Finally, thanks to all who came to listen. That’s to be my last visit to New York for sometime, and, audience big or small, it’s always a pleasure to perform for you.
A long-time fan of Mr Rainey’s work, I’m tremendously honored and excited to be sharing a stage with him. And multiply that with Andrea Wolper’s series which promises an open, intimate space for artistic experimentation.
Tonight (Friday, June 6, 2014), at 7:00pm: a performance by ‘Alias Ra’ Mette Rasmussen (saxophones) with Michael Foster (saxophones), Pascal Niggenkemper (doubles bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing at 6:00pm are Gianni Mimmo (saxophone) and Alison Blunt (violin). The event takes place at Downtown Music Gallery (13 Monroe Street, New York, NY 10002-7351) [map…]. Free admission.
Another summary of the updates to my scrapbook since the last review. A few newer clips from Brooklyn and New York which include some of the best music I’ve been involved in (the duo with Gerald Cleaver, in particular, has, for me, some of my best playing), plus a blast from the past: Mathilde 253 in Cork. With the latest updates, I’ve also taken the opportunity to split the scrapbook across two pages (with so much embedded media, it was getting near impossible for those with slower computers and/or connections to load the page).
Music by Han-earl Park, Catherine Sikora and Mike Pride.
Recorded live, April 2, 2014 at Spectrum, New York.
Recorded by Don Mount.
Evan Parker (saxophone) and Han-earl Park (guitar), plus Peter Evans (trumpet) and Okkyung Lee (’cello).
Music by Evan Parker and Han-earl Park, plus Peter Evans and Okkyung Lee.
Recorded live, September 19, 2013 at The Stone, New York.
Recorded by Don Mount.
Stop Press: New venue! Friday, June 6, 2014, at 7:00pm: a performance by the mystery saxophonist, ‘Alias Ra’ Mette Rasmussen with Michael Foster (saxophones), Pascal Niggenkemper (doubles bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar) as part of Soup and Sound House Concert. Also performing are Chris Stover (trombone), Russ Johnson (trumpet), Niels Praestholm (bass) and Andrew Drury (drums). The event takes place at Andrew Drury’s home in Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn (contact him for the location). Recommended donation: $15. Also performing are Gianni Mimmo (saxophone) and Alison Blunt (violin) at 6:00pm. The event takes place at Downtown Music Gallery (13 Monroe Street, New York, NY 10002-7351) [map…]. Free admission.
New venue! Performance by ‘Alias Ra’ Mette Rasmussen (saxophones) with Michael Foster (saxophones), Pascal Niggenkemper (doubles bass) and Han-earl Park (guitar). Also performing (6:00pm): Gianni Mimmo (saxophone) and Alison Blunt (violin). Admission free.
[Details…]
Performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) and Tom Rainey (drums) as part of Andrea Wolper’s Why Not Experiment? Series. Also performing: TransAtlantico (Lamy Istrefi: drums, percussion, sound efx; Lawrence Leathers: drums, sound efx; Brahim Fribgane: percussion, goumbri, oud, sound efx). Recommended donation: $10 per set.
[Details…]
Sunday, June 8, 2014, at 7:30pm: Han-earl Park (guitar) and Tom Rainey (drums) performs as part of Andrea Wolper’s Why Not Experiment? Series. Also performing are TransAtlantico (Lamy Istrefi, Lawrence Leathers and Brahim Fribgane). The event takes place at Why Not Jazz Room (14 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014) [map…]. Recommended donation: $10 per set.
“Guitarist Han-earl Park is a musical philosopher…. Expect unexpected things from Park, who is a delightful shape-shifter….”
Brian Morton (Point of Departure)
“Tom Rainey is a player who swerves between avant-garde notions and a mainstream sensibility and when he plays the smell of invention is in the air”
Joseph Woodard (L.A Times)
Six strings, numerous membranes and metal discs.
One potentiometer plus twenty-two frets; chains, sticks and beaters.
Four arms, four legs; two bodies coupled to artifacts.
Crafty, resourceful, imaginative and virtuosic improvisative collision/dialog between drummer Tom Rainey and guitarist Han-earl Park.
Eris 136199 plays on the crossroads of noise, melody, rhythm, space, density, contrast, synchronicity, asymmetry, serendipity and contradiction. Eris 136199 is the noisy, unruly complexity of composer, computer artist and guitarist Nick Didkovsky, the corporeal, cyborg virtuosity of constructor and guitarist Han-earl Park, and the no-nonsense melodic logic of composer and saxophonist Catherine Sikora.
A composer who enjoys blurry boundaries, Nick Didkovsky founded the avant-rock big band Doctor Nerve, and is a member of Swim This with Gerry Hemingway and Michael Lytle. He is a pioneer of small-systems computer music, and has composed music for ensemble including Bang On A Can All-Stars and the California EAR Unit.
Described by Brian Morton as “a musical philosopher… a delightful shape-shifter”, Han-earl Park is drawn to real-time cyborg configurations in which artifacts and bodies collide. He has performed with some of the finest practitioners of improvised music, is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, and Numbers with Richard Barrett.
Catherine Sikora is “a free-blowing player’s player with a spectacular harmonic imagination and an evolved understanding of the tonal palette of the saxophone” (Chris Elliot, Seacoast Online). She has a long-standing duo project with Eric Mingus, and performs as part of ensembles led by Elliott Sharp, François Grillot and Matt Lavelle.
Together, Didkovsky, Park and Sikora forges an improvisative space where melody can be melody, noise can be noise, meter can be meter, metal becomes metal, bluegrass turns to bluegrass, jazz transforms into jazz, all there, all necessary without imploding under idiomatic pressures.
about the International Society for Improvised Music
ISIM’s purpose is to promote performance, education, and research in improvised music, and illuminate connections between musical improvisation and creativity across fields.
Melding diverse cultures, ethnicities, disciplines, and ideas that shape society at large, today’s musical world is rich with creative expressions that transcend conventional styles and categories. Improvisation is a core aspect of this global confluence.
In addition to other projects, and networking among improvisers, ISIM has held six festival/conferences since 2006, with a full schedule of talks, panel discussions, workshops, and performances during the day, and headliner per- formances in the evenings. Participants, including presenters, headliners, and audience, have been a mixture of academ- ics and people from the wider musical and artistic communities. Reflecting its commitment to diversity in its many forms, ISIM welcomes participants from the widest possible variety of ethnic, racial, cultural, and geographic back- grounds, strongly promotes gender balance, and celebrates work that is rooted in the many styles, genres, ethnic and historical traditions, methodologies and technologies both old and new, that are linked by the central practice of im- provisation. ISIM encourages collaboration with improvisatory practitioners from areas beyond music, such as dance, theater, visual music, and film, and also seeks to make its events open to a wider audience. This includes public school teachers, students, children, individuals from under-served communities, and others from the general cross section of people interested in the arts.