i'd offer you a mint

my apologies for those who turned in to listen to the radio interview today. unfortunately mr. perlich became ill and was not able to conduct our interview. once we reschedule i'll be sure to post the new time and date. thanks for concerned calls and emails i was happy to hear there was so much interest, especially those listening online.

anyway, its late and i'd offer you a mint for your troubles, but instead please help yourself to some mp3's from our this falls shows.

see you tomorrow night,

pb

cheap admiration
fearless leader
eye for optical theory
1125
sweater song

leaderless fear?

the pbe hiatus is finally over. in rehearsal tonight we realized that 3 months was the longest break we have ever taken since we started in 2002. i'm glad to be back to it preparing for a club show at mr. t's bowl (our favorite venue) on feb 20th. we are very fortunate to have john mahr covering keyboards during eric hendrikson's personal leave.

reh went well tonight, we started in on quite a bit of music that we haven't performed that much and ended up with quite a bit more music then we can use. so far the setlist is starting to look something like this:

chaconne, john brenner (great modular piece)
bonedance, lloyd rodgers
fearless leader, pb
life's too short, pb (tentative, 2 of 3 singers confirmed...)
national anthem, radiohead (cover)

this spring we are also working on adding doug hein's orlando and john brenner's leaderless fear to our repertoire. one thing that i have noticed about programming is that a concert of 5 or more pieces by most any composer can be a real drag (especially mine). i try and not program more than 2-3 of my own pieces, and when planning this show it became clear that when you pick the top 1-2 pieces from a variety of composers it quickly can become a pretty exceptional show.

anyhow, its great to be back in the game and with last night's great rehearsal i can get up to the mountains for a few days in much better state of mind. school starts in a week and our budget has been slashed 10%, so i sure hope i still have some classes to teach. (remember life's meant to be endured not enjoyed)

so while i'm away please help yourself to any or all the following;

retrace our steps

its new, it fun, and free!****

and its an secular oratorio based on texts gertrude stein, guy debord and jenny bitner. while i was making it, i decided that it would be much more interesting and informative to have a graphic libretto instead of program notes. it was such an obvious idea and was surprised to find that nobody else seems to be doing this. so check it out and let me know what you think.

retrace our steps, act 1

retrace our steps, act 2

retrace our steps, act 3

retrace our steps, act 4

assorted live performances from fall 07

life's too short (092507)

fearless leader (lacc, 100207)

11/25/05 (with real quiet, 102507)

you can also support the pbe by purchasing our first album; music from summerland (2002)

download full album ($5) google checkout or paypal

(****at least for you early adopters. i'm trying something new and going to give this one away until CD#3 comes out (life's too short, fall 08). i think giving away the new stuff and selling the back catalog isn't a bad idea. so try it out and if you like it, i bet you might like my previous CD music from summerland)

Life (We Cannot Retrace Our Steps)

my long life, my long life



RETRACE OUR STEPS is essentially a secular oratorio; a collection of thoughts, feelings, and opinions about modern life (consumerism, idealism, and alienation)
Traditionally oratorios functioned as a musical sermon, coordinated to biblical calendar to enhance the worship service. by setting these conflicting themes in a non-narrative format allows the contradictions and grey areas to become illuminated.

Instead of creating an “official” set of PROGRAM NOTES to accompany this recording (like the ones you are reading right now) I decided that a GRAPHIC LIBRETTO would far better bridge the gap between the trepidation many people feel today when listening to ART MUSIC (music meant for contemplation)

listen and download RETRACE OUR STEPS I-IV:
retrace our steps, act I
retrace our steps, act II
retrace our steps, act III
retrace our steps, act IV

download graphic libretto

download graphic libretto and retrace our steps mp3's (66mb zip file)

do you know?

in my long life

do you know
because I tell you so,
or do you know, do you know



retrace our steps, act IV>

in my long life

in my long life, in my long life
life is strife

what made it live?

has it not gone, what made it live
has it not gone because now it is had



retrace our steps, act IV

but do i want?

but do I want
what we have got?




retrace our steps, act IV
text by guy debord

plagarism is necessary

The meaning of words
participates in the improvement
plagiarism is necessary
progress implies it

retrace our steps, act III

ideas improve

the greatness of art begins to appear
at the dusk of life
ideas improve


retrace our steps, act III

in dazzling colors

when art, becomes independent
it depicts its world in dazzling colors



act III

unfolding of the universe

man’s appropriation of his own nature
is at the same time his grasp of the unfolding of the universe



retrace our steps, act III

unfolding

estrangement between man and man

the spectacle is materially the expression of the separation and estrangement between
man and man.

retrace our steps, act III

download mp3

behind the masks of total choice

I am not a genuine pamphleteer
I have nothing to say. I have nothing to write...
If I had something to say, I would be the first to say it
loudly, outrageously, and articulately...

