Jam of the Week #12: Clifton Ingram

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JOTW#12: Clifton Ingram

personnel:
Clifton Ingram: acoustic guitar
Dan Mohr: piano

Track 1: "Before We Walked the Dog"
Track 2: "After We Walked the Dog"

(download here.)

I've been dogsitting for my friend Azita while she's been touring in support of her excellent new record, Disturbing the Air. One of the perks of caring for Cole (who's pictured on the back cover of the LP) is the opportunity to spend time with her Yamaha baby grand. I invited friend Cliff Ingram (JOTW alumnus of #1 and #9) over for an early winter afternoon session.

The result is a couple of meandering duets that's been the perfect accompaniment for these chilly, final days of 2011. With an emphasis on chromatic harmony and plenty of room for silence, we navigate contrasting periods of vertical stasis and fast moving volleys of conversational melodic gestures, creating a mood that is contemplative and irresolute.

On March 14th, 2012, Cliff and I will join Katherine Young (bassoon) and Jeff Kimmel (bass clarinet) as The Spooky Action Ensemble, for a performance at Hyde Park Art Center as part of Dance Films Kino—a three week festival curated by Sarah Best devoted to dance on film and subversive artistic and social practices. We will improvise a live score for a dance film by Mikey Rioux, as well as make unadorned sounds on our own.

Filed under  //   Clifton Ingram   Download   JOTW   azita   chicago   dance films kino   guitar   jeff kimmel   katherine young   mikey rioux   piano   spooky action ensemble  
Posted December 9, 2011
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Jam of the Week #11: Adam Vida, François & Bernard Baschet

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(photos by Eric Leonardson)

JOTW#11: Adam Vida, François & Bernard Baschet

personnel:
Dan Mohr: Aluminum Piano, voice, loops
Adam Vida: Aluminum Piano, acoustic guitar

Track 1: "1"
Track 2: "2"

(download here.)

This summer, I had the rare opportunity to perform a concert at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art on a one-of-a-kind instrument created by sound sculptors François & Bernard Baschet in 1962, simply (and somewhat misleadingly) titled Aluminum Piano, on display as part of Motor Cocktail: Sound & Movement Art of the 1960's, curated by Timothy Grundy. I invited my friend, coworker, and bandmate Adam Vida (Singer, US Maple, DRMWPN/G L E A M I N G, The Singleman Affair, Dhalgren, Dan Mohr Trio) to join me.

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The instrument itself is a gorgeous object, with four aluminum amplifying cones, and clusters of metal whiskers that wave and scrape against each other. A three-octave keyboard controls hammers that strike a series of threaded aluminum rods. The overtones of each note are uniquely aligned, with little correlation to the other notes on the piano, so when one strikes a key, the tone produced is not necessarily the note one might expect. The result sounds much like a heavily prepared piano, or a tiny gamelan.

Adam and I played two 'songs:' for the first, I sang while he played the Baschet; we switched roles for the second. The first tune opens with a simple motif on the piano, and proceeds quickly through a number of episodes of non-verbal melodies, looped vocal drones, and rhythmic ostinatos from the Baschet. We found the second configuration to be much more challenging, given the difficulty of matching the tuning of a guitar to the erratic sound of the piano. It has its moments, though: a pastoral guitar introduction that found me using the whiskers on the instrument and a sparse vocal loop is followed by a solo cadenza on the Baschet. We culminate the piece with a minimalist, polyrhythmic section that builds in intensity until it reaches an abrupt ending.

Thanks be to Timothy Grundy for the opportunity; it was an honor, for sure.

More photos and stuff after the break...

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   Download   JOTW   adam vida   aluminum piano   baschet   coppice   dan mohr   mca chicago   noé cuéllar  
Posted September 17, 2011
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Jam of the Week #10: Tim Kinsella

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JOTW#10: Tim Kinsella

personnel:
Tim Kinsella: organ, keyboards
Dan Mohr: Nord Electro II, voice, vocoder, loops

Track 1: "Comfort"

(download here.)

