A new semester is underway. I am undertaking several projects this semester that I am very excited about
The first is the continuation of Jules Verne, formed this fall with Carl Mitchell on Saxophone, Ian Mccolm on Drums and Dan Pappalardo on Bass. Due to an unfortunate and ongoing injury Dan is not currently playing with us, however the equally capable Nathan Swedlow is now acting in his stead. Of particular interest to me is further exploration of American Folk Music as a source of material. Our first foray into this was a rendition of the Charley Patton song "Some of These Days I'll be Gone" which we rendered in a free expressionist fashion. If you are not familiar with Patton's music I strongly urge you to give it a listen. Fewer people are as crucial to the blues and the roots of American music, and few could put a song over with as much honest soul and down to earth grit. Anyway, that number became a mainstay of our repertoire, and we are now looking for other songs to follow it with. While I was first attracted to the blues, I've also recently grown interested in appalachian area folk music, or old time. Accordingly, I brought in the folk tune "He Rambled," recorded by Charlie Poole and Fiddlin' John Carson, to the quartet. Hopefully this interest will be developed further. We also have plans to make studio recordings in the near future.
Another semester of the Oberlin Improvisation and New Music Collective is also promising. The ensemble is much larger than it was in the fall, which will be a very good challenge. During my time in that ensemble, we have been struggling with the immense difficulties of large group free improvisation. Our last two performances in December were certainly the most cohesive and convincing that we have played so far, and I hope to continue in that direction. I also look forward to improvising in small groups with some of the individuals I have been working with for some time now, Matt Chamberlain Jessie Downs and Doug Farrand, and also with some new collaborators.
