Chris's blog

Musical Diary #5

I got back from the south island on Sunday. The gigs with Flip grater have been going well. Her music is spacious and straight foward, and this allows for a lot of room to interpret the moods in her music. I have managed to work in playing a piece of A4 paper into one of Flips songs, with brushes, rustling and tearing it. I can't believe I hadn't thought to use this sound before. We played at Chicks Hotel on Saturday night, in Port Chalmers. A great venue, and we had an excellent gig. Friday night we played at the DUX in Christchurch. We were all relieved that this gig went ahead given the earthquakes, though the turn out was a little dissappointing for Flip. Thursday night we played at El Santo in Lyttelton, another fantastic venue. This venue was almost completely spared from any damage (unlike the Wunderbar and Harbour Light, alas!!) The turnout was fabulous and we played well!

The Tuesday before (7/9) I played on John Bell's Honours recital. John Bell is a fabulous musician and composer. We have been playing together for 17 years. He plays the vibraphone. I currently play with John in a group called Lippizana, and it was for this group, plus some extras, that the music was composed. It was a fabulous concert. One of the pieces was for a large ensemble (2 x basses, 2 x flutes, saxophones, guitar, mandolin, vibraphone, drums), for me to solo over.

The weekend before saw the first gigs of Flips tour. We played in Wellington at Mighty Mighty and Napier at the Cabana. The gigs went great. Wellington was well attended, Napier slightly less so.

Teaching at Unitec is up and down. The energy levels of the students have such a large impact on how the classes go. Many of the senior students seem to have a very low moral at the moment, due to a long semester and high workload perhaps. I hope the bunker sessions can still be a time of musical refreshment for everybody!

The last gig of Flips tour is this Saturday in Auckland at Brittomart. Come down!

My friend and teacher Allan Thomas passed away a couple of days ago. He was an ethnomusicologist and lured me up to Victoria University to study this fascinating discipline. He was very interested in improvised music. Right up till his death Allan was working on a book, the working title being "World Music is Where You Find It", and he invited me to contribute an article about my ethnomusical studies and how that has impacted on my music practice. Keep an eye out for it.

October is shaping up to be a busy month. Watch this space....

musical diary #4

Played yesterday afternoon at La Zeppa with teh Western Line Trio, at the earlier time of 4:30. We did two sets. Introducing some vocal parts to the material, which freaks me out sometimes, but thats ok. We are playing and listening very well, to the point where someone may change time signature in the middle of a bar even and we are all ready to shift with them straight away. Its amazing. No one can get lost in the music when the listening is as acute as that. This week I have a couple of rehearsals w Flip Grater leading up to our national tour which commences in Wellington this Thursday night.

A few days ago I purchased a couple of albums by reggae band Culture. When Two Sevens Clash and Harder Than the Rest. Great records!!! beautiful grooves and melodies. Highly recommended.

 

musical diary No 3

Had 2nd rehearsal w Flip Grater yesterday for our impending tour. The band is sounding great. Had a rehearsal schedualed after that w Western Line Trio - we have our monthly gig at La Zeppa this Sunday, but Godfrey had to cancel because his wife went into labour!! Hopefully he can still make the gig on Sunday....

Classes at Unitec going great. I tried teaching some pretty complex rhythmic/metronome concepts to Group A on Monday with mixed results. I think my approach was too abstract. Glenda popped in and witnessed some of it had this suggestion:

 

ONE 2 3 FOUR 1 2 THREE 4 1 TWO 3 4...

or

ONE 2 3 1 TWO 3 1 2 THREE 1 2 3

 

I'll start with this approach. Thought it could be could to use an actual rhyhm that we can all play then guide folks through the different metronome possibilities... I'll try that too.

So far I'm enjoying the 4th Symphony of Master Beethoven's.

Been reading a lot recently about the structure of languages and how closely (or not) they reflect the structure of our cosmos as revealed by the modern sciences (ie a world that is relational, indeterminant etc...). Of all the musical forms I know of, freely improvised music seems closest in structure to this modern picture of the universe (well not so new really, almost 100yrs old now?) 