What we have here is the live recording of a first-time encounter between myself and Tim Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Make Believe, Cap'n Jazz). The performance was part of Comfort Music—the series I co-curate at the newly renovated, now-beating heart of Logan Square, Comfort Station. As I was really only familiar with Tim's song-based work, I didn't know what to expect of our collabo, but I was excited to see how it went down. 

Before the show, we had a brief conversation about our approach, deciding that the path of least resistance (given our instrumentation) would be to go for a heavy sci-fi vibe. And that's pretty much what we ended up with; we begin with a drone from Tim's air organ, whose keys he was holding down with strips of duct tape, and proceed to over/underlay bubbling, granular analog oscillations, distorted vocal loops, slow ring-mod organ sweeps, and piercing stabs from Tim's Prophet. At points, we each inject a more human element: through autotune (a new-to-me effect of which I am still getting the hang), I intone a quote from Marilyn Monroe: "A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left;" and near the improvisation's denouement, Tim begins whistling erratically for a spell. 

After the performance, Tim, excited, came up to me and asked me if I had seen the crowd of astronauts that had walked by.

I hope you enjoy. Keep an eye out for the next JOTW, featuring my buddy Adam Vida and a one-of-a-kind piano.

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More photos after the jump...

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   JOTW   cap'n jazz   chicago   comfort music   comfort station logan square   joan of arc   make believe   tim kinsella   vocoder  
Posted August 28, 2011
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THE MOHRCAST: live at the Whistler & the MCA this week

I've been mostly successful in my resolve to take it easy this summer, but I'm playing a couple shows this week—including my debut at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It would be rad to see you at one or both.

 

MON.07.25:
Dan Mohr Trio at the Whistler
with Ami Saraiya & the Outcome

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On Monday, Dan Mohr Trio is teaming up with the lovely Ms. Ami Saraiya and her band to present an evening's entertainment at the ever-classy Whistler. DM3 will be playing a couple new arrangements of older songs, as well as new Kate Bush and Linda Perhacs covers. I love playing with these guys, and if you haven't yet seen a DM3 show, this is a shiny opportunity to do so.

MONDAY JULY 25, 9PM
THE WHISTLER
2421 N MILWAUKEE AVE
FREE

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FRI.07.29:
Mohr/Vida Crystal Baschet Concert

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photo by Eric Leonardson

I'm very excited and honored to have the rare opportunity to perform a on a one-of-a-kind instrument this Friday at the MCA. As part of the current exhibit Motor Cocktail: Sound and Movement Art of the 1960s, curator Timothy Grundy arranged for different musicians around town to play afternoon concerts on François and Bernard Baschet's Aluminum Piano (pictured above). I will be improvising on the piano and singing, while my partner-in-crime Adam Vida plays acoustic guitar.

FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2PM
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
220 E CHICAGO AVE
FREE WITH MCA ADMISSION

 

Filed under  //   adam vida   ami saraiya   baschet   mohrcast   museum of contemporary art chicago   the dan mohr trio   the whistler  
Posted July 23, 2011
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The Mohrcast: Commissura, a hungry doubleheader, Comfort Music

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04.28-30.11
Commissura

If you are able, I beseech you to attend Commissura, which sees it's final performances tonight through Saturday night. Both the reviews and the audience response have been amazing, and I'm quite proud of the work. In Laura Molzahn's extensive review on seechicagodance.com, she says:

"This is one of those dances where the performers' commitment and effort are everything. The constantly shifting partnerships and choreographic moods, together with the closed unearthly space, make Commissura seem a world unto itself, complete yet infinite despite its purposeful isolation from the everyday."

