WEEKEND TOUR RECAP

Some images below from the last two Empty Cage gigs. Tomorrow (Monday) night we wrap it up at The Jazz Bakery in LA. Get tickets here, or find more info on Facebook.

On Friday we were at Metro Galleries in Bakersfield, sharing the bill with saxophonist Santiago Latorre from Barcelona. Santiago had a nice set exploring very delicate, slowly evolving sax loops while Sara Paniagua provided video projections behind him. Afterward was the requisite late night truck stop diner food hang at Zingo's Cafe.

(Thanks to James Sproul for the pics from our set)

Last night we were at the Pharoah's Den in Riverside, taking part in their weekend-long tribute to Sun Ra, who arrived on Earth 95 years ago Friday. Great scene they have down there, and it was a special occasion, obviously, so we did something unprecedented - we performed our first cover in nearly seven years together as a group, jamming Ra's "Moon Dance" to kick off our set...

OPPOSING WINGS

Something new for this weekend. An explanation of the basic system is available here - see the composition notes for Gravity No. 1.

This is the first of the second-generation Gravity pieces which will utilize non-transposing gravity points (the longer pitch sets in the square boxes). The emphasis here is on symmetry, hence the repetition of 4s and 3s (major and minor thirds). These intervals yield a non-transposing set that duplicates the octave at 12, returning to A in order to re-route back into the piece.

The ascending version of this set (A-C-C#-E-F-G#-A) is basically the "Bitches Brew" scale transposed to A; the descending version incorporates the same intervals going in the opposite direction
(A-F#-F-D-C#-Bb-A).

EMPTY CAGE: THE MOVIE

Our DVDs just arrived - this is the video documentation of a gig last September at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. More info about this fantastic new DVD series here, and here are a few clips the Sanctuary has posted from our show (or check out the embeds below). They look amazing, expertly produced audio and pro-shot video with multiple cameras. What did we do to deserve such lavish treatment?

If you want a copy, we will have them at our shows next weekend. I believe they'll also be available shortly from Downtown Music Gallery.

UPCOMING GIG PROPAGANDA

It's been nearly two years since Empty Cage Quartet has done anything on the West Coast, so this time we're doing it right: we finally got a Facebook page, we will be celebrating the release of a new live DVD, we're playing on a Sun Ra tribute, and wrapping everything up by helping to close out the final week for the venerable Jazz Bakery at their current Culver City location. Angelinos, don't miss that one - you can buy tickets here.

: : :

EMPTY CAGE QUARTET
SoCal Tour May 21-25

Thursday, May 21, 7pm
OAKWOOD SCHOOL, North Hollywood

Friday, May 22, 8pm
METRO GALLERIES, Bakersfield
w/Barcelona saxophonist Santiago Latorre

Saturday, May 23, 8pm
THE PHAROAH'S DEN, Riverside
Homage to Sun Ra w/Your Majesty, Synthenezian Duck Project

Monday, May 25, 8pm
THE JAZZ BAKERY, Culver City
w/Oakwood Nuems Quintet

: : :

WHITHER THE ARTS CZAR?

Quincy Jones is still at it, again calling out for the current President to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. This time at HuffPost:

"Every great society from the Egyptians, to the Greek and Roman Empires, has been defined by its cultural contributions. The commercial benefits of the arts not withstanding -- our artistic endeavors are a consistent source of revenue in the United States and our nation's largest export -- can we really run the risk of becoming a culturally bankrupt nation because we have not inserted a curriculum into our educational institutions that will teach and nurture creativity in our children? That when future generations look back our cultural legacy is an age of disposable, vapid pabulum.

"I am of the mindset that you have to know where you come from to get to where you're going. The time has come to make a concerted effort from both the public and private sectors to put in place a system whereby our children and future generations will be aware of our county's rich cultural legacy and contributions to the world. The arts, particularly our music, are the soul of our country. They are an expression of our spiritual ideals and a timeline of the emotional state of our nation... scars and all. It is a disservice to every American not to recognize them in their proper light."

That much I can agree with. And if this ever was to happen, the Obama presidency would certainly be an appropriate moment. It's so rare, though, for a public figure - and particularly a President - to do much more than pay lip service to the idea that jazz and the multitude of other styles pioneered by African-Americans are (and continue to be) an integral part of our cultural legacy.

If Obama was to do this right, he would have to do it soon, to be sure to imprint the position with a strong and effective sense of advocacy for the kind of diverse cultural portfolio that Quincy is talking about. Lest we further empower a Ken Burns-esque backwards view of American cultural history, or even worse, embolden some future POTUS to come along and use the post to emphasize a political agenda. I get chills thinking about how someone like GWB might have leveraged an Arts Secretary position, after pulling a boneheaded move like appointing Lee Greenwood (!) to the NEA...