well-weathered music

I played with four of my most favorite musicians last night; Carla Kihlstedt, Marika Hughes, and Shahzad Ismaily, who make up 2 Foot Yard, plus Zeena Parkins. It was just 2 songs in a 15 minute set, but it was an absolute joy to play with these master musicians again. Oddly enough, it was the first time I’ve actually played with Zeena. Odd in that I’ve heard her play so many times, it seemed natural to play together. And of course Carla never ceases to amaze me, even though we’ve known each other and have worked together for almost 15 years. It was kind of an odd but very interesting show; the opening night of this year’s Look & Listen Festival.

I am now three weeks away from the end of the busiest three months I’ve ever had. The Ne(x)tworks gig this Saturday, the Behrman gig monday night. On Tuesday I’m off to San Francisco to finish up a score for choreographer Alonzo King. Then back to do the Merce Cunningham gig at DIA-Beacon on May 17 & 18. After that things lighten up; only three projects to work on!

The night before last I went to hear SGM at the Highline Ballroom here in NY. If you haven’t heard of them, well, I’m not sure what labels to use; thrash pre-apocalypse post-nihilist metal perhaps? Let’s just say I was one of the very few people there without piercings or tatoos (and perhaps the only one whose hairless head was not the result of shaving). But I gotta tell ya’ I have not heard such precise and well executed metric-modulations since…, well, since the last time I heard SGM. But little surprise here, seeing that my dear friend and consummate musician Carla Kihlstedt is one of the creative forces in the band. I couldn’t really understand the words they were scream-singing, but they were nice enough to give a hint of the content before each song. One was about trees, one about rocks, or the “mineral kingdom,” and one sincerely and touchingly dedicated to the guitarist’s dying father. They also used a bunch of home-made instruments and a few songs had some microtonal guitar work. I don’t know if they are aware of this connection, but they could be Glenn Branca’s offspring. Also, they were joined by my dancer friend Tanya Calamoneri who did some wonderful and appropriate rocked-out butoh movement (how slowly can one dance fast). All in all a very enjoyable, albeit very loud, evening. It made me proud of my recently-former home town of Oakland, CA (where they hail from). I find their material is best heard live, so if you get a chance, check ‘em out (don’t forget your earplugs).

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - “Helpless Corpses Enactment”