Two+ Bagatelles

Cover of ‘Two+ Bagatelles’ by Han-earl Park (photo copyright Jazz em Agosto / Petra Cvelbar)
Photo © Jazz em Agosto / Petra Cvelbar

Listen to some fresh-off-the-pick music, and support an awesome, not-for-profit music venue at the same time!

Out now: solo guitar studies/bagatelles by Han-earl Park. Available from The Vortex’s Bandcamp page, all purchases go towards helping their continued work presenting the very best jazz, improvised, and experimental musics.

Catherine, Nick and I had a fantastic time when we performed at The Vortex in August, and I am very happy to be able to support the venue (with its amazing crew) in this way. Plus, for those who’ve been asking me for a solo recording, here’s a super rare chance to pick up a new one.

Album available to stream via the free Bandcamp app, and download in multiple formats including lossless.

personnel

Han-earl Park (guitar).

track listing

Zero (01:03), One (10:27), Two (05:28). Total duration: 16:59.

recording details

Music by Han-earl Park.

Recorded Berlin, October 2019.

Cover photo © Jazz em Agosto / Petra Cvelbar.
Recorded and mastered by Han-earl Park.

© + ℗ 2019 The Vortex / Han-earl Park.

thanks: Han-earl Park and Dominic Lash plus Corey Mwamba (Manchester, Cambridge and London, May 2015)

Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Corey Mwamba (Tubers MiniFestival, Manchester, May 2, 2015). Photo © 2015 Peter Fay.
Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash and Corey Mwamba (Manchester, May 2, 2015). Photo © 2015 Peter Fay.

Note of thanks for the performances in Manchester, Cambridge and London. Thanks in particular to our hosts (their partners and cats) and organizers: David Birchall and everyone at Tubers; David Grundy; and Alex Ward at Boat-ting (and hope you feel better soon, Sibyl Madrigal). Kudos to all the performers who shares the stage, and to Peter Fay for the documentation [more images…]. And, as always, thanks to all those who came to hear real-time music!

As for The Uncanny Dom Lash and The Astonishing Corey Mwamba, I’ll take off my hat, and bow down, to your formidable and generous musicality (a diabolical combination). I think we made music sometimes brittle, always unexpected, with no gesture lost in play.

Some things to take away from this micro-tour: talking ‘scene’ (creative communities and geographies) with David Birchall, Rex Casswell, Corey and Cathy Heyden; paying The Racially Diverse Trio of Nerdy Guys in comics (thanks to Free Comic Book Day); revisiting my take on soundart and music; finding, with Dom and Rex, unexpected musical possibilities in the imagined names of the royal baby; watching Bark! in motion—off and on-stage—an ensemble that plays like a joke where the punchline never arrives (and it’s awesome); Dom saying that “the details need to work harder”; Steve Beresford telling tales of improvised music past and present; being reminded what an imaginative, crafty and resourceful drummer Steve Noble is (he gives so much for his partners to work with); witnessing the joy of someone coax the musical from unmusical resources (Sonic Pleasure sounding masonry); performing our last gig while Dom’s bass gained a buzz and my guitar’s bridge pickup cr*pped out….

…Talking of which, if you’ll excuse me, I have a guitar to open-up and examine (and hopefully repair before Belfast).

video: studies (Cork, 04-24-15)

For those of you who were interested in such things… a couple of exercises/studies (the second inspired by one of Brahms’) I’ve been working on for a few days. Very rough, and very much work-in-progress. No commentary or breakdown (yet), but let me know if you have questions. More to come…

Han-earl Park amplifier appeal

Old Polytone
Update: the collection is closed. I’d like to thank everyone who contributed. Thanks. Please help me make a little noise.* I’ve managed to get through a year without a functioning guitar amplifier, choosing instead to rely on whatever amp the venue can offer, or borrow one as needed. (And, anyway, my old amp was a battered, world-traveling, budget-airline-surviving, gutted-then-kluged-together, 15 year old Polytone.) For friends and family who’d been wondering what to get me as a gift, and for those generous souls who’d like to help out this itinerant musicians, here’s your answer [update: button disabled.]:

donate disabled

All donations will go to the purchase of a new amplifier (and, depending on the breaks, an amp cover or bag). With a little luck, you’ll be hearing the results soon. Thanks. Thanks. And Thanks.

* and by noise, I mean:

updates

12–30-14: closed collection. Thanks for your generosity.

goodbye bone, hello micarta

Just a quick note of thanks to Chris Larkin, luthier based on a peninsula of a peninsula in Ireland. Chris just setup Esprit, and thanks to him, I got introduced to linen-plastic composite as a nut material, and now know that my preferred action is 1mm on the treble side and 1.3mm on the bass.