Photo by KV.
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Current Top Ten Stereo Cuts
- Powell's City of Books, Portland: April 5.
- The Victory Grill, Austin: April 10.
- Jackie Gray on the drums with the Blues ensemble performing at the Silver Slipper, Houston: April 11.
- The Rothko Chapel followed by the Houston Flea Market near Highway 59, Houston: April 12
- First visit to New Orleans post-Katrina, seeing how much had already come back: April 14.
- Hanging out with Ab, Wilbert, and Martin after the Philadelphia gig, discussing music and methods to abandon creative control, at the Club Quarters Bar: April 17
- Taking trains on tour in the States for the first time, up the East Coast (Philadelphia-Baltimore-New York): April 18 and 19.
- The concert at Joe's Pub and post-concert in New York, great music and great company: April 19.
- Listening to Ab practice the shakuhachi at the deserted train station in Rochester, waiting to leave for Buffalo: April 21.
- The return to Chicago: hundreds of people at Chicago Cultural Center performance on April 22nd; and a room filled with musicians at the Immediate Sound Series 3rd Anniversary at the Hideout on the 25th (Ab Baars, Wilbert De Joode, Martin van Duynhoven, Ma
In Addition
- ”black mountain: An Exploration In Community,” (Northwestern University Press: 2009), by Martin Duberman, non-fiction.
- ”John Cage-Morton Feldman: Radio Happenings I-V,” (MusikTexte: 1993), transcribed by Laura Kuhn, translated by Gisela Gronemeyer, interviews.
- “The Shape Of Content,” (Harvard University Press: 1957), by Ben Shahn, non-fiction.
- ”The Wire: Season 5,” (HBO: aired 2008), various directors, television series.”
- Renzo Piano's Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago, May 19, June 8, June 23.
Posted by on Jun 26, 2009
SOUNDTRACKS: 6/23/09The Vandermark 5: Special Edition (Magnus Broo/trumpet, Tim Daisy/drums, Kent Kessler/bass, Fred Lonberg-Holm/cello & electronics, Dave Rempis/alto & baritone, Ken Vandermark/tenor & Bb clarinet, Haavard Wiik/piano) record six sets of music at the Green Mill, Chicago, on June 19 and 20, 2009. The material included seven compositions previously documented by the Vandermark 5, but these were re-arranged specifically for this project: Vehicle (from The Color of Memory/2005) Some Not All (from A Discontinuous Line/2006), Friction, Desireless (from Beat Reader/2008), Cement, Early Color, Second Marker, Cadmium Orange (to be on the September, 2009, release from Not Two Records, Annular Gift). In addition five new pieces were written for this septet: New Weather (by Broo), Nameless (by Vandermark), Green Mill Tilter and an untitled ballad (by Wiik). The sessions were recorded live in front of the Friday and Saturday night audiences at the Green Mill, and engineered by Jason Ward. There are plans to release a document of this material, also through Not Two Records, to coincide with a double bill European tour in September of 2010, by Atomic and the Vandermark 5.
Posted by on Jun 07, 2009
A new NOTES FROM THE FIELD has been posted. You can read it HERE!Posted by on May 15, 2009
SOUNDTRACKS: 5/10/09The Vandermark 5 recorded two versions of “Early Color,” “Table, Skull, and Bottles,” Cadmium Orange,” “Latitude,” “Cement,” “Second Marker,” and “Spiel,” for Not Two Records during two nights of concerts at Alchemia in Krakow, on March 14th and 15th. The best selections will be featured on a autumn release to coincide with the band's European tour in September.
One new piece by Ken Vandermark, called, “Seven Over Five Is Twelve,” was added to the quartet book performed by the Ab Baars Trio during their North American tour during April. Baars added a composition entitled, “Song.” Many of the band's performances were recorded, and the older material was so thoroughly re-worked that with the addition of the new music there is a chance that an album may be released by the group from one of their American concerts.
A preview of the upcoming documentary, “Strade d'Acqua,” directed by Augusto Contento, can be seen at the website: www.cineacqua.com. Several compositions written specifically for the soundtrack can also be heard there.
Ten of Joe McPhee's compositions were arranged by Ken Vandermark and performed with the addition of Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, and Dave Rempis, at the openning night of the Okka Disk Festival, held in Milwaukee on May 1st-3rd. The pieces included “Astral Spirits,” “Age,” “Future Retrospective,” “Good-Bye Tom B.,” “Sweet Dragon,” “Old Eyes,” “Violets For Pia,” “Knox,” “Pablo,” and “Erol Tinu.” There are plans for future concerts by the group, and perhaps a large ensemble re-working of the material to feature McPhee as a primary soloist.
