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2010 SLAM Productions.
updates
11–19–14: new release date: February 2015.
video discography
I’ve created a video discography—a YouTube playlist of video ‘trailers’ for selected albums. (This now joins the video playlist of selected performances and 13 hours or so of ‘recent’ performances.)
The albums currently represented in the playlist are Numbers (CS 201 cd) with Richard Barrett [more info (get the CD)…]; io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) with Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder [more (CD/download)…]; and Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith plus Lol Coxhill [more (CD/download)…]; with more to come.

Numbers (CS 201 cd) [details…]
Performers: Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar). [About this duo…]
© + ℗ 2012 Creative Sources Recordings.

io 0.0.1 beta++ (SLAMCD 531) [details…]
Performers: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone). [About this project…]
© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Mathilde 253 (SLAMCD 528) [details…]
Performers: Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn) plus Lol Coxhill (saxophone). [About this ensemble…]
© 2010 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2010 SLAM Productions.
updates
09–22–14: embedded playlist starts with Numbers.
site update: Han-earl Park bio plus YouTube playlist
Although nowhere near a big a revision as the last major update, I’ve made some significant changes to my bio. Below is the new verbose, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, 472 word version [shorter versions…].
Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park (박한얼) (www.busterandfriends.com) has been crossing borders and performing fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, always traditional, open improvised musics for twenty years. He has performed in clubs, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, and (ad-hoc) alternative spaces in Austria, Denmark, Germany, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and the USA.
Park engages a radical, liminal, cyborg virtuosity in which mind, body and artifact collide. He is driven by the social and revolutionary potential of real-time interactive performance in which tradition and practice become creative problematics. As a constructor of musical automata, he is interested in partial, and partially frustrating, context-specific artifacts; artifacts that amplify social relations and corporeal identities and agencies.
Ensembles include Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora, and Numbers with Richard Barrett. Park is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and instigator of Metis 9, a playbook of improvisative tactics. He has performed with Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Josh Sinton, Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Andrew Drury, Pat Thomas and Franziska Schroeder. He has guested with Gargantius Effect (Murray Campbell and Randy McKean), the Mark Hanslip/Dominic Lash/Phillip Marks Trio, and Swim This (Nick Didkovsky, Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle); performed as part of large ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker and Pauline Oliveros; and participated in improvisative meetings with Gerald Cleaver, Andrea Parkins, Tom Rainey, Mike Pride, Anna Webber, Jack Wright and Ingrid Laubrock. He has studied with improviser-composers Wadada Leo Smith, Richard Barrett, Joel Ryan, Mark Trayle, Chick Lyall and David Rosenboom, composers Clarence Barlow and Marina Adamia, and interactive media artist Sara Roberts.
Festival appearances include Freedom of the City (London), Sonorities (Belfast), International Society for Improvised Music (New York), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), VAIN Live Art (Oxford), Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology Festival (Los Angeles) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam). In addition to numerous self-released albums, his recordings have been released by Slam Productions, Creative Sources, Vicmod Records, FrImp, Owlhouse Recordings and DUNS Limited Edition. His music has been featured on anthologies released by Bridge Records, farpoint recordings and Frog Peak Music. He has performed live on Resonance FM (London), Drift Radio (Scotland), and KVMR 89.5 FM (Nevada County), interviewed on RTÉ Morning Ireland and RTÉ Nova (Ireland), and his recordings have been broadcast around the world.
Park taught improvisation at University College Cork (2006–2011), and founded and curated (2007–2011) Stet Lab, a space for improvised music in Cork. He is a recipient of grants from the Arts Council of Ireland (2007, 2008 and 2009) and Music Network (2009 and 2010), and of the Ahmanson Foundation Scholarship (1999) and the CalArts Scholarship (1999 and 1999–2000).
[Han-earl Park’s biography (16–472 words) plus press quotes…]
I’ve also taken the opportunity to create a new video playlist of selected performances. With 52 videos, and clocking in at around 13 hours, my previous playlist of ‘recent’ performances was no longer able to be an effective portfolio reel. Thanks as always to the videographers (Don Mount, Kevin Reilly and Scott Friedlander), and to all the performers.
online: Paul Dunmall and Han-earl Park, ‘Boolean Transforms’
The entire catalog of Paul Dunmall’s record label, DUNS Limited Edition, is now online:
Duns Limited Edition has ceased production, but during its lifetime it was pretty prolific. Having founded the label himself, Paul relished in the freedom to record and release on cdr a multitude of projects, playing with like-minded, creative musicians at his invitation. All the music is totally freely improvised. [Read the rest…]
[DUNS on YouTube…] [Facebook…]
And, as part of that catalog, you’ll find Boolean Transforms (DLE-067) by Paul Dunmall and Han-earl Park recorded way back in November 2009. Physical copies of this and some other DUNS albums are still available from Downtown Music Gallery and from Mind Your Own Music, and you can view some video footage from this concert.
