March & April 2009

Quite a bite has been going on the last month or so and I just haven't been writing about it. It's spring in California, and though I'm sure to those of you in other parts of the country that can be a struggle, out here it's generally good. For me it's been good as I've been looking for "work", and have had extra time for practicing, writing music, and concerning myself with an upcoming trip to Europe.
March went by pretty well, had a trip down to Los Angeles with the Pink Canoes where we played a good show at the Pharoah's Den down in Riverside (and now I know why Orange County is considered a totally different thing than LA) and a fun if ill-attended show at the Echo Curio in Echo Park. Stayed in Bel Air - went to the Getty Museum, nice trip. We finished that trip in Santa Cruz, a long day of driving up from LA, to the show, then back to the Bay that night. All in all I think Pink Canoes played 5 shows in March, had a good one at the Hemlock where Gerrit Wittmer played a set, and then another one at Travis' house the Golden Trapperkeeper Lodge where it was Earth Hour, so we played a rare acoustic set.
Jordan Glenn's trip Weiner Kids played a couple of shows too - at the Hemlock and then one up at the Ivy Room in Albany. That music is getting more and more fun to play - two saxes and drums - Cory Wright playing baritone in the group, me on alto. We're getting to know the music better and having more fun with it. Going to record next week.
Weasel's Quintet has played a few shows too - last night we played over at Kimo's in SF - a good, short set, plenty of energy, but afterward Darren got the terrible news that his house had been set on fire by the crackhead who lives downstairs from him! I drove him to his place in the Castro, I couldn't see the building, but on the way he talked to his girlfriend and it seemed like the important things (people, cats) were okay. Here's hoping the rest is salvageable.....
Ton Trio played at the Ivy Room last month too. I asked Jordan Glenn to fill in for Sam Ospovat and he did a great job. It was good to play that music again, and now I'm writing more trio music to have when I head over with Kurt to Europe in a few weeks to meet up with Sam and play in Paris and Poland.
And finally, last weekend I took a trip over to New York with Jen. We found cheap flights a while back and decided to head over there. I put together a group with Matt Bauder, Jason Ajemian, and Harris Eisenstadt. I've been wanting a group with Matt for a while, and I think that this may be the start of that. Probably go back sometime in the fall to work more on it, but this was a good start. Played at a space in Long Island City called the Chocolate Factory. We only had one rehearsal and the set was on the short side, but the chemistry is good. We will see.

Out Today: Ton Trio's The Way

Glad to announce the release of The Way, the debut album by Ton Trio:

The Oakland based Ton Trio is made up of Aram Shelton on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Kurt Kotheimer on bass, and Sam Ospovat on drums. All three found their way to the San Francisco area after time in the Midwest, and each became active playing creative music shortly after their arrival. Ton Trio formed in the summer of 2007.

The music of Ton Trio is written by Shelton. Some pieces use the melodic and rhythmic material in a more traditional head format while in others the parts are interchangeable and can be explored extensively by each player, with parts being rearranged simultaneously to create new harmonic relationships.

‘The Way’ is the debut album by Ton Trio and the first CD release by Singlespeed Music. Six compositions by Shelton cover a lot of ground from high-energy freedom to compositional rearrangement.

‘The Way’ is available directly from Singlespeed Music, and through CD Baby.
Downloads will be available through iTunes, Rhapsody, Last.fm and others.

Shelton / Healy 2-13-2009

Friday the 13th! Scary!

Not really. Freddy vs Jason? Alien vs Predator? Terrible movies definitely, but before this show started I had a pretty long talk with these flicks with Jordan Glenn, Chuck Johnson and Ben Bracken, all of whom also played this night at the Totally Intense Fractal MindGaze Hut in Oakland.

The first set was a piece by Chuck Johnson called Polystate. It's an audiovisual piece that he developed as an installation but is also able to perform with. The basics are the use of scales to control audio and visual processes. Ben Bracken performed it with him. The sound was very measured and steady - a full blanket of sound.

