21 Grand

21 Grand is not actually on Grand Avenue, nor is 21 its address. It is actually on 23rd Street in Oakland.

I played a gig there last night which was completely satisfying. Not only did my set go well (even though the sound board refused to accept my effects, which was frustrating), the other opening act, Glass Bead Game, played an intriguing and slightly deranged set of their own. Front-being Cera was charismatic and riveting with a kind of Joan Osborne-esque voice restrained to suit the taste of the songwriting. She played understated rhythm guitar. The rest of the band, "her boys", as she put it, backed her up on drums, upright bass, and violin/alto clarinet.

The headliners were Carla Kihlstedt's Two Foot Yard, a trio with Carla Kihlstedt on violin, Fred Frith on guitar, and Wu Fei on the "grandfather of the koto". Their set was such a treat. They employed looping and effects, but it was never the focus of the show. Of the three jams they did I enjoyed the second and third the best. Carla's combination of violin and voice during the third piece was haunting. Fred Frith's guitar work was so enjoyable to hear and watch. What fun to open for someone I learned about in grad school. :)

The blurred edges among the colors of all three stringed instruments made for a subtle and complex texture. The beginning of their second piece, when Fred Frith and Wu Fei called and answered each other slowly and tenderly, was very beautiful.

Woodstockhausen and Susan B. Anthony

Last Friday night was the final SF Opera performance of Virgil Thomson's and Gertrude Stein's The Mother of Us All, a rarely performed opera about Susan B. Anthony and the women suffrage struggle. (That's just the beginning of what it's about. It is hallucinatory and amazing.) I had despaired of getting to see it in this dreadful economic environment but then Jim Carr, the new bass player in my band, stepped in and offered me a ticket!

It was wonderful. I am positive I will never be able to afford an orchestra seat at the War Memorial Opera House again. :) I also got to meet Blake More, a poet with whom Jim is collaborating in the Oakland East Bay Symphony's Words and Music project. She is very cool.

The sixth annual Woodstockhausen festival was this past Saturday. It was my first time as a performer and I'm happy to report that the event is well run by very nice people who are on the ball. It had really nice energy. I met a lot of interesting people and heard a lot of fascinating music. Luke Dahl's piece was very good, as was the piece by Twilight. Rick Walker did a new improv looping piece based solely on his voice. I heard that OVO was very good although I was waiting backstage at the time and didn't hear what they were doing very clearly. I liked Mitch Finegold's piece a lot and Amy X. Neuburg rocked also.

But Nathan Levine and his co-conspirators really stick in my mind after delivering a hysterically funny send-up of experimental musicians and their deadly serious improvisation sessions. All three of them explored the comic boundaries of the clarinet, water bowl, and trombone -- and themselves -- in rocking fashion. :) Backstage I retaliated by hitting each one of them with imaginary flute blowdarts and subjecting them to my obligatory voice and flute Darth Vader imitation. :) I wish they weren't from Seattle and other points far away. I would so like to hang with them some more.

I also ran into Justine Kragen and Steve McDonald, who are in one of my favorite bands, Vermouth. If you are in the Santa Cruz area, you really need to check them out, since they are thinking about moving to Los Angeles in the near future!

Movie night

I've been thinking about what movie to rent tonight and that made me think of my favorite movies of all time, maybe to share with you. I have to confess I don't get out to see very many movies. They tend to be way expensive, and I don't get out much anyway between practicing and playing gigs. However, there have been some that really inspired me.

1. Donnie Darko -- I am pretty sure this is may favorite film of all time.

2. The Truman Show -- I don't think most people know what to do when they see Jim Carrey do a dramatic role. This one was awfully good. I loved the movie, since it makes me feel the same way my song "Taste the Wall" makes me feel. Yes, I cried at the end. So sue me. :)

3. The Matrix -- not the Reloaded. The original.

I haven't seen Bowling for Columbine yet but I really want to. Also that new documentary about the Weather Underground.

There was a long period, years ago, when Edward Scissorhands was my favorite movie of all time. When I was eleven years old, it was The Black Stallion. I am reasonably sure the first movie I ever saw was One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing, which I saw with a neighbor kid, Darren, and his mom when I was a little kid in Belmont, California.

Celeste and Christi prepare to leave

Celeste Hutchins, who plays bass in the Band, is getting ready to start grad school at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She's also going to marry Christi Denton on the way there -- in Canada at a wedding chapel that features an Elvis impersonator!

Christi is on her way somewhere too. She'll be starting at CCMIX in Paris this fall.
So in their final month here in the Bay Area, Christi set up a last-minute concert at 21 Grand in Oakland featuring Celeste's other band, Tennis Roberts, with me opening. Christi wanted to do a concert on August 10, I think it was, featuring herself and Celeste and their original music but I think Celeste convinced her it was too much all at once, trying to move away and give a concert the night before.

So the Elvis impersonator thing makes me think of Las Vegas. It seems traditional to go to Vegas and get very drunk and marry somebody you didn't intend to. At least it's unlikely it will be either of my bandmates, since I assume the Vegas marriage people wouldn't marry me to Ruth or Celeste. We would have to go to Canada for that and on the way, I'm sure all concerned would sober up.

This is all moot anyway since I don't drink. ;)

Band version 2.0 and site re-design

There's likely to be at least one more version of the Band, since bassist Celeste Hutchins is off to grad school at Wesleyan University directly after our Las Vegas gig! She has been an inspiration and a lot of fun and I'm going to miss her a lot. If you haven't heard her play yet I hope you are planning to attend the NFA con in Las Vegas.
We have a new guitar player in Ruth Butler, and arrangements are all made for the trip to Nevada. I'm really excited. There will be friends there I'm eager to meet up with -- Dina Emerson, and Alicia Patrice, and Robert Dick...
So how do you like the new site? Silver Wheel has been a black-background site ever since it first went up in 1995 and we thought we would adopt a whole new look. Whaddaya think?

Introducing the BAND, version 1.0!

5/24/03 - In recent news, there's a really nice new review of Diogenes from Good Times Santa Cruz. That gig was my first with Vinnie Nabong, who sadly didn't hang around to play guitar with me any more than at that one gig. He is such a talented guy. You can probably find him playing jazz and r & b in San Francisco still, with his band Phatdawg.
But the SF Bay Area is awash in talented musicians and it didn't take long for me to find a couple more. Bassist Celeste Hutchins and guitarist Peter Chang have joined up with me to form the first version of my new band. The live sound of my music has really been kicked up to the next level, thanks to them. Oregonians can hear us at our upcoming gig in Eugene on May 31st. Flute enthusiasts from all over will get to hear us at the National Flute Association's Annual Convention, on August 7th in Las Vegas.
Anytime you need to know when we're playing live, just check out the Events page for full details and links!