Work in progress…
performance diary 01-22-14 (Belfast, New York)
| date | venue | time | details |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 13, 2014 | Sonic Arts Research Center Queen’s University Belfast, N. Ireland |
1:10pm | Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) with Justin Yang (saxophones) and Caroline Pugh (voice). Han-earl Park will also be giving a seminar presentation on the previous day (Wednesday, 12 March), 1:00pm at the Sonic Lab. Free admission. [Details…] [SARC page…] [Program (PDF)…] |
| April 2, 2014 | Spectrum 121 Ludlow Street Floor 2 (ring bell for 2) New York, NY 10002 |
9:30pm | Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar), Mike Pride (drums) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones). $15 ($10 students and seniors). [Details…] |
| 2014– | Europe | I am based in Europe as of 2014, and I am seeking performance opportunities for, in particular, my Europe-based projects including Numbers (with Richard Barrett), Mathilde 253 (with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! |
| September–October 2014 | Europe | Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) is seeking performance opportunities late-September and October 2014. Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! |
Continue reading “performance diary 01-22-14 (Belfast, New York)”
Happy New Year: 2014
farewell, Brooklyn, it’s been a blast
Let’s start with a kind of personal Top Ten. In no particular order: Han-earl Park with Ingrid Laubrock; with Tim Perkis and Harris Eisenstadt; as part of Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora; with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen and Michael Evans; Gerald Cleaver; Tom Blancarte; Dominic Lash; Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton; and with Evan Parker, Brooklyn and New York, 2012–2013. Videos by Scott Friedlander, Don Mount and Kevin Reilly.
I moved to Brooklyn back in December 2011, and I’m grateful and privileged to have been part of, even briefly, such a gracious, vibrant, creative, fun and welcoming community.
I’m particularly indebted to Andrew, Jesse, Michael, Adam, Anna and Andrea for introducing me to the (cultural) geography/neighborhood(s); to Bruce, Wadada and Ras who gave me my first few gigs; and to Tim and Evan for offering me sideman gigs. And a very big thanks to Josh, Catherine and Nick for much of the above, and for collaborating on some long-term projects. To everyone, I hope to repay the your generosity (and hope to catch up when I’m back in Brooklyn/NYC).
Now back in Cork, and, for what feel like the first time in a long time, I’m arriving without a gig in town (and, to my surprise, I’m not too unhappy about that). Some plans ahead (solo performance at SARC for starters), fingers crossed, something will work out.
Anyway, as posted earlier, I’m seeking performances for Numbers (Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park), Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) and Mathilde 253 (Charles Hayward, Han-earl Park and Ian Smith). Interested promoters, venues, festivals and sponsors, please get in touch! [Details…]
Free Jazz: Catherine Sikora, Han-earl Park and François Grillot, ‘Tracks in the dirt’
Paul Acquaro at Free Jazz Blog writes that Catherine Sikora, Han-earl Park and François Grillot’s Tracks in the dirt (Clockwork Mercury Press 003) is an “enjoyable listen for open ears”, and that “chance encounters and smart musical ideas that make this recording so effective.”
The opening track, ‘Helix’ contains some of my favorite moments of the recording. Sikora’s soprano sax sounds like it is drawing a line from each hit of the bass, with Park coloring in the spaces between. Park, with whom she also released Cork 04-04-11, is an understated and sympathetic accompanist throughout.
Feel the force of Sikora’s playing too—halfway through the second track, ‘The Chopping Block’ her soprano is clear and cutting, the melodic lines spinning and swirling around Park’s textures and Grillot’s rhythmic pulse. [Read the rest…]
[More about this recording…] [All reviews…]
Also by Catherine Sikora and Han-earl Park
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.
seeking performances (Europe, 2014)
I will be moving back to Cork this month, and I am seeking performances for the following projects/ensembles in Europe, 2014. Interested promoters, venues, festivals and sponsors, please get in touch!
