Tag Archives: avantgarde

Spring Forward

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A quick note on a pair of shows coming up in the next week:

Dels in a boxThe Delusionaires make a (seemingly) triumphant return to one of our favorite stomps from the good ol’ days, The Emerald Bar in St. Petersburg. It’s been many a year since we’ve walked through that beer-stained doorway and can’t wait to swill our fill alongside St. Pete’s finest. Don’t know if anyone we knew then still works there, but I’m sure whoever is serving will do The Emerald proud. We’ll be there Saturday, March 8 along with The Intoxicators and Crippled Masters. It’ll be epic, if not downright terrifying.

Milton_bradley_portraitThe next afternoon, Sunday, March 9 at 2pm, has me still in St. Pete, this time at the main library for New Music on a Sunday Afternoon, presented by The New Music Conflagration, Inc. This will be the final performance of Milton Bradley, a game piece I created for the 2012 CageFest in Jacksonville. Although this is the fifth or sixth performance of the piece, it is the first time I will present it on Florida’s west coast. Joining me in the quartet will be Kris Gruda on guitar, electronics and voice, A.J. Herring on trombone, guitar and alto saxophone, and Elizabeth A. Baker on piano, theremin, and an as yet unnamed third instrument. You can read more about the game piece here.

Hope to see all of you on the dreamy shores (or side streets) of St. Pete.

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2014 Off and Running

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A slew of upcoming shows to begin the year:

January 10 and 11: Midnight Exterminations: A tribute to William S. Burroughs. Here’s the full event disclosure:

1461572_10202380018879145_740552842_nA tribute reading of William S. Burroughs accompanied by segments of avante garde musical arrangements. This productions orations will be performed by: Megan Faubel, Patrick Greene and Christian Kelty. All musical composition is written by Dana Fasano , Jim Ivy, Kris Gruda and Todd Elliott. Please come and enjoy this event with us and celebrate what would have been Mr.Burroughs 100th birthday upcoming on Feburary 5. 2014…. 12a.m. Janurary 10th and 11th… $ 5 cover @ The Venue.

January 31: The Delusionaires with D.J. Dots at Nobby’s St. Augustine. Our favorite vinyl spinner joins us for an over-the-top party.

Fun_house_reissueAn as of yet unannounced special performance of the entire Funhouse recording by The Stooges in February. More details to come.

And more shows in March including the final performance of the game piece, Milton Bradley and another surprise appearance by The Delusionaires.

Also slated is a Gatto Pazzo release and my TrIP Project contribution, Discarded Angel, full release. More detail to come.

A Party In Saint Petersburg

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venture compoundSo it is now set: Black Beast of CHANG will have it’s CD release show at The Venture Compound in St. Petersburg, Florida on October 12. Also on the bill will be Oblongata, Leveret, Lovebrrd, Rest in Satin Silence. Show starts at 9pm, $5 cover.

kronos-cover-smallThe CD, titled Kronos, is loosely based upon the ancient Greek myth of the Titan King and his downfall. In actuality, the recording is a live in studio improvisation and contains no overdubs or edits. The four “acts” were created as they are heard and in that order. I split the pieces into smaller “bite-sized” bits for digestion. It just happened to fit the story incredibly well. Besides, who could resist basing a work upon a story that contains castration, war, humiliation, and the eating of one’s children.

DelsIn other news, The Delusionaires once again kick off the dust of neglect and set sail on another round of boozy shows, this time in Orlando, at Will’s Pub on Friday, November 15 with Shannon and the Clams, and in Atlanta on Saturday, November 23 with The Stents! I believe there be a wedding sometime in between somewhere…

Gatto Pazzo has awoken from their hibernation and has recorded another hours worth of gold. I love that band!

And finally: NEW BAND ALERT: A new line up has emerged with a new sound that’s developing quite well. No details to you yet, but I’ll keep you informed. Let’s just say the rehearsals are banging!

Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe

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the-book-of-knotsMay means many things but for me, May means great music. May marks the greening of the grounds, but first and foremost, May marks the time for the wonderful FIMAV festival in Victoriaville!

zorn1This year’s line-up is, once again, outstanding: Iva Bittova/Gyan Riley/Evan Ziporyn, Michel Doneda/Tatsuya Nakatani, Haunted House, Oxbow, ZGA, Anna Homler, The Book of Knots (!), The Thing and Thurston Moore, Hikashu, and many more. And to close out the festival this year, a full day of John Zorn projects to mark his 60th birthday, including Moonchild, The Dreamers, Electric Masada, chamber ensembles, a “song project”, and solo church organ! Hooray for May! More details here.

wilmer14_7950To top off the month of May, there will be a tribute to Albert Ayler at Jacksonville’s Burro Bar on May 26th. This show was set up and organized by Jamison Williams, who asked me to participate. I have arranged The Spiritual Unity Suite, a suite based upon the Spiritual Unity album, with a bit of other Ayler thrown in. Other musicians participating in the evening include Jamison Williams, Kris Gruda, Steve Bristol, A.J. Herring, Bill Henderson, Jack Allen, Jeff Abbott, Kathy Burkett, Jason Dean Arnold, Dan Kozak, Tim Albro, Micheal Lanier, and Lucy Bonk. It will be a monumental tribute to a monumental artist. Be there if you can.

Of Gongs and Kings…

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Mark your calendars:

nakataniTatsuya Nakatani solo and Gong Orchestra will be performing at the Church of Holy Colors in Gainesville, Florida on February 27th. Gatto Pazzo will open the show. Gatto Evan will also be participating in the Gong Orchestra. If you’ve never witnessed Tatsuya Nakatani, then what are you waiting for?

Nakatani’s approach to music is visceral, non-linear and intuitively primitive, expressing an unusually strong spirit while avoiding any categorization. He creates sound via both traditional and extended percussion techniques, utilizing drums, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects and bells, as well as various sticks, kitchen tools and homemade bows, all of which manifest in an intense and organic music that represents a very personal sonic world. His approach is steeped in the sensibilities of free improvisation, experimental music, jazz, rock, and noise, and yet retains the sense of space and quiet beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music. His percussion instruments can imitate the sounds of a trumpet, a stringed instrument or an electronic device to the extent that it becomes difficult to recognize the source of the sound. He has devoted himself to a musical aesthetic where rhythm gives way to pulse, often in a way that is not always audible or visible, in currents that incorporate silence and texture.

KingKhanBBQThe Delusionaires will be opening two shows for King Khan and BBQ Show (!!!!), April 22nd at The Basement in Atlanta, and 23rd at Siberia in New Orleans. If we all survive this extravaganza, there will be many sordid stories to tell. THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO SOUTHERN U.S. SHOWS OF THIS TOUR! DON’T MISS IT!

AuschAlso of note: the new limited edition CD from Gatto Pazzo, Ausch Dönitz, will be available at the Tatsuya Nakatani show, all in an artfully crafted, hand made slim case. Buy it while it lasts. Thank you for your patronage.

Until The End Of The World

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2012 winds down and unless the Mayan myths are correct, 2013 is just over the horizon. As always, much to do, not enough time to get it done quickly.

Danny Feedback’s Crack Rock Opera will be presenting it’s newest tale in a very limited run (two nights) on December 20th (Will’s Pub) and 21st (Peacock Room) because, according to Mayan prophecy, there will be no December 22nd. So get your fill of rock and roll debauchery while you can.

Flooze Party the upcoming full-length vinyl release from The Delusionaires makes its debut at the release party, Friday, January 18, 2013 (providing we are all still alive) at Will’s Pub. An evening sure to be remembered, at least until the next morning. Joining the Dels will be Gravitron and Golden Pelicans.

Hal McGee continues his long running Apartment Music series in Gainesville on the afternoon of December 22nd. These shows are intimate and a LOT of fun.

A few other items to mention before the world ends:

Gatto Pazzo‘s two extremely limited edition art-packaged CDs are still available here or from me directly. There are 8 copies of Japanese Lunches and 9 copies of Doberman Dalmatian left, so if you want one, what are you waiting for?

