Blaq Lghtn Strikes..Again and Again (and Again)

A poem from Lucille Clifton

2010-11-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

Lucille Clifton - one of Maryland's finest!

Rehearsal with Luther

2010-11-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

Luther and I are playing next Tuesday (the 16th) at Outpost. Here's a clip from rehearsal.

Forbes Graham + Luther Gray rehearsal 11/8/10 from Forbes Graham on Vimeo.

Ellie Goulding "Lights" dubstep remix

2010-09-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm way way way behind on the whole dubstep bandwagon. Honestly, most of it is way too slow for my taste. But for some reason I've got into dubstep remixes of pop songs, and this is one of my favorites.

Para Quintet at Zeitgeist Outpost

2010-09-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Thoughts

2010-06-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

Bill Dixon passed away in his sleep on Tuesday. I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with him these past couple of years. I don't feel that I could really pay him any real tribute in my own writing. So I won't. But I feel that I must take a moment to editorialize a bit. If every musician playing modern improvised music would approach their work with HALF, even HALF the integrity that Bill approached his music with..well, there'd probably be a lot less music. Coming from us at least.

But the music that would be there, would be a lot better.

That's just my opinion anyway.

Rest in peace, Bill. I don't want to admit that you have died, but I guess I have to. You have died, but you have not gone.

Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter group - "Blood of the Earth"

2010-05-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Coming to a theatre near you on June 1!

Mobius Artrages

2010-05-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Grizzler participated in ArtRages, an event put on by Mobius. The party took place in an office building near the airport. Lily and I went to Atlantic Works Gallery and then headed on up to this. I'm enjoying going to East Boston more these days.

Here's a compilation of sorts from ArtRages.

Jazz Week performance in Hyde Park

2010-05-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Trumpet in Toronto!

2010-05-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be playing in Toronto early next month. I'm raising money on Kickstarter to pay for the plane ticket and transportation. Why? Two reasons. One, I'm getting door money for the gig. Two, I'm planning to play in Mexico City in the fall, and if this fundraising attempt is successful it will help with that trip. So..click on the link below!

Trumpet in Toronto!

Weasel Walter Quintet at Zebulon, NYC

2010-04-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

Dad City is in Amherst

2010-04-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I took a trip out to Amherst and played at Jack Callahan's house, aka Dad City. I had an amazing, beautiful drive down 202 passing through towns like New Salem and Shutesbury. My grandfather actually retired to Amherst and I used to spend summers there as a child. I had no idea there was a college there until I went on tour with Orchid when I was in my early 20s. Anyway, as regards to the music: Here's what happened:

Another video of Liz and I

2010-04-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

Watching Robocop

2010-04-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

There is an icy poignancy to the way that Robocop kills.

Julie Mehretu lecture at University of Michigan

2010-04-18T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is pretty long, I just started watching it.
I'm also watching Robocop. Great movie.

Sword of Doom

2010-04-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

I loved this movie back when I was in college.

Rehearsal with Liz Roncka

2010-04-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

Pizza and music Sunday

2010-02-22T07:01:00.001-08:00

Stopped off at Peace O' Pie in Allston, MA for some vegan pizza. Pretty good stuff.

I can't eat alone without reading. I stick to my periennial favorites, a Sara Paretsky novel.

Later on I went over to 7A West studios to do some mixing and editing on an session I did with Luther Gray, Dave Rempis, and Pandelis Karayorgis.

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Weasel Walter/ Marc Edwards group in Brooklyn, NY

2010-02-13T14:24:00.001-08:00

Bang Bang - new noise track

2010-02-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun feedback glitchy noise.

Bang Bang by forbesgraham

Blueberry Lime sauce

2010-02-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

The ingredients are:
Blueberries
Lime juice (fresh squeezed)
Agave nectar
Chili flakes

I'm going to make some more tomorrow, and I will try to post better measurements then.
Even though I am not into measurements.

Article/interview/feature at All About Jazz Dot Com

2010-02-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

"Even if I just listen to a good trumpet player for a little while, I play better. It just happens that way."

Gordon Marshall was kind enough to write about me for the publication All About Jazz. Thanks Gordon!

Read the article here. I'm going to go off and listen to some good trumpet players now.

Lunch

2010-01-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Fried bananas, blueberries, strawberries, soy sausage, johnny blaze cakes.

Games

2010-01-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

My wife found this card game, Set, at the town dump. I remember playing it one time, but I'm not sure when or where. At any rate, the object of the game is to build sets that are in some ways similar or unique. It's a moderately challenging brain teaser of a game. I actually like to play it when I eat sometimes in lieu of reading a book.

You Can't Bring Me Down

2010-01-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

Rocky George is one of the great and underrated heavy metal guitar players. Watch the video and go back to the old school.

Trumpet trio with Birgit Ulher & Greg Kelley - Feb 5

2010-01-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

my duo cd with Tatsuya Nakatani is out!

2010-01-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hop on over to www.blaqlghtn.com to pick up a copy.

In other news, I have a lot of gigs coming up in the next couple of months in the Boston area and in NYC. I don't want to leave anyone out, but some highlights include:

Weasel Walter/Marc Edwards Group at The Knitting Factory on January 31
Trumpet trio with Birgit Ulher and Greg Kelley at the Goethe Institut on February 5
Duo with Kevin Frenette at 119 Gallery on February 13

Word.

Jazz Composers Alliance @ Johnny D's - Dec 09

2009-12-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

Treeee

2009-11-05T17:51:00.001-08:00

Secondary Deviations review from Paris Transatlantic

2009-11-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a review of digital download recording available on Ayler Records:

There's an art to selecting a lead-off cut for an album, and "Welcome Steps" probably wasn't the best choice, but once the disjointed individual tempos have melded into a dog-chasing-its-tail frenzy, it gets a lot more appealing, culminating in guttural blasts from alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs and the braying trumpet of Forbes Graham. The other pieces here are much more convincing. Jacob William plays the syncopated bass line of "Palm Dance" with such insistence throughout its 13 minutes that when he finally drops out for a drum solo by Croix Galipault (who begins the track with woodblock and light cymbal taps, working gradually up to fevered press-rolls) you feel the absence. Hobbs and Graham's exchanges over this potent rhythmic brew are consistently inventive: Graham, in particular, has a Steve Lacy-like tendency to repeatedly deconstruct his own lines, though at other times his playing has a brashness recalling Lester Bowie. "Rishi Dance" is 22 minutes long yet keeps interest from flagging by varying its