Trevor Healy and I played the second set. it was one of the most focused sets that I remember us playing and we made great transitions from place to place with only one thing agreed on before we played - the note to start on. I liked this. We created some very full sounding sections and really moved our dynamics throughout the set. I think Chuck recorded the set - so I'm looking forward to hearing that.

The third set was the duo of Jordan Glenn and Kanoko Nishi. Drums and Koto. They covered alot of ground, at first I thought the drums would be too dominant as the room has some reverberation which can lend itself to too much drum - but Jordan knows what he's doing and the balance worked well. They ended the set in a super solid way, completing the night. All three sets had similarities in terms of timing and patience, though the way that each duo achieved these qualities was very different.

Weasel Walter Quintet 2-9-09

Last monday night played at the Ivy Room up in Albany with Weasel's quintet. Our last date was at the Uptown in Oakland. the big difference between that night and this one is that we've been rehearsing almost regularly, so we know the music better, and are able to take some more liberties with it. Easier for the horns to get away from the material and then back into it with smaller cues - which makes it flow better from composition to improvisation. Darren had a really great solo about midway through. We all played with alot of energy - you can see in this video:

Weasel Walter Quintet > Performance 2-9-2009 from weasel walter on Vimeo.

The first set of the night was the duo of Jacob Felix Heule and Tony Dryer - they did a very quiet set and had setup in a spot surrounded by the audience - a good way to counteract the muffled acoustics in the space while playing very quietly.
The last set was Bad Paradise, a group made up of Steve Dood, Cansafis of No Doctors and Andrew - electronic / experimental / weird / dance - a good set to cap off the night - the three sets were VERY different - which I like.

Fast Citizens January 2009

I'm back in Oakland now, but I'll post what I wrote when I wrote it:

I'm sitting in Keefe Jackson's apartment in Pilsen, listening to the rough mixes of the Fast Citizens recording session from the last two days. It's tuesday January 27, a week after I arrived on a flight coming from Florida that happened at the same time that Barack Obama took the office of the President. It was a huge relief to know that by the time I would get into Chicago, he'd be in charge of the country.

I came to Chicago in the middle of the winter to put together music for a new Fast Citizens recording. The idea had come about back in the summer. I had talked to Keefe and Josh about the need to continue the Fast Citizens. I suggested that the next album have a new leader from within the group. Maybe because I brought it up I was picked to be the next leader. So, Aram Shelton's Fast Citizens were born. I wrote 5 new pieces during the last week of December and spent the following week developing them and creating the parts with the idea that the clearer the ideas and notation, the easier it would be to actually pull off making a new album in a small amount of time. Over the course of the last five days we had one long rehearsal, one short rehearsal, 3 gigs and two days in the studio. Productive!

We set up three dates: the first was on Friday up in Milwaukee at Bruno Johnson's bar called the Sugar Maple. A beautiful space on East Lincoln with a room specifically made for concerts. Fred wasn't able to make that gig, and we had two sets to fill, so we used a good amount of material from the first album. Not having Fred there changed the dynamic of the group in a big way - he adds a vital texture to the sound of the Citizens. I was glad to have him back for the next two shows. The second was on Saturday at the Heaven Gallery in Wicker Park. We shared the bill with two duos: Ben Boye on piano with Frank Rosaly and Charles Rumback on drums with Dave Rempis. The last was Sunday night at the Hungry Brain. That night we shared with Han Bennink solo (!) and Fred Lonberg-Holm's Valentine Trio.

Though there were many strong moments all three nights, the first two dates felt like live rehearsals, whereas the set at the Brain was a real performance, with the parts being much more internalized by everyone. The crowd that night was great too - even though we played last on the 3 set night, the room was full with plenty of listeners. Not to say that we didn't have good turn-outs the other nights, but Sunday was the best.

In all I'm very happy with what we were able to accomplish in a short amount of time and will do all I can to make sure this album comes out sometime this year.