Work is well underway on the Son of CHANG studio release. This should be completed just after the beginning of the year. Man, it sounds great! Excellently recorded by Evan Shafran.

At the recent Urban ReThink Sunday afternoon improvised music show I performed in a trio with John David Eriksen (cello) and A.J. Herring (guitar). I was very pleased with how it sounded. The performance was recorded and may eventually be available, but I look forward to more collaborations with these two gentlemen.

October Feast

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There is plenty brewing for the month of October.

Gatto Pazzo will deliver a rare (only the third) performance at the October 10th B.L.U.R.T. show at SIP in Orlando. Gonna be a great show with other artists including Kevin Greenspon (from California), Electric Inertia (from Ohio), Hardon Collider (from Ohio), Whitey Alabastard (from outer space), Quantyzer, and our ol’ pal Trotsky’s Watercooler.

Available for the first time at this B.L.U.R.T. show will be the first two releases from the extremely limited edition art/CD projects by Gatto Pazzo. These items will be hand-made, unique, beautiful, will include lots of artwork by the trio, and will not last long, as they will be produced in very small numbers.

A very exciting event on October 19th: The Delusionaires will crawl out of the basement for a one-time special show, filling the honorable slot of warm up band for the amazing Tav Falco and Panther Burns!!!!! This will be a very special evening. Hangovers predicted.

And rounding out the month will be the latest installment of the improvised music showcase at Urban ReThink on October 28th beginning at 3pm. Details are still being worked out, but, as always, these showcases are not to be missed.

Summer Comes To A Close

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The onslaught of sweltering humidity and routine afternoon thunderstorms marks the last full month of summer, although in Florida, September brings little relief. No new releases yet, but at least two are in the works.

The Delusionaires will soon have a new vinyl release of all new recordings. Artie Mondello has been putting in much overtime to make sure it moves forward as quickly as possible.

I have been sifting through hours and hours of Gatto Pazzo recordings to compile a sampling of what we do. I find editing to be the most difficult part of preparing a new release. Should be out in a few months. Could be a multi-disc release.

Two upcoming shows of note:

On Friday, August 17th, the one-time-only performance of Vrrrooom! by Son of CHANG will occur at Uncle Lou’s in Orlando. An all-star cast of Danny Feedback, Evan Shafran, and Todd Elliott will join me as we cue card the terrain of my imagination. 10pm start time. Son of CHANG will be only a portion of the evening’s event know as B.L.U.R.T. Other performances include Hal and Mark McGee, C.A.N.S., The Jim Parsons Project, and more. Also, as part of the B.L.U.R.T. show, I will be performing in an improvised trio with Dana Fasano and Dan Reeves, founder of B.L.U.R.T.

Urban ReThink will be the location of the second performance of my game piece, Milton Bradley, as improvisors from all over Florida will gather in Orlando for an afternoon of musical mayhem. Joining me for Milton Bradley will be Kris Gruda, Jamison Williams, and Jason Dean Arnold. The afternoon event will start at 3pm. To read more about the Milton Bradley game piece please follow this link. Also scheduled on this event will be SugaWack, Fresh Ground Umlaut, and more.

A couple of new/unavailable tracks have been added to the soundcloud page. Have a listen.

Travelin’ The Spaceways: A Tribute to Sun Ra

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Note to Jacksonville: A new experimental music venue is opening up in late May, courtesy of Jamison Williams, saxophonist extraordinaire. The new venue, called +Solo, will have it’s official grand opening on May 25th and 26th, during the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. A veritable who’s who of Florida improvisors will be on hand, performing throughout the night.

For my contribution on the night of the 25th I am organizing a large ensemble in commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the passing of Sun Ra who left this planet on May 30, 1993. The performance will be a conducted, semi-structured improvisation that will include several of Sun Ra’s compositions. I’m very excited about this as Sun Ra was a HUGE influence on my development as an improvisor.

Stay tuned. Second stop is Jupiter.