Dumela

Tonight I'm playing with Carolyn Malachi in Annandale, VA. I'm looking forward to it. For those of you who may not live in DC, I've been playing guitar with Carolyn since about February of 2010 - well over a year now! Playing with her accounted for most of my performing last fall. She's doing big things (including a 2011 Grammy Nomination, for her song "Orion") and sounding great, and its been a pleasure to be involved.



Carolyn Malachi - Voice
Gary Prince - Guitar
Tarus Mateen - Bass
Jabari Exum - Djembe
Produced by James McKinney
Music by Regan Carver

This track is from her summer 2010 release "Lions Fires & Squares". I'm playing my Ibanez. This solo was about half composed, half pieced together in the studio - I planned what I would play for the first 8 bars of my solo, then did several takes playing that and improvising the rest, sometimes repeating similar things, sometimes not. Then, James and I listened back and picked out what we thought were the best moments from each take, which he later strung together into a complete unit.

Some years ago I probably would have felt a moral opposition to constructing a solo in this way. I used to believe quite strongly that everything possible should be played live in the studio, by the full band playing together, in one take. I still hold that, for some types of music, a live take is preferable, because there is so much more potential for energy and spontaneity. But I recognize now this it isn't a realistic way to get a good recording, and have come to accept as well that mining a set of improvisations for their best moments and putting them together isn't cheating. Why would it be? There is no cheating in music as long as it ultimately sounds good. And to get it sounding good, you do whatever necessary.

I've mellowed, and I'm very happy with how this turned out. James made that guitar sound great and really realized what I was after. Carolyn made a music video for this song as well, which you can view here. I used to dream of being in a music video when I was younger, I didn't make it in front of the camera this time, but I'm getting closer!

Improv with Kate Olson, 2.21.10

Digging in the archives tonight for no particular reason: please enjoy this track, the first improvisation from the "Improvised Duets" CD release concert at BloomBars, February 21st, 2010.

Gary Prince Kate Olson 2.21.10 Improv One by Gary Prince

Gary Prince: Electric Guitar
Kate Olson: Soprano Sax

It is hard to believe this is the first music I've posted featuring Kate Olson. Kate and I have improvised together since 2006, when we met as members of the Creative Arts Orchestra at the University of Michigan, when I was an undergrad and she was getting her Master's in Improvisation. During the summer of 2008 we would improvise together almost twice a week, often joined by Matt Endahl and Tim Cohen, mostly at the Canterbury House. In many ways the dynamic we developed that summer culminated in the recording of "Improvised Duets" in May of 2009, the recording of which is a story for another time. Kate lives in Seattle now and I miss her dearly. The last time we got to play together was November of last year, also at BloomBars - the next time will hopefully be early fall, whenever I can make it out to Seattle. It can't come soon enough for me.

When we performed it live, this track began with about 2 minutes of low, extended technique noise making, clearing the air following a Djembe Khan by Jabari Exum. I decided to leave that off of this track, in the interest of keeping things listenable. I am proud of this track for the way it builds, for the space we leave at the outset, the way the instruments switch roles naturally between soloist and accompanist (at about 3:20), and the transparency of the groove. I think this track is a good example of playing that is supportive without being overly imitative: a common trap in improvised music is trying to play exactly what your partner plays all the time - this chokes the music and limits it, especially in groove playing, where it becomes too easy to get 'stuck' in a tempo, time signature, key, or feel that is no longer compelling.

I feel awkward talking about my own playing like this, like talking about things I liked in my past playing will jinx my ability to play well in the future. I hope you enjoy the track. This weekend I'm playing for the first time with Chelsey Green and the Green Project, practicing, and getting ready for my life to belong to the Levine School of Music Music and Arts Day Camp. More soon.

Borrow Love

Two Saturdays ago I performed at the cd release for the album "You Call That Brave", by my good friend Sarah Fridrich. I played on one track on the album, "Borrow Love". Here it is:



Sarah Fridrich: Piano/Vox
Dan Marcellus: Drums
Gary Prince: Guitar

It's funny how time goes with an album - Sarah and I first worked on this song together in the winter of 2009. It was a lot slower then, and without drums. We recorded it almost exactly a year ago, in Sarah's basement, by putting a mic on my amp and then a big blanket over both (to muffle outside sound). I'm using my Ibanez here. The solo was originally an improvisation from rehearsal. It's hard to say now, but I was thinking about having a very dark, very wide sound - very different from how I normally play. I suppose if I was better at blogging I would have put this up two weeks ago, before the concert. Ah well.

In any case, I had a great time, there was a good crowd, and Sarah sounded fantastic.

