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Tag Archives: anthony o’connor

Lab report November 10th 2008: out of my depth

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Not exactly coasting, but I’ve been fairly comfortable with the tactics, strategies and lexicons I’ve deployed at Stet Lab. Minor criticisms here and there of course, but nothing that seemed to warrant a wholesale rethinking of what to play or how to improvise. But those […]

Lab report July 10th 2008: consequences of a noisy head

Normally, nothing runs through my head when improvising. Occasionally, a thought will suggest, in an unobtrusive way, “Oh, that’s quite cool, you should copy that”. Or, as when I was first messing around with extended techniques on my bass, “My luthier’s gonna kill me…” But, at this Stet Lab, for the first time, a thought […]

Lab report July 10th 2008: fitting the square piece into that triangular hole

It’s good, I think, to think tactically about improvisation, and group improvisation in particular. You know, however, that you’ve lost the game in improvisation when you’re preempting the music. You don’t want to be thinking this is how it should be, goddamnit, and I will fit that square piece into that triangular hole. Much more […]

Stet Lab July 10th 2008: audio recordings

Audio recordings of the July 10th Stet Lab are now online.

Stet Lab July 10th 2008 (reminder)

This month’s evening of improvisations and extemporizations will take place this Thursday (July 10th). The ninth Stet Lab will feature guest artist Mike Hurley on piano, who will be joined by bassist Neil O’Loghlen.

Lab report June 12th 2008: being the odd-one-out

There’s a lot to be said for being the odd-one-out: you can be lazy. There’s also a lot to be said for putting two ‘alikes’ together; be it the same instrumentation, or people who share a name. Okay, AFAIK, tactically, as an improviser, that latter factor doesn’t make an iota of difference, but I can […]

Lab report June 12th 2008: noisiest ‘hoedown’

“This was possibly the noisiest ‘hoedown’ ever………………………………………” —Everybody’s sub-conscious Anyway, it began with several short burst to get things started, from the house band of the evening. This comprised Eoin Callery (mountain dulcimer), Susan Geaney (flute), Tony O’Connor (bass guitar) and Barry Twomey (guitar). A very well behaved bass player who could have crush the […]

Stet Lab June 12th 2008: audio recordings

Audio recordings of the June 12th Stet Lab are now online.