Josh Berman came to town last weekend - he was visiting family in California, and so was able to come to the Bay to do some playing. He played in an improvised quartet at 21 Grand on the 26th with Weasel Walter, Damon Smith and Aaron Bennett, and I arranged a trio date at the Meridian gallery in downtown San Francisco on Friday the 27th with the two of us and Kjell Nordeson. I wrote a few pieces for this trio, inspired by a recent trip to southern Utah - a place called Kodachrome Basin. A few "small-scale" pieces that were meant to affect the improvising while allowing for plenty of openness for the players. Josh and I were able to rehearse our parts earlier in the day, and met up with Kjell at Meridian around 6pm. Unfortunately there was an event which we weren't told about that went until 6:30 - this cut into our plans. We talked through the pieces and were able to rehearse certain points while we set up. The concert started early and promptly at 8:30 - there was a good audience and the sound of the space lent itself well to the way the compositions were written and the way we played as a trio. Kjell particularly took advantage of the space with a wide-array of sounds and colors from his kit.
The next day we did a recording session with Weasel - recorded about two hours worth of improvising - a good time. those two used to live together way back in the 90s - they seemed to be glad to be playing together again after so much time.
Monday, June 30, 2008
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