Dig the goofy picture of yours truly from soundcheck

I've given up on the whole 'looking cool' thing. Goodnight folks.

GMT Trio 4.22.11 Continued

Some more music from my 4.22.11 concert with Matt Endahl and Tim Cohen, in Ann Arbor. This music is from the same show as my previous post.

Prince Endahl Cohen 4.22.11 Improv 1 2nd half by Gary Prince

Gary Prince: Guitar
Matt Endahl: Fender Rhodes
Dr. Tim Cohen: Drums

This excerpt is from the first improvisation of the concert, which was about 27 minutes long - we're joining here just shy of 15 minutes in and going all the way to the end. I have this track beginning partway through my atonal, Derek Bailey-esque solo, enough of which I've left in for context. Note that Matt is using a delay pedal on his rhodes - you can really hear it at around 9:30. This is also one of those rare, rare occasions when I'm not actually loud enough in my soloing - I correct this partway through. I like my playing overall but I really wanted to share this because of the incredible groove Tim and Matt create.

I have conflicting thoughts about excerpting from larger tracks in this manner. The main reason that I do this, as opposed to posting up entire, 30+ minute improvisations, or entire concerts, is to try and make this blog (and this music) listener friendly. I know how I am as a listener when it comes to something I'm finding on the internet: impatient, preoccupied. And I love listening to music, and I have a lot of patience for long tracks. Plus, this blog is for a general audience, and the psychological price of admission of pressing play on a 30 minute track, or downloading a concert and listening to it, is higher than I expect most people to pay.

So, I've been trying to capture what I think are the most compelling and complete parts of the performances, particularly that showcase something of interest to me and that won't be too hard to listen too. That doesn't mean I don't think the whole show is compelling, and I regret that some of the process is lost - when something is excerpted, one doesn't get the whole context of how it developed. But of course, to truly get that context, you need to be at the show and in the moment. Excerpting is really a form of retroactive composition, and changes the essential nature of the music. I will note that everything I post up here is free of internal edits or EQ adjustments, except to raise or lower the overall volume level and fade in and out at the beginning and end.

There's a rich tradition of this kind of excerpting in jazz: "Bitches Brew" and "Live Evil" (Miles Davis) are the first things that come to mind. Listening to 'Sivad', the first track of "Live Evil" (a live recording) we just hear a drumroll into that nasty bass line, fully formed and kicking ass - we don't hear the half hour of equally killing developing, polishing, and poking around which took place beforehand to get the groove to such a heavy spot. That's what the box set is for.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this issue? Is there anyone wishing I would put up the whole performances?

GMT Trio 4.22.11 Ann Arbor

Today I'm posting up some of the music I made with Matt Endahl and Tim Cohen when I was in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. This first track comes from the show we played on 4.22 at the Le Dog House - it is from the second (of three) long improvisations. I've excerpted the first 11 minutes.

Prince Endahl Cohen 4.22.11 Improv 2 Edit by Gary Prince

Gary Prince: Guitar
Matt Endahl: Fender Rhodes
Tim Cohen: Drumset

Beware the volume starts very low and gets somewhat loud on this track. This was recorded on my Zoom H4, which was held by our good friend Tenaya, who was sitting maybe ten feet away from the three of us, at most. We were playing in a living room - you can hear other people at the party talking at some points. True Ann Arborites will recognize Theo Katzman at 7:44. I'm playing my Eastman, and occasionally using my wah pedal to color my tone. I love the way the rhodes and guitar blend throughout this track, and am proud of the way we slowly develop the initial mood, giving each other a lot of space and taking our time. This is how I play.

The whole show was kind of a surreal experience - we were preceded by two very good groups playing similar music, a very rare experience for me in the past few years. The entire time some random movie about explorers in the Amazon was being projected onto the wall behind the bands (on mute, with subtitles EDIT: Matt tells me the movie was Warner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God". there you have it). Theo told me after that there was a moment when we kicked into a groove and the characters on screen started dancing with us. I recall feeling in the moment like I wasn't totally gelling with the music - counterintuitively, this can sometimes be a good thing. I've often found in free improvisation that when I'm really into it, I listen back later and realize I was playing way too much, not listening hard enough or being sensitive enough. Whereas sometimes when I don't feel like it is coming together in performance, I'll listen back later and be very pleased with my playing, because I will have been listening really closely and being very careful. This is one of those times.

I excerpted this track from the longer piece in the interests of making it listenable to people who didn't actually perform it. From the end here we continue into a drum solo and then drastic changes in texture, transitioning into a new set of ideas and developments, for more than another 10 minutes. Almost always when we play together we play this way, flowing naturally from one idea to another, seeing one to completion (as I believe we do here) and then growing out of it without a break, often for a half hour or more. At some point in the near future I intend to write more about this kind of playing, and the way I listen to this music.

