reminder: Han-earl Park, Mike Pride and Catherine Sikora at Spectrum, New York

Han-earl Park, Mike Pride and Catherine Sikora
This Wednesday (April 2, 2014), at 9:30pm: a performance by Han-earl Park (guitar), Mike Pride (drums) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) takes place at Spectrum (121 Ludlow Street, Floor 2 (ring bell for 2), New York, NY 10002) [map…]. $15 ($10.00 students and seniors).

performance diary 03-29-14 (Brooklyn, Cork, New York)

upcoming performances
date venue time details
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…]
April 3, 2014 Andrew Drury’s home
[Contact for location…]
Lefferts Gardens
Brooklyn, NY
7:00pm Soup and Sound House Concert with Javier Areal Velez (guitar), Jack Wright (saxophones), Andrew Drury (percussion) and Han-earl Park (guitar).
Recommended donation: $15.
May 3, 2014 St Anne’s Church
Shandon
Cork, Ireland
2:00pm Han-earl Park (guitar) performs as part of Sonic Vigil 8.
Free admission.
[Details…]
June 6, 2014 The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
55 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011
3:00pm Performance by Eris 136199 (Nick Didkovsky: guitar; Han-earl Park: guitar; and Catherine Sikora: saxophones) as part of ISIM: Cross-Cultural Improvisation III.
Details to follow…
June 8, 2014 Why Not Jazz Room
14 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
7:30pm 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). Details to follow…
Recommended donation: $10 ($15 both sets).
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 03-29-14 (Brooklyn, Cork, New York)”

thanks: Han-earl Park with Justin Yang and Caroline Pugh at Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast

Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast, March 12, 2014
Quick thanks for all involved in the seminar/performance at the Sonic Arts Research Center earlier this month. My hat goes off to all the administrative and technical folk: Chris Corrigan, Pearl Young, Marian Hanna, and, especially, Craig Jackson (who got the A/V up and running for the presentation). Kudos also to Miguel Angel Ortiz Pérez for acting as host when Justin was busy with other business.

Finally, big thanks to Caroline Pugh for the noise, out of the box choices, the occasional melody, and the momentary glimpse of semantics, and to Justin Yang for sharing the stage, and for inviting me in the first place.

Next up: performances coming on April 2 with Mike Pride and Catherine Sikora at Spectrum, New York. See the performance diary for up-to-date info.

tomorrow: Han-earl Park with Justin Yang and Caroline Pugh at Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast

Han-earl Park, Justin Yang and Caroline PughTomorrow (Thursday, March 13, 2014) at 1:10pm: a performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) with Justin Yang (saxophones) and Caroline Pugh (voice) takes place at the Sonic Lab, (Sonic Arts Research Center, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland) [map…]. Free admission. Here’s the program:
QR code (URL)
And at 1:00pm today (Wednesday, 12 March), Han-earl Park will be giving a seminar presentation at the Sonic Lab.

performance: Han-earl Park, Mike Pride and Catherine Sikora at Spectrum, New York

Han-earl Park, Mike Pride and Catherine Sikora
Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 9:30pm: a performance by Han-earl Park (guitar), Mike Pride (drums) and Catherine Sikora (saxophones) takes place at Spectrum (121 Ludlow Street, Floor 2 (ring bell for 2), New York, NY 10002) [map…]. $15 ($10.00 students and seniors).

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [Spectrum calendar…]

unnecessary blurb

Of all the ways to practice, structure or perform music, why might we choose improvisation? There’s no right answer to this question, but addressing it may help us to… a real-time, interactive improvisative meeting of guitarist Han-earl Park, drummer Mike Pride, and saxophonist and Catherine Sikora, the performance… nomadic tribes of Acirema… “Would it be fair to say ‘invaluable insight’?” “Of course not,” she replied, “it’s never fair….” And yet there’s always this….

Click….

On his returning to New York, Park sees an… “but they’re missing something essential, because the planes don’t land…” runaway winners… and as the only drummer to have performed with both… embrace a wide spectrum… Sikora, far too generous to be performing with… “pushes the boundaries, or plushes the boundaries…?” the asymmetrical soft-clipping stage which consists of the the diodes tied back-to-back in the feedback path of the… and as Eco may have asked: bad dream or bad simulation…? Canada’s 5 feet and 6 inches… as far as it goes.

about the performers

Improviser, guitarist and constructor Han-earl Park has been crossing borders and performing fuzzily idiomatic, on occasion experimental, always traditional, open improvised musics for over fifteen 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 is part of Mathilde 253 with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith, Eris 136199 with Nick Didkovsky and Catherine Sikora, and Numbers with Richard Barrett. He is the constructor of the machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, a project performed in coalition with Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder. He has recently performed with Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Dunmall, Lol Coxhill, Mark Sanders, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, Pat Thomas, Andrew Drury, Josh Sinton, Dominic Lash, and as part of ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker, and Pauline Oliveros. Festival appearances include Freedom of the City (London), Sonorities (Belfast), Sonic Acts (Amsterdam), dialogues festival (Edinburgh), and CEAIT (California). His recordings have been released by labels including Slam Productions and Creative Sources.