Behind the masks of total choice
different forms of the same alienation confront each other
all of them built on real contradictions, which are repressed



retace our steps, act II
total choice

tranquil center of misery

I wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat. I am gripped by the knowledge that I have nothing to say-That even if I could write a pamphlet everyone in the world would see, I would fail.

...the spectacle is nothing more than an image of happy unification surrounded by desolation and fear at the tranquil center of misery.



program notes
retrace our steps, act II

could the correct words make a difference in someone's life?

i wonder: if written in the correct order, could the correct words make a difference in someone's life?

what hides under the spectacular oppositions is a unity of misery.



retrace our steps, act 2
text, jenny bitner and guy debord

do you know you will burn in hell if you don't change your ways?

I am intrigued by the belief that a pamphlet could change a life. I remember those given to me with the images of a man burning amid fiery flames, and inside: "Change your life. Do you know you will burn in hell if you don't change your ways?"

what hides under the spectacular oppositions is a unity of misery.



retrace our steps, act 2
text jenny bitner (the pamphleteer) and guy debord (society of the spectacle)

I am trying to devise the perfect pamphlet

I am trying to devise the perfect pamphlet, a pamphlet that if given to enough people could change the world.

In societies where modern conditions of productions prevail, all life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles.

retrace our steps, act 2
text jenny bitner and guy debord

retrace our steps, act 1

we cannot retrace our steps
going forward may be the same as going backwards.
we cannot retrace our steps, retrace our steps.
All my long life, all my life, we do not retrace our steps, all my long life, but...

(a silence, a long silence)

but-we do not retrace our steps,
all my long life, and her,
here we are her, in marble and gold,
did I say gold, yes I said gold, in marble and gold and where-

(silence)

where is where.
in my long life of effort and strife, dear life, life is strife,
in my long life it will not come and go,
i tell you so, it will stay in the pay but...


retrace our steps, act 1
text.gertrude stein
p.bailey 2005

life is strife

where is where.
In my long life of effort and strife, dear life, life is strife,
in my long life it will not come and go,
I tell you so, it will stay in the pay but...


retrace our steps, act 1
text.gertrude stein
p.bailey 2005

in marble and gold and where-

(a silence, a long silence)

but... -we do not retrace our steps,
all my long life, and her,
here we are her, in marble and gold,
did I say gold, yes I said gold, in marble and gold and where-

retrace our steps, act 1
text gertrude stein
p.bailey 2005

photo (eric richardson)

going forward may be the same as going backwards

we cannot retrace our steps
going forward may be the same as going backwards.
we cannot retrace our steps, retrace our steps.
all my long life, all my life, we do not retrace our steps, all my long life, but...


retrace our steps, act 1
text.gertrude stein
p.bailey 2005

Do you like artsy experimental but are tired of John Zorn wannabes?

its a show week, final exams and student teacher fun at csuf so not much time for blogging.

btw... we just got a nice plug in whitehot magazine for sunday's show at dangerous curve in downtown la . i especially like the log-line.

Tired of going to the opera house? Tired of the concert hall setting? Don’t like to dress up nice and act pretentious? Do you like artsy experimental but are tired of John Zorn wannabes?

jump

monday morning quarterback

csuf's d.i.e. had a pretty good show last wed night in which we premiered david toub's piece this piece intentionally left blank. i thought it was a very effective composition and pretty good first performance. enjoy the mp3.

this performance represented the best of social networking and was made possible by david having a well designed website with scores and mp3's. he also is very smart by having some pieces in open c score that are easily adapted to any instrumentation (most pbe music is written this way) which is the point of the diverse instrument ensemble.

anyway ,it was a challenging but fun piece to play and great example of the exchange of ideas by making your music public. i look forward to playing more of music like this and encourage others to follow.

newmusicland

daniel wolf cannily points the limitations and travails about having a blog and dialogue it spawns.

