The Field Guide » Improvisation

Post & Beam CD Release Show Recordings

Holland Hopson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:36:22 +0000

Here are the live recordings from my recent Post & Beam CD release show with Matthew Carefully and Century Plants.

Matthew Carefully: Should I Sing a Song?

Matthew Carefully: Prayers and Palms

Century Plants: 1 and 2

Holland Hopson: East Virginia

Holland Hopson: My Own True Love

Holland Hopson: Born in the Desert

Holland Hopson: Bowling Green Green

Century Plants and Holland Hopson: Improvisation

Matthew Carefully and Holland Hopson: Blackjack David

Holland Hopson: Fencepost

The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble & Holland Hopson/James Keepnews in Kingston, June 3

Holland Hopson — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:04:50 +0000

One from the archives: James Keepnews taking us to school in 2002. Photo: Chris Funkhauser

I’m super excited to reunite with partner James Keepnews for this duo show at Backstage Productions in Kingston on Friday June 3. We’ll be performing duets for saxophone, guitar and lots o’ electronics. There may be a banjo piece in there, too.

Our hosts for the night are the Woodstock Quantum Ensemble featuring Johnny Asia (guitar), Damon Banks (electric bass), Joakim Lartey (percussion) and Gus Mancini (reeds).

Fri, June 3, 2011 7:30 pm
The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble &
Holland Hopson/James Keepnews
Backstage Productions
Kingston, NY
$15
$10 students/seniors

Find all the info at AllAboutJazz.com

Valentine’s Sounds

Holland Hopson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:42:14 +0000

Saturday, April 16, 8 pm
A Night of Amazing Sounds
Bob Gluck/James Keepnews/Ras Moshe/Dean Sharp
Duojoggle (Mitch Elrod/Mike Lopez)
Holland Hopson and Matt Weston
Valentine’s
17 New Scotland Ave

Here’s a great way to spend Saturday night! This will be the first time Matt Weston and I have performed as a duo, and I’m really excited about playing with such an amazing drummer. Every time we’ve rehearsed it comes out a little differently, so it should be a fun surprise to hear what happens at Valentine’s.

Here’s what the Chronogram says about the show:

“A Night of Amazing Sounds”
April 16. In an out-of-the-ordinary move, the normally straight punk-oriented Valentine’s presents “A Night of Amazing Sounds,” a free jazz/experimental electronics program with the quartet of keyboardist Bob Gluck, guitarist James Keepnews, saxophonist Ras Moshe, and drummer Dean Sharp; Duojoggle, featuring saxophonist-guitarist Mitch Elrod and drummer Mike Lopez; and Hopson-Weston, starring Holland Hopson on sax and laptop and Matt Weston on percussion and electronics. Here’s hoping the venue has similar bills in store. (The Charlie Watts Riots and the Last Conspirators plot destruction April 1; the Downtown Fiction hits April 27.) 8pm. Call for ticket prices. Albany. (518) 432-6572; www.valentinesalbany.com.

Upcoming in Australia

Holland Hopson — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:40:19 +0000

I’m prepping for my upcoming Australia visit and getting more and more excited about the trip. I’ll be participating in the New Interfaces for Musical Expression++ (NIME) Conference hosted by the University of Technology Sydney. The conference looks to be chock full of workshops and events including keynotes by Stelarc and Nic Collins. I’ll be performing twice as part of the conference:

On Thursday, June 17 at 7pm I’ll perform Life on (Planet) for 2 rocks and computer. The concert will be at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Eugene Goossens Hall. The featured performers are Ensemble Offspring.
On Friday, June 18 at 5:30 pm I’m performing a set of works for banjo and electronics. The concert will be on the University of Technology Sydney campus at the Bon Marche Studio.

Then I’m excited to play with bassist Mike Majkowski on Saturday, June 19 at 7pm. We”ll improvise together as part of the Left Coast Festival 2010 at the Sedition Gallery. The gallery is apparently a working barber shop by day–sounds like a unique venue.

Throw in a Dorkbot gathering, the usual conference geekery, and some sightseeing and this should be a busy busy trip.

ASAC Presents Lucre and Jonathan Chen

Holland Hopson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:20:49 +0000

Albany Sonic Arts Presents Lucre and Jonathan Chen

Sunday March 14 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

Lucre is the improvising trio of Chris Cogburn , Bryan Eubanks, and Vic Rawlings who perform with exposed circuits, extended ampli?ed cello, low-? modular synthesis, and stripped down percussion.
Jonathan Chen will perform a solo set of music for electronics, viola and violin.

Chris is a good friend from my Austin days and does great work with the No Idea Festival. I’m very excited he’ll be playing in Albany. And I’m equally excited that local artist Jonathan Chen is finally getting a chance to present his work.

More information about the artists after the break…

About Lucre

Working with exposed circuits, extended ampli?ed cello, low-? modular synthesis, and
stripped down percussion, Lucre, the trio of Chris Cogburn (Austin, TX), Bryan Eubanks
(Brooklyn, NY), and Vic Rawlings (Boston, MA), come together for the ?rst time to de-
velop their music for ten days in the Northeast. Long standing duo work exist between
all three and the idea for a trio came about during a gathering of musicians in Seattle
during August of 2009.

