New Year, New Album, New York

Happy New Year to all! Glows has several exciting things going on, and I think it’s only proper to enlighten the people.

First, on January 19, we will be playing at The Stone in New York. Matana Roberts is curating the whole month of shows, and was kind enough to invite us along with Fight the Big Bull to present a night of music from Richmond. Glows will play at 8pm and Fight the Big Bull at 10pm.

All the deets are on The Stone’s website.

Then from Friday January 22 to Sunday January 24 we will be recording material for our next record. The new record will focus on material that’s been performed live often, but has yet to be put to tape. Right now the song list looks like this:

Beach of the War Gods
The Silence
Revolver
Manhunt
Caliber 9
Gary Glitter > Turtle

There will be more, and it will rule! The best part about this recording is that we will finally be laying down tracks with John Lilley on sax. He’s been a HUGE part of our musical growth, and a phenomenon that has only been experienced LIVE thus far.

We will cap off the last night of recording by playing a show at Commercial Taphouse. A good and just musical week.

Also, you might be wondering what happened to my writing about film. Well, for the past year, I have been writing for RVANews. Most articles are about older films that I love, with a few new ones thrown in for good measure. RVANews wants me to focus on newer films, meaning that my focus on older gems will return to this blog. The nerdery shall continue!

Show Download: 10.25.09 Commercial Taphouse RVA

After having rocked a jazz crowd in Charlottesville, we made a mighty return to Commercial Taphouse in RVA to jazz a rock crowd. I love playing Taphouse, because everyone’s so comfortable that it gives us a chance to try new things. In the first set we opened with a newer tune (aka a Ones and Zeros oldie) called Gary Glitter that we morphed into Turtle. We also played the newer tune Beach of the War Gods (based on the Jimmy Wang Yu movie). We then played the Poliziotteschi inspired Manhunt, and ended with an epic Winterlight.

The second set started with the new tune Revolver. We then took our tune One Armed Swordsman, and crammed some John Carpenter music from Halloween in the middle of it. The Halloween 1978 tune hadn’t been played since we initially premiered it at Taphouse last year. We followed that up with our favorite Carpenter medley, consisting of The Fog into Across the Roof into Halloween 3 into Assault on Precinct 13 (follow?). We then ended with two old favorites, the last of which we stretched way out on, but of course my recorder didn’t catch it all.

10.25.09 Commercial Taphouse RVA

Set 1

1) Gary Glitter > Turtle

2) Beach of the War Gods

3) Manhunt

4) Winterlight

Set 2

1) Revolver

2) One Armed Swordsman > Halloween 1978 + The Shape Stalks Laurie > One Armed Swordsman

3) John Carpenter Medley

4) Through a Glass Darkly

5) Nero

10.20.09 Charlottesville Tuesday (like Jandek…get it?)

We had a great time playing on Tuesday as part of a music series put on by the Charlottesville Jazz Society. We played at a great new venue called Bel Rio, where the Society presents musicians. At least one new song was played, and the first tune (Nero) went unrecorded, but here is the rest of the music presented in all it’s mp3′ish glory!

10.20.09 Bel Rio, Charlottesville, VA

1) Revolver

2) The Silence

3) John Carpenter Medley

4) Up and Down

5) Winterlight

6) Gary Glitter

Poliziotteschi

Many exciting things are happening in the Glowing Realm these days, one of which is the start of our next recording project. My love of genre movies has led me to start researching and writing tunes inspired by the Italian Poliziotteschi movies of the late 60’s through the 70’s. These are tough crime films, usually involving the mafia and a cop pushed over the edge, and vengeance always figures in there somewhere. All of these movies that I’ve seen so far have been a lot of fun, but also inspiring in a weird way. They are little seen, and not championed that much. In fact the only outspoken champion of the genre that I know of is Quentin Tarantino. Hell, he even remade re-imagined a movie by one of this genre’s masters Enzo G. Castellari. In an effort to spread the wealth, I will be writing about some of these films, and of course writing tunes as well. My goal is to get this project done quickly, in keeping with the spirit of the genre, and get this record to you people in due time.

