Ockodektet in San Diego Top Fifteen Jazz Concerts...

Very nice ranking from critic Robert Bush at the San Diego Reader:

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/jam-session/2011/dec/20/top-15-sd-jazz-concerts-for-2011/

Ockodektet Rehearsal photos....

Rehearsal
Woodwinds:
David Borgo
Vinny Golia
Emily Hay
Andrew Pask
Tracy McMullen

Trumpets:
Dan Clucas
John Fumo
Brad Henkel
Daniel Rosenboom
Kris Tiner

Trombones:
Michael Dessen
Michael Vlatkovich

Tuba and more:
Jonathan Piper
William Roper

Piano, Keyboards, Theremin:
Wayne Peet

Acoustic Guitars:
Tom McNalley

Electric Contrabass Guitar;
Steuart Liebig

Contrabasses:
Jim Connolly (also: musical saw)
Mark Dresser

Percussion and so much more:
Rich West
Brad Dutz

me and Vinny

setup

setup

Andrew Pask

Solo Session 2

Solo Session this weekend

Once again I’m stoked to be at Studio A at UCSD. This time it is to record a solo album this weekend. Setup was today, headed up by engineer Joe Kucera and grad student engineers Scott Worthington and Clint Davis.

This will be an all acoustic session. We have two “areas” set up, one for micro-sounds and one for full-on playing. The microphones are wonderful, for the micro-sound area we have a Schoeps CMC 5 mic amp with a sub-cardioid capsule and a B&K 4006 (omni), both running into an Avalon M2.

For the full-on area we have a Coles 4038 ribbon mic, a Royer SF-12 stereo ribbon mic, and two Sennheiser MKH 40's, all running into a Millennia HV-3R.

The session will be recording into Pro Tools at 96/24.

This should be a fun weekend.

A Very Tall Tree...

A great time today hiking in the Redwoods at some "secret groves" with my friend Eric Tillinghast...Please click the image to see the Tall version of this tree...More pics to come.

Softstep and Max/MSP...

[EDIT: July 20, 2014. This software is now available at http://jeffkaiser.com/max/ AND the LEDs work fine now.]

I'm absolutely loving my Softstep...a very versatile footcontroller...smaller, lighter and does way more than any other foot controller out there at this time that I am aware of. However, in the past it required all users to use a standalone piece of software. Being a Max/MSP user, I like to do everything natively within Max itself...I think this is common with many of us Max users... Thankfully, Keith McMillen Instruments has recently come out with a Max/MSP developers kit that pointed me and several other users in a direction that allowed us to create software that runs on standard objects within Max.

In short, you drop the jk.softstep abstraction in your max patch and give it a number that corresponds to the button you want it to be associated with. Then choose the outlet you want: bangs, toggles, lists, xy data, pressure data, pressure with latching, dials, and with more options on the way. That's it, really *very* simple...even though the example patch has everything going at once...

As a warning, though, it uses common sysex that was sniffed out with a midi monitor. If used incorrectly, sysex can really scramble things. I've even heard stories of sysex permanently "bricking" hardware, although I've never personally experienced it. I've used this software daily since Thursday without any problems, but there are no guarantees.

SO,

Please, until KMI releases this information officially and with more specifics,

***No guarantees, use at your own risk***

Also: I've chosen functionality that pertains to my own use, so, not a lot of LED action. There is information inside of the jk.stepcore abstraction if you want to add this functionality.

A big thanks to my friend Chris Lavender for helping with the output stage.

[EDIT: July 20, 2014. This software is now available at http://jeffkaiser.com/max/ AND the LEDs work fine now.]

Garbanzo Grill in Eugene, OR!

Delicious vegan fare, from Garbanzo Grill in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon....
(Click any pic to enlarge)


Garbanzo Grill


Vegan Gyro and Mac


Garbanzo Grill

Vacation, August 2011...

Currently I'm in Cottage Grove, Oregon trying to write some new music for my Ockodektet concert in November and working on some Max/MSP/Jitter projects. On the way out of town, I participated in a concert at Alex Cline and Will Salmon's wonderful Open Gate Theater at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. The first group was the (acoustic!) trio of myself, Michael Vlatkovich and Tom McNalley, second up was Andrew Pask's rocking quartet with Wayne Peet, Steuart Liebig and Alex Cline. That night I began my drive up to Oregon, accompanied by a thermos of pu-erh and three of my dear friends: Arturo Fuente Hemingway, Oliva Serie V and La Gloria Cubana. (I also had a San Lotano, awful.)

Upon arriving, I received some good news: the score for my Alchemical Mass was accepted into an art show on experimental music notation at the Royal Nonesuch Gallery in Oakland, CA and I received the newest addition to my electro-acoustic rig: the Softstep, from Keth McMillan Instruments. More on both of these in posts to come.

After a few days here, I was treated to a lovely show at the Jazz Station in Eugene, featuring the duos of Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, and Lucio Menegon and Sabrina Siegel. Ted Killian then joined me here for a few days and while discussing Max/Msp and Jitter we feasted on many of the vegan offerings in Eugene at Morning Glory Cafe, Pizza Research Institute, the Cornbread Cafe, while remaining caffeinated by The Wandering Goat, and also attended a noise concert at the New Zone Art Gallery featuring many of my friends here in town....

Following are some pics, CLICK on any of them to see large versions.

Wayne Peet


Andrew Pask


Michael Vlatkovich and Wayne


Tom McNalley


Alex Cline


Andrew, Wayne, Steuart Liebib, Alex Cline


My favorite tea drinking spot.


Wild animals abound...


...


Ted Killian and I at the Pizza Research Institute before the show
Seriously amazing pizza.


Paul Pinto


Paul and Jeff Young


Paul and Jeff

Lucio Menegon and Sabrina Siegel



Lucio


I Died (Chris Gierig)


Che F. Kirk (Roger Smith)


Chris and Roger


INRI


INRI and Radiant Thaw


Radiant Thaw


Curtis Rochambeau with John 7 in the background


View of Curtis from the audience


Marlo Eggplant and Hobby Knife (Marilyn Kent)


Hobby Knife


Cornbread Cafe, vegan "comfort food:


Cornbread Cafe

Old recordings, new places...

I've uploaded three of my earlier pfMENTUM albums with friends Vinny Golia, Woody Aplanalp and Ernesto Diaz-Infante to bandcamp...the one with Vinny is pfMENTUM CD001...! These albums were originally packaged in colored recycled paper, printed with single color soy-based ink and wrapped, not with plastic, but with hemp or jute...the digital art here tries to recreate that feel...

Part 2 of 2: Jeff Kaiser, Michael Moore, Michael Vatcher at STEIM

Jeff Kaiser, Michael Moore, Michael Vatcher: Live at STEIM

Jeff Kaiser, quartertone trumpet and laptop
Michael Moore, clarinets
Michael Vatcher, percussion

Jeff Kaiser, Michael Moore, Michael Vatcher: Live at STEIM from pfMENTUM on Vimeo.

John Hirschmann: Iceland vs. Borneo, Volume One

I'm very excited about this project. My friend John Hirschmann has been talking about it for awhile, and it is now ready to go...Will keep you posted. Meanwhile, CLICK HERE, to listen to a sample. Click on the image to see a large version.

The Desert Fathers, live at STEIM!

The Desert Fathers (Jeff Kaiser and Gregory Taylor)
from pfMENTUM on Vimeo.

Russian Television and The Future of Music...

Jaime Oliver and Tom Erbe setting up

Tom, the Russian film crew, Jaime

My area...and inserting myself in the scene...