Weasel Walter Quintet Uptown 12-16-2008

Last night there was another free show at the Uptown in downtown Oakland. This one was put together by Sarah Lockhart. The first set was John Gruntfest's Ritual Resurrection Band, which is led by John on alto and words. It was pretty theatrical, and the line up of 2 drummers, 2 keyboards, and 4 saxophones made for a full sound and opportunities for small group pairings for improvising.

The second set was SL Morse - the duo of Sarah and Aurora Josephson. Now I think that Sarah was reading a composition the whole way through and it seemed that Aurora was free - had some good moments and the simple pairing of voice and percussion worked well.

Weasel put together a quintet with me on alto, Aaron Bennett on tenor, Darren Johnston on trumpet and Damon Smith on bass. He wrote a long-form piece for the group that we played for the first time at 21 Grand about a month ago. That time we didn't have a chance to actually rehearse it before hand, and this time we did - the piece has Weasel and Damon being free for the majority of the piece and alot of written material that is in time for the horns to play together - compositionally the opposite of the SL Morse set. The music is all high energy, with the piece opening up after about 10 minutes into long solo sections for each horn player to work with the rhythm section. Darren's trumpet solo sounded great and despite the mic set up for this purpose, Aaron went without in a real high energy section with Weasel and Damon. I started mine and didn't feel so strong for awhile - I don't know if it's the extra work I've been doing or that it's actually kind of cold around here, but I just didn't feel like my playing was working - maybe a bad reed. These things happen.

Good to work on that music again - I think we'll be recording it soon.

And here is the video!


Weasel Walter Quintet @ The Uptown 12-16-08 from mxxx palmer on Vimeo.

Quartet at Blue Six 12-11-2008

Last night played at Blue Six in the Mission. Small space at 24th street and Treat. Played with Darren Johnston, Lisa Mezzacappa, and Kjell Nordeson. We'd gotten together a few months ago at Lisa's place - the different instincts from the players in this group allows for some interesting playing - also, everyone is willing to really go for it so strong music happens.
We played two sets this night, I brought both alto and bass clarinet, Darren played mainly trumpet and some flugelhorn. Both sets were varied - I think in the first we stayed towards higher energy while in the second we took our time to develop ideas. Playing with a talented trumpeter is always great as a reed player, the combination of the sounds enhanced by the range that Darren plays with - we were trading lines that stretched throughout several octaves while I was on bass clarinet - with him matching the range of that instrument easily. Kjell is such a strong player in terms of instant composition - he builds parts that develop over time - the quartet interacted with smaller motifs that he would introduce throughout both sets, and the overall energy that he brings to the kit acted as a guide for much of the music.
In terms of improvised music, what I really like about this group is that while we all have many skills at our disposal, the result is strong music that is not dominated by special techniques. Instead, those techniques are used as parts to create music that is complex on many levels, while being about both the interaction of the individual players and the music created as a group.
Thanks to Joe for having the show at his place -

Paper Leg at Ivy Room 12-08-2008

Up in Albany at the Ivy Room they've been having shows on Monday nights. Eric Leppo tends bar there on Mondays and keeps this series going - thanks to him!
Played with Trevor Healy for the first time in a bit. I brought my alto and bass clarinet, used Max/MSP for processing, and was able to use his guitar sounds as well. Trevor makes big thick walls of sound with his guitar and electronics noise changing tools (pedals) including of course the electronic system for wind instruments. Our method of playing together has stayed consistent during our hiatus - we tend to take our time getting moving through different spaces in music, which makes a two hour rehearsal move by fast, and a 45 minute set that much faster.
Andrew Conklin's band Quinn played second, a rock band with a good variety of songs - and then Jordan Glenn's & Karl Evangelista's instrumental band Host Family - pretty complex arrangements with multiple meters and pieces finding unexpected ways into others.