Of the music, she says:

"The [music] is entirely new but often echoes traditional Asian music. Percussionist Joseph St. Charles sometimes recapitulates the sounds of a gong, gamelan, or singing bowl, and pianist Dan Mohr is a virtuosic vocalist equally at ease with throat singing and the guttural barks of a Noh actor."

Read the entire review here. 

Commissura
April 28, 29, 30
7:30pm
Curtiss Hall at The Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave
$20/$15 low income
TICKETS FOR TONIGHT'S SHOW ARE 2-FOR-1!

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05.02.11
Dan Mohr Trio & The Plastic Council @ The Hungry Brain

I'll be playing my own tunes and the Brazilian-tinged psychedelic folkjazz of The Plastic Council at the lovely Hungry Brain on Monday. Last time the DM3 played the Brain, a fine time was had by all. The show is free and casual and we would love to see you there.

Dan Mohr Trio & The Plastic Council
May 2, 8:00pm
The Hungry Brain
2319 W Belmont
FREE

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05.05.11 (& every Thursday following)
Comfort Music

Jordan Martins, Ben Babbitt and I are curating a weekly series of free music performances in the friendly and intimate confines of Comfort Station Logan Square.

Keep your eyes & ears peeled for more on Comfort Music. Email us at comfortmusiclogansquare@gmail.com if you're interested in performing in the series.

Comfort Music
May 5, 7:30pm
Comfort Station Logan Square
2579 N Milwaukee Ave.
FREE

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UPCOMING:
05.14.11: Male, Dhalgren & Alex Vittum @ Panchos
05.16.11: collision_theory: Alex Vittum & Jason Stein vs. Colleen Leonardi & Lily Skove
06.13.11: collision_theory: SUPERCOLLIDER, featuring dancers Rachel Damon, Ben Law, Nadine Lollino, & Jessie Marasa, and musicians Josh Berman, Carol Genetti, Dan Mohr, & more TBA.

Filed under  //   Jordan Martins   ben babbitt   comfort music   comfort station logan square   commissura   julia rae antonick   mohrcast   the dan mohr trio   the plastic council  
Posted April 28, 2011
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Jam of the Week #9: NVTRT NVRTBRTS

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JOTW#9: NVTRT NVRTBRTS

personnel:
Elbio Barilari: bass clarinet
Derek Baron: percussion
Carol Genetti: voice
David Grilly: reeds, flute
Clifton Ingram: guitar
Dan Mohr: Nord Electro 2, glockenspiel, piano, voice
Andrew Royal: violin

Track 1: "SHRT"
Track 2: "LNG"

(download both tracks and artwork here.)

JOTW alumnus Andrew Royal (JOTW#1) assembled this septet of musicians (pronounced "Inveterate Invertebrates") for a gig at Brown Rice, a tiny venue in Chicago's northside which was formerly Michael Zerang's Candlestickmaker. These two tracks constitute the better half of the 50-minute set we played. 

What we've got here is some lively and playful free improvisation by a talented group of folks, including JOTW#1 guitarist Clifton Ingram. For a group that had never played all together before, the performance is surprisingly sensitive and restrained. The music builds and recedes rapidly, passing through many different configurations of sound; Grilly's freely modulating melodic cells and Barilari's trills and mutterings often take the foreground; Carol's raga scales and vocal fry and Andrew's microtonal scrapings often find themselves in the same timbral world; Derek's wildly understated drumming and Cliff's subtle e-bowed acoustic guitar reveal themselves in quieter moments. When not taking the odd solo, I found myself padding the background with soft Rhodes chords, creating interlocking basslines with Elbio, or skating on top of the frequency spectrum with bowed glockenspiel.

Stay tuned: I might be updating this post with a video of the show when I get it from Herr Royal.