- Numbers: Richard Barrett (electronics) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Berlin/Cork-based. [About this duo…]
- Eris 136199: Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones). New York/Cork-based. Seeking gigs in September/October 2014 in particular; contact me for other dates. [About this ensemble…]
- Mathilde 253: Charles Hayward (drums, percussion and melodica), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Ian Smith (trumpet and flugelhorn). London/Cork-based. [About this ensemble…]
In addition, I (Han-earl Park) will be available for performances in solo or (ad-hoc) ensemble contexts.
Contact me for further information, audio recordings, etc. (some material only available to promoters).
Crucible Sound: interview with Han-earl Park
Over at Crucible Sound, Anthony Levin-Decanini interviews Han-earl Park about idiom, identity, collaborators, teaching and a-ha moments:
Idiom, tradition, identity, history (personal or collective) are things that I value. I tend not to subscribe to the vanilla notion of a pure, non-idiomatic state. I value the meeting: I want to know who you are, who I am, and that fascinating stuff is when those things collide—what we have in common, and what separates us. Border crossings are always fascinating; full of contradictions and (potential) misunderstandings….
…Meetings and border crossings make me think of brief encounters, limited investment, not long-arc relationships. Is that what free improvisers are left with: connecting only in that moment? Is that initial collision potentially more interesting to hear than when musicians get to know each other intimately (and calculate accordingly)?
…I do value the band, of long-term collaborations. It allows for greater complexity of interaction, greater speeds of decision making, more oblique, unexpected, choices. We, Eris 136199, coined a new term—‘weirderation’—after our last performance, to denote something—a set of relationships, decision making process—getting just that little bit weirder with each iteration.
On the other hand, spaces such as Crucible Sound have their own value. I’m not sure ‘brief encounters’ necessarily equates to ‘limited investment’ in those relationships.
On Thursday (November 7, 2013), at 8:00pm (doors: 7:30pm): Han-earl Park will be performing with David Bernabo, Edgar Um Bucholtz, J Wayne Clinton and Lenny Young as part of Crucible Sound at ModernFormations (4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224) [map…]. Suggested donation: $7. [Details…]
thanks: Eris 136199 (DMG, NYC) and Park-Sikora-Sinton (Harvestworks, NYC)
Acknowledgments re the, for the time being, final performances of two projects: Eris 136199 on October 27, and Metis 9 on October 29. My hat goes off to my comrades Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora who make Eris 136199 the site of unexpected choices—of twists and turns. We’d thought our previous performance was weird, this one warranted a new term:
weirderation wir-də-ˈrā-shən noun. process that results in something just that little bit weirder with each iteration. [compare examples A and B]
I am greatly indebted to Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton for doing the heavy lifting, and turning my barebone sketches and speculations into music; for engageing intelligently, adventurously and imaginatively with the context at hand. These past months have been a learning experience for me as tactician, and I couldn’t have asked for better teachers.
Thanks to Bruce and Manny at the World’s Best Record Store for hosting us, and for their unshakable advocacy of new music. Thanks to Carol Parkinson, Hans Tammen, Kevin Ramsay, Emilio Vavarella and everyone at Harvestworks for hosting our performance, their enthusiasm, and for their support. Thanks again to Kevin Reilly for his video documentation of the DMG performance [watch/listen…], and, as always, thanks to all who came to listen and witness the musicking—real-time and interactive.
Next up: performance in Pittsburgh (November 7) as part of Crucible Sound, then back to New York (November 17) for a duo performance with Viv Corringham [canceled…] back to Brooklyn (November 20) for a duo performance with Anna Webber. See the performance diary for up-to-date info.
reminder: Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Josh Sinton at Harvestworks, New York
Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 29, 2013), at 7:00pm: perhaps for the last time, Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet) will render Metis 9. The performance takes place at Harvestworks (596 Broadway #602, New York, NY 10012) [map and directions…]. Free admission.
