Curious Sounds

If you're not already listening to RadioLab, get on it. Every once in awhile Jad and Robert take a break from dissecting science and they dissect music. In this show, they feature Glenn Kotche from Wilco performing two through composed percussion solos. Also on the show are Buke & Gass and Reggie Watts who are also the bees knees. If you're itching for something truly original, take a listen.

Latest short: Curious Sounds

And since I'm on the topic, here's a costume to consider next time you perform on your didgeridoo:

REmix of Cenk Ergun's An

Many, many years ago, in a far away land the fabulous composer Cenk Ergun wrote a piece for janus called An. It was unlike anything we had done before and received its premiere in Symphony Space. It's on our docket again in a new form and in Cenk's tinkering with it, he took some time to create an awesome remix. I've put in three listening options since fans have reported that some of the previously posted audio isn't compatible with their browser.  Consider it a Where's Waldo exercise (it's good that with the passage of time, we've lost Waldo, right?). Anyway, hope you like it!!

An

If you're digging this and want to hear and interview with Cenk and an excerpt from the original An, click here.

360 Staff Pick: Janus Trio's Debut - Studio 360

This is kinda blowing us away right now.

360 Staff Pick: Janus Trio's Debut - Studio 360

We're really lucky to have some really awesome friends who sometimes ask us to be a part of their projects. Here's a sampling of some projects past, present and upcoming.....

A video called Paloma and Raul in San Serriffe by our friend J Makary on which janus plays the original music (by Michael McDermott). Side story: On my way down from Connecticut to janus' rehearsal space in Brooklyn, I started to feel really sick. As is usually the case with janus, we had exactly one day in which to get this recording completed so there was really no option of rescheduling. Keep driving, keep driving. Long story short, Nuiko was kind enough to provide a bucket and hold back my hair in between takes. ........ Was that too much? Just keeping it real here.

Here's a video project we've been a part of for several years. It's called Gather/Shed/Lift. The film is created by Alison Crocetta and the music by a longtime friend of janus, Barbara White. We'll be playing the score live at the Columbus Art Museum on April 15. There's a story with this one too: the premiere of G/S/L was in Princeton at Taplin Auditorium. We were janus plus one (Jason Treuting plays percussion with us on this piece). Driving to the soundcheck,we were literally across the street from the hall when we were hit by a Princeton facilities van. Glass was everywhere, Beth crawled through her window to get out, the van was totaled, Beth and Nuiko got a very special ride to the hospital. Again, rescheduling isn't really our thing so post hospital, we showered at Barbara's house and did the premiere.

Finally, we are cooking up a collaborative project with Jason Treuting from So Percussion and Nick Zammuto from The Books. janus and So have a very close relationship - we've known these guys for years.



And we're all over The Books right now. They just came out with a new album The Way Out - it's effin awesome.

Winter's Birds

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about birds. Rather, they’ve been quite forced upon my brain. I don’t mind though – their industrious, ambitious habits are an inspiration. My little hummingbird regulars are wintering in South America! Their tiny little bodies endured thousands of miles of flight, high and low pressure systems, rain, likely snow, wind, limited food supply – their courage and fight for survival is a lesson to behold.

A few nights ago while working in my office, I heard two owls talking to each other. A still, cold, winter’s night, the stars peppered the indigo sky; the only sound was the Whooooo of the owls in the trees. One beckoned to the other several trees away. I wondered what they could be saying to each other. Were they tracking food? Were they claiming squatting rights? Perhaps they were taking advantage of the poetic perfection of the night’s stark beauty, perpetuating the silence between them.

A few days later, this showed up in my inbox:

http://www.starrranch.org/blog/?page_id=2

Thank you Gup.

Sometime last week, I dreamt about peacocks. They belonged to me and I had ten. I felt so lucky to be the caretaker of such opulent, proud creatures. Someone gave them to me and they were in a big, outdoor cage. I couldn’t wait to let them go and admire them as they roamed my woods. I worried that the flocks of wild turkeys would annoy them. I also wondered what to feed them – would they only eat off of china? These are the things of dreams, you know.

Then I went to a dinner party and a new friend gave me this:

He has peacocks – they don’t require china. Thank you Wayne.

I suppose it’s only appropriate that a flute player should contemplate birds like this.

In the time since my peacock dream, I’ve dreamt about a beautiful blackbird with a bright yellow beak. When it opened its wings to fly, they were impossibly graceful, forming two wide, deep arcs, tapering off as if they were drawn. I watched that blackbird in my dream – studied its aching beauty. Its shiny black body with a daffodil colored beak resides in my consciousness.

The next day, this showed up in the Times.

Not exactly my blackbird but a close resemblance. I’m resisting the urge to get The Beatles involved here.

