Kingtone

There’s something about San Jose that is very beige. Jon Brumit’s South Bay Talent Center - part of San Jose’s Who’s on 1st public art program I had the pleasure of performing in - is not one of them, however.

It was my intention to present a solo ten minute version of the American Pied piece that I debuted at the Boise Experimental Festival (as a 30 minute conducted group improvisation). It met with limited success, but a super-cool spinet wurlitzer organ onstage saved the day, was incorporated into an old ICS song, The Day I Learned to Sell and, despite my rustiness on the keys, went over quite well.

Other talent demonstrations included a gal who spun yarn from her cat’s hair, a very interesting homeless guy named Red who played a penny whistle and told stories and a gal who held a headstand for 3 minutes - with whom I later collaborated on a sound piece as she played a contact mic with her head in a headstand. You know, Art.

However, the real fun started after the gig. We were joined by a few more friends and found ourselves at the Global Village Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant. Things quickly took on David Lynch overtones with curious menu items such as sizzings disk, grilled.com.veg.beef (which I ordered), several that were listed as being out of order and a very hands-on waiter/owner/husband and cook/wife team. The food was delicious, the company grand and the table conversation lively. We blew passed the time to go catch Batman - The Dark Knight at a real drive-in, paid our incredible $45 bill for eight people and hit Beige-town instead.

Highlights included visits to the Cesar Chavez public fountain sign pictured above, a lovely physics/sound exhibit that would have made Rube Goldberg happy, some not so great ‘Who’s on 1st’ public art exhibits and ended back at the Talent Center for an after hours jam. Things got pretty nutty and included some subtle work by the maestro himself (see vid). Fortunately, the San Jose Saturday night revelers walking by on the main drag paid us no mind. Ah yes. So very beige.

Albany CA is a sleepy little city that is part of the East Bay just north of Berkeley. A mostly ‘middle class’ (for the SF Bay Area) kinda place where people raise kids without the fears of many modern urban dwellers. It has a conservative 1950s feel to it, and from what I hear the cops there like it that way. Strangely enough, it is home to some amazing talent and subversiveness. Maybe that is not strange at all.

Here’s some examples I have experienced.

This past weekend I played on a session with Drag City artist, Edith Frost. It was a nice song titled, My Euphorbia and was recorded for a possible future DC comp that apparently has something to do with the tracks being performed live. Those in attendance were Edith, Wil Hendricks on standup bass, myself on guitar, Val Esway and Heather Davison on backup vocals. Edith and Wil (via Chicago) live in Albany.

Last monday night, we kicked off a new monthly ‘Improv Hootenany’ series at the Ivy Room in, you guessed it, Albany, CA. The idea is to have a place for outsound artists to hang out and try new and crazy music collaborations in an upscale, comfy, dimly-lit place where fans can come, sip a cocktail and appreciate the music with no cover. There was a featured set from Myles Boisen and John Hanes, sets curated by Jonathan Segel, Joe Rut, John Shiurba, Carnacki and yours truly - aided and abetted by the likes of Suki O’Kane, John Brumit, Karry Walker, Pat Spurgeon (of Rogue Wave), Morgan Guberman and some great walk ons. The whole evening was glued together with special DJ sets by LA based Scrote and Carnacki.

Several now legendary punk bands hail from Albany, CA - like Operation Ivy and offshoots like Schlong and Rancid. Schlong and OPIvy’s maniac drummer was Dave Mello, whom I played with in the HO! along with Albany’s Tim Romain and Joey Schaaf - who also played in The Dance Hall Crashers and in Zebu with myself and Dave Mello’s brother, Pat Mello (also of Schlong). Tight webs, these band lineages often are.

Albany, CA is also the home of Gerald Gaxiola aka The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists, which is, coincidentally, also a movie by El Cerrito’s Les Blank about The Maestro and making art for art’s sake. Every time I see it I want to be and remain, an artist.

note: El Cerrito is just north of and pretty much the same kind of place as Albany. And yes, Creedence Clearwater Revival started in El Cerrito.

I love SPLITLIP and the people in it,
Jon Brumit,
Wayne Grim,
Suki O’Kane
and from time to time, the one and only
Jeff Hobbs.

We played in Sacramento last night at the Prescott Showcase of new, improv and jazz music hosted by our friend Ross Hammond. For some reason SPLITLIP has played more shows to fewer people in Sacto than anywhere else. But the shows are always interesting there, so the few who make it get the goods.

Things felt really great onstage and we could have played on all night or as Suki said, ‘until the electricity runs out.’

A great overheard comment (during a lull in one of our pieces):

‘Do these people have any talent?’

And the following Q&A w/ Ross transpired -

Q: ‘What do you think their influences are?’
A: ‘I wouldn’t know where to start.’

ALBUM next year, we should hope…(the wonderful Michael Zelner recorded this and most of our shows, so…)

Lisa Mezzacappa and Jon Brumit are running Community Music Sound Project/Gold Record Studios - a free recording studio every Sunday through mid-May at the Laney College flea market in Oakland. They have an antique record cutter and are inviting YOU, the public, to join them and weekly special guests (me, Joe Rut and John Hanes on this day), and record a gold record on the spot!

It was insane fun. I was out there hustling potential stars to make a record. Some people took up the challenge and we had some hilarious jams, which will be published on a compilation CD.