 

Filed under  //   Andrew Royal   Clifton Ingram   Download   JOTW   brown rice   carol genetti   david grilly   derek baron   elbio barilari  
Posted April 26, 2011
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032111 | Dhalgren

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via dhalgren.bandcamp.com

As is evident in the previous post, Dhalgren (of JOTW#2) has reinvented itself this year as a keyboard quartet, with frequent collaborator Adam Vida (US Maple, Singer, G L E A M I N G/DRMWPN, Relaxation Record, etc.) and Alex Inglizian (El is a Sound of Joy). We performed at collision_theory last month with dancer Julia Mayer, and retrieved a surprisingly good recording from the video camera. Check it out on our bandcamp page.

We'll be performing a couple more times in the coming months, and are planning on recording an album this summer.

Filed under  //   Download   collision_theory   dhalgren  
Posted April 5, 2011
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The Mohrcast: April Madness

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04.07.11
Dhalgren plays at Comfort Station Logan Square

This Thursday, as part of Jaguar Headband Twins, friend Jordan Martins' exhibit of amazing collage work at the inconspicuous Comfort Station on Logan Square, Dhalgren will play a set of music. Hot off the heals of our performance at collision_theory, the new Dhalgren is keyboard-heavy, and alternately ambient and driving. (Check out a recording of that last show at Links Hall here.) Opening will be the big amazing Jeff Harms. Jordan has curated a bunch of other music over the course of the month while his exhibit is up--check out the roster here.

Dhalgren & Jeff Harms @ Comfort Station Logan Square
Thursday, April 7, 7PM
2579 N Milwaukee Ave
FREE

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04.11.11
The Dan Mohr Trio plays the Empty Bottle

I'm excited to play my own songs at the Empty Bottle for the first time on Monday the 11th. To sweeten the deal, friend Nat Baldwin is sharing the bill; taking a break from his day job as bassist for the Dirty Projectors, Nat's on tour in support of his awesome new record People Changes. To ice the cake, angular chop pop outfit Health + Beauty is headlining. AND it's all FREE!

Dan Mohr, with Nat Baldwin and Health&Beauty @ The Empty Bottle
1035 N Western Ave
9pm
FREE

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04.18.11
collision_theory: 
Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown vs. Laura Peterson & Co.

The next installment of collision_theory is going to be superdoubleplusgood. Here's the official description:

April’s collision will likely be the most kinetic of the bunch. Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz is an incredibly physical performer, hammering the bars and stomping the pedals of his instrument with lightning speed. The seasoned improvisers in his Rolldown outfit (Jason Roebke, Josh Berman, Frank Rosaly) sustain and diversify his energy. Employing a dry sense of humor and an intricate sense of rhythm, New York-based choreographer Laura Peterson and her collaborators dance with angular, athletic ferocity. They will be flint to Rolldown's steel—sparks will fly.

collision_theory
Links Hall
3435 N Sheffield Ave.
7:30pm
$12/10 students/seniors/un(der)employed
Tickets

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04.22-30.11
Commissura

I was excited when dancemaker Julia Rae Antonick asked me to collaborate with her on her new duet work Commissura.  
The dancing is amazing, and the music is creatively integrated into the performance. We've put a lot of hard work into the piece, and I would love to see you there. Here's the nitty-gritty:

Commissura represents the culmination of Antonick's research project, Duologue, which explores what it means to be a duet artist.  Duologue was funded by the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Grant. The first work completed for the Duologue project was the acclaimed Tacit, co-created with Antonick's frequent collaborator, Jonathan Meyer, and premiered in Chicago in 2010. Known for her integration of such disparate forms as contact improvisation, modern dance, and Indonesian dance, Antonick brings filigree to physics and yields a profoundly physical, subtly nuanced choreography. Antonick, who studied tango in Argentina as part of her Duologue research, commented about the project, "Some time ago I realized that I identify myself as a duet artist, or 'duetist,' if you will, as opposed to a soloist or ensemble artist. I love that duets involve an intensity and singularity of focus that is similar to solo work, but also contain the richness and complexity of two. I decided I wanted to dig deep into the concept of duet to explore its range of possibilities." Using a sampling of the vignettes and dance forms embedded in Tacit as departure points, Commissura expands and deepens to confront the concept of duet, and its inherent tension between unity and individualism, from several different perspectives. With live music by Dan Mohr and Joseph St. Charles.

