Up a bit before 7. Put on some cable channel w/ The Joey Bishop Show and Sgt. Bilko. Misplaced the remote for a while. Breakfast buffet; serviceable, but I think I’ll look around town the next few mornings. Made myself grade for an hr. Read W&P. 100 p. to go — we’re into the strange (given what the “novel” has become since) mostly non-narrative fatalistic philosophy of history epilogue. Meditated 15 min. Went into town - weather changeable all day, had bought umbrella at hotel. Checked in for festival, bought 2 Carla Bley CDs in the merch area (I might go back, but there were single copies of these). Found the small indie bookstore, nice enough but didn’t buy anything; meat + 2 at a lunch room; spend 2+ hrs at coffee near the bookstore, taking some notes and drafting a graf of what’s coming. (Actually wrote in notebook quite a bit during the day). Took a while to find the art museum at the University for the first night/set of festival - passed library w/ a book sale I’ll go back to. Saw the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth (I realized it was the best-known member, Caroline Shaw, I’d been on the plane with yesterday). I think they only do their own compositions. Good, though there is a Swingle Singers side to it. (Not that that’s not valid enjoyable, but to preen about it being avant-garde…) Closer to the main drag, saw Joan LaBarbara in an Episcopal church. Meditative, not particularly big on structure. Of her time, in some ways. Theo Bleckmann at a theater nearby, doing Kate Bush songs w/ a four-piece band; liked the violinist and (particularly) the pianist, but the rhythm section was just kind of serviceable — sounded like arrangements recently learned, more than a band, though I could be wrong (is there a record of the project)? Artifacts Trio back at the church, w/ Nicole Mitchell (flute), my acquaintance Tomeka Reid (cello), and Mike Reid (related? drums). Great. More conventional jazz structures (head-blow-head) than I might have guessed given the AACM imprimatur, but Mitchell plays the most convincing blues-based flute I’ve ever heard personally, and Tomeka is a fucking monster player, both as “bassist” and soloist. Ended at 11, had a bite at the same place as last night. Read a bit of Mark J. Butler, Play Something Had Runs (had started during coffee period), but need to take it slow, make notes — serious EDM scholarship, w/ theoretical discussions of repetition and ontology that have implications beyond that genre. Relevant to my interests as they say. Back to hotel, lights out 12:30. Very little human contact, which is fine for a couple days.