Friday, July 07, 2006

Notnoise! Notmusic! Notmichael!

Jeff Davis called me up on July 4th to touch base about finishing up Not Made of Stone, and while we were talking he revealed that Michael Haumesser is back in the Santa Cruz area after some years out on the East Coast. (He engineered and mixed my first album, Taste the Wall.) This is very cool news. Find out all about him at http://www.notnoise.com.

Speaking of dear friends from way back, I got to hear Rick Walker do his looping thang at the Luggage Store Gallery last night. He looped the sounds of many orange objects, so I guess he has moved on from the Translucent Day-Glo Lime Green Plastic theme (except for a green clarinet). It was really cool to see and hear him. He also improvised on a toy piano which was a gift from Chris.

LX Rudis opened with a solo set on his Matrix-12 analog synth. LX's set attracted a black cat, who prowled back and forth on the ledge outside the gallery windows looking for a way in. When the synth music stopped, the cat took off. So he must have liked the vintage synth sounds.

The evening was very laid back, like we were all hanging out with friends who happened to be making music. After the show John Hanes and Lucio Menegon told me stories about how they knew Rick from way, way back (in John's case even before Tao Chemical). Rick showed John how to drone on his frame drum.

I was telling Lucio about my flute quartet (Remove Before Flight) and he misunderstood me and thought I said "flip quartet". Now I'm wondering if I should write one. First I need to figure out what the "flip" designation actually means; whether it's (a) four people turning flips, (b) four people flipping objects over that will thereby make sounds, or (c) four people flipping each other off. Or the audience. Perhaps it's all three, but that would be a very hard piece.

John and Lucio and I escorted one another to BART after it was all over.

Before the Luggage Store Gallery event I got to hear a concert at the Asian Art Museum. It was the Theater of Yugen featuring many improvising musicians and Noh dancers. It was a very beautiful, powerful, and well-attended event. It started very early in the evening which was so convenient for getting to the LSG afterwards. The walk to the LSG can be a tiny bit daunting sometimes so I was grateful that it was still light out when I made the trip. Even better, I got to see the Theater of Yugen for only $5.00. That cannot be beaten with a stick.

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