Jun 17 2008
Gracie @ Angel’s Gate
My dear friends have an adorable daughter, Gracie, who was having a grand old time a few weeks back. I happened to catch a few moments of high spirits:
Jun 13 2008
Threads of a Tonal Dream Tapestry
We are proud to present an evening of spectacular music.
Ain Soph Aur presents:
Threads of a Tonal Dream Tapestry
The Microtonal Compositions of Lou Harrison
Performed by John Schneider
Khmer Classical Music
Performed by Master Ho Chan’s
Pin Peat Ensemble
Intercontinental Improvisation
Performed by Ain Soph Aur
& Friends
Saturday July 5th, at 8 PM
$8
Koos Art Center
530 E Broadway
Long Beach, CA
90802
Jun 10 2008
The Championship Energy: A Conversation with David Witham
What do jazz greats like Luis Conte, Lee Ritenour, Eric Marienthal, Tom Scott, and Ernie Watts have in common? Long Beach native son David Witham has lent his talent and artistry to each, and many more. He’s the principal pianist for Wicked at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and was the long time band leader for George Benson.
He recently released a CD of original compositions titled Spinning The Circle on the Cryptogramophone label. The playing is stellar, and the writing diverse: In turns expansive, reflective, and joyous. Supported by top musicians like Nels Cline (Wilco, John Zorn, Geraldine Fibbers), Jay Anderson (Maria Schneider, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits), Jon Crosse (Captain & Tennille, Michel Columbier, Paul Anka), Greg Leisz (Willie Nelson, Beck, Joni Mitchell), Scott Amendola (Pat Martino, Charlie Hunter, Nels Cline), and legendary percussionist Luis Conte (Queen Latifah, Diana Krall, Eric Clapton), David’s playing and writing glistens and shines.
David’s not a one trick pony, though. In addition to his full time music work, he also produces a public access show called Portable Universe. With more than 100 episodes, he’s showcased a wide variety of artists, musicians and, with the help of Neon Hunter, explored his other passion: Neon art.
David took some time to speak with me about his work, and performed two songs. Click on the Podcast link to hear the interview, and on the video player below to watch the performance.
Here’s a video of David performing two original songs:
Watch Portable Universe Fridays at 8:30 pm on Long Beach Community TV (ch. 65/69/95 in LB and Signal Hill if you have cable) and 24/7 at www.portableuniverse.tv.
May 16 2008
The Meditative Madness of Winter
Ain Soph Aur performed at {open} on May 15, 2008 as part of their 3rd Thursday series. Joining us for our set was 15 year old Nial Morgan (Deer Tear).
Hear a board recording of the performance, or view two 10 minute video excerpts.
[Please note that the audio quality of the videos is greatly diminished due to YouTube's proprietary compression system.]
Part 1:
Part 2:
May 04 2008
Ain Soph Aur: The Quality of Volition (Excerpt)
On April 5th 2008, Ain Soph Aur performed at Zero Point Space as part of Thee Dung Mummy 5th Anniversary Experimental Music Festival. In keeping with the organic fluidity of the group’s performance philosophy we, at the last minute, included a third artist in our performance. The artist known as ‘Catastrophic Mermaids on Parade’ joined us.
Here’s a flyer I made for the show:
I am offering up a room recording of our performance, which I decided to call “The Quality of Volition.” It is actually an excerpt, but a fairly long one. (About 15 minutes) The entire performance was about 25 minutes long.
Apr 11 2008
The Poem Will Save You: A conversation with Raindog
Raindog Armstrong is a poet, publisher, and pied piper for poetry. With his Lummox Press, he published the Lummox Journal as a monthly magazine, which showcased artists from around the country, and around the world. Publishing both poetry and in-depth interviews, the Journal has now moved onto the internet. This has freed him, at last, to publish the first of several volumes of his own work, the first of which is called Fire & Rain. It reaches back to some of his earliest work, and spans nearly 15 years of creativity.
Raindog joined me for a free wheeling, and wide ranging, conversation that includes three poetry recitations, discussions of 9/11, and his past and future musical efforts. It is 50 minutes of honest talk with one of our fair City’s creative icons.
If you can’t commit to listening to an hour-long conversation, you can hear all three of his poems:
Traveling Man (an homage to Charles Kuralt)
Also, you can see a brief video of Raindog reciting Eyes Like Mingus: