Monday, December 10, 2012

Nov 7th 2012 with Kate Olson

Another free improv Sax + Guitar + Effects track from November:


Gary Prince - Guitar/effects
Kate Olson - Soprano Sax/effects

same session as my previous post.

Friday, December 7, 2012

My Romance

This is my arrangement of the jazz standard "My Romance", which I wrote last June, and have finally gotten around to recording and posting. "My Romance" (Rogers & Hart)
Arranged by Gary Prince
Gary Prince: Electric Guitar

It's not the cleanest recording in the world. This was done in my bedroom using my practice amp, a Fender Super Champ. I kind of like that it came out sounding kind of tinny and quaint, like sound out of an old radio played quietly. This arrangement was inspired by the fantastic book Guitar Solos: Thirteen Standards by Barry Galbraith which I've been using with my students for the past year. For anyone interested at all in jazz guitar, it is a really wonderful book. All Galbraith's arrangements find the perfect balance between being readily performable, very musical, and just challenging enough for most intermediate students.

I've done a few more arrangements like this, and will post them as I get around to it.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Solo Improv (July 2012)

Free improvisation from July 7, 2012:


Gary Prince - Electric Guitar, Effects I'm using my Stratocaster here. That guitar is currently sitting in my room with no strings on it while I try to decide whether to change out the pickups/do something to decrease its out of control humming and buzzing whenever on one of the single coil settings.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Free Improv 11.7.12

Free Improvisation for Guitar, Saxophone, and effects:


Gary Prince: Electric Guitar, Effects Kate Olson: Soprano Saxophone, Effects

This is from our first time playing together, both using effects. Very different from years of playing 'dry' - compare to this track, from 2010, and to our album, recorded in 2009. For both of us, I think using these effects means finally finding something of the sound we've been looking for all along, even as there is a learning curve to working together with them. I'm really happy with how this piece turned out - not bad for the second piece of our first time playing together in half a year, and our first session using pedals and computers!

Friday, November 23, 2012

All Those Little Crickets

The first of what is sure to be many tracks from the free jazz epic that was two weeks ago....recorded on 11.10.12 at the Bohemian Cafe in Baltimore


Gary Prince - Guitar, effects
Andrew Klein - Voice, words
Random Barista - "Mocha Latte!"

(free improvisation for guitar, voice, and coffee makers)

I'm playing slide on this one, something I've been doing for the past couple months, after years of avoiding it. The delay sound at the beginning is caused by running two delay pedals simultaneously (an idea I stole from Dustin Wong - check out this great video of him - even though I wind up using mine very differently from him. I can't figure out how the hell he gets his to sound like that). With this sound I am definitely thinking of Steve Reich, and the way he may repeat a figure over and over between multiple instruments, moving just slightly in and out of phase. Not that I really wind up sounding like that either, but that is at least what is going on in my mind.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 9, 2012

This weekend in Baltimore - 11/10 at Bohemian Cafe

Tomorrow night I'll be playing in Baltimore at the Bohemian Cafe. The event starts at 9 pm and goes until 11 - no cover. Click here for more information!

 
I wanted to share this version of "How to Get There", from October 28th

Gary Prince - Guitar, loops
Andrew Klein - Voice
Words by Frank O'Hara

Compare it to when we first did this song (see my post from May 29th) - that version was literally the first time we ever played it, and the first time I was hearing the poem. We've been doing it for a while now, and this is where it is at here. We have a lot of music for free download here!

Hope to see some folks on Saturday, and very very excited to be playing again with Kate Olson and Tim Cohen. Some KGT tracks will be up soon too!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Solo from 10.7.12

Some post hurricane music:

Improvisation 10.7.12
Gary Prince: Guitar, Loops, Effects
Lynne Price: Dance

This is actually from a duo piece between myself and Lynne Price, who is featured in my previous post. Normally I don't like removing things from their original context like this, but I really wanted to share this piece. I hope to include the video of the dance portion in the future - for now, here is one half.

Andrew Klein and I will be performing, along with the KGT Trio, at the Bohemian Cafe in Baltimore on Saturday, Nov 10th, 9-11 pm. There is no cover. Come one, come all!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Poem


Gary Prince - electric guitar, loops, effects
Andrew Klein - Voice
Lynne Price - Dance
Baltimore MD 10.21.12

"Poem (the house breathed)" by R.M. O'Brien and Lesser Gonzalez-Alvarez

The house breathed 
And I freaked out ok
and then all this snow
and the music stopped
I felt like I was magic

Then the sun starts strobing
and birds blur together 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

New Improvisations

I have two tracks to offer today, two new improvisations with poet Andrew Klein from September 16th, 2012. These were originally performed back to back with no break.

