All At Once

ALMOST LIKE BEING THERE

2009-07-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Some pictures below from our weekend romp through Zoey's in Ventura and Metro Galleries in Bakersfield. The pics of Chris and I were taken by Jeff Kaiser, pics of Kaiser and Liebig were taken by yours truly. Stay tuned for more commentary, audio, and if we're lucky, some of Kaiser's photos from the after-gig hang at the Crystal Palace...

Also, local musician/composer James Sproul just posted a nice review of the Bakersfield show. Thanks, James!

RETURN TO ELECTRIC TRUMPETLAND

2009-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

For this weekend's duo gigs with Chris Schlarb I am firing up Electric Trumpet Rig v3.0, which is looking like this:

Trumpet > Shure Beta 57 Mic > ART Tube MP Preamp >
BBE Wah Pedal > Ernie Ball VP JR > PreSonus Firebox >
MacBook Pro/MaxMSP > Firebox > PA

It's true, I tried to put this stuff behind me some time ago, and I'm not going to say that I am 100% optimistic about getting into this again. It has been two years since I last performed with live electronics, but I think that I may have come up with a solution that solves some of the basic issues I had with my previous attempts, first with a table full of analog effects pedals and then with just a laptop and MaxMSP software.

As I wrote back then, my issue with the pedal-driven setup was:

"...carrying all this heavy luggage to gig after gig, winding and unwinding cables, setting up tables and boxes and in all that hassle hoping you don't patch a cable to the wrong jack, drop a speaker on your instrument (or someone else's), or hit the wrong switch and release a torrent of feedback noise into the audience."

Having to deal with the sheer bulk of all that equipment made it nearly impossible to concentrate on actually playing an instrument as well; after nine gigs and two recording sessions I became more than a little annoyed that I never had the chance to warm up or prepare myself for the trumpet side of things (which is demanding enough without the extra equipment). To all of that, the laptop-only solution seemed simple, elegant and clearly superior. But I remained conflicted about it for quite some time, mainly due to the fact that performing with one hand on a trumpet and one hand on a mouse tended to make me a bit neurotic.

So for the past two years I've mulled over a setup that might offer the best of both worlds - the tactile maneuverability of a few foot pedals (allowing me to stand and play without the need for any knob-twisting), and the streamlined simplicity of a software rig with presets to accommodate basic EQ, reverb and compression along with simple key commands (which I prefer over adding a MIDI controller) to toggle the more "destructive" effects plugins on and off, so there is minimal need for mousing around. Basically I have tried to build something that feels transparent and as hands-free as possible, an extension (rather than an obstruction) of the horn.

The MaxMSP software I am using now is based on a VST host and integrated four-channel looper designed by Jeff Kaiser, with a few mods and design tweaks of my own:

I am actually quite happy with this. The pull-down menus allow you to select up to six VST plugins, and slots 1-4 can be rearranged in any order by clicking one of the number sequences on the right. Slots 5 and 6 are typically for reverb and compression at the end of the chain. All six plugins can be toggled on and off by hitting number keys 1-6. The ten PRESET buttons along the bottom each load a different combination of VSTs, basically different points from which to start because the plugins can also be switched out individually. Key commands for the presets are Shift + number keys 1-0. Kaiser's four-channel looper comprises the boxes A-B-C-D, and there are settings for forward/reverse, half/double speed, panning, etc. There are a few more bells and whistles, like the catastrophic blast of distortion that happens when you hit letter D...

Last night at Zoey's went well, so so far so good. I will update shortly with pictures, commentary, maybe some audio.

BLOGGING WILL RESUME

2009-07-09T00:21:00.000-07:00

...eventually.

For now, more gig spam. Playing two electroacoustic ambient improv duo sets this weekend with friend/guitarist/composer/producer Chris Schlarb, in Ventura on Friday and at my series in Bakersfield on Saturday. We double bill with Jeff Kaiser + Steuart Liebig both nights.

Info on both shows is here, propaganda for the Bakersfield show below:

FURTHER EVIDENCE

2009-06-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Video below from the Sun Ra Tribute show at the Pharaoh's Den in Riverside. The video projections behind us (courtesy of VJFranzK) are all live effects, i.e. the video fx parameters are being altered by the music in real time:

THE BAKERY SET

2009-06-01T00:55:00.001-07:00

Some photo evidence here from last Monday's hit at the sadly-soon-to-close Jazz Bakery in LA, most of them shot by our friend Allen Glass (he's in the green plaid jacket in the third pic below).

Commentary soon.

WEEKEND TOUR RECAP

2009-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

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...

OLD, NEW, UPCOMING MUSIC

2009-04-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

I finally posted the live recording from the concert pictured above, which took place last May 30 at Baloard in Montpellier, France.

This was the third of three shows the Empty Cage Quartet played with French clarinetist Aurelien Besnard and guitarist Patrice Soletti. Each of us contributed original music, and we combined these pieces into extended suites for the live gigs. Both sets from this concert are available as free mp3 downloads at my archive page.

We recorded all of these tunes in the studio shortly thereafter, and that album will be released later this year on Aurelien's record label, Rude Awakening Présente. A video documentary of the entire project is scheduled to be released on limited edition DVD-R prior to that.

Exciting stuff, and I'm really very happy that this music is coming out. Consider this an advance preview...

(WHY DO) SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY?

2009-04-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was teaching my Music Education class last night and the topic was arts in elementary education in the climate of NCLB, specifically focusing on this TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson (embedded above), and this New York Times article from a couple of years back. We were talking about the systematic dismantling of arts education in public schools since the late 1960s, the political figures who have been primarily responsible for it, and what a tragedy it is that we have now raised several generations of students that have been progressively more deprived of the arts as a creative and expressive outlet. To make things worse, they are simultaneously being fed on some of the most image-driven (rather than content-driven) pop culture in modern history.

Suddenly (inevitably?), the conversation drifted a bit toward conspiracy theory, and the fact that music, poetry, and art were all central to the counterculture and protest movements of the 1960s. Is it any coincidence that our cultural, economic, and educational systems have been gradually and dramatically transformed over the ensuing decades? Instead of a unified, expressive, and conscience-driven conception of the arts, youth today are generally pushed to think of music, image, and language as little more than a narcissistic and ultimately selfish display of hipness and an affirmation of personal status. We no longer celebrate or encourage our great intellectuals, poets, musicians, philanthropists - instead we fetishize and commodify empty spectacle and bling...

Convenient, but for whom? Is it any wonder that during times of political and ideological oppression, the production of artists and musicians is stunted by the educational institutions that are shaped and regulated by those in power?

TO WHOM WHO KEEPS A RECORD

2009-04-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

My new email address: kristiner at me dot com

Hooray, MobileMe!

FOR FOLKS HERE AND THERE

2009-04-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

No fooling, we're gearing up for a trio of Industrial Jazz Group shows this weekend in Bakersfield (CSUB), LA (El Cid), and San Diego (Dizzy's).

Leave it to Durkin, this is the first tour I've ever been on that's had it's own trailer:

NOTHING IS FREE

2009-03-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

There are so many layers to this, I don't know exactly where to start... iTunes is offering the first movement of John Cage's 4'33" as a free download today.

Is it just me, or does this piece seem a bit incongruous with the typical Apple marketing hype?

"Listen carefully, and you can hear traffic outside, creaking floorboards and a clock ticking somewhere in the building. If you like it, you can download the remainder of the album..."

It will cost you $1.98 to get the other 2'46". And a buck more if you want to purchase it as a ringtone...

FOR FOLKS DOWN THERE

2009-03-25T00:57:00.001-07:00

Next Monday I am playing with Motoko Honda's Sound Escape Project at The Jazz Bakery, a venerable Los Angeles jazz institution that will be closing up and looking for a new place to live as of May 31.

I have to say, selfishly, this news makes me sad. The Bakery is one of the last jazz venues in LA that is still in the same place it was when I started going out to listen to gigs years ago. Most notable among the many, many great shows I've caught at the Bakery were the two times I saw Cecil Taylor - once solo and once with Jackson Krall/Dominic Duval - both concerts that changed my life.

It's a sad thing, but also an honor to be among the last few groups to play at the Culver City location (Empty Cage Quartet plays there on May 25). And there's a lot more great music happening down there between now and the end of May - Angelinos, show up and show your support...

FOR FOLKS AROUND HERE

2009-03-24T10:26:00.001-07:00

SUCH A NICE YOUNG MAN

2009-03-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

photo by Tom Palumbo

Wow. Wow. Wow. I love the internet.

Just discovered this rare 1953 radio interview (part I) with Miles Davis at Lockwood & Summit (via Jeff Hyatt).

If you can stand the extreme noise reduction, and KXLW DJ Harry Frost's pseudo-hipsterisms (have to give him credit for keeping the chatter going with an obviously muddled guest), it's quite a surprise to hear Miles' voice shortly before it would forever be reduced to the familiar "raspy croak" when he got in a shouting match while recovering from a throat operation. Plus, this is historic for the fact that Miles was on his way home to East St. Louis to kick his heroin habit - by locking himself in his father's guest house for a week.

And while we anxiously await the promised part II, check this out.

AS THOUGH A LITTLE KID WOULD PLAY

2009-03-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Someone please tell me this is a joke:

Via Kaiser. And there's more where that came from.

INTO THE FUTURE, ONE SOCIAL NETWORK AT A TIME

2009-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I used to watch the original Star Trek quite a bit and dream about futuristic things like star ships, tricorders, warp travel, hand-held communicators, teleportation and the like. Never would I have imagined that the actual future would consist of things like blogs and Twitter widgets.

That's right, there's now a Twitter widget over there in the sidebar. I was getting kind of stir crazy here in babyland so yesterday I spent a few hours trying to spiff up my online world.

If anybody is so inclined, you can follow me. While you're at it, I would love for someone to explain to me why Twitter is such a big deal in the first place...