Flockterkit 9-16-2008

It's been a little while since Flockterkit had a show - since last December when I played the music in Chicago. Last November I recorded the music with the west coast lineup - Andy Strain, Jordan Glenn, Kurt Kotheimer, Caroline Penwarden and Anantha Krishnan. The recording turned out very good - but we hadn't had a chance to play the music out here until now. This was a free show at the Uptown in Oakland, I put together a bill with Painted Cakes (Eli Reitz, Shumit DasGupta and Andrew Kitchen), and Ben Bracken playing solo. It was a good night.
Painted Cakes played first - minimalist rock with long forms and interweaving patterns between the guitar, bass, and drums. Ben Bracken's set was one long piece, using feedback from his acoustic guitar to set up a bed for musical thoughts and sounds.
The Flockterkit set felt great - we took our time with improvising and solos - Jordan on drums and Anantha on tabla make a solid percussion section, and Kurt holds it down in between the two. Caroline used pump organ on the entire set, which is a great sound, long sustain, creaky, with dexterity as well.
The crowd that came was mixed, but mainly listeners - each group had a different sound and style which made for a balanced night of music. The good thing about the setup of the Uptown is that the bar is separate from the music room, so the people that don't want to listen can do their talking somewhere else. If only every place was built that way....

Pink Canoes at Knockout 9-4-2008

Originally uploaded by Travis Johns

Last week the Pink Canoes played at the Knockout in San Francisco. It'd be a couple of months since we played, and this show was put together pretty quickly. Two sets by noise groups made the meat of this dance party / noise night. It was good - we went with all energy in the beginning, Zach doing more processed vocals these days, in the phot he's the blur - Noah and Travis acted in some ways as the rhythmic backbone.

Arrive at the Whig "On Time"

Arrive plays "On Time"
Arrive is Aram Shelton, alto sax; Jason Adasiewicz, vibes; Jason Roebke, bass; Tim Daisy, drums.
Recorded July 26, 2008 in Columbia, SC.

Arrive Tour, Ash pt 2, to NYC. July 28-31, 2008

The second week of our tour was a lot more work than the first. While we were able to spend some quality time in the Carolinas, we had alot of ground to cover on the back half of our trip. From Charlotte we went back to Asheville to play at the Admiral, a new polace run by the same folk that have brought us the Whig in Columbia. They took care of us with great food and we played two sets, possibly our best playing night of the tour. I think a few things contributed to us playing well = one of which was a detour in a river that feeds into Lake Lure about 30 miles east of Asheville. A good time.
After our second stop in Asheville the driving started - we headed up to Richmond, a 6 hour drive, and played a show at the Camel. The band Glows in the Dark played first. The next day we headed to Philly, a 4 1/2 hour jaunt, not so bad, but we left town right after the show to drive into NYC to beat the traffic. Philly was good - got into town with plenty of time to hang out before the show which was downtown at the Gershman Y, a nice building that houses the Jewish Athletic Hall of Fame. Bowerbird put on a nice show for us with Dan Blacksburg's Synthesis Music playing a set. The room was a gallery but with good acoustics. The crowd was small but enthusiastic, and it was a good night.
Driving into NYC at night was a good decision. We got in around 2 AM, and were able to sleep in - though it was a hot one in the city. We spent the day hanging out with Matt Bauder, played basketball in the park where we lost by a pretty big margin to some neighborhood kids, but at least were able to feel good about the fact that they were arguing over some points and with each other form time to time. Pus, Daisy was wearing sandals and Matt's game was off. if we'd brought some water we would've been dangerous & not just dehydrated.
We played at Zebulon that night, lot's of great pictures can be seen here (Look for July 31, 2008 Arrive). The first set was Mary Halvorson, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Reuben Radding - they played a set that got pretty loud, I hadn't seen Tatsuya play loud before, and it sounded great - he was bringing out all his trademark colors and textures, but with an incredible volume.
We played the second set, and there was a good crowd - though there were a fair share of talkers. The night felt like one at the Hungry Brain in Chicago - lots of younger musicians, plenty of people to meet and run into. Bauder's Day in Pictures played last - Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Jason Ajemian on bass, Nate Wooley on trumpet, and Jeremy Wilms on guitar.
We left New York that night after the show - drove a few hours and found a hotel.

