Had a nice but weird show this past Wednesday, hosting the Tranzac’s ‘Wombat Wednesdays’ with Michael Holt and Arkana Music on the bill.
Holt showed up in drag and did an awesome opening set – we rolled the piano out from the Tiki Lounge and he played in front of the stage. My friend John K said it was a “profoundly humanizing experience” listening, and I can’t think of a better way to describe it. Mike’s a beautiful and brave person and every time I see him I like him more.
Arkana Music was awesome, in that jazz pro/can-play-circles-around-anyone way. I was a bit worried about having a full set of instrumental music as the middle part of the night. But no need. Everyone who talked with me about the show loved them.
Then we finished the night with a set of oldish songs from our rep. Kristin was a bit drunk and I was sober, which was a strange role reversal. Band played really well. And Dane Swan, a fantastic poet and one of my fav people in the world did three pieces with us:
The Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra with Dane Swan: Escape Plan
But we didn’t get a good crowd out. Lost a bundle of money. I’m in a self-promotional funk. I like doing these shows at the Tranzac and I love being connected to all these great musicians who want to share the stage with us. But something’s got to change. Thinking that it’s coming time to move from doing ’songs’ to doing ‘projects’.
Been thinking about it a lot and making a plan – had some drinks with my friend The Happy Fish after the gig and talked through it. He suggested a brilliant concept for a show that I’m going to do in early summer.
I’m convinced: music is distinct from art. Doesn’t work the same way at all. A delightfully twisted classical pianist told me last month: “I’ve come to despise music”. Actually so have I now. If you examine the reality of how we make music here and now — how could you not? There’s something grotesquely wrong with every stage of the process.
Sidestep and move on to a better way of making something with the resources I’ve got, or drown in bile. Art must become more like jujitsu, using the culture’s momentum to turn it on its head. Keep on working like this and I’ll lose what I’ve got left. Which is plenty, thanks.
Our musical adaptation of The Torture Memos just found its way onto the San Francisco-based Fire John Yoo! Blog this morning.
Fire John Yoo? Yes – of course fire John Yoo. It’s outrageous that a criminal like Yoo goes on teaching law at Berkeley. This Aussie video captures the moral dissonance of the situation really well:
Good for the people behind the Fire John Yoo blog for keeping people aware of this totally unresolved issue.
This week’s What’s All This Then?! podcast features an interview with percussion/computer duo MiMo (Matt Miller and Samuel Morgenstein). Also this week’s concert highlights, and Guitar Drone does something shocking.
AN OPEN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THREE NIGHTS OF FILM/DANCE/SPOKEN WORD + MUSIC COLLABORATIONS
Dear Friends and Colleagues in the Arts,
The Tranzac’s offered us their Wombat Wednesdays weekly series for March. Rather than put together a collection of bands for each night, we’d like to put together something more interesting and ambitious. And, if it appeals to you, you’re invited to participate. Here’s what we’re doing…
On three nights of the series we intend to present a program of collaborations:
- a concert of collaborations between dancers and musicians.
- a concert of collaborations between film/video artists and musicians.
- a concert of collaborations between spoken word performers and musicians.
Some of you have created cross-disciplinary work before and already have a project that fits into one of these programs; some of you are interested in working with people in other disciplines but haven’t made contact yet.
All of you are welcome! If you have something to perform already, or artists in other media that you have a working relationship with – please let me know you’re interested and we’ll set it up. And if you’d like to be involved but aren’t sure who to work with I’m happy to facilitate introducing you to a potential partner or group to collaborate with.
No limits on the nature of your contribution. This is an open invitation and however you choose to approach this work is fine. So I’m sending this invitation to artists working in the most varied styles: improv, classical, jazz, rock musicians; literary and slam poets; live video and concrete film artists. I think the result will be three really fascinating concerts that’ll show these artistic disciplines in all their colours, and bring together performers across disciplines in the process.
Let me know you’d like to be involved! The potential dates for the shows are March 3, 10, 24, and 31 and I’ll put each program on the date that’s most convenient for those involved. So let me know which dates you can do. And let me know if you want to be on the free agent collaborators list or if you’ve already got partners in mind. If you have any questions, send me an email (address below).
Also, please forward this invitation to let others know they’re invited to take part as well.
Looking forward to working with you,
Ben Mueller-Heaslip
The Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra
http://www.parkdalerevolutionaryorchestra.com
ben@parkdalerevolutionaryorchestra.com
647.435.9068