Several albums of recorded material are nearing the finishing stages of their production, and will be released in the fall of this year. These include recordings by Sonore (for Okka Disk), Lean Left (for smalltownsupersound), Daisy/Vandermark (for Laurence Family Records), The Vandermark 5 (for Not Two Records), The Resonance Project boxset (for Not Two Records), and Nilssen-Love/Vandermark (for smalltownsupersound). In addition, recording schedules have been organized for the Vandermark 5 “Special Edition” (adding Haavard Wiik and Magnus Broo to the ensemble) [to take place live at the Green Mill, Chicago, in June], and The Frame Quartet [to take place in at Strobe Studio, Chicago, in July].
Posted by on May 06, 2009
UPDATE: many new tour dates have been added on THIS PAGE, with many more to come. Check 'em out - spring & summer are shaping up nicely!! More news in a few days..Posted by on Apr 25, 2009
OKKA DISK JAZZ FEST!!Okkadisk is celebrating 15 years of jazz! Join us and see some smokin’ hot shows!
Package tickets are available for purchase at the Sugar Maple and at Palm Tavern. They are $50 each and cover all four shows.
Friday, May 1st, 8pm Sugar Maple Back Lounge, $15…
Survival Unit III with Joe McPhee, Michael Zerang and Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis and Ken Vandermark play the music of Joe McPhee
Saturday, May 2, 2pm, Palm Tavern, $15…
Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark and Dave Rempis with special guests.
Saturday, May 2, 8pm, Sugar Maple Back Lounge, $20…
Peter Brotzmann Trio with Nasheet Watts and Erik Revis
and Engines with nate McBride, Jeb Bishop, Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy
Sunday, May 3rd, 2 pm, Sugar Maple Front Room, $15…
Fred Anderson with Tim Daisy
Caffeine with Jim Baker, Steve Hunt and Ken Vandermark
This weekend should be really exciting. Plan your ticket purchases in advance - some of these may sell out fast.
Posted by on Apr 10, 2009
Update: all manner of new TOUR DATES have been posted, including the details for the upcoming '15th Anniversary of Okkadisk Festival' being held in Milwaukee, WI. Check them all out right HERE! As always, more news very soon....Posted by on Mar 13, 2009
A visual-specific update: We've had a lot of great response to Ken's recent travels with Sonore, Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet and the V5, and the pictures don't lie. So, we've decided to include a few links to some recent blog posts that include said images.. so, without further ado!V5 in Belgium (photos: Patrick Van Vlerken)
Chicago Tentet (photos: Janiver)
Sonore in Ukraine (photos: Konstantyn Smolianinov)
V5 in Ljubljana (photos: IztokX)
Chicago Tentet in Norway (photos: Heiko Purnhagen)
And last, but certainly not least, some great pics from Peter Fay have been posted to the PHOTOS page.. check 'em out!
Enjoy, and keep an eye out for more soon.. and thanks to everyone who reached out with these materials. Keep 'em comin'!!
Posted by on Feb 06, 2009
This just in: >> an excellent interview with Joe Maneri (by Stu Vandermark) has been posted to the Perspectives page. Check it out HERE!
>> A video excerpt by Jason Guthartz from a recent V5 performance at Elastic has been posted HERE!
Posted by on Jan 30, 2009
SOUNDTRACKS: 1/30/09*Finished Compositions
For the soundtrack to the documentary film Roads of Water (by Augusto Contento): “South,” “Blue Over Green,” “Embankment Against A Sky,” “Further,” “Sieve Of The Soul,” “Signal,” and “Cartography.”
For the Vandermark 5: “Cadmium Orange,” and “Spiel.”
*Recordings In Progress
Sonore: selections made and mix to be completed by Peter Brotzmann, planned for release by Okka Disk on cd and lp before October.
Nilssen-Love/Vandermark Duo: selections made for a mixing session this spring; released on smalltownsuperjazz by summer.
Free Fall: preparing selections for a mixing session this spring; release scheduled on smalltownsuperjazz before their June West Coast tour of the United States.
Posted by on Jan 13, 2009
Some recent-ness:::: new In Rotation and In Addition posted, on this page!
:: Several new additions to the Perspectives page, including an excellent Evan Parker lecture on John Coltrane, and an excerpt from Eero Saarinen: An Architecture of Multiplicity. Very good stuff, all of which is located HERE!
:: A new selection from the Concert Archive has been posted, on this page..
:: Check out a "What's New" round-table discussion with Ken et al, on the Point of Departure site by clicking HERE!
Stay tuned for new Rotating Images coming soon!