Personally, I think that Newmusicland is a microeconomy (or a series of microeconomies within a microeconomy) without much real at stake. Sure, there are prizes to win and teaching gigs to hand out, but in the end, it's a bloody struggle over bloody nothing, or a mad rush for crumbs (thanks to Joyce and Feldman), and even with the "best" resume and connections the distribution of laurels and better day jobs ultimately involves a large factor of the arbitrary. Establishing a public musical identity as a composer means taking a strong position, having strong opinions, and saying through our music in a very public way that I like this and (implicitly) not that. But are our strong opinions only to be placed in public in the form of our music, and not our words? When we switch to words, do we suddenly have a license to duck and cover?

i think its good to point out the drawbacks of blogging: everything we say online probably won't get us a better job and will most likely be used against us someday, and yes sometimes our online discussions probably amount to a hill of beans, but for those of us who remember the time before the internet, any information about newmusic was limted at best.

growing up in kansas i had little connection to newmusic or artmusic at all until college, but these days i first hear about somebody online much earlier than hear about it on "the street" . hopefully our ramblings give an accurate (although sometimes myopic) portrayal of the 'zeitgeist' in which we live. as i pointed out recently i am lucky to be a part of the southern california "cartesian school", but i also appreciate that our online newmusicland community that has connected me to people like daniel wolf, corey dargel, jeff harrington, and david toub (and a cast of others on my blogroll...now this is where the internet is like a big reacharound) just this weekend got into a emusic frenzy because of david toub's extensive mp3 link dump (david, i especially thank you for introducing me to real quiet, marc mellits, and steve layton)

like any community, it is only as vital as those who participate and there will always be more "lurkers" than than commentators. so far our little club seems to be pretty open to a wide variety of art and ideas, and we have mostly stayed away from throwing rocks at each other. (except a recent minor stoning of christopher rouse).

good ideas do crop up online, the recent discussion of open study scores has prompted me to start editing posting my own music. this semester at CSUF, the diverse instrument ensemble (d.i.e) has enjoyed rehearsing and is planning to perform of david toub’s online scores (when a 65 yr old faculty member brings a piece to rehearsal from the internet you know its having some effect). like fantasy baseball there is always going to be arguments about who the hero’s and villains are, but by telling these stories and sharing our experiences through our newmusicland microcommunity gives meaning to our strange and pitiful existence.

overall i am always interested in reading about people who are doing. reading about those who are actively involved in their community whether it be musiciology, kazoo training, writing ya fiction or grip work is much more interesting than passively consuming some of the latest feel good claptrap. everyday its easy to feel like we are faced with the 'faculty cafeteria' problem, surrounded by disgruntled who are forever complaining about how the young are fracking up our lives. by turning off the noise and joining a club (ferret blogs anyone?) our online microcommunities can serve as to channel the best of our collective ideas, creations and experiences.

*one of the my main internet conundrums is that there are ferret (we are new ferret parents) and lego train blogs, but i cannot figure out for the life of me why the music education community is so empty. maybe it is all because edwin gordon's sound before symbol theories have become reality?

via ubuweb

halfway along the journey of our life, i walk in wonder in a sunless wood, for i had wandered from the narrow way.

via ubuweb, via caroline bergvall, via zapura 1998, via dante 1308-1321

mp3

where there are sticks there might be fire

this is what happens when you leave the matches out. (with a nod to daniel wolf)

2nd sunday

great show tonight, probably the best one we have played in a club.

for part of the night we were a cover band playing a variety of music; lloyd rodgers great piece, bonedance, radiohead's national anthem, eric hendrickson's great modular piece 'seven', and michael nyman's 'eye for optical theory'.
the rest of the concert featured a reworking of my piece overcoming tourism that was recomposed for the smaller 6-piece pbe. i'll check the recording tomorrow. if the levels come out fine then i should post parts of the show by the end of the week.

it was also great to have a visit from the blogosphere. thanks again to eric reda and his sister for stopping by from chicago.
we are going to keep this 2nd sunday show going. our next show will be sunday, nov 12th 8pm.

reach around and touch yourself

welcome to myinner myspace.

summer listening (through myspace)

boulder acoustic society (alternative bluegrass)

corey dargel

listing ship

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.

paul bailey ensemble live, beyond baroque, 021206

the mp3's are up from our concert at beyond baroque on 021206 (venice, ca)

retrace our steps, act 1
retrace our steps, act 2
retrace our steps, act 3
retrace our steps, act 4

retrace libretto

cheap admiration

summerland

sweater song (weezer/bailey)

recorded on sony mz-rh910 minidisc, using my sound professionals portable recording rig (SP-SPSB-5)

bad blogger

me bad blogger me no post for two weeks me very busy


american composers forum, los angeles salon

live performance mp3's

q+a, hosted by alex shapiro(mp3)

recording session with vocalists

rehearsals for realnewmusic festival @whittier college (june 17th)

ap music theory exam

viewpoint school benefit dinner dance

busy...

off to dinner with vic and and his friends