To give you an idea for how sweet this genre is, and how big of an effect it’s had on Tarantino, here’s the opening to Sergio Sollima’s 1973 classic Revolver featuring a song from Inglourious Basterds over a scene from Reservoir Dogs!

Revolver Intro on YouTube!

Stuff that Lives

This is a response to the recent debate started earlier this month by Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal. Patrick Jarenwattananon at NPR’s A Blog Supreme has a great link list of reactions. This debate has angered me, but I realize what a waste of time it is for a musician to respond, so I had to limit myself to the Twitters!

Odds and Ends

Just got back from NY, where Fight the Big Bull played an NPR Music Showcase at Joe’s Pub with Steven Bernstein’s amazing Sex Mob, and then a second show with Lee Fields and the Phenomenal HandClap Band. The experience was great, excusing the amazing amount of driving and the $18 cheeseburger I bought at Joe’s. It was great to see the Richmond scene in full networking mode, Matt White, Reggie Pace, Bryan Hooten and myself all talked with many NPR employees and insiders. The best part of doing this, for me, was getting into real conversations with people. Everyone I talked to seemed genuinely interested in the Richmond Jazz Scene, and as a result, I didn’t even feel douchey giving people the Glows CDs! I’m excited for the future of the scene, and I think that great things are in store as a direct result of las night!

In other news: I am currently conducting the next Ten Questions on Twitter with Ken Vandermark. The rules are simple: I ask one of the questions, and he answers in three tweets or less. Follow @glowsinthedark for the questions, and @kenvandermark for the answers. If you get lost in the Twitter-verse, don’t worry, I will be collecting all the questions and answers and posting them on the blog at the end.

Glows was recently featured on RVA Magazine’s new Sonic Cartographer Podcast. Our friend Reggie Chapman recorded us quite a bit on our recent tour, and one of those recordings was used for this show. I will be reviewing some of the collected works for possible release…which leads me to my next point.

The Live Music Archive that you all know and love has not been forgotten, but is being reassesed. We have some great hi-quality recordings on file now, and I’m currently trying to figure out what exactly to do with them. There will be updates from time to time, but I find that the time I spend updating the archive might be better spent, you know, composing and shit! Who knows, I might just reorganize it or something.

I was interviewed, along with Reggie Pace and Matt White,  for Dean Christesen’s article on Richmond Music Moguls (Dean’s word, not mine). Dean also mentioned all of us and our bands in his article in the new RVA Magazine.

This blog says Glows is a great up and coming band.

And finally, here’s a sweet video recorded by Lauren Serpa of us playing Through a Glass Darkly in New Haven!

Ten Questions with Steve Lehman

Steve Lehman is a composer/alto saxophonist living in NY. I first saw him as part of Anthony Braxton’s 12 + 1tet at the Iridium in 2006, and since then have really gotten into his music. His writing is very complex, but clear enough to be easily digestible. He also has a knack for coming up with great concepts and translating them clearly to an improvised setting. On his latest album Travail, Transformation and Flow Lehman leads an Octet of musicians (featuring Ten Questions alum Tyshawn Sorey and former VCU’er Mark Shim) through a set of music derived from studies in spectral harmony. There’s a great description here, and it sounds complicated, but the resulting music sounds amazing from start to finish. Also, the album features a cover of GZA’s masterpiece “Living in the World Today,” and what collection of spectral harmony music would be complete without it!

Check out his music here

For more on the man himself, go here

1: What got you into creative/improvised music making, and what keeps you there?

When I first heard Charlie Parker’s music, at age 10, everything
changed for me. I definitely had one of those thunderbolt moments that
so many people seem to experience when hearing Parker’s music for the
first time.

For me, making music and performing music is about connecting with
other people, finding out about myself, and trying to find some sense
of meaning as a result of my own experiences and my shared experiences
with my colleagues and everyone else who feels they can relate to the
music I’ve involved with.

