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I'm still working on a way to "do" social media in a way that doesn't feel manic or depressing, but every attempt makes me feel like the "content" is not good enough or in a large enough volume to be effective. So here I am, on a blog.
COVID has been a strange time for us all, and it seems like the arts have been changed for the foreseeable future. Despite this, I am happy to say I have a few exciting things coming up: both live (at a distance) and online!
SAXOPHONE CONSORTIUM
Last year, I premiered a piece by my friend and colleague (and Labradorian) Andrew Noseworthy called Pull Up, as part of the 2019 North American Saxophone Alliance Regional Conference in London, ON. Listen to the premier here.
I ended up recording this piece for Andrew's label People Places Records as part of their Saxophone Consortium project. It was recorded at the Electronic Music Studio at U of T by my U of T colleague Aida Khorsandi. Andrew mixed and mastered our track, and Theo Woodard made the video. All hands did incredible work I couldn't be happier!
In addition, preorder and release day proceeds of the album go towards The Okra Project. Bandcamp is one of the few platforms where you can legitimately and substantively support independent artists, so if you want to support the artists you love - buy your music there! They have mobile apps and web streaming, in addition to high quality downloads, so it's just as easy as any other streaming service with added bonuses. Check out the recorded track and video below. Check out some press on the release here and here.
IMPROVISING VIDEOS
During the lockdown, I decided to do more improvising. I didn't have anywhere to practice, so we set up a small music space in our pantry / storage room. Being surrounded by families in an apartment building, I didn't feel comfortable doing hours of long-tones or hundreds of repetitions of hard passages and patterns. But I felt good improvising in shorter bursts. So I started recording, audio and video. I had never been interested in recording very much in the past - I felt it was too product oriented and I am a more process focused artist. But I came up with a work flow that made the performing, mixing, and video editing all part of the improvisation process. You can listen to some of my audio only recordings on my soundcloud and you can see my videos on my youtube page. Here's a sample:
ImprovFest 2020
As I was making these videos, I was invited to participate in Improvisation Festival 2020, hosted by IICSI. #ImprovFest2020 is a 24-hour, online, nuit-blanche style event that starts Friday Aug 7 at 8pm Eastern. My improvisation, Study for Feedback Tenor and Leaklight will be on sometime during hour 8. Check the Facebook event for all the details.
Little Rambunctious
As things are opening up, my crazy "you make up a song title, we make up a song" improvised-party-music group, Little Rambunctious, will be starting a weekly residency "at" (ie across from) Alchemy Bar in Toronto. Every Sunday 7pm - 9pm. Two sets, pay what you want. Come out for a responsibly fun time!
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That's all for now, thank you for your time and support!
-Greg