Sunday the 16th: Hung out in Milwaukee to spend time with Bruno Johnson and his wife Adrienne Pierluissi (who is a very fine painter). Good to catch up with him and discuss ideas about Okka Disk (quite a few releases pending this summer and fall) and music in general. Had a chance to visit the Museum of Art for the first time and it was spectacular, from the Calatrava wing(s), to the Bradley collection, to its location along the lake. A chance to breathe before the Scandinavian invasions…
Monday the 17th: The invasion begins. The members of Atomic arrived in the afternoon from Scandinavia, had a cup of coffee and headed out to go shopping at Jazz Record Mart. I met them later to catch Ab Baars’ Quartet perform his re-workings of Duke Ellington compositions at the Chicago Cultural Center. Ab is just incredible, one of my favorite musicians out there; his clarinet playing is terrifying and his tenor sound is about as individual and expressive as anything I’ve ever heard. His version of “Sonnet For Caesar,” from Such Sweet Thunder, was absolutely gorgeous.
Tuesday the 18th: So now I’m here, at home writing this a little after 1am, while listening to Sonny Rollins And The Big Brass. Spent most of the day rehearsing the new Atomic School Days tunes with the band (Kjell Nordeson arrived on a 5:30am flight today!), then cut out to master the CINC album with Bob Weston (Paul Lytton, Philipp Wachsmann, myself; recorded in concert while on tour in Europe during October, 2004). It will be released on Okka Disk to coincide with our North American Tour in the first part of June. Figured I’d better get this submitted before the concerts get started this week, otherwise there really wouldn’t be any time; gigs for the next five days straight, with the weekend shows at the Green Mill to be recorded for release. Viva Chicago!
-Ken Vandermark, Chicago, 4/18/06.
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