 

musical diary #2

Had first proper rehearsdal w Flip Grater on tuesday just gone. it went real well. Its a great wee band! We are touring in September (alas I'll haver to miss some of our classes!). COme to the gig in Auckland - its on SEPT 18th (thats a Friday night) at a new venue called 1885 Britomart.

Been enjoying Master Beethoven. I've decided to focus on Symphony No. 4. The beginning is very striking. Fouond a cool website with the scores online -  http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/adh1164/large/index.html. I enjoy trying to follow the score while listening to the music.

I've been invited to play with the Eru Dangerspiel project. Two big gigs in the Auckland Town Hall in October. Ric Gooch and Ant Donaldson are playing drums too. They are two of my very favourite drummers. Its gonna be fantistic.

This afternoon I'm going to have a play with sax player/composer Drew McMillan. He is an amazing fellow. About 5 years ago he had a BMX accident and became paralysed from the neck down. After loads of hard core rehab he has regained some movement, but alas none in his fingers. But he can move his arms a bit, and has full mouth abilities. He recently got an attachment made so he can mount his alto sax on his chair and blow it and manipulate it with the side of his hands. He is such a great player that he can still get heaps of sounds out. I'm looking forward to jaming with him more - we used to play heaps. Drew was instrumental in setting up Vitamin S - a collective of musicians exploring free improvised music. Check it out.

Certificate calss was good today. Daniel bought in a lovely chord progression and we all had a look at a basic blues structure and the blues scale.

 

musical diary

Hi all,

I have just finished the season of ASSASSINS - A Broadway musical. That was 3 and half weeks of playing every night. Wonderful! The music was interesting and challenging so I never got bored. It was a 'reading gig'. All of the drum/percusion parts were scored. I enjoyed sticking as closely to the score as I could. This approach meant I would only be playing a little bit of the kit at any given time, instead of the usual all of it all at once. We had to play very quietly so the words of the songs could be easily heard. I think quite a few of you guys still need to figure this out!

Today i was Dj Guestspeaker on the Bfm Jazz Show. Its from 12 - 2 every Sunday, tho I share it with a couple of other guys. I tend to play lots of hard swinging gospel, dixie, ragtime and bebop, the great swing bands of the 1930's, freejazz, free improv, folk field recordings, delta blues.... basically exploring creative African American music. Having a couple of hours to listen to music = good times. Its a good chance for me to explore the back waters of my music collection. I'm playing a mixture of vinyl, mp3s and cds. 

Also just started, FINALLY, my Beethoven research. I have his first 9 symphonies and am looking forward to exploring them.

I have a gig tomorrow night - a private function. I think its the NZ Cuisine awards. We have to wear very flash suits to this one I believe. I'm playing that gig with the Western Line Trio. That's an organ/guitar/drums combo. We also play the last Sunday of the month at a bar called La Zeppa, down Freeman's Bay.

Looking forward to our sessions this week I am feeling some good momentum.

vox bloggs

Hi guys, this is a reminder to you to go nuts if you havn't already on your vox blogging. its a part of your assessment, so the more you can do, the better for you. Cheers, Chris.

vox bloggs

Hi guys,
this is a reminder to you to go nuts if you havn't already on your vox blogging.
its a part of your assessment, so the more you can do, the better for you.
Cheers,
Chris.

guestspeaker on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

guestspeaker on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

http://www.myspace.com/guestspeaker

I am a composer of music for dance and theatre works. I play drums in a bunch of bands (Lippizanas, New Pacific Music Ensemble, Sjd, The Absolutionists, Don McGlashan and the 7 Sisters, Dan Sperber Complex). I am proud to be involved in the Vitamin S community of artists based in Auckland researching, promoting and performing performance improvisation. I am a music tutor at UNITEC School of Community Development and New Zealand School of Music. It is my belief that Music, especially freely improvised, is a potent model for a new society, and definitely a healing force on this planet.