SUPPORT ARTS FUNDING

2009-02-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

If you care about this, and you haven't already done so, go to Americans for the Arts Action Center to voice your support for the inclusion of funding for arts and arts education in the economic stimulus bill. It's a quick and easy way to generate a letter to your elected officials to remind them that ARTS = JOBS:

There are approximately 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations, which spend $63.1 billion annually. Without an economic stimulus for the nonprofit arts industry, experts expect about 10% of these organizations (ranging from large arts institutions like museums and orchestras to small community-based organizations in suburban, urban and rural areas) to shut their doors in 2009 - a loss of 260,000 jobs.
According to the Americans for the Arts, a $50 million investment to the National Endowment for the Arts will provide critical funding to save 14,422 jobs from being lost in the U.S. economy. This is based on the ability of the NEA to leverage $7 in additional support through local, state and private donations, for every $1 in NEA support.
In a report released in mid-January, the National Governor's Association stated, "Arts and culture are important to state economies. Arts and culture-related industries, also known as "creative industries," provide direct economic benefits to states and communities: They create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies through tourism and consumer purchases."

THIS JUST IN

2009-02-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

I'm now the proud father of TWO beautiful girls... Elise Lily Tiner was born yesterday at 8:08 am. 8lbs 12oz, 19 3/4". Perfectly healthy and content. Mama is doing fine, we couldn't be happier. Thanks to all who've been sending good wishes!

FROM MLK TO BHO

2009-01-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

"BBC World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther King speaking to the BBC's Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King predicts an African-American president 'in less than 40 years.'"

Watch here.

Interesting timing. Exactly 40 years from that interview would have been 2004, and then we couldn't even elect a competent white candidate. Just four years ago MLK's prediction would have seemed far too optimistic, so it is almost inconceivable that we could have come to this point so soon without having endured the political/cultural/moral fatigue of the last four years.

Of course it was in 2004 that John Kerry introduced Barack Obama to the nation, but it was ultimately the failed Presidency of George W. Bush that finally convinced enough of us that it was time to try something different.

The fantastic thing about all of this is that it's not exclusively the result of a racial struggle. As Congressman John Lewis pointed out on one of the cable news shows yesterday, Obama's election is evidence of the Civil Rights Movement being finally absorbed into a wider, more universal movement for justice and human rights. I'm not one of those who would assert that this means we've become a post-racial society (post-racist would be fine enough), but it certainly puts us one step closer to getting there.

And we can hope that our 44th President will be a leader who, like Dr. King, calls for all of us to live up to our better nature. He's certainly off to a good start...

EL SEGUNDO, THE SECOND

2009-01-15T23:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the second of three brief video clips from a late summer session at Lynn Johnston's place in El Segundo. Vinny Golia on soprano sax, Lynn on bari, Lisa Mezzacappa on bass, Vijay Anderson on drums, yours truly on trumpet. Fun stuff:

Thanks to Vijay for posting these. Also check part one, and part three (in which Lynn Johnston gets the sheng all up in it)...

READING AND WRITING

2009-01-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

A little late with this, but here are a couple of nice year-end reviews for Stratostrophic. Thanks to Nate Dorward, a longtime supporter of the various Empty Cage projects, for including us among the Top Ten "Destination Out" CDs of 2008 at the Canadian music rag Exclaim!:

"Hard to believe such rich, multilayered narratives could be constructed out of the sparse two horns, bass and drums format popularized by Ornette Coleman. Trumpeter Kris Tiner has a beautifully clear swing-to-freebop sound and a gift for phrases that hang provocatively in the air. He’s got a perfect partner in Jason Mears’ lemony alto, and the spiralling, witty extremity of their counterpoint rivals the Zorn/Douglas interplay in Masada. Ivan Johnson and Paul Kikuchi have blossomed into one of the supplest rhythm sections around: rather than locking in together, they pull away from each other in order to let these ultra-elastic grooves breathe."

And here's a snip from one by Italian composer/improviser/writer Massimo Ricci:

"When an ensemble needs not to recur to metaphoric paraphernalia and short-lived tricks, we immediately realize that the direction is right. Quite often during the playback I found myself thinking of charts made of very long lines and exploded views, music leading to places where expectations are met without fretfulness and transitions are clearly visible. This sense of structural intelligibility, in conjunction with an evident respect for tradition, is the most considerable attribute of the album."

It's a rare honor when a writer actually takes the time to parse beyond the usual facile comparisons (i.e. "this group sounds just like Ornette Coleman's quartet because the instrumentation is the same..." etc.) and actually listen to determine what's happening structurally, organizationally, and aesthetically within the compositions. Especially since we've never really been a "free jazz" group per se; the compositions - how they evolve both in a performance and over time - are central to what we've been up to for the past 6+ years.

Anyway, both Nate and Massimo have written some of the most perceptive and enthusiastic reviews of our previous projects, and beyond the obvious PR value, feedback like this is always appreciated. Thanks again, guys.