2: Breakthrough album(s) and Why?

There are hundreds of albums that have been incredibly meaningful to
me and taught me a lot about myself and the possibilities for what
music can be. A few that immediately come to mind…

1. Charlie Parker – Walkman Jazz Compilation
2. Dexer Gordon – Homecoming (Live at The Village Vanguard)
3. Aceyalone – Book of Human Language
4. Jackie McLean – The Jackie Mac Attack Live
5. Michael Finnissy – String Trio
6. Anthony Braxton – Fall 1974
7. Evan Parker – Monoceros
8. Gerard Grisey – Les Espaces Acoustiques
9. Mark Shim – Turbulent Flow
10. Antipop Consortium – Tragic Epilogue

3: How do other art disciplines affect your work?

This question is hard for me to answer. I think when I’m inspired by a
filmmaker or an artist it usually has to do with formal design and
structure. Sarah Sze and Julie Mehretu are two visual artists whose
work often has a lot of resonance for me. Their work is so expressive
but it also seems to privilege meticulous attention to detail and
technical expertise.

4: Favorite Film(s)?

My wife is a filmmaker, so I’ve seen a ton of incredible films thanks
to her. A handful that I seem to keep coming back to…

Killer of Sheep
Blazing Saddles
Cache
Jackie McLean on Mars
La Promesse

5: Favorite Film Score(s)?

I love Neil Young’s score/playing for the Jim Jarmusch film “Dead Man.”

6: Favorite Fiction Reading?

Edward P. Jones
James Baldwin
Aleksandar Hemon
Herman Hesse

7: Favorite Non-Fiction Reading?

It’s rare that I get to do non-fiction reading that isn’t music-related…

The New York Times
The New Yorker
The Economist
The Wire
Music Perception

8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music?

I’m too old to be embarrassed by any of the music I listen to. I do
love to play NBA Live 2008 on my PSP (Playstation Portable) which is
definitely something of a guilty pleasure…!

9: Favorite Under Rated Musician(s)?

A few that come to mind…

Arthur Blythe
Michael Finnissy
Stanley Cowell
Freddie Waits
Fats Navarro
Saafir
Kevin O’Neil

10: Recommended Artist(s)/Shout Outs?

Too many to list. This time around I’ll give a big shout out to the
amazing Paris-based percussionist/composer Karl Jannuska. If you don’t
know now you know.

Tour Success!

We just got back from a 5 day, 4 show tour that went amazingly well. This was our first time out, and while the money was not overflowing, we had a lot of fun playing and learning. I’ll go through a brief description of each shows for the true believers.

June 10-Live Set for WFMU’s Long Rally, NJ

We were in terrible traffic all day, but somehow managed to arrive at New Jersey’s WFMU with plenty of time to set up and play before our live set. We were a little stressed from the long drive, but Long Rally’s host Scott McDowell immediately put our minds at ease, and we were able to unwind and relax in the studio. We played Through a Glass Darkly, a John Carpenter mashup, and The Silence, and everything was captured crystal clear by Sean Austin, who engineered the session. A short interview and some beers made for a great first show. Hopefully we will be back sooner than later!

The whole set can be downloaded at the Free Music Archive here:

Glows Set at WFMU

and you can stream the whole show from the Long Rally Archive

June 11 Pianos in NY

We were scheduled to play at midnight, and at the last minute were bumped up to 11pm. This show was the only one that I was unsure of, because I kept getting the run around from everyone I talked to at the club. We weren’t listed on their schedule until the day of the show, and we were to play a set right after Ninjasonik-a hip hop dance group. We arrived to see a packed house of 60+ with the band pumping loud tunes in the box that is the downstairs stage at Pianos. The music was great, but we could tell that it would be tough to keep the crowd around with our music. The extremely jerky sound guy rushed us on stage, and kept giving us shit for not having a singer. He literally couldn’t believe that a band could exist without a singer on ANY songs. We proceeded to play our asses off, and scare all but 10-15 people away. The people that stuck around really enjoyed it, and I had some great conversations after, but that was not the right lineup for us. Maybe next time? Some recordings from our engineer/roadie Reggie Chapman should be up soon.