"Austerity" (free improv 9.16.12 pt 1)



"Let the Rain Come Down" (free improv 9.16.12 pt 2)

Gary Prince - electric guitar/loops/effects
Andrew Klein - voice, words, iphone noise generator

Andrew is using an app on his iphone played through computer speakers as a noise generator capable of producing sounds at a particular pitch, in particular rhythms, and randomization. He has also been using the amp he uses for his vocals to create feedback for a while now, though this is not really well represented on recording yet. All my loops were created live, and all Andrew's words were improvised live as well. These recordings are a little rough but I hope they are enjoyed!

And by the way, about a month ago we assembled some of our best recordings from March to now on a bandcamp, for free download: http://kleinprince.bandcamp.com The sounds can be very different from the tracks above, and show a lot of our development from March to now...hopefully I will be sharing more music here soon!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

How to Get There

The following is from a session with my good friend, poet and sometimes rhythm guitarist Andrew Klein, on 4/1/12. Andrew is reading the poem "How to Get There" by Frank O'Hara while I play. My playing is a free improvisation, and it is my first time hearing this poem. Towards the end of the poem Andrew begins to improvise by repeating phrases, and then revisiting parts of the poem after its end. I am playing with my loop pedal. I've put the text of the poem below, with O'Hara's original layout.

This is the first of a few tracks from this project I will be posting in the coming weeks. This is from only our third session together.

Gary Prince - Guitar
Andrew Klein - Voice

"How to Get There" - Frank O'Hara, 1960, New York City

White the October air, no snow, easy to breathe
beneath the sky, lies, lies everywhere writhing and
gasping
clutching and tangling, it is not easy to breathe
lies building their tendrils into dim figures
who disappear down corridors in west-side apartments
into childhood’s proof of being wanted, not
abandoned, kidnapped
betrayal staving off loneliness, I see the fog lunge in
and hide it
where are you?
here I am on the sidewalk
under the moonlike lamplight thinking how
precious moss is
so unique and greenly crushable if you can find it
on the north side of the tree where the fog binds you
and then, tearing apart into soft white lies,
spreads its disease
through the primal night of an everlasting winter
which nevertheless has heat in tubes, west-side and
east-side
and its intricate individual pathways of white
accompanied
by the ringing of telephone bells beside which
someone sits in
silence denying their own number, never given out!
nameless
like the sound of troika bells rushing past suffering
in the first storm, it is snowing now,
it is already too late
the snow will go away, but nobody will be there

police cordons for lying political dignitaries ringing too
the world becomes a jangle
from the index finger
to the vast empty houses filled with people,
their echoes

of lies and the tendrils of fog trailing softly around
their throats
now the phone can be answered, nobody calling,
only an echo
all can confess to be home and waiting, all is the same
and we drift into the clear sky enthralled
by our disappointment
never to be alone again
never to be loved
sailing through space: didn’t I have you once for my
self?
West Side?
for a couple of hours, but I am not that person

[copyright Frank O’Hara, 1960]

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Shine a light on me

This Sunday, May 27th, Zach Lupetin will be in town from sunny LA, where he is currently fronting The Dustbowl Revival, writing plays, and generally being amazing. Here we are the last time he came and visited, in Oct of 2010, playing "The Midnight Special" at BloomBars (where we will be again this Sunday)


Zach Lupetin: Guitar/Vocals
Gary Prince: Guitar
Andrew Klein: Guitar
Sara Curtin: Vocals

The Midnight Special is an old blues traditional tune - from what I've read, the midnight special represented the underground railroad and the concept of escape from oppression. As a bunch of 19 year old college kids, we made it the name of our blues band. Here we are doing it like the CCR version.

I'm pretty excited about this weekend. Not only is it my birthday (the only time I'll turn 27 on the 27th), but we're going to get down with an amazing concert. It's happening:

Sunday, May 27th
BloomBars, 3222 11th St NW, Washington DC
8 pm
$10 suggested donation

Come join us. Sara will also be performing a set of her original, solo music - a truly special experience!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Solo Improvisation 4/22/12



It's been a long time, I know. Not because I haven't been busy.

Among other things, I got a loop pedal (Boss RC-3). That is what is going on in this track, pulled from a session with Andrew Klein - more on that later. It was raining outside, and while I didn't necessarily plan it at the time, I think that is what I was going for on some level. I hope you enjoy it - the music has been building up and I'm thinking again about putting it up here

Happy Spring!