Also by Paul Dunmall and Han-earl Park

Dunmall-Park-Sanders (Birmingham, 02-15-11) [details…]
Performers: Paul Dunmall (saxophones and bagpipes), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Mark Sanders (drums).
(cc) 2013 Paul Dunmall/Han-earl Park/Mark Sanders.

Live at the Glucksman gallery, Cork (owlcd002) [details…]
Performers: Han-earl Park (guitar), Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Mark Sanders (drums) and Jamie Smith (guitar).
© 2009 by Owlhouse Recordings.
℗ 2009 Han-earl Park/Paul Dunmall/Mark Sanders/Jamie Smith.
cuttlefish: Study of Notation

I’m honored to find my concept thumbnail (‘Study in Notation’) in the pages of cuttlefish (issue #1, summer 2014), a “zine for contemporary culture, music, art, aesthetics, politics,” edited by Peter O’Doherty. The piece was accompanied by an excerpt from my interview with Miguel Copón:
I’m not sure at all where this is leading, but having through some combination of ideology and necessity (ain’t it always the way?) found myself somewhat involuntarily in the ‘Total Improvisation’ camp, I’m beginning to look on the other side of the fence. Let me be clear, the, to borrow Lewis’ term, Eurological conception of the score and the practice that surrounds it (theorized in detail by Small, Cusick, Nicholas Cook and others), with its limited models of control and dogma of reproducibility, and naive notions of aesthetics, does not interest me at all.
However, I’m feeling a gravitational tug. Maybe it’s due to coming into close contact with musicians who have a much more sophisticated (if often, from an non-practitioner’s POV, misunderstood and under theorized) relationship with the score and the possibilities of notation. But it’s a distinct pull. Still working—struggling—through some ideas, and studies, and have far, far more questions than answers about the possible role notation and the score might have in an improvisative context, but that’s the new thing that’s exciting me at the moment. [Read the rest…]
The theme of cuttlefish’s inaugural issue is “work-in-progress (sketches, doodles, journal entries, streams of consciousness…),” and features contributions by Wim Bollein, Laura Duran, Evgeniy Aleksandrovich (=dozen), Graham Holliday, ja’s ink on paper, Daniel Kan, Francisco Martins, Corey Mwamba, Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh, Peter O’Doherty, Han-earl Park, Kiyomitsu Saito, Tom Tebby, Nicolas P. Tschopp, Andrea Valle, Krysthopher Woods and Alice Xiang.
If you are interested in contributing to future issues of cuttlefish, please contact cuttlefish[at]peterodoherty.net.
Lost at the Border: Improvisation, Conservation and Transformation (a twitter transcript)
Previte: “I’m a bit of a mongrel.” #isim2014
…and w/ that simple statement, is not the enterprise of Cross-Cultural Improvisation nuked? #isim2014
More tweets from an institutionally unaffiliated, sometimes teacher, amateur scholar and anthropologist [a previous twitter transcript…]. Below is an unedited transcript of my observations from ISIM: Cross-Cultural Improvisation III. My original observations came in the form of live tweets via @hanearlpark that spanned the opening ceremony on June 5, the conference plus performances between June 6 and 8, plus some post-event reflections.
My questions and observations are indebted to discussions with @AndreaWolper, @jkais, @nickreynoldsatw, @MarkImprov, @drmelmarshall and @coreymwamba both on- and off- the twitterverse.
My rants, however, are entirely my own 😉
Twitter transcript (unedited)
Opening Ceremony: New York, June 5, 2014
→ Heading to the #isim2014 opening ceremony. (‘Ceremony’ sounds so ostentatious. Conference folk, seriously…)
→ After my comments about #diversity and #rsa2014 & #amspittsburgh, was ready to be disappointed by #isim2014. Better, maybe, but not perfect.
→ Fewer suits and lighter makeup at #isim2014 compared to #rsa2014 & #amspittsburgh. #amateuranthropology
→ Is the ‘global village’ still a possibility? What violence hides behind such an idea? #isim2014
→ Can we imagine a global village achieved w/out violence? w/out the erasure of difference? #isim2014
→ There’s an interesting evocation of a kind of futurism in a lot of improvisative traditions. #isim2014
Conference: New York, June 6, 2014
→ 3pm: #noise #melody #rhythm #contrast #serendipity #contradiction from Eris 136199 w/ @DoctorNerve @CatherineSikora @ @ISIMprov. #isim2014
→ Cognition vs embodiment. #isim2014
→ Is cognition a form of computation? Is embodiment a form of (physical) computation? #isim2014
→ Is a successful improvisation (always) narrative? #isim2014
→ This reminds me of Paul Berg’s algorithmic composition class… #isim2014
→ …either you create a process that creates desirable results, or one that creates noise that is selectively filter. #isim2014
→ Doesn’t (biological) evolution depend on the environment? Doesn’t musicality depend on the (cultural) environment? #isim2014
→ GenJam: the worst thing to happen to machine improvisation? #discuss #isim2014
→ Unasked question: how an improviser tries to make the rest of the band sound good. #isim2014
→ Unasked question: how individual desires (goals) collide to provide long-term formal structures (retroactively). #isim2014
→ …in this context, concentrating on individual intention may be missing the bigger picture. #isim2014
→ Problem w/ the Turing Test in creative contexts is that ‘I know it when I see/hear it’ ends up as a mirror of ‘does it swing’ #isim2014
→ Can we discuss rhythm w/out engaging w/ embodiment? #isim2014
→ History = cultural context = environment in which evolution takes place? #isim2014
→ At what point does cooperation & competition diverge in improvisative performance? #isim2014
→ …or is that a false dichotomy? are those terms meaningless in the context of improvisative play? #isim2014
→ Why are so many musicians so assured when idiomatic pressures are unambiguous, but uncertain when not? #isim2014
→ …is freedom that scary? #isim2014
→ …we know how to be a cog in the machine when the machine tells us to be? #isim2014
→ …we know our role/place/function in the ensemble if it’s prescribed for us? #isim2014
→ Is trans-idiomatic musicality a reflection of a kind of white middle-class mobility? #isim2014
→ …After trans-idiomatic meetings are (white) self-identified non-idiomatic musicians able to see idiom in their own playing? #isim2014
→ …are trans-idiomatic meetings by definition colonial? #isim2014
→ “No way to control what’s coming through your ears.” #isim2014
→ Ah, the sound of my circulation system. #isim2014
→ Can improvisation be about your ‘actual experience’ divorced from ‘thinking’? #isim2014
→ …in contrast, earlier presentation modeled improvisation exclusively as a ‘cognitive’ process. #isim2014
→ …why these simplifying assumptions in the context of something as complicated and human as improvisative play? isim
→ What’s possible given circumstances/resources = improvisation? #isim2014
→ …but what is the relation btwn this and the black american composer-improviser tradition? #isim2014
→ …Braxton said if you don’t compose this piece (for 276 accordions, say), then you will never hear it. #isim2014
→ After Lacy: “what’s alive for you?” #isim2014
→ …which is fine as far as it goes, but can we further unpack ‘aliveness’? #isim2014
→ ‘Trust,’ ‘courage,’ ‘openness,’ all terms we use to talk about improvisation. We should unpack these. #isim2014
→ Reminded of Braxton’s commend about how freedom is knowing your context well enough so that……… you. are. free. #isim2014
→ Oh, reminded how my skills as an improviser are so, so, so pathetic. #isim2014
→ I want more talk of noise and frenzy. #isim2014
→ I desire a discussion of collisions, contradictions, the unintelligible, the unspeakable. #isim2014
→ Where is improvisation, the destabilizing, the revolutionary, the dissonant, the dissenting? #isim2014
→ Part of me (uncharitably for sure) want to scream ‘f*ck calm.’ #isim2014
→ Goddamnnit. I am Asian, and I will not be your model of calm and reserved. #isim2014
→ Wadada: “try to find something unique in yourself.” #isim2014
→ …don’t try to fit in. #isim2014
→ …“I don’t want them to expect nothing!” #isim2014
→ Is ‘experience’ (unlike, say, subjectivity) (always) a term of resistance? #isim2014
→ ‘Compliment’ or ‘contradict’; what do these terms _mean_ in the context of improvisative play? #isim2014
→ …we seem to be struggling because we (think we) know the ‘correct’ terms to use. #isim2014
→ What does the term ‘pattern’ mean in the context of improvisative play? #isim2014
→ …can ‘pattern’ every be an enabling discursive element in the context of creative music? #isim2014
→ Often wonder if I should (get back to) playing more (overtly) melodic. #isim2014
→ Reminded of experiments about the different perceptions of musical construction depending on idiomatic background. #isim2014
→ …are not cultural misunderstandings so much more interesting than (ostensibly) clear channels of communication? #isim2014
→ ‘notes’; if we just jettisoned that term, our understanding of musical practices would be so much richer. #isim2014
