The weeks leading up to the Teletextile show were so much fun. Practicing and bonding with a band again was really amazing. As I may have mentioned, I came in originally to arrange all of the vocal parts and to help Pamela with translating the recordings to the stage. I ended up singing in the backup group and playing Pamela's Wurlitzer on "I Don't Know How to Act Here." The show went well too and the group was really tight. The whole band consisted of myself and two to three other backup singers, also playing percussion, claps, foot stomps, etc., a guitarist, Pamela on vocals, harp, violin and guitar and a friend of Pamela who was brought in last minute to trigger samples and backing tracks...all of us wearing a motif of gold and feathers as per Pamela's request. Pictures might be forthcoming, though I'm not sure I saw anyone other than one person taking photographs in the crowd. One of my friends did snap this one though:
Other than playing most of the new EP, Pamela also played a few new songs, one called The Unknown, which had a pretty extensive backup vocal part. Another new one, called Fistfuls of Fire, had to be cut because the sound guy at Pianos was a bit of a stickler for time. Watch for this one at future Teletextile shows though, because it's really good.
I'm really excited to see where this goes, playing and helping out with this band because I'm meeting all sorts of musicians through Pam and already have some prospects for future jam sessions. More to come on that.
On Sunday morning, Bill Peek, the Brooklyn Unitarian Church's choir director premiered my piano sketch as a prelude to the morning service. It was quite exciting to hear it live. This particular piece is one of a handful that I wrote the same semester in graduate school when I was beginning my thesis and studying for my comprehensive exam so it, unfortunately, got swept under the rug for a while, as I was focusing on those two projects intensely. It took the possibility of it being performed to get it finished this year a few months ago and I took it to Bill about a month ago. He graciously accepted playing the piece for the church and took a few weeks to practice and solidify the piece. He played it very well. It was a nice interpretation. I'm always talking about how a piece always seems more real once it's been actually performed instead of just played back by a computer or plunked out by yours truly. Now this piece has life and hearing it yesterday morning makes me want to really work hard at getting the other piano sketches finished. "Quivering Filament of Incandescent Bulb," another of the three sketches written about the same time, was finished in early 2009, and revamped earlier this year while I was recovering from my computer virus. The final one, "Misery Pages," I now have incentive to finish because it will make the three into a whole cycle which can be performed together. So, that's my next project.
And with any luck, Tania, the pianist, will be playing them at one of her concerts soon. The upcoming one, on December 2nd at Fez Art Cafe in Brooklyn will feature my piano sketch no. 1 - "Snowfall" which will be its Brooklyn premier (having had its world premier at UNC Greensboro in the fall of 2005). If you're in New York, I expect you to try your hardest to make it to this concert, it's looking like it'll be a good one. Take a look at the Facebook page for Tania.
For now, I gotta run. Heading to work and thinking up more ideas for the new website. Coming soon. I'll be in touch.
No comments:
Post a Comment