If you are looking for a very short, precise recap of the Delicate Sen West Coast Tour:
Fantastic.
Check out photos on Richard’s Flickr stream
Vancouver, August 22 & 23:
After a long travel day (the first), the really crisp, mild weather in Vancouver is a great relief. Both Richard + I had to completely unpack our gear going through security at Laguardia which was…an experience. We left NYC at the height of a crushing heatwave, though which I was working days in a large garage w/out air conditioning, so the change of environment was really appreciated.
Had to get to Alley Pad Studios rather promptly to prepare for a performance of Richard’s composition “YVK20090822 (for viola, cello, contrabass, and speakers).” Richard quickly recruited Anne + myself to do the speaking parts. I had performed a speaking part in a composition by Andrew Lafkas a few weeks before so I’m finding a new niche. We were very fortunate in that the local musicians performing the piece were inquisitive (and cooperative) in a work that was very much out of place for the evening. The audience was also appreciative, which helps.
The next night we played our first real gig (at the Helen Pitt Gallery), as part of a “4 Nights of Improvised Music” series. Following the brilliant opening performance by Jeffery Allport and Tim Olive (on percussion and tabletop guitar, respectively) and a hypnotic duo by Sam Shalabi on oud and Josh Stevenson on synthesizer was a real treat. Also respect to the great, large Vancouver audience and thanks to Chris for letting us stay at her apartment (and mailing my power supply back to me – see below).
Seattle, August 24:
A quick bus trip across the border got us to Seattle in the afternoon, where we had a little adventure with the public transit system. Good times. We had time to spare so we got to unwind with some nice foods and juice and teas before the gig.
The concert was at Gallery 1412, a reasonably sized but acoustically very dry space, which turned out to be perfect for the night’s proceedings. I had left the power supply for my laptop in Vancouver, which also turned out to be a perfect, if minor alteration to my setup for the night. When Anne & I perform as Fraufraulein, I play without my laptop, and have done the same during some Delicate Sen rehearsals/recordings, so this was not a new beast to confront, and given the very minimal and quiet tone of the night’s performances, I didn’t miss my computer a bit.
We were joined by Seattle musicians Mark Collins (bass), Mara Sedlins (viola), Tyler Wilcox (soprano saxophone) and Wilson Shook (alto saxophone), and performed in the following combinations:
Mark Collins / Richard Kamerman / Tyler Wilcox
Mark Collins / Billy Gomberg / Anne Guthrie / Mara Sedlins
Billy Gomberg / Mara Sedlins / Wilson Shook
Anne Guthrie / Richard Kamerman / Wilson Shook / Tyler Wilcox
This was a great concert to listen to, and a joy to participate in. Mark, Mara, Wilson & Tyler brought amazing sensitivity and timing and it was nothing less that a total pleasure to perform with them. Thanks to Wilson, Tyler and EGFS for putting us up for the night!
Portland, August 25:
Picked up our rental car in downtown Seattle, loaded up on foodstuffs, and headed down to Portland. Met up w/JP Jenkins (our lovely host), and spent the afternoon unwinding in some more lovely northwest weather, regaled by a very long joke about a dirty limerick, told in Pynchonesque tandem by JP and Shane.
Gallery Homeland, our venue for the night, could not have been more different from 1412 in Seattle. Where the Seattle space was dry and intimate, Homeland was a huge old warehouse space, with a long & distinct reverb, few early reflections, and a penchant for swallowing some frequencies, which made for a very different concert following Seattle. Performing with us were Jean-Paul Jenkins (guitar), Mark Kaylor (percussion) and Kelvin Pittman (saxophone). The concert went as follows:
Delicate Sen
JP Jenkins / Mark Kaylor / Kelvin Pittman
Billy Gomberg / JP Jenkins / Mark Kaylor
Anne Guthrie / Richard Kamerman / Kelvin Pittman
This matchup produced a totally different sound from the improvisations in Seattle, in the best way…sound really filled up the space, expanding in its reverberation, the room taking on a life of its own. After our first trios got comfortable in the space, the third and fourth sets set out on more bold pathways: my trio w/JP and Mark grew large and almost antagonistic, settling and then reforming. Anne, Richard and Kelvin stayed sparse…letting their contributions touch, join or separate, counterpointing w/trains passing and street noise. Another really stunning night.
Oakland, August 27:
Rolled into Oakland pretty weary of sitting in a car and promptly exacted our vengeance on our audience! All three of us knew that, at some point on tour, we were going to play a set that was entirely too loose, too loud and probably a bit crazy. Objects routinely flew from Richard’s table (which at some point encountered some beer), sending Anne & I off on dissonant tangents, all three of us re-convening for another collision. It was raw and messy (literally). Thanks to Jason Moore for preventing us from ending our night at a reasonable hour.
Los Angeles, August 29:
One last day on the road through the bleakest landscape on I-5…drought ridden in the middle of California sprawl…arrived in LA after 90 miles of approaching a large dark smoke cloud. We all felt strongly about LA, maybe due to our status as New Yorkers, but mostly due to this being the last show of the tour. We also played to an entirely different audience in LA – much more from the contemporary electronic/laptop landscape where my solo records roam than the new strains of improvised music that Delicate Sen’s general style would fall into. We also wanted to be able to really bring our experiences on the road into definitive performance, which we all agree is exactly what happened.
We were treated to a very appreciative crowd and a great venue at Betalevel. There is nothing like wandering through little alleyways in Chinatown to set the mood. I don’t really have much to add except that this was the best way to end our brief tour…thanks to Ryan (Sublamp) for wrangling a great show for us, Yann & Rob for hosting, and everyone who came out.