For now, I hope you enjoy. Note that I've made this track, and every track I've uploaded to date using soundcloud, available for download - just click the little down arrow on the right side of the player. There will be more music from that weekend soon!

Japanese Buddhist Chanting

These past few weeks have been busy, between going to Ann Arbor, teaching, performing around DC, and general living. I've got a lot to say about that, and tracks to post, but not tonight.

Instead, I thought I'd share what I'm listening to this beautiful, peaceful Sunday evening. It is only about 10 minutes long, and I would strongly encourage/challenge you to listen to the whole thing - just take it in, sit with it, and be immersed.

Japanese Buddhist Chanting by Gary Prince

Last December I went to Japan, for the first time, to visit my younger brother Ian Prince. Ian is an assistant language teacher in the JET program, in Oshima of Imabari, a small island in the Inland Sea. While there, my family and I traveled around a good bit, spending several days in Kyoto, visiting temples and sight seeing. That's where this recording comes from.

I wish I could say I knew more about it. Each of the major Buddhist temples in Japan has a small gift shop where they sell charms, amulets, votive tablets, and other similar souvenirs. Though they often carry the same kind of stuff, each temple's selection of things is a little different and specific to that temple. This recording comes from one of the first temples we visited, in Kyoto. I'm ashamed to say I don't remember the name. It was on a cassette tape, and I got it as a souvenir for Matt Endahl, who was good enough to transfer it to digital at the WCBN studios when I was visiting Ann Arbor. The writing on the cassette case is, of course, entirely in Japanese, with an image of a lotus flower on the front, and I have no idea what is going on. The woman who sold it to me told me it was monks chanting sutras (the words of the Buddha). That was all I could get out of her - the language barrier was pretty severe.

So, enjoy. The monks are hitting large wood bells for accompaniment - like these

Also, a large, resonating metal bowl (the sound at the beginning, like a gong):

And a higher pitched chime like instrument that I don't have a picture of. These pictures come from one of the temples, also in Kyoto.

I feel like we have a tendency, in our modern, secular, commodity driven experience of music, to forget that music can be experienced in this way: as a part of religious ritual, as a way to experience a trance like state, through repetition and rhythmic consistency. This music (and it is music) doesn't go anywhere. There is no journey, no narrative, just the experience of the sound. Music doesn't need to go anywhere. It doesn't need to have a goal, a beginning, or an end, or development. Development is not inherent to the nature of music, it is a tool we can choose to use, or to abandon! The power of this music is manifest when you allow yourself to be immersed in it brought into sync with the vibration. For further proof, look to the minimalist composers, look to noise musicians, look to baptism by sound, look to the music of nature, the music of the cars passing in the street, the sirens in the distance, the neighbor's windchimes, all of them barely audible through the open window, but always playing...

Guitar/Djembe Duets, part II

As promised Monday, here's another track of myself playing with Jabari Exum (djembe/beatbox), from October 1st, 2009. It says 2010 in the track title, that's a typo. This was recorded in my living room, and is the end of a much longer, very rambling free improvisation:

Gary Prince Jabari Exum 10.1.2010 Improvisation v. 2 edit by Gary Prince

There isn't as much structure as in the track I posted last time, but I'm still pretty pleased with it, especially with the way it becomes sparse at the ending, just after 5:10. It doesn't hurt that I'm actually completely in tune on this one. A friend told me it sounds like movie music? Jabari plays djembe with several large metal panels, with rivets, inserted into the sides of the drum. He uses these both like cymbals (a bad analogy, but the best I've got) and for their sympathetic shaking/buzzing. On this track they're primarily doing the latter, Monday's track features these things (I don't know the real name, anybody?) much more prominently. Click here to see a picture of what these look like. He also has bells around one of his ankles - you can really hear them at the beginning of the track. That's him beatboxing at the beginning as well. I'm using my wah pedal extensively and playing my Ibanez. The ending doesn't quite fade out how I wanted it to and I'm a little too lazy to go back and fix it tonight - so that's what's going on there, if you were wondering.

John Chambers, the owner of BloomBars (where Jabari and I are both resident artists) filmed a little of this particular jam and mixed it into a video, which you can watch here. Yes this is the same video I mentioned in the last post.

This Sunday I'll be going down to West Virgina to play at Sheperdstown with Carolyn Malachi. I don't think I know anybody in WVA, but if you live down there and happen to read this, come on out!