Of course, today I’m performing The Aviary from Carnival of the Animals but that’s not an unusual role for a flutist – why, just last week I was flitting about as Peter’s Sasha.

The Birth

From Squirrel:

I'm so excited. I can't hardly wait for next week. There's something incredible about something that's been in the making for over 5 years finally being "made". Done. Officially. Without gushing over the people who made it possible, I'll remain composed for another week and some days and save the emo for Tuesday, November 16 - our OFFICIAL WORLD-WIDE CD RELEASE!

Slight tangent, but still very related...

I was reflecting just the other night with some friends of ours who used to be in a band together (hint: this band included the infamous Lawson White on percussion). This band was short lived but it's legend will live on if only through various basement and coffee house mini-disc recordings (still in the hands of band members and some die-hard fans like myself, shameless), a gem of an EP and of course word of mouth. During their hey day, this group of fine musicians polished a handful of their favorite tunes and took them to "the studio". Without knowing the exact number of hours spent there or over how many years these tunes were in the making, it's safe to say that it was a labor of love in all the best ways. Imagine 5 guys geeking out over real time arranging in the recording studio, adding big percussion to their unassuming combo as well as the occasional "trash" cymbals (does any of this give it away yet?). All of the energy paid off musically, if I do say so myself, to produce a killer record.

But here's where the story takes a nose dive. The record was never able to make it past the mixing phase of post-production. I might even be wrong about that. It was "laid down" but any polishing that's done after recording in the studio costs mucho mula and sadly, there was none left to push it forward. Although the raw version of this album would suffice for a die-hard fan like me, it wouldn't hold the same water out there in the field of glitsy, professionally produced recordings. Some would say "just put it out there" as is - however, these 5 guys were much too proud to release a half-polished record. So... it remains in album limbo, a place that is the home to countless incredible works of art and almost-finished productions. Last time I checked, I'm still logging at least two tracks (that I know of) in this musical purgatory and I'm sure those won't be the last. It's a sad story that so many of us know too well - the need and drive to make a recording of your music only to see it stunted by the expensive steps involved to get it DONE.

I'm definitely not saying that post-production is inflated or that we're being jipped as artists by our engineers and producers. On the contrary, they're not paid enough for what they do! However, as the record-making world has changed drastically (and the world of record stores, companies and buyers-not-burners), it's no secret that the artists themselves are losing in the battle to both produce albums as well as plain old perform as we used to! And, it becomes an upward struggle when one faces the question "should I record an album?" - a question which carries much more weight than simply whether or not to literally record an event.

Luckily for us, there has been a silver lining! Namely, our record label New Amsterdam Records, as well as an extremely supportive group of donors and organizations (including Argosy Foundation) who've all come together to help push this album into the world. Though we haven't fully funded the making of this album and are continuing our fundraising efforts, the birth is t-minus 4 days away! It's happening. It's happened.

Although janus has taken the past 4+ years to create "i am not", this labor of love is about to drop. And, believe it or not, we're already talking about our next baby. I've heard that there's a hormone the body produces after birth that makes the woman forget about all the pain and suffering she went through to get that baby born - specifically to prepare her for birthing the next one. Maybe it's not just true for the creation of humans?

Spark!

I LOVE mid-western cuisine. Weird. ? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm 6 months pregnant, but the focus on white, cream and cheese-based toppings and bases... LOVE it. The images prove: beautiful. Check out the walleye hogie with a side of chili!! Okay, so Nuiko's dish is a little more "healthy" per-say with the mound of wild rice (real wild rice, she pointed out), I can hang with that, too. As the only non-midwesterner in the trio, this was truly my first introduction to the area. Minneapolis is a special place for sure. I've been to Chicago before but never west of there. My last trip with janus there was dedicated to a tour of soul food, which feels somewhat different to me (being from south of the Mason Dixon) and less mid-western. But I'm learning! Psyched to experience more come our winter tour through Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I wonder what my post partum taste buds will think then?

SPARK was amazing. If yall don't know about it, you should really look it up: http://spark.cla.umn.edu/ Super cool line-up of performers and composers. It felt pretty underground and the audience, who seemed mostly to know each other already, a group of people I wish we'd had more time to get to know. Next time we'll plan to stay - we missed Fred Frith's performance on Saturday! Bummer. Fred, won't you write us a trio? Pretty please??

We played Kevin Ernste's Numina for the second time now. Another perfect venue for that one: the Love Power Ministry. Something about that piece being done in a church makes it all the more creepy. I'm thinking it needs to be played exclusively that way. Kevin's writing is unlike anyone else's I've played - his combo of live electronics, processing our acoustic sound and the way he highlights the trio are all really special characteristics. You have to check it out. Maybe soon we'll have a recording for you!