→ Some additional insight if you understand both English and 한국말. #isim2014
→ Are terms such as ‘discipline’ and ‘pattern’ (discursively) limiting in the contacts of improvisative play? #isim2014
→ Reminded of Wadada once saying that when he puts his horn to his mouth, it’s a command. #isim2014
→ Previte: “I’m a bit of a mongrel.” #isim2014
→ …and w/ that simple statement, is not the enterprise of Cross-Cultural Improvisation nuked? #isim2014
→ The unresolved contradiction btwn agency and sublimation? #isim2014
→ #isim2014 http://t.co/bypjiQMRiS
→ how much of my views/practices are shaped by my teachers; how much convergence of approach because of who I chose as teachers? #isim2014
→ “Social aspects of musicality.” #isim2014
→ …an enormous amount of stuff blackboxed in that statement. #isim2014
→ ‘Leading’ and ‘following’; do these terms have any utility in the context of improvisative play? #isim2014
→ “Where was I going?” (unintentionally?) good description of what we are doing. #isim2014
→ …Something I learned when I started teaching improvisation was the utility I jettisoning these terms. #isim2014
Conference: New York, June 7, 2014
→ However you cut it, solo is that impossible thing in improvisation. #isim2014
→ …you have _got_ to have something pretty damn important to say/present. #isim2014
→ …in that sense, by analogy, Romey’s speeches during the last election would be an example or a useless solo. #isim2014
→ …I’ve consciously engaged w/ the solo context self-consciously on and off for the last ten years, but I still haven’t cracked it. #isim2014
→ Echoes of Philip Glass? or of Chris Cutler? #isim2014
→ Random thought: what does the term ‘oppositional politics’ mean, if anything, in improvisative practices? #isim2014
→ …what does the term ‘ideology’ mean, if anything, in improvisative practices? #isim2014
→ …’cause, despite talk of the social, what I have heard little of (so far) at #isim2014 is the (explicitly) political.
→ …which may be a reflection more of my own predilections, but I worry about the gentrification of improvisation. #isim2014
→ …what happens to improvisation as an oppositional force when, say, academic classical performers ‘dabble’ in it… #isim2014 [1/2]
→ …w/out necessarily interrogating their own tradition/practice/history and the structures of power? #isim2014 [2/2]
→ A new kind of cross-cultural musicology that “can only be fathomed by the improviser.” #isim2014
→ …but to paraphrase Previte, are we not (always already) mongrels? #isim2014
→ “India, Korea, then Wadada, then Bobby.” hmm #isim2014
→ Is ‘merging’ a useful notion in the context of improvisative performance? #isim2014
→ …Is ‘merging’ a useful notion in the context of improvisative (cross-cultural) meetings? #isim2014
→ “Not trying to drop a bomb.” But are bombs unambiguous across cultural borders? #isim2014
→ …one might intend Operation Enduring Freedom, others might interpret Invasion and Empire Building. #isim2014
→ “Tradition is not a dead thing.” #isim2014
→ …yes, but traditions sometimes die/petrify/fossilize. #isim2014
→ …under what conditions do traditions die/petrify/fossilize? #isim2014
→ “What an [musical, performative] action signifies.” #isim2014
→ ‘Notes’—that word again. #isim2014
→ “There is that elasticity in _everything_.” #isim2014
→ Can we unpack the term ‘energy’ in the context of these discussions of improvisation? #isim2014
→ “To feel secure in that uncertainty is the biggest challenge of any musician, or human being for that matter.” #isim2014
→ “Leave it up to analyst to explain what happened [in spontaneous creation].” #isim2014
→ …part agree, but then why are we here? #isim2014
→ …there is this constant tension btwn intellectual and anti-intellectualism in the traditions of improvisative performance. #isim2014
→ “A future event can affect the present.” #isim2014
→ …reminds me of Ted Chiang’s story of the performative language changes consciousness and sense of causality. #isim2014
→ …which might relate to the quip about leaving analysis to the analyst. #isim2014
→ I have little patience for the regurgitation of amateur physics. #isim2014
→ Going out for air. #isim2014
→ improvised music “goes beyond style.” But does it? #isim2014
→ Is #isim2014 attempting to turn #improvisedmusic into the emblem of salvation for academic (study of) music? #isim2014
→ …where does tokenism end, and revolutionary equality begin? #isim2014
→ …Is it unfair to compare this to (post-)colonial ideas of savages as agents of renewal? #isim2014
→ To borrow from @vijayiyer: “The Jazz Educational Complex.” #isim2014
→ “Transdisciplinary space”—well, okay, but how to reconcile this (utopian) notion w/ the “cross-cultural”? #isim2014
→ “Institutions need to rebuild from the foundation.” #isim2014
→ …yes, but https://t.co/EOidN6pSmp
→ …yes, but https://t.co/yZHlEQRSVK
→ …yes, but https://t.co/gzEsSwYCvl
→ We want to _study_ improvisation, but we precisely do not want interactive destabilizing forces in the structures of academia. #isim2014
→ …Is it possible to rebuild academic (study of) music while keeping the formal structures intact? #isim2014
→ …so where does tokenism end? #isim2014
→ More talk of meditation. #isim2014 tropes.