Arrive Charlotte Century 7-27-2008

An easy drive from Columbia back into NC to go to Charlotte, the queen city. Brent Bagwell set up a date for us at Century, a vintage shop that hosts concerts in it's back room. AS the drive was short we didn't leave Columbia until about 4:30, got into twon around 6 and got some BBQ foods around the corner. The heat really started getting intense this day. Thankfully in the south people recognize this as a fact of life and have the AC to deal with it. (Unlike in NYC where I'm writing these posts from.)
Brent brought his Project Bluebird this night. It's a six piece group made up of 4 musicians from Charlotte and two from Raleigh / Durham over in the eastern part of NC. The full lineup is Ben Kennedy on cello and violin; Carrie Shull on oboe and English horn; Crowmeat Bob Pence on alto and baritone saxophones and bass clarinet; Brent Bagwell on tenor and baritone saxophones and clarinet; Ron Brendle on bass; and newcomer Molly J. Brown on tuba. Nice instrumentation with interesting arrangements and a distinct aura of musicality happening. My favorite group we've played with on the tour yet.
Our set went well - though the room is dry, it's not difficult to play in, and as a listener, everything is clear. Afterwards we hung out at the Snug Harbor and got into a nasty game of cornhole - a good time. Stayed at Brent's new place and was able to hang out a little bit with him & his son Charlie the next day. Thanks Brent!

Arrive Columbia 7-25 & 26 2008

Back on down to the capitol of South Carolina, Columbia. Our man Ross set up two dates for us, the first at the Columbia Museum of Art and the second at the Whig. Both places are on Main Street, separated by a few blocks. The Museum show was first, on Friday night. There was a good amount of press for this show and there was quite a good turnout - a close to full house in the auditorium. We played two sets, the first a bit longer than the second and the audience was quite attentive and appreciative. Someone took a few videos of the concert and have posted them up on youtube - here's one - On Time:
We went back to Ross's for a cookout after the show - Mahi Mahi. (Being at a Museum it was a earlier show than ay of the other ones on the tour and finished by 9pm.) We enjoyed the southern night and I fell asleep watching Sans Soleil by Chris Marker.
The next day was basically a day off as our show at the Whig wasn't to start until after 10pm. We got some great food at the Blue Cactus and wasted time in little 5 points before we went back to Ross's and had a second cookout in as many days, this time with Salmon and Chicken. Delicious. By the time we got to the Whig to load in there was already a good sized crowd and the two sets we played were punctuated by plenty of applause and a fair amount of bizarre comments from random folks. The particularly memorable ones made by a fellow wearing sunglasses and mardi gras beads. A great stay in Columbia, two shows with more than a hundred people seeing the music. Got our tour on the right track.

Arrive Asheville Bobo 7-24-2008

A short 2 hour drive to Asheville from Knoxville in the late afternoon. Shane Perlowin set up a date for us at the Bobo Gallery - a home away form home for many of us from Chicago. Brad, the owner, is a genuine good fellow and is so supportive of what we do. It's a good thing. As we got into town, barricades were being set up all around the downtown district, and keeping us away from the Gallery. After about a half hour of circling, we finally found a place to park about 4 blocks away and had to hike in all the equipment. We set up and took a walk around downtown Asheville, getting some dinner. This was a our first real show of the tour. A good crowd formed by the time we played - Shane opened with a quartet of Joe & Michael of Mind vs. Target plus a bassist Trevor Stoia, an improvised set with a structure. We played all the new material and it's starting to feel really good - Shevitz really came our of the gates - his first solo was super on, just navigating all over the bars with the four-stick mallets - fun to watch and hear. The added energy from the crowd really pushed us on throughout the set. There Was is now working.

Arrive is the quartet of Aram Shelton, Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke, and Tim Daisy. They are on tour from July 21st to August 6th.

