My favorite place in Bologna. The picture’s lighting doesn’t do justice to the goodness of the food!
This family-owned place is small, run by a retired musician (as you can tell from amp in the bathroom), his sister and his mother.
Milan was a total blast!
Although it ain’t easy to mix 12 bands in one evening and deal with 11 stage changes and 60 channels of continuously changing audio with dynamics that range from classical strings solos to seven piece metal bands, but such is the incredible variety of Zorn’s body of work and honestly it is right up my alley. I love his music and all the variety so much that doing a show like this goes by very quickly and I enjoy every minute of it really!
Can’t wait for the next one.
Here’s two pics of the stage at its least mic-busy and least people-crowded moment.
In less than 5 hours I’ll be sitting in a big bird on my way to the old continent for a big John Zorn Masada Marathon festival. It’s going to be a phenomenal concert in Milan, with 12 bands in a row (Masada Quartet, Sylvie Curvosier & Mark Feldman duo, Cyro Baptista’s new band Banquet of the Spirits, the acappella quartet Mycale, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bar Kokhba, The Dreamers, Erik Friedlander solo, Bester Quartet, New Klezmer trio, Masada String Trio, Electric Masada).
Doing Front of House sound for such a gigantic concert is obviously no easy task (12 bands, 15 minutes each, 11 quick stage changes, 60 channels of audio on the board) but I am really looking forward to doing it and I have a blast every time. Except for MMW and Bester Quartet I have done sound for all of these cats before so I know it’s gonna be a killer show.
I love going on the road to do these shows but I love being in NYC as well and I love NYC with all my heart… If you love (or hate) NYC you should read this article I was just sent called “50 Reasons to Be Pretty Damn Euphoric You Live in New York City”. It’s pretty hilarious, let me know what you think: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/11/50_reasons_to_b.php
Oct 222010
…and I’m not talking about that hail that came down in Brooklyn a week or two ago… I’m talking about work! Studio life is such that sometimes you have a week with no sessions and then there are weeks like this one where EVERYONE wants to record!!! What is it about the third week of October??? I had to turn down SO MUCH work this week, I hate turning down work! This week I’ve worked with 6 different clients, sometimes two in a day! Crazy.
My friend Robbie Angelucci (a great italian guitar player who moved to LA 15 or so years ago) has a band called Amberside and they finally launched their website, which has a player featuring two mixes I did for them (“Broken Paradigm” and “Don’t Hold Me Back”)… unfortunately it’s just compressed web-ready mp3s, but I remember being happy with those (uncompressed WAV) mixes and the band is rocking (if you like stuff like Incubus, you’ll dig Amberside!). Check out the songs and their new website at http://www.ambersidemusic.com
If you are wondering whether the old-school jazz studio sessions of the past still exist… I can tell you they do because I just did one last weekend.
NY-native now Bologna-based sax player Steve Grossman was in town and so Joe Berger and producer Nakamura put together a great cast of musicians (including the great Larry Lewis on piano) to play some jazz! All the elements of the good old studio gigs (except for maybe cocaine and analog tape) were there: great musicians, awesome musicianship, late hours, great jams… And you (that would me!) better be rolling all the time!
This record might never see the light in the US but will be released in Japan on Nakamura’s label Cheetah (a subsidiary of the Tokyo based Pony Canyon).
Sep 272010
Just saw these incredibly talented musicians perform some traditional Persian material, some originals of theirs, some improv and some I Ching-based sound meditation triads at Zoraspace, a cute little known venue/bar/art gallery on 4th Av in Park Slope.
Eyvind’s magnificent viola playing was complemented by some electronics and sampling/looping techniques as well as by his new found love for the two stringed microtonal setar (whose gracing-style of playing he compared to the ‘green flash’ of the sun). Jessika’s heavenly voice interpreted Persian traditional material in original language and translated, Latin poems of the Virgil era and pieces they wrote themselves. April sparsely accompanied them both with her Arabic hand drums.
I have had/am having the pleasure to record this material at EastSide Sound over the past few months, whenever Eyvind is in town for something, and have a new session with them this week.
If you can catch Eyvind playing with Laurie Anderson at BAM every day until October 3rd, if not definitely check them out online at http://www.myspace.com/eyvindkangeyvind
In the studio today recording with Jessica Pavone’s new distorted viola-driven rock group Army of Strangers… Session is goof great and the musicians are solid. Fun times.
Most musicians I know usually lie down to take a break, she’s the first one who I see that stood up… flipped around!
FYI I did ask her if I could post this picture on my blog
I went to see Laurie’s new show “Delusions” tonight (currently playing at BAM in Brooklyn) and, not to my surprise, it was an amazing show!
Needless to say she is the greatest female story teller NY, if not the world, has had in recent times. This show is still political, but to a much smaller degree than “Homeland”. Above all it is personal, very much so, with tales of dreams, stories about her parents(‘s death), her dog and her travels and encounters. The amazing thing is that all the stories are true, and those who know her to varying degrees, will relate to a lot of what she is saying.
Fenway (her down-pitched male alter-ego voice) is very present too and she even does some singing in between the majestic spoken word parts.
Musically the show is more dynamic, with louder parts and very soft ones. Her supporting group consists of the uber-amazing Eyvind Kang on viola and the super-low-drones-producing horn player Colin Stetson.
Visually “Delusions” marks a return to the projections and to a more complex, but still simple, stage presentation. The beautiful set is made of a huge screen for projections, two smaller side screens for more projections (and to show the silhouettes of her two accompanying musicians) and a white couch in the middle which also serves as a projection surface.
Laurie Anderson is without a doubt one of the most gifted and original artists out there and I miss the times I was on tour with her.
If you live in NY I strongly recommend you, I urge you, to go see the show at BAM (it plays for another few days) and if you are not in NY go see it as soon as she is in a city near you. It is worth every mile you’ll travel and every penny you’ll spend! Guaranteed.
PS here’s some pics I lifted from Brooklyn Vegan
Is it really bad to say I never really checked them out back then? I guess they weren’t that big over in Europe where I used to live although I remember hearing the name thrown around in music magazines… Anyhow, better late than never, right? I’m filling in the gaps in my musical knowledge…
But the real highlight of the night is hanging out with my dear friend Dan again, their tour manager… We’ve been on tour together and got some stories…
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I recorded it at EastSide Sound Studios in NYC after their performance at Japan Society in NY last year. I just recently finished mixing it (also at EastSide Sound) and the famous mastering engineer Seigen Ono mastered it for CD and Super Audio CD at Saidera Mastering.