→ Frustrated. Going out for air. #isim2014
→ “Nobody [at #isim2014] understands that we can’t talk about this w/out being critical!”
→ My thoughts on #isim2014 http://t.co/OWKnq76VFN
→ An academic would never present work w/out citing their sources. #isim2014 [1/6]
→ Should not the academic who studies improvisative practices/traditions also cite specific artists…? #isim2014 [2/6]
→ …rather than hide behind nebulous/generic language? #isim2014 [3/6]
→ If there’s a specific musical/artistic/creative element you’re talking about, surely you must be able to name a source. #isim2014 [4/6]
→ Why the double standards? Are scholars more important? #isim2014 [5/6]
→ …are their ‘possessions’ more valuable than the practitioners of your (supposed) area of expertise? #isim2014 [6/6]
Concert: New York, June 7, 2014
→ Problem w/ oval halls is that, if you’re at the focal point opposite the stage, those on stage will hear everything you say. #isim2014
→ If tomorrow’s gig is my last, then it’ll be the most important one I play. w/ Tom Rainey @ @whynotjazzroom NYC. http://t.co/Pwb2ZXJkZh
→ If ‘tradition’/‘patterns’ remain an unchanged backbone to improvisative meetings, what is achieved by those meetings? #isim2014
→ …seriously. Why bother? #isim2014
→ …or put it another way: re continued enterprise of ‘cross-cultural improvisations,’ an obvious question: now what? what next? #isim2014
→ …I am beginning to suspect that ‘cross-cultural improvisation’ is a cute arts marketing term that, however… #isim2014
→ …signifies little; no goal or purpose in mind. We can happily go our own merry ways at the end of the day… #isim2014
→ …safe from the transformative/revolutionary possibilities of improvisation. #isim2014
→ You know ‘notes’ and ‘patterns’ are the least interesting things about improvisation… #isim2014
→ …and though folk at #isim2014 have mentioned in passing that there’s this other stuff at play in improvisation…
→ …people have been reluctant to open up those black boxes. #isim2014
→ Safe in the knowledge that the scary, truly transformative aspect of improvisation can be left unexplored. #isim2014
→ Is it okay to feel betrayed by these (I have no reason to doubt) Masters of Tradition? #isim2014
→ Is it okay to feel angry about the prescriptions made by these Masters of Tradition? #isim2014
→ I’ll be honest. I walked out of the last thing. But I’m drawn back by Wadada. #isim2014
→ The AACM used two terms to denote their music and practice: ‘creative music’ and ‘free music.’ #isim2014
→ …and _this_ thing I’m hearing right now, I can get behind. #isim2014
→ …singular, powerful, noisy. That African American noise that showed the world How It Could Be Done. #isim2014
→ …a Music of Unbound Possibilities. #isim2014
→ Wadada’s left the stage. I’m leaving this time for real. See y’all tomorrow. #isim2014
→ .@nickreynoldsatw or academia only studies/legitimizes improvisative practices/traditions that emphasize the narrative… #isim2014
→ .@nickreynoldsatw …or academia chooses to impose narrativity onto improvisative practices/traditions. #isim2014
Conference: New York, June 8, 2014
→ How does one know when you cross an idiomatic or traditional border? #isim2014
→ …Rather than thinking of idiomatic vs free improvisation… #isim2014 [1/2]
→ …can we not just think of those borders as having shifted (or simply immaterial). There may be no inside/outside. #isim2014 [2/2]
→ Do you distinguish/delineate those elements inherited from the tradition, the practice, and your own inventions? #isim2014
→ Make an Early Music Noise Here. #isim2014
→ Make a New Music Noise Here. #isim2014
→ How is it that so many introduce improvisation into their practice, and the idiom becomes _more_ a caricature of itself? #isim2014
→ …why is it that improvisation leads us back into the familiar (rather than, as Lacy said, leap into the Unknown)? #isim2014
→ …how is that even possible? (Not a rhetorical question) #isim2014