June 13 Uncertainty Music Series, New Haven, CT

This show went great, and was definitely the highlight of the tour. The Uncertainty Music Series, run by composer/bassist Carl Testa highlights improvisers from the area and gives them a great space to play in (at Never Ending Books). We played two short sets that felt strong to an appreciative crowd of locals. Chapman also got some great recordings that we will be mixing up for a possible release! Check out the Uncertainty Music website for more info, and interviews with the performers (including us). Also check out Carl’s music. He gave me a CD and it’s great!

June 14 RVA Band Day at Artomatic, Washington DC

Once again, traffic stressed us out, but we managed to make it to the show in time for our bassist Cameron to play with the first band of the day: Magrelos. Artomatic was a 9 story industrial building featuring much much art. On the first floor, there was a warehouse space for the music and the sound was rough. We worked our way through it and ended up having a pretty solid set. Met Patrick from NPR’s “A Blog Supreme” and our friend Dean from RVAJazz was there to cover the whole thing (including pictures). Go to his article for a more detailed account of the evening.

Ten Questions with Joe Lally

Joe Lally is a bassist/vocalist who first gained international acclaim as a member of the D.C. band Fugazi. Since then, he has started a solo career that has lead to tours all around the world. His solo work is really good, and we’re excited to be playing with Joe on Monday, June 1 at The Camel at 9pm!

For more info and to purchase Joe’s solo albums, check out his website:

joelally.com

1: What got you into creative/improvised music making, and what keeps you there?

Discovering bands that no one else seemed to know about and watching them play in theaters or small clubs really opened an alternative world to me. None of the friends in my neighborhood would even go see these bands with me. I was in an art class in high school in which people came from their school in the county and spent 3 periods there. In that class I met a guy named Ivan Martinez who turned me on to everything punk rock and took me to many shows. Although I wouldn’t play an instrument until I was out of high school it was seeing all the local bands that made me feel I could do this.

2: Breakthrough album(s) and Why?

Both the Sex Pistols and Ramones first records for their overall energy delivered with such simplicity. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures and the First Public Image record. Again for their gut level energy and spare musical approach but artistically got my imagination going.

3: How do other art disciplines affect your work?

Other than constant work, practice, I’m not sure what you might mean here.

4: Favorite Film(s)?

If this is determined by how many times we watch a film I would have to say Duck Soup or Animal Crackers. Otherwise I think it changes a lot.

5: Favorite Film Score(s)?

Ennio Morricone’s Crime and Dissonance on Ipecac is a great sampler of songs from films. This doesn’t contain the spaghetti westerns at all.

6: Favorite Fiction Reading?

Anything by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

7: Favorite Non-Fiction Reading?

Studs Terkel, for example: Hard Times or The Good War.

8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music?

I’m not sure there’s anything left to feel guilty about liking.

9: Favorite Under Rated Musician(s)?

Billy Cox, Bobby Leibling, Christina Billotte.

10: Recommended Artist(s)/Shout Outs?

Hamid Drake, Nina Simone.

MAY 22!!!!

We’ve been looking forward to this show for a while, and this Friday it’s finally happening! Fight the Big Bull, Glows with Matana Roberts sitting in, and Matana Roberts solo with video projection! I’ll put the poster below, and it will stay here until after the show. I hope to see everyone out at MUSE. It’s gonna be sweet!

Also, to find out more about the bands and the venue, head over to RVAJazz and check out the “Featured Gig” section.

Finally, this show would not be possible without some very generous local sponsors, which you can find by clicking on their links to the right. Richmond Jazz Society, Ipanema, RVAJazz, and RVANews rule hard!