26 May 2010

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5/22:

Train to Brest, France Shoot photos on the docks to the Atlantic. Tentet is hitting its stride- despite sleep deprivation, 7 hours of train travel, 2 horrific meals, and an 11:30pm start time (followed by a 4:20am departure the next day) on a mixed festival for a “complicated” audience, the band delivers a focused ensemble performance, continuing to integrate small combinations of players with full group improvisations, band moving in the same structural direction.

Sun Ra‘s birthday baby!

5/23:
Another night of 2 hours of sleep, then 2 planes to Dusseldorf. In a panic about checking the baritone but it arrives safe. Unfortunately, Fred Longberg-Holm’s cello does not- somehow Air France finds a way to
break 2 tuning pegs made of carbon fiber. Short afternoon sleep and head to the Moers Festival to play. …

Once again the band delivers a strong concert despite the exhausted odds- a ferocious 50 minutes of music, but even in the density the Tentet remains clear. I believe that this was one of the best sets the band
has played for a large (2000+) festival crowd in its career.

The Tentet from the Bimhuis 2009:

5/24:
Last day of the tour is intense- Sonore plays an afternoon concert in a church in Moers (fantastic set, acoustics interesting and exploited by the trio, packed hall), then the group travels by car to Amsterdam to meet the rest of the Tentet to play a 2 set concert in the evening.
Grab an Ethiopean dinner with Terrie, Paal, Mats, Kat, and families; then shoot to the Bimhuis to play. Wish that the band had another week (or more!) to go on the tour, we’re in a spot where things are in transition, pushing against the organizational successes of the previous 3 gigs, and the creative tension on stage leads to some rough edged, risky music. Fantastic audience, and good to spend time afterwards with the members of the band, and lots of friends from Amsterdam, including Ab Baars. Get my baritone trunk back from Terrie, and fingers crossed that I’ll get the beautiful horn home undamaged…

Archie Shepp’s birthday!