Rehearsed with Tsunami and Ida in Catskill (Th.-Fr.); played shows in Woodstock (Sat.) and Boston (Sun.); guest performers included Kate Pierson, Mark Robinson, Mary Lou Lord, Clint Conley.
I guess all the packing, getting my equipment in order, train and car travel, and general practical/logistical stuff involved in these shows counts as an “item.”
Did some writing/revision on copyright chapter, mostly Mon./Tue., including a trip to the main branch of the Queens Library in Jamaica to check refs. not available in NYPL.
Made a chart for the Beatles’ arrangement of “Till There Was You” for a show w/ Laura Cantrell next week.
Saw Kenneth Koch centennial tribute reading (New School); heard Wrekmeister Harmonies (drone band from Hudson Valley; The Avalon).
Only one day of official cardio, but several other days involved a lot of walking.
performance review 3-10/3-16
1. Worked on revision of copyright chapter, mainly on Wed., Sat., Sun. Added about 500 words + notes/citations to intro; made smaller changes elsewhere. Still a lot to do.
2. Rehearsed w/ Human Hearts for upcoming show in May, w/ Pete Galub, Bob Bannister, Matt Houser. Better than I thought we’d be after not playing for months. Got through a newer song (“Man Up”) that hasn’t previously gelled, and learned 2 covers (Everything But the Girl, “Another Bridge” and Wire, “Two People in a Room”).
3. Assembled powered pedalboard for Tsunami tour. Still needs some adjustments - I’d like to add either a tremolo or reverb, and the chorus pedal isn’t working right, but the signal passes through everything. Used it at rehearsal, above.
4. Heard Gottleib Wallisch, Schoenbert/Grosz/Wellesz piano recital (Leo Baeck institute); Angelika Nescier trio (Jazz Gallery); The Sloppy Heads (Main Drag); Dan Machlin/Joe Elliot/Fiona Templeton reading (Pete’s Candy Store). Listened to a number of good new albums (esp. Steve Lehman, The Music of Anthony Braxton; Horace Tapscott, Dissent or Descent; Ed Kuepper & Jim White, After the Flood).
5. Paid my father’s electric bill online; renewed a prescription that hadn’t come in.
+ cardio, 4 days of 7 (should be 5).
performance review 3/3-9
1. Added 375 words to dB’s piece; told zine editor it’s in progress. Communicated w/ editor of a larger scholarly piece; I need to deliver the revision by the end of this month.
2. Repairs: (2) Picked up guitar from set-up and refret at Main Drag in Wmsbg. (3) Finally got home stereo set-up in working order. (The repair from 2 weeks ago wasn’t sufficient; project involved a lot of trial and error, and multiple trips to B&H in Manhattan, over 3-4 days, as well as putting the living room back in order, recycling boxes, etc.) Was able to listen to LPs Mary Lou Williams/Don Byas and The Work by Friday.
3. Took sweaters and overcoat for repair at French-American Reweavers, a high-end place in Manhattan, on the 14th Floor. Unfortunately, the proprietor told me 2 items were too far gone (though I might try another place for one of them), while the third would be more economical to fix at an ordinary tailor. Still, a win b/c it was on my list to do, and at least now I have more information.
4. Visited Dave’s in Manhattan to size stage clothes for Tsunami. (I have to order the actual clothes online to be shipped to Chicago, where they’re being painted. Not my idea.) Also got contact info for a possible instore in Portland.
5. Heard David Grubbs w/ guests Wendy Eisenberg, Nate Wooley, Clerk Schrag, plus Sam Weinberg Trio (Sisters); Saw Nickel Boys [RaMell Ross, 2024]. Got a drink w/ acquaintances on Friday - rare non-musical socializing.
+ cardio, 4 days of 7 (however, I walked around the city this week and my weight went down a bit, so I feel ok about skipping a day); read 2-3 chapbooks.
other weekly activities/appointments I don’t list here include: therapy, 2x calls to my father in California, 3-4x video calls w/ Bree in France.
february 2025 reading
Emma Cline, Daddy
W.G. Sebald, Austerlitz, trans. Anthea Bell
Trebor Healey, Falling
Dennis Yi Tenin, Literary Theory for Robots
John Yau/Thomas Nozkowski, Ing Irish
Andrew Martin, Cool for America
Gabriel Blackwell, Correction
Matt Morton, Improvisation Without Accompaniment
Lucy Sante, Six Sermons for Bob Dylan
Marcella Durand, To Husband is to Tender
performance review 2/24-3/2
1. Finished “lock” piece from last week, about 600 words total.
2. Started contribution to a friend’s zine about a dB’s EP from 1981, 200 words
3. Completed two home repairs: mailbox lock, installed by super; stereo amplifier, Chinatown electronics store; also bought a Yamaha keyboard w/ drum machine similar to one I used to record with in the ‘90s.
4. Promoted Tsunami/Ida tour online; contributed to playlist of songs from other Numero Group releases for social media campaign.
5. Went to a Glenn Ligon gallery show w/ Disklavier “performance” of a Julius Eastman piece; heard Lesley Mok Trio (Bar Bayeux), Brandon James Lewis Quintet (Nublu), Canis Major [Mary Halvorson] (Jazz Gallery); saw Once in a Lifetime [Russell Mack, 1932], The Benchley Roundup [shorts], My Sister Eileen [Alexander Hall, 1942]
+ did my cardio, 5 days of 7; read a Simon Frith paper on copyright and several poetry chapbooks; got through some kind of stomach bug that laid me up Fri.-Sat.; dealt w/ a personal financial matter