Announcement
So in the wake of recent disturbing events, I've dropped the Toxic Spores name for my performances. But...Manny and I didn't connect before any of the postering or other media placement for this upcoming show, which was all done with the Toxic Spores name. D'oh. The end result: Monday November 5 is the LAST TOXIC SPORES SHOW EVER! The info, straight from the MIT list:

Mon Nov 5
jazz/improv
CIMP recording artists from New York City
BLAISE SIWULA TRIO
and Korean vocalist GE-SUK YEO
with local improvisors Origami Uprising and Toxic Spores
8 pm $10
at the Boxheart Gallery, 4523 Liberty Ave, Bloomfield
(right across the street from Paul's CDs!)

Come on by and tell your other friends that you saw me when I was still performing as Toxic Spores. (To which they'll reply, "Saw who?") This will also be the debut of my new ring modulator, adding some extra strangeness to the tonal palette. Ideally, no moonsuits or antibiotics will be required. If you need sugar or caffeine, you can wander next door to the excellent cafe El Dolce. There's a good Thai place just up the street as well. Parking, however, may be an issue. You might get something on Liberty itself, but you're more likely to get something on one of the side streets. (Remember that side streets are alternating one-way streets; turn right at El Dolce/Tessaro's for the most likely spaces. )

I have, as you know, solicited comments on my different options for other names, and...the focus group has responded positively to a few of them. As a result, the first show by Stoic Sex Pro (an anagram of Toxic Spores, actually) will be on Saturday November 10 at Duke's in Oakland (on South Millvale, across from the Pep Boys) with one of Robert Press's many musical projects. More information on that show next week.

To be removed from this list, email me, or stick me in your killfile.

Report

While not a final final gig, it was the last one under the Toxic Spores name, which, I guess, makes it "special" in some way. Or not.

After having been up very late the night before and up early that morning, I did manage to get in a fifteen-minute power nap, which would keep me from falling asleep at the wheel. The evening began with...my having to pick up Manny, drive to MIT to get the PA for the show, and then back to the venue: the Boxheart Gallery in the diversely ethnic, working class, and funky neighborhood of Bloomfield. A very nice space, as it turns out, populated with their mask-themed Hallowe'en show.

Shortly after we arrived, the other acts started showing up: the Blaise Siwula Trio with Korean vocalist Ge-Suk Yeo, and Origami Uprising, the local improv band that changes its name with every performance. (Essentially, Michael Johnsen's group with Matt Wiener and three other people I see everywhere but whose names I'm blanking on.) Michael, known locally for the ability to make a film in a day, was mostly occupied with putting together his apparently home-made modular synth, an impressive piece of work, but he wasn't interested in explaining it or showing if off while he set up.

I was on first, so I set up and then hung out waiting for an audience to appear. We had all band members, the promoter, and the two gallery owners before any paying customers showed up, but show up they did--two friends appeared, and gradually a couple others drifted in. So I started.

I revived an older set of samples from the first official Toxic Spores performance in June and turned in a relatively dense set with some repetitive rhythmic elements. The ring modulator was essential--I didn't have to worry about playing unintentionally melodically or developing any "riffs," which is something I want to avoid with these improvs. It was pretty well received. As I was in a gallery, the natural second choice was "The Good Life (for Bruce Naumann)," which is built on layers of 60-cycle hum. It's the kind of quiet piece that just wouldn't work in a bar, but this was the ideal setting. I got a mild groove going between the guitar and the PowerBook--a first for this piece. Perhaps the only thing missing was that I neglected to do the grounding-the-cable part of the piece. Next time. Last up was another whack at "The Apparition," which is based on the resonant frequency found in "haunted" places (also the resonant frequency of your eyeballs!), but which I haven't been able to do as I've wanted, since no PA I've used can actually pump out the frequency. Last time I based it on a difference tone, but I opted this time to use multiples of the frequency. Ultimately, I'll need to do both, but I'll need to recalculate all the frequencies used in the piece to make it work. Nonetheless, I had an atmosphere going. At the end, I set the guitar up to feed back, and the samples to run for a while before stopping. Then I walked through the audience to the back of the room, where I watched the piece play out while everyone watched my empty chair. Not a bad way to end it.

Next up was Origami Uprising, who did three improvs, the first with Michael Johnsen on musical saw, joined later by two other members on musical saw. (With the violin player still on violin, this left only the trombonist without a bow. They should have given him one, too.) The loud screeching of the musical saws (not being used musically, exactly) ricocheted around the room in Glenn-Branca-esque fashion and was made enjoyable by my having brought hearing protectors. It was fun. The second piece involved the homemade synth and lots of AMM-style playing of the floor tom with other percussion toys and the ever-present bow, and this time with the violinist on autoharp and the trumpeter with a sax mouthpiece on the trumpet. The third piece was back to the musical saw territory, with some notable moments of comedy, including the percussionist trying not to make his ride cymbal sound, and the trumpeter spanking the trumpet mouthpiece of his trumpet. Well done.

The headliners were a sax/bass clarinet, bass/percussion, and vocal improv group (the drummer had hurt his back and bailed from this mini-tour). Very technically impressive. Vocal improv has to be about the hardest thing to do, because you can't let the instrument guide you--you're just out there making these noises with your mouth, having to fight the constant feeling that you might just be doing something stupid instead of arty. (Or at least that's the way I think of it, which prevents me from ever wanting to do any vocal improv.) The vocalist did indeed pull it off, however--obviously classically trained, she went from operatic styles to hissing, spitting out phonemes, and general unintonated drones. It was well done, although the genre is probably not to everyone's taste. There can be something rather method-acting about it, but I can't think of any other way one would do it. The sax player, Blaise, was good, but I was impressed most by the bassist, who had some percussion toys around his ankles and bells hanging off his (upright) bass tuners. He got aggressive at points, bowing "wrong," rubbing the bass with a rubber percussion beater for that howling tone, and playing bullroarer. At times it flirted mightily with what Robert Press calls a "honkfest," but it did settle into some contemplative, evocative moments. Not everyone was necessarily charitable, though, as some stomping could be heard from the apartment above the gallery.

Verdict: an artistic success.