→ …it’s like being free to do anything, and we end up telling that same anecdote over and over again. #isim2014
→ …it’s like giving what you _presume_ to be the right answer (even though there is no right answer). #isim2014
→ …it’s like being afraid to give the wrong answer (when the question was entirely open). #isim2014
→ …do we not know how to be free? or are we afraid? #isim2014
→ …reminded of Mark Sanders saying that you should not listen to your inner critic; the one who knows the ‘right answer.’ #isim2014
→ Borders can be demolished. Let’s All Cross Borders. Right. Now. #isim2014
→ Talking to D Ewart about how cultural/material exchanges have been happening since the beginning of time. #isim2014
→ …along w/ Previte’s comment, does this not nuke the whole premise of ‘cross-cultural improvisations’? #isim2014
→ I am going to start ISIT: the International Society for Indignant Tweeters. Who’s with me?
→ Some great comments from the floor: concrete suggestions to increase diversity and accessibility. #isim2014
→ “Breaking down the [academic] structure of [how presentations are made].” #isim2014
→ “How was it funded?” #isim2014
→ I am reminded again how much I am the wrong Asian to participate in a ‘cross-cultural improvisation.’ #isim2014
→ …and again: https://t.co/26M9aOMV0p #isim2014
→ Can’t directly compare #isim2014 with #rsa2014 or #amspittsburgh, but I will say that…
→ …#isim2014 does speak seriously/passionately about the need/desire for greater diversity/access.
→ …even if we don’t always have concrete plans. #isim2014
→ Yesterday… Yesterday I… Yesterday I walked… Yesterday I walked past… Yesterday I walked past Philip…
→ But today I swapped CDs with Douglas Ewart. How frickin’ cool is that?!? #isim2014
Post-conference reflections…
→ Final thoughts on #isim2014: the main thing I learned (and in retrospect why I was angry), was about my own prejudices… [1/9]
→ …I had made a lazy, unexamined assumption about improvisation (its practice and its implications)… #isim2014 [2/9]
→ …I had assumed (w/out evidence) that improvisation was intrinsically tranformative/revolutionary/disruptive/noisy/etc, and… #isim2014 [3/9]
→ …that any tradition that incorporated it, must themselves be revolutionary/disruptive//noisy/etc… #isim2014 [4/9]
→ …That, in retrospect, was a naive, unfounded postulation that in turn lead to an erroneous conclusion… #isim2014 [5/9]
→ …I learned that improvisative traditions may not have the tranformative/revolutionary/disruptive/etc as thier focal point… #isim2014 [6/9]
→ …that improvisative traditions/practices might conceivably be conservative/reactionary/etc… #isim2014 [7/9]
→ …I learned that what I (unquestioningly) took as a universal improvisative impulse… #isim2014 [8/9]
→ …was a particular expression of a specifically (post-)Civil Rights African-American (derrived) one. #isim2014 [9/9]
→ Anyway, in case you missed it, this is still my best summary of my reponse to #isim2014: https://t.co/tjv7SOP8k6
→ 0. One more thought on #isim2014’s ‘Cross-Cultural Improvisations’: What, in retrospect, appears to have been at stake is not just the…
→ 1. …nature of improvisation as a means of conservation vs a means of self-determined transformation, but… #isim2014
→ 2. …specific expressions of these notions within a specific discursive framework. #isim2014
→ 3. So we had representatives from practices that are, to varying degrees and in varied ways, post-colonial, nationalist… #isim2014
→ 4. …in which the priorities might be described as a kind of classicism; we had a representative from a… #isim2014
→ 5. …Civil-Rights fueled, Afro-Futurist community; a representative from a vernacular-immersed post-modern avant-garde. #isim2014
→ 6. The idea that we would have dissonance at such a meeting shoudn’t perhaps be surprising, but for a… #isim2014
→ 7. …‘benevolent’ liberal-humanism that acted as the formal umbrella… #isim2014
→ 8. …that, surely, was the single biggest reason for the lack of productive dialogue. #isim2014