Racer Session #318 | Jake Rosenzweig & Garrett Hickman | April 3, 2016

We're very excited to host two outstanding musicians from LA this Sunday, 8pm at the Racer Sessions.  Garrett Hickman (amplified trumpet) and Jake Rosenzweig (upright bass) will be presenting their own sets of solo music.  Below are a few words from Jake regarding their work:

From Jake:

"A number of years ago I was really struck by Anthony Braxton's observation (and I'm paraphrasing here) that solo piano music is music made up of languages that the instrument speaks perfectly.  The physicality and particulars of the instrument are utilized brilliantly in the music of noted soloists like James P. Johnson.  In my solo music I try to uncover and similarly make use the idiosyncracies of the upright bass.  I am seeking a way to communicate using a medium I didn't build, but nevertheless contains many secrets which can be worked with and become musical material.  I believe Garrett is similarly intrigued by the world of solo music, and investigates the unknowns of his trumpet in a like-minded way.

What we propose to the group:

Playing any instrument (whether as a soloist or member of an ensemble) involves becoming extremely intimate with the details and sound of your particular instrument, to the point where you begin to take the sounds you've worked so hard to be able to make for granted.  Conversely, playing an instrument you've never played before is often an exciting and stimulating experience: each sound is full of possibility and mystery. 

"I am seeking a way to communicate using a medium I didn't build, but nevertheless contains many secrets which can be worked with and become musical material."

We'd like to propose a night of playing instruments you don't know how to play.  We encourage swapping, trading off, putting yourself in a situation where all your years of practice suddenly become irrelevant, or have to be applied differently.  Any instrument that you are unfamiliar with is fair game, and non-musicians are encouraged to participate.  We hope this will be a liberating and fun way to improvise, and will increase participants' appreciation for other instruments as well as their own.

(Obviously the owners of the instruments being swapped must be completely comfortable letting someone else play their instrument, and the people borrowing them must agree to be totally respectful of those instruments and their owners instructions about handling them.)

That said, since this is a night featuring soloists, we'd like to also include the option of playing a solo piece: on any instrument, whether you know how to play it or not."

Opening Presentation:

1: Jake Rosenzweig (solo bass)

2 and 3: Garrett Hickman (solo trumpet)

Improvs

Improv 1:
Neil Welch (bass)
Jake Rosenzweig (tenor saxophone)
Andrew Olmstead (drums)
Janna Webbon (glock)

Improv 2:
Luke Bergman (toy piano)
Bill Kautz (glock)
John Harrison (drums)

Improv 3:
David Balatero (cello)

Improv 4:
Sheridan Riley (toy piano)
John Harrison (bass)
Josh Thorson drums

Improv 5:
Samuel A. Crome (solo space blanket, block and mic chords)

Improv 6:
Neil Welch (drums)
Daniel Webbon (toy piano)
? bass

Improv 7:
Andrew Olmstead (toy piano)
Bill Kautz (trumpet)
Keeli McCarthy (drums)
Josh Thorson (microphone)

Improv 8:
Geoff Traeger (solo telephone)

Improv 9:
John Broback (keyboard)
Marcin Pączkowski (tambourine)
? toy piano

Improv 10:
Neil Welch (solo tenor saxophone)

Improv 11:
Daniel Webbon (drums)
Samuel A. Crome (electronics)
Andrew Olmstead (keyboard)

Improv 12 (not recorded):
Geoff Traeger (keyboard)
John Harrison (drums)