reminder: Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky, Han-earl Park and Catherine Sikora) at Downtown Music Gallery, New York
This Sunday (October 27, 2013), at 6:00pm: maybe your last chance to hear Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Han-earl Park (guitar), and Catherine Sikora (saxophones), a.k.a. Eris 136199, visit the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. Also performing is Samm Bennett. The event takes place at Downtown Music Gallery (13 Monroe Street, New York, NY 10002-7351) [map…]. Free admission.
performance diary 10-23-13 (Brooklyn, New York, Pittsburgh)
| date | venue | time | details |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 27, 2013 | Downtown Music Gallery 13 Monroe Street New York, NY 10002 |
6:00pm | Performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones). Also performing: Samm Bennett. Free admission. [Details…] [DMG page…] |
| October 29, 2013 | Harvestworks 596 Broadway #602 New York, NY 10012 |
7:00pm | Performance of Metis 9 by Han-earl Park (guitar), Catherine Sikora (saxophones) and Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet). Free admission. [Details…] [Harvestworks page…] |
| November 7, 2013 | ModernFormations 4919 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15224 |
8:00pm (doors: 7:30pm) | Performance by David Bernabo (guitar), Edgar Um Bucholtz (coronet, trash), J Wayne Clinton (synthesizer, homemade instruments), Han-earl Park (guitar) and Lenny Young (oboe) as part of Crucible Sound. Suggested donation: $7. [Details…] [Crucible Sound page…] |
13 Monroe Street New York, NY 10002 |
Canceled! Free admission. |
||
| November 20, 2013 | IBeam 168 7th Street Brooklyn, NY 11215 |
8:30pm | Performance by Anna Webber (saxophone) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing: Joe Moffett (trumpet), Carlo Costa (drums) and Dan Peck (tuba). $10 suggested donation. [Details…] |
| November 21, 2013 | Andrew Drury’s home [Contact for location…] Lefferts Gardens Brooklyn, NY |
7:00pm | Soup and Sound House Concert with Jack Wright (saxophones) and Ben Wright (double bass) with Andrew Drury (percussion), Joe Moffett (trumpet), Dan Peck (tuba), Han-earl Park (guitar), Michael Evans (percussion) and others. Recommended donation: $10. [Details…] |
| November 26, 2013 | Douglass Street Music Collective 295 Douglass Street Gowanus Brooklyn, NY 11217 |
7:00pm | Gowanus Company curated by Kyoko Kitamura, Josh Sinton and Han-earl Park. Performers: Dan Blake (saxophone), Olie Brice (double bass), Viv Corringham (voice and electronics), Nick Didkovsky (guitar), Michael Evans (drums), Ken Filiano (double bass), Christopher Hoffman (’cello), Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Kyoko Kitamura (voice), Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone), Jeremiah Lockwood (voice and guitar), Russ Lossing (piano), Han-earl Park (guitar), Tom Rainey (drums), Josh Sinton (saxophone and clarinet), Fay Victor (voice) and others. Recommended donation: $10. [Details…] [DSMC page…] |
| 2014– | Europe | I will be moving back to Europe at the start of 2014, and I am seeking performance opportunities for, in particular, my Europe-based projects including Numbers (with Richard Barrett), Mathilde 253 (with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith), and io 0.0.1 beta++ (with Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder). Interested promoters, venues and sponsors, please get in touch! |
Continue reading “performance diary 10-23-13 (Brooklyn, New York, Pittsburgh)”
Bird is the Worm: Work Spaces
As Dave Sumner describes it, Work Spaces is “a series of photos of artist work spaces… the places where the creative process takes shape and form,” and in this edition features:
Han-earl Park work space in his Kensington, Brooklyn apartment. According to Park, it is also where Gisel the cat performs her role as music critic. [More…]
Also featured as part of Work Spaces is Catherine Sikora, Ian Smith and Han-earl Park’s download album which Sumner previously reviewed, and on this occasion describes as “improvised music, straight from the heart”. [More about this recording…] [All reviews…]
Also available for download [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.