Arrive Knoxville Pilot Light 7-23-2008

Had to get up early in Bloomington - on the road at 8:00 in order to get to Morehead State College an hour east of Lexington for a workshop. A few hundred high school students in a summer program. Most of them played music, but not all. The workshop was largely an open rehearsal. We worked on a piece called "There Was" that I first wrote several years ago, but have not yet been able to get the kinks out. This was a good opportunity to work on the piece, I explained as we worked through the different sections, describing the way we were playing cells of different lengths to create overlapping parts. We answered questions and played two more pieces. Lots of the kids were enthusiastic afterwards ad came up to the stage to ask us questions. We had lunch at a taqueria in Morehead and then took a break in a city park for an hour before heading down to Knoxville and the Pilot Light. It was a low turnout there - an inauspicious beginning to the tour to have two slow nights in a row. But, we were able to work on music before the show and once again we stayed with very generous people, this time Van and Margaret Walker, so this night was definitely worthwhile.

Arrive is the quartet of Aram Shelton, Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke, and Tim Daisy. They are on tour from July 21st to August 6th.

Arrive Bloomington Cinemat 7-22-2008

First night of the tour - a four hour drive from Chicago. This date was set up with pretty short notice as our usual connection in Lexington had to cancel the date due to fire marshal regulations. David Miller, a trumpet player, set up a date for us at a space called Cinemat. My first time in Bloomington. We shared the bill with two other groups - a trio of Dan Wicks, Tony Salas and DeRobertis; David Miller's group DMC Improvisers Trio with Marty Belcher, plus guest Vicky Alexandra. Due to the turnout it was more a night to hear each others music. Each of the opening bands had nice moments and were similar in that there was no drummer in either group. We played a set of 4 newer songs and two older. There are a number of new parts, so this date was definitely a bit on the unrefined side but still felt good. Marty put us up at his place slightly on the outside of town - a beautiful home surrounded by trees with lots of windows and space. Thanks to him & David.

Arrive is the quartet of Aram Shelton, Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke, and Tim Daisy. They are on tour from July 21st to August 6th.

Shelton Berman Nordeson 6-27-2008

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.

Shelton Healy Bluesix 5-21-2008

last Wednesday I played at Bluesix in the Mission with Trevor Healy. We played without our electronics, which is our usual setup as the space is an acoustic only room. It wa a good change of pace for us, I brought along my Eb and Bass clarinets and Trevor brought his guitar, violin and some assorted percussion instruments. We focused on extending our ideas and going at a slow pace. Here's a video:

California Tour - Pt 3 - Sacramento

The week continues - on Wednesday the 20th worked during the day and then went up to Sacramento with Paper legs for a house show at the Fun Castle - we left Oakland around 7 and had a much better drive to the capitol than the last time we went - waiting for rush hour to die down is a good thing. We still had a little daylight left when we got into downtown Sactown - it was real nice out, the large trees and clean streets making us feel like we were in an old midwest town with better weather. Paper Legs invited me to play with them on this night, I brought my Bb clarinet and laptop. We were going to share the bill with Zac Nelson's Hexlove, but by the time we finished, he decided to not play - he said we put him in too good of a mood to play the loud rock that late - think we didn't finish until 11:30 - which isn't that late, but on a wednesday in someone's house it feels that much later. We played second and some kids from Davis played the set before, one with a variety of instruments and MSP electronics, one doing movement, one doing spoken word type ramblings.
our set felt good - though I hadn't played with brian yet, I have played with trevor and listening to them the few nights previously in LA and Oakland I knew how I wanted to try to get into the fold with them. I sat crosslegged the whole time and my left leg had fallen asleep by the end of the set.....we stayed there for the night and drank some rum mojitoes before going to sleep. The next morning we woke up early and left town by 7 am - passing by the state capitaol building where arnold schwarzenegger may have been working out - who knows? and Trevor and Brian dropped me off at work around 8:45 in emeryville. Some people do that commute everyday - crazy people.
The next day we did a recording session for them at my practice space. Recorded about 3 hours worth of improvisations and I joined them on a few. A busy full week - never felt stressed about things though - the way it should be.