weddings and funerals

i think i had my 20yr hs reunion last night? i'm still not quite sure how to process it?

last night we shared a show with a long forgotten friend (from kansas) that turned out to be much more than i ever expected. you only expect to run into people like this at weddings and funerals.

my 20yr hs reunion is this summer and my old friend marc tweed asked to play a show with us on his west coast tour with his band the hearers. my hs experience wasn't the worst, but since my family only lived in kansas city for a few years, i haven't had any reason to go back. last night i ran into 8? 10? 12? people that i went to high school with, and many of them now live here in los angeles.

for the last 16 yrs i have lived in los angeles and never met anybody from kansas and in one night i see them all. one classmate (michael lichtenauer) i sat next to in my high school music theory class is a 2-time grammy award winning vocalist and sings with all my friends in the master chorale! another classmate is a jpl scientist who lives right down the street in glendale!! i shared a show with people i played with in a middle school garage band over 20 years ago!!! wtf???

on top of all that, one of my earliest high school students showed up last night***. she is now the same age as when i taught her (25) and we talked over the long path from high school to adulthood. introducing her to my band and my old high school classmates was a surreal combination of all three parts of my life; past, present and future.

that is the best type of reunion i could have ever had. fto!

myself with marc tweed of the hearers.
i played in my first garage band with him in middle school

updates and miscellania:

1. we got a good recording of 11/25/05 from saturday night, enjoy.
   
2. needless to say monday nights show was much better than saturday night. we met some great bands. i barely got to hear the candyland riots, but everybody said they were fun.
   
3. pictures from the scene are now online.
   
4. if i can edit the video so it looks a little better i should be able to upload parts of the show. (i don't think you want the parts where the camera is bouncing up and down because of the dancing)
5. tim mangan(oc register) is giving us a nice writeup on his blog.
   

***the jmhs students i taught from 95-99 will probably be my most peronal and proudest achievement of my teaching career (long story, more on that another time)

realnewmusic review (tim mangan, oc register)

tim mangan (oc register) has a well written review of our performances at the realnewmusic festival. his descriptions of the evening and performances were spot-on. it was not one of our better shows, but i'm real proud of how the group handled it. in the middle of the show we ran into a buzz saw, on some nights a tear like that can ruin the rest of the evening but we ended with a strong performance of my modular piece 11/25/05.

i'm pretty dissapointed at my reaction to the performance (more introverted than extroverted). i talked it out and know that every night is not going to be perfect. my drug of choice is a good show and nothing puts me in fowl mood than falling short. on a performance like saturday night's i have to find ways to temper my frustration. i'm really happy with the direction of the group and wouldn't change a thing. being able to write, rehearse and perform is a great alternative to the infinite sadness of life.

tonight we are playing at the scene in glendale around 9pm with pruitt igoe and the hearers. what could be better than having a drink with the pbe?

mention the blog and get free ringtones!

google map

btw...tim is also a blogger. you can view his latest pictures and comments of the construction of the orange county center for the performing arts new segerstrom hall.

realnewmusic reh mp3's online

rehearsal mp3's from monday night are now online.

i would have posted some from today's rehearsal, but i forgot to unpause my minidisc. they are both of modular study #1 (11/25/05).
this first is a full run. its a little slow and loose at times but has builds to some nice moments. the second is a faster version that starts about 2/3 the piece.
both versions give you a good idea of what the piece is about.

listening to the rehearsal i'm really happy with the final results. performing modular music has been an intriguing and exciting concept since i first performed terry riley's in C. one of the main problems/complaints is that most modular music is more fun to perform than to listen to. i cannot remember that this that this was my main goal, but i intentionally limted the elements in its pursuit.

d.i.e. all-stars

our current lineup is very special because we all are alumni of the d.i.e. (diverse instrument ensemble) at csuf. next year many of them will be leaving for grad school so i asked them to play with the pbe for this show. they are all too talented to hang around southern california much longer and its been great to have them in the group. regular bios in the program do not do justice to why they are important.

they are:

xico castano, clarinet
has developed into a great musician who has a real bright future ahead. its hard to believe he that he hadn't had lessons until college. xico will be applying for grad schools in the fall and is spending two weeks this summer playing in vienna.

ryan nunes, marimba
has not given up on playing even though he is pursing an academic career in philosophy. i'm glad that he is going to stay on for the next year while he applies to grad school.

veronica paez, oboe
i never thought oboe and trombone would work in this group, but in our last rehearsal i think we decided that our personalities have transcended the limitations of our instruments. veronica is one of the most determined and scholarly minds to grace csuf, and next fall she will be pursing her masters in musicology at the royal holloway school of music in london.

jon brenner, bass
i first met john when he was a freshman at csuf. because of our age difference we never really hung out, but i always bugged him to send me his music. he finally did (just this summer) and i was shocked. i don't expect much from anybody under 30 (i know its bad to assume), but his music is really good.he is now back for the summer from mills college where he is getting his masters in composition. its been a real joy with him in the group and i'm are going to try and play some of his pieces in the future.

carl stronach, vibraphone
it was a year ago on this gig when carl first joined the group. he jumped into playing a concert that he probably had no business playing (in theory), but he put in the time and learned the parts (the summerland vibe parts are really not easy), and has nailed every performance since then (i'm not sure if he every has had an "off" night). this past year has been inspiring watching him discover the joys of tuning and temperament, and by the end of the semester he passed my basic understanding and has found a "sandbox" that will keep him busy for some time. carl is going to finish his bachelor's this next year and has a great future ahead. i'm not sure what we will do when he leaves, but i'm really glad to have had him around.