Vic Rawlings and Bryan Eubanks are familiar to Albany audiences through two previous
Albany Sonic Arts appearances. Chris Cogburn is making his Capital District debut.
Cogburn is based in Austin, TX where he presents the No Idea Festival, an annual
gathering dedicated to improvised music.

About Jonathan Chen

Jonathan Chen will perform a solo set of music for electronics, viola and violin. The
electronic work is created by producing feedback through a trumpet: a small micro-
phone is positioned in place of the mouthpiece and a small speaker is set next to
the bell. The feedback is altered by pressing or releasing the valves on the trumpet and
by ?ltering the frequencies via equalization and volume control on both an ampli?er and
a mixer. The work for viola, entitled “de-clime” involves the use of a metal mute placed
lightly on the bridge, coupled with bowing while changing pressure and speed. The re-
sulting sounds include difference tones and beating as the pitches gradually move
higher throughout the duration of the 15 minute work. The works for violin focus on tim-
bre and pitch while employing extended techniques such as preparations, sub-tones,
and micro-spiccatto. A wide variety of sounds are produced at dynamic extremes.

Born in 1974, Jonathan Chen is an improvisor, composer, and installation artist. His solo
work has been presented in cities such as Atlanta, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, London,
Luzern, New York and more. As a collaborator, Chen has worked with Tatsu Aoki, An-
thony Braxton, Gene Coleman, Nic Collins, Bill Dixon, Ensemble Noamnesia, Flux
String Quartet, David Grubbs, Alvin Lucier, John Zorn (brie?y) and many others, per-
forming both in the U.S. and internationally. Chen received his MM in Violin Perform-
ance from Northwestern University, his MA in Music Composition from Wesleyan Uni-
versity, and is currently working on his PhD in Electronic Arts at RPI in Troy, NY.

Weeping Willow Street Improvisations

Holland Hopson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:00:17 +0000

Last November I spent a memorable, rainy afternoon at Travis Weller’s place performing a house concert as part of his Willow Street Concert Series. Nick Hennies wowed us with music for solo percussion including an entrancing performance of Alvin Lucier’s Silver Streetcar. I played music for fretless banjo, bent electronics and computer. Then Travis and I improvised two pieces with Travis playing his Owl, a custom-built piano wire lyre with electronics. Nick joined in for the last piece of the afternoon. The rain kept us company all along.

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 1.mp3

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 2.mp3

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 3.mp3

Jill Sigman/thinkdance improvisation

Holland Hopson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:00:48 +0000

This time last week I had the pleasure of working with choreographer Jill Sigman/thinkdance and videographer Peter Shapiro who were artists-in-residence at EMPAC. I recorded some sounds of the objects and materials Jill was working with and then improvised with the samples, my fretless banjo, and vocalist/composer Kristin Norderval (remotely via Skype). Peter has posted some raw footage from our sessions.

improv1 from ps on Vimeo.

improv2 from ps on Vimeo.

I look forward to seeing how this project continues to take shape.

Church of the Friendly Ghost’s devout follower

Holland Hopson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:30:08 +0000

The Austin Chronicle has published an interview with Aaron Mace, Church of the Friendly Ghost founder. I’m glad to read that CotFG is still going strong. I have great memories of attending and playing shows there.

I was there most often as part of the Austin Cobra Players, and I don’t think the group would have had nearly as long a run as they did without such a welcoming home as the Church.

One favorite event of mine that wasn’t mentioned in the article was the farewell show for Keith Manlove. Keith’s friends and colleagues performed a surprisingly varied program of works and then Keith led an ad-hoc, yet surprisingly large chamber ensemble in a heartfelt, half-hour long (if somewhat under-rehearsed) reading of one of his works. It couldn’t have happened without Aaron and the Church of the Friendly Ghost.

I still wear my CotFG t-shirt. Proudly.

ASAC Presents MILLER/WESTON DUO, CRESPO/PITCHER DUO, SOWYDRA, CRUUDEUCES

Holland Hopson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:59:36 +0000

Albany Sonic Arts Presents Miller/Weston Duo, Crespo/Pitcher Duo, Sowyrda, Cruudeuces

Saturday October 24 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

Ben Miller plays sax, guitar, and analog electronics and was formerly in legendary Michigan group Destroy All Monsters.
Matt Weston lives in Albany and is the newest member of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. He’s an amazing percussionist and if you haven’t seen him play yet, you’re in for a treat.
Andy Crespo is from Western MA. and plays in Barn Owl with Matt (and Chris Cooper). he plays bass in ways that will expand your mind.
Jefferson Pitcher lives in Troy and is an accomplished guitarist who has released albums on a variety of labels with collaborators Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerken, and others.
Sam Sowydra recently moved to Albany. He is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who also performs as part of Baltimore musician Dan Deacon’s ensemble.
Cruudeuces is the solo project of Nathaniel Brennan of North Adams, MA. He has also recorded with Twin Beds and has a slew of new releases out soon on a variety of labels.

Monk’s Advice

Holland Hopson — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:01:53 +0000

Here’s some New Year Resolution fodder from Thelonious Monk via Steve Lacy.

Thanks to James Keepnews for sharing.

And here’s a shot of Monk’s iconic hat I took on a recent visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Thelonious Monk's Hat at the Smithsonian Museum of American History