KaiBorg enters the studio...

David Borgo and I (KaiBorg, btw, audio file now on the website) have entered the studio...Studio A, that is, at the University of California, San Diego campus...accompanied by the wonderful audio/software engineer Tom Erbe (be sure to check out his discography as engineer, and also, if you use music software you should use his).

We spent about six hours there today, and will spend another eight tomorrow. Tom is getting some wonderful sounds, using the Royer 121 as the main trumpet mic, going into a Grace pre-amp, then heading into my Max/MSP rig. He has also set up a Mojave mic to pick up my valves and other extraneous sounds. Just the opposite with David, he is using a Mojave as the main, Royer for the extra sounds.

It is a big room, and with all the sound curtains pulled, the reflections are at a minimum. We set up close (so any bleed will not have a lot of delay) and Tom created these Dilbert like cubicles to help isolate our mics, and they are doing a very good job.

My cubicle

David's cubicle

More tomorrow...

Lydia Guevara (Che Guevara's grandaugher) and PETA

From PETA:


¡Viva la Vegolución! Guevara's Granddaughter Stars in New PETA Ad

"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall."
—Che Guevara

Well, it looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Che Guevara's granddaughter, Lydia Guevara, is following in her revolutionary granddad's footsteps by calling for a "vegetarian revolution."

"PETA's fight for animals was one of the reasons why I went vegetarian," Lydia told the Spanish news agency Efe. "Moreover, this lifestyle has become a true revolution that is attracting more people and is an alternative that is healthier for the planet and for humankind."

The ad was shot in New York this week by top celebrity and fashion photographer Gavin Bond—look for it this fall.

Posted by Alisa Mullins (On the PETA website)

Pu-erh tea jelly and Jim McAuley

As many of you know, I am a big fan of Pu-erh tea. Here is a recipe involving it that I've never heard of, Pu-erh Tea Jelly. The link has it being used in an ice cream dish. The pertinent points by Fumiko Sasaki:

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Pu’er Tea Jelly

2 Tbsp. pu’er tea leaves (shu/ripe post fermented leaves)

1-1/2 cup of spring water brought to a furious boil! (serious, the tea is quite hard and needs boiling h20 to break down the composed structure of its clumped leaves.) *(220F/100C)

2.5 grams Agar Agar or Kanten strips.
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. floral honey
2 Tbsp. of pu’er tea leaves (shu/ripe post fermented leaves)

Put the leaves in a teapot and brew for 3.5 to 4 minutes with freshly boiled spring or filtered water. Do not allow to become bitter or astringent. Sip as it goes. :) Strain tea infusion thru a sieve lined with a paper towel. Measure about 1-1/4 cups of Pu’er infusion and transfer to a saucepan.

Add agar or kanten strips, cover with a lid and place over low heat to dissolve the strips throroughly. Add the granulated sugar and honey. Remove from heat

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place in ice water to cool, stirring with a wodden spoon to prevent separation. When th emixture thickens slightly (around 95*F/35C Refrigerate till firm.
***************

By the way, I had an excellent cup of Pu-erh with Andrew Pask yesterday...Nice to be in LA for a moment. And wait till you hear the recording he is working on with Jim McAuley...

In the meantime, enjoy this performance by Jim, ends with a beautiful trio with Jim, Rod Poole and Nels Cline:

Vision Festival...New York Weekend...

(Phil saying, "Kaiser! Get rid of the camera!")

What a wonderful weekend in New York. Phil Skaller and I went to perform a live soundtrack to Bill Brand’s film, Angular Momentum, at the Vision Festival. I couldn’t afford to stay long, but I wanted to see as many friends and hear as much music as possible. The schedule was quite full, but thanks to my dear friend Brad Henkel (who also generously let me crash at his Sunset Park apartment) a lot was accomplished.

Upon landing at 3pm, Phil and I took a cab to Brooklyn. Phil went off to see his family, I practiced trumpet for an hour...and then we started going. First, to this great restaurant (The V Spot) in Park Slope for a sesame/ginger seitan that was delicious. After that, we went and walked around Prospect Park (beautiful weather) and then went to Rob Price’s house to taste some of his exquisite beer holdings. I met Rob at the Boise Festival a few years ago where we bonded over beer and his great set with percussionist David Grollman. Anyway, Rob treated us to a wonderful Danish brew, Mikkeller Black. Delicious, much better than its Beer Advocate rating. From there we went to the Tea Lounge to hear the trumpet play, Jacob Wick, and then moved on to hear David Grollman play with cellist Valerie Kuehne at a loft concert. David was fantastic, and spite of the distracting environment, played beautifully, working with a wide vocabulary that climaxed with his snare being played like a giant Daxophone...mesmerizing and beautiful. Brad and I then moved on to have a falafel and then on to Spuyten Duyvil, where I had a nice Imperial Pilsner (can’t remember by who).

Saturday started at lunch with Brad Henkel and James Ilgenfritz at S’Nice in Park Slope, from there we went to Dave Grollman’s place for tea, and then to Roulette to meet my friend Todd Reynolds. Todd was performing a piece by the wonderful composer Paula Matthusen. Todd is great performer, top-notch on all levels, I couldn’t attend the gig that night, but we heard him run the piece several times, which was nice. Matthusen received a nice review HERE in the NY Times. From there, on to dinner with the great trumpet player and all-round musician Dave Ballou and Lorinda Ann Harnish Van Sciver Neumann, a writer friend I knew years ago in Ventura. What a blast! Three trumpet players and a writer made for interesting table talk. We then went to a concert to see Harris Eisenstat, but he and his wife Sara Schoenbeck had a baby that day, so, obviously, he wasn’t there. Big congratulations to the new parents! Ended the with Brad at Barbes with a nice whisky.