Commissura
April 22, 23, 28, 29, 30
7:30pm
Curtiss Hall at The Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Ave
$20/$15 low income
Tickets
Tickets for the April 28th show are 2-for-1

UPCOMING:
05.02.11: The Dan Mohr Trio & The Plastic Council @ The Hungry Brain
05.14.11: Dhalgren & Alex Vittum @ Panchos
05.16.11: collision_theory: Alex Vittum & Jason Stein vs. Colleen Leonardi & Lily Skove

Filed under  //   Jordan Martins   collision_theory   comfort station   commissura   dhalgren   empty bottle   health&beauty   jason adasiewicz   joe st. charles   julia rae antonick   laura peterson   nat baldwin   the dan mohr trio  
Posted April 3, 2011
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Jam of the Week #8: Mohr/Christensen

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First of all, I must note that as of this post, I've been doing this Jam of the Week project for over a year now. It's been a remarkably fruitful endeavor, resulting in lasting collaborations and a lot of nice music. 

In November of last year, I joined Zelienople, a long-time fixture in Chicago's experimental rock scene. I first met the Z-boys years ago when Relaxation Record shared a bill with them and Tara Jane O'Neil at Schubas. We reencountered each other when I invited them to play at one of last year's collision_theory shows, at which they collaborated with dancers Lisa Gonzales and Jennifer Kayle of The Architects. Months later, at a Coach House Sounds benefit they were playing at the Whistler, they suggested that maybe I should play with them sometime. Fast-forward to today: we're working on a number of recording projects, including a split with the excellent Mako Sica on a new label called Slow Knife, a contribution to what's looking to be a pretty amazing Talk Talk tribute record, releases for Under the Spire and Type records, and a weekend tour in New York with Grouper in April.

Zelienople's singer/guitarist Matt Christensen and I are playing this weekend at the oft-mentioned-on-FMODM Glad Cloud Ambient Series at the Whistler. We got together last night to figure out what sounds we are to make there.

JOTW#8: Mohr/Christensen

personnel:
Matt Christensen: Yamaha RMX1, iPad (Looptastic)
Dan Mohr: voice, Nord Electro 2

Track 1: "A minor"
Track 2: "E minor"

(download both tracks and artwork here.)

I must confess, I had no idea when I started JOTW that it would result in so much ambient music. I hadn't been in the business of making ambient music prior to the project, and don't recall any burgeoning interest in it. Who knew? And here we go again:

Zelienople will soon be working on an instrumental release called New York as a follow-up to Hollywood (2009, Under the Spire). We decided to use this show to start working on some ideas for it. The first track opens with a swirling stack of Rhodes melodies; inevitably, synth sounds and samples from Matt's end encroach, and I layer in distant choral textures. The second track is slower and more somber; it begins with our best Fennesz/Ryuichi Sakamoto impression, and continues with bassy beats and woozy vocals. 

Matt's solo record A Cradle in the Bowery will be released sometime soon on Under the Spire records, featuring artwork by this guy. Keep an eye out!

Also keep an eye out for another JOTW with Ben Babbitt (This is Cinema, Cross Record, Pillars & Tongues) sometime in March.

 

(download)

Filed under  //   Download   JOTW   ambient   ben babbitt   coach house sounds   collision_theory   grouper   mako sica   matt christensen   the whistler   type records   under the spire   zelienople  
Posted March 1, 2011
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Last Christmas

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I'm going to a birthday-slash-christmas potluck tomorrow to which everyone is bringing a holiday cover or other entertainment. This cover of WHAM!'s "Last Christmas" will be one of my contributions.
Merry holidays, FMODM readers.

(download)

Posted December 17, 2010
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