BREAK THE SILENCE WITH THE PAUL BAILEY ENSEMBLE

Saturday, June 24^th Whittier College – Designed to share musical moments, the Paul Bailey Ensemble's latest tunes get the party started anywhere, anytime - at the gym, in the dorm, on the site or at the office.

Our new models reflect the diverse needs of music enthusiasts. For the open-air worker, we created music that can take a splash of water or a showering of dust without missing a beat.

For the auto and sound enthusiast, there is a new Xplod® music. Workout buffs will love the remote control feature on several new tunes, making it easy for an aerobics instructor to fast forward or rewind while leading a class.

The Paul Bailey Ensemble is the perfect way to enjoy music on the go," said Ruben Tellez, product manager at the Paul Bailey Ensemble®. "They give listeners the ability to take their music anywhere - and share it with anyone. The PBE leads the market in variety with something for every music lover."

Tough Enough

With its durable body construction, the new heavy-duty compositions are just one of the guys. With a sturdy modular design and convenient protective covering, the water and dirt-resistant music is ideal for hard-hat work areas, a less-than-clean garage or rugged outdoor use. It’s also perfect for digital music players and MP3 playback which lets you enjoy your own music mix in the open air.

June 24th, 2006, 7:00 pm
Tickets $10.00 / $7.50 / $5.00 (students & seniors)
The Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts
Whittier College, 6760 Painter Ave., Whittier
Box Office: 562.907.4203
Google map to the Shannon Center

Shane W. Cadman / Illustrious Music
in association with
The Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts at Whittier College
proudly presents

RealNewMusic 2006

featuring

The Lloyd Rodgers Group
The Paul Bailey Ensemble
Counterpoint Culture
David Adele
Omar Ian Ávalos
John Chambers
Mandeda Uch
Melody Versoza

peter l. wilson
Division of Public Safety
Paul Bailey Ensemble Inc.
314-228-1700

the freight train theory of history

the results of the my latest compositions are starting to take shape. one of these new pieces (fearless leader) represents a new direction for my music. ligeti's death got me thinking about his famous quote:

Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, itÂ’s not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape.

i think his point isn't really about the rejection of tonality or the acceptance of the avant guard, but the idea that once you choose to follow freight train theory of history, to progress you must reject something else to move forward (ernest krenek in the ockeghem bio).

i think there is a third way. innovation for the sake of something new can lead empty art. my new works are influenced by performance considerations than by artistic innovation. not anything i'm doing is new or cutting edge, but the combinations of these ideas are a practical matter and a response to the limitations of performance and rehearsal i have faced for the past three years.

the pieces are written in c score, to be played by an indeterminate size ensemble so that we are able to adjust the orchestration for each group that gets together to play.

these pieces also have an indeterminacy of parts, form and orchestration. they can be realized in a performance in a precomposed fashion in which all the parts are assigned and the piece unfolds in a specific manner.

yet we also can create a version so that in some sections the musicians can choose which lines to play and even change the form and internal repetition structure from show to show.

somehow the idea of opening up the score for future "customization" makes more sense to me these days. i can think of many examples of similar ideas (duke ellington, charles mingus, terry riley, cornelius cardew...) but this is more an solution to a specific problem.

in rehearsal the early realizations of this have been powerful. it changes the power structure of an ensemble; for us to make music you have to go beyond just playing what is on the page. decisions are made and agreed upon with the ensemble that really matter in performance. how do we want this to unfold? what is the best way to get to the center of this music? where is this piece going? so far many of the "happy accidents" have made the music much stronger. there is such a difference when everybody is when they are given freedom to choose and interact than when they are assigned a specific role.

three years ago i created this ensemble with an idea of an specific instrumentation that i was interested in working with. now i have turned around 180 degrees. its all about having a group a people that want to get together and make music on a consistent basis because we have to express ourselves through the communal nature of rehearsal and performance. the size of the ensemble can expand and contract based on our busy schedules, a only moderately balanced quorum is needed to put on a show. in a very early review, i hope these "adjustments" to my process have freed my ensemble to create music in a more creative and collaborative way and perform in far more often in the future. fto!

REALNEWMUSIC FESTIVAL, SATURDAY JUNE 24TH

TOTAL EARCANDY: PBE's LATEST FLASH-BASED MUSIC COMPOSITIONS ADDS SWEET FLAVOR TO DIGITAL MUSIC COLLECTION.

June 9th 2006


Expanding on its line of acoustic and digital music,the Paul Bailey Ensemble today announced a new series compositions designed sure to be a feast for the ears as well as the eyes and come in such tasty colors as coconut white, tropical ice blue, and licorice black.

These new products incorporate our most coveted features in a fresh design that's unlike anything in the market today," said Kelly Davis, senior product manager for at the Paul Bailey Ensemble. "They're a playful and easy way to enjoy live performance; just listening at them makes you want to smile." The compositions are easily played back using both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis music files, in addition to supporting WMA and WAV formats. They are compatible with Itunes ™ online music store and include Itunes ® software to import, manage and transfer music collections.

Becoming available at retail stores and at authorized dealers nationwide, the ensemble will be giving a special demonstration of these new products at the realnewmusic festival on Saturday, June 24th at Whittier College. Pricing is Flexible Tickets are $10.00 /$7.50 (students and seniors or anybody two for $10) .

At the conclusion of this event the ensemble will distribute an optical disc that connects directly to a PC for the process of transferring music. These discs provide up to 5 hours of continuous playback and feature a quick-change function that enables individual selection of your favorite musical products. In fact, through recent changes in our distribution system you can access any of this material online for a small fee.

info:
Kelly Davis
Hakim M. Bey
Division of Public Safety
Paul Bailey Ensemble Inc.
314-228-1700