Sunday was dedicated to getting ready for the gig with Bill Brand and Phil Skaller at the Vision Festival. Walking in, I was greeted by Bill doing repair work to make the projection screen functional. We then, with the help of the soundman, re-wired the amps and board to make the sound fully stereophonic, finally breaking my curse of only mono-systems when I play in NYC. We had a very nice set, attended by an attentive audience, many of whom stayed and spoke with us after, capping a really enjoyable time. The Abron’s Art Center is, by the way, a FANTASTIC facility…beautifully designed, really nice...and the Vision Festival is an excellently run gig. I was able to catch a stellar set by Fred Anderson with Hamid Drake and William Parker, and a truly mind-blowing set by Peter Brötzmann, Michael Wertmüller (drums) and Marino Pliakas (bass guitar). Body crushing subs (double bass drums!) with Brötzmann all over the top…one of the best free blowing sets I have ever attended. All energized, we went out for falafel and ended up at DBA till late, enjoying their excellent beer and scotch selection.

Monday, I went out for a late breakfast at Angelica’s Kitchen with Nathaniel Morgan, then the two of us joined Brad Henkel in Seaport at Jack’s and hung out with Brad walking this great dachshund named Matilda. After that...caught the plane home. A busy few days...but what a great time.

Brad at The V Spot

Prospect Park

Me, Brad, Nathaniel at Prospect Park

Jacob Wick, trumpet

Spuyten Duyvil

Spuyten Duyvil

James Ilgenfritz at S'nice

On the train to Manhattan...

Tikki Tikki Tembo, David Grollman, Brad Henkel

Todd Reynolds and Paula Matthusen in discussion

Phil and Bill repairing the screen at Abrons...

Daniel Carter at the Vision Festival

Hamid Drake, William Parker, Fred Anderson at the Vision Festival

Lorinda Ann Harnish Van Sciver Neumann

Phil, Bill, Jeff

Peter Brötzmann, Michael Wertmüller (drums) and Marino Pliakas (bass guitar)

Michael and Lori

Nathaniel, Jeff

Nathaniel and Brad

Nathaniel, Brad, Matilda

Matilda

A hilarious tongue-in-cheek employee review of Strunk and White (Seen at Strand Bookstore):
"Poorly writing is a big problem for a lot of people to have lately."

Phil Skaller/Jeff Kaiser at Vision Festival...

Pianist Phil Skaller and I will be playing at the Vision Festival in New York on June 14.

We will be improvising (duo) to Bill Brand's ANGULAR MOMENTUM (1973), a 20-minute 16mm color film. Bill Brand will also be present.

I'll post more as we get closer, but this will be a really enjoyable gig, and it will be awesome to get to meet Bill Brand.

More information about the Vision Festival can be found here.

KaiBorg with Christian Bök, tonight...

KaiBorg will be playing with Christian Bök tonight, 8 pm, at Conrad Prebys Music Center.

Bök Bio:
Canadian experimental poet Christian Bok is the author of books including Crystallography, a pataphysical encyclopedia, Eunoia (Coach House Books/Canongate), a lipogram that uses only one vowel in each of its five chapters, and Pataphysics: The Poetics of an Imaginary Science (Northwestern University Press.) Crystallography was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award for Best Poetic Debut and Eunoia, the best-selling Canadian poetry book of all time, was awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2002. His conceptual artwork has appeared at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York City as part of the exhibit Poetry Plastique. He is a professor at the
University of Calgary.

For more information about and examples of Christian Bok's work please visit:

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bok/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_B%C3%B6k
http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Bok.html

True Story...

Thursday, while I was biking, a guy and his friends in a BMW almost ran me over speeding through a corner on the wrong side of the street by my house. They laughed and cussed at me as I yelled at them.

Friday, they ended up in a neighbor's front room...with their BMW. Lost control speeding through the neighborhood. (Nobody hurt.)

My Two Favorite iPhone Apps of the moment...

VegOut
Andrew Pask hipped me to this...awesome for the traveling vegan/vegetarian. Which means me!

and...
Skype
Speaking of traveling...I look forward to using this app when in Europe this summer. I tried it on my wireless network here at the house, and it worked flawlessly...one friend said it sounded better than, ahem, when calling over AT&T. (Which, on a side note, if I didn't have the iPhone, I would still be on Verizon...)

At UCSD Music we are all Prebysterians...

Check it out: Conrad Prebys Music Center

A truly standout, world-class facility. Studios, concert halls, experimental performance spaces...wow...I think anytime is a good time to be in this program, but right now is really special...Thank you donors, and in particular: Conrad Prebys.

David Borgo and I (KaiBorg) will be there playing at the opening concerts the next three nights. We are using new software that includes interactive video being processed by our individual computers and then composited on my machine and projected on us. This new work is eight minutes long and called, trans terra firma.

Tickets still available for Saturday...

Celebrate (?) Odd Day

http://www.oddday.net/


From the AP:

SAN FRANCISCO – Prepare to be awed by Odd Day.

For the mathematically challenged, Thursday's date, 5/7/09, is one of only six this century that will feature three consecutive odd numbers.