Park taught improvisation at the UCC Department of Music, and founded and curated Stet Lab, a space for improvised music in Cork.

Born and raised in Southern Maine, but based out of New York City since 2000, Mike Pride currently leads From Bacteria To Boys, and the 7-drummer installation-band Drummer’s Corpse.  Both record for AUM Fidelity.  Pride is renowned for his ability to excel in a wide range of genres and ensembles. He has worked with everyone from improvised music icon Anthony Braxton to punk legends Millions Of Dead Cops, toured extensively on four continents and appeared on more than 85 recordings.

A short list of his collaborators includes Mick Barr, Boredoms, Eugene Chadbourne, Nels Cline, Andrew D’Angelo, Trevor Dunn, Dynamite Club, Peter Evans, Milford Graves, Mary Halvorson, Curtis Hasselbring, Nona Hendryx, Jon Irabagon, Haino Keiji, Kirk Knuffke, George Lewis, Bill McHenry, Tony Malaby, Sam Mickens, Butch Morris, Joe Morris, William Parker, Matana Roberts, Herb Robertson, Jamie Saft, Sonny Simmons, Jason Stein, Nate Wooley, and Otomo Yoshihide.

Pride’s versatility doesn’t end with his eclectic résumé as a popular sideman and leader/co-leader of many active ensembles spanning the worlds of modern-jazz, avant-rock, noise and doom metal improv. He is also a busy educator and clinician, a soundtrack composer for TV shows, video games and independent films, and an experienced and exhibited visual artist.

Since making her way to New York City from West Cork, Ireland to study abstract improvisation, Catherine Sikora has become a well-known face and sound in New York creative music circles. She has worked with Elliott Sharp, Eric Mingus, Michael Evans, Matt Lavelle, Jeremy Bacon, François Grillot and Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, among many others. Her undeniably unique approach sets her apart from everyone else, even when surrounded by the most original and creative voices in New York City. Sikora is a contributing writer to the book “Silent Solos-Improvisers Speak” (Buddy’s Knife Publishing, Köln, DE) and is currently working on producing a solo recording.

performance: Han-earl Park with Justin Yang and Caroline Pugh at Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast

Han-earl Park, Justin Yang and Caroline Pugh
Thursday, March 13, 2014, at 1:10pm: a performance by Han-earl Park (guitar) with Justin Yang (saxophones) and Caroline Pugh (voice) takes place at the Sonic Lab, (Sonic Arts Research Center, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland) [map…]. Free admission.

Han-earl Park will also be giving a seminar presentation on the previous day (Wednesday, 12 March), 1:00pm at the Sonic Lab.

See the performance diary for up-to-date info. [SARC page…] [Program (PDF)…]

performance diary 01-22-14 (Belfast, New York)

upcoming performances
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)”

video: Gowanus Company at Douglass Street Music Collective, Brooklyn

Scott Friedlander has uploaded video recordings of Gowanus Company (November 26, 2013). As I wrote previously:

Big, heart-felt thanks to Kyoko and Josh for organizing the event. I’m touched, and could not have asked for a better send-off. Thanks to everyone who made music, and for creating that welcoming, friendly vibe. (And a particular pleasure to finally perform with Kyoko, Ken and Fay!) And thanks again to Scott Friedlander for the documentation.

From that vocal/guitar chorus (Kyoko, Viv, Fay, Nick and I) to the jazz racket of Ken and I joined by Tom and Ingrid… my spirits have been lifted!

Gowanus Company was curated by Kyoko Kitamura, Josh Sinton and Han-earl Park. Performers were Dan Blake (saxophones), Olie Brice (double bass), Viv Corringham (voice), 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 Fay Victor (voice). [Details…]

Happy New Year: 2014

Original images © 2013 Emilio Vavarella; © 2013 Scott Friedlander; © 2013 Don Mount; and © 2013 Han-earl Park.
Original photographs/images © 2013 Emilio Vavarella; © 2013 Scott Friedlander; © 2013 Don Mount; and (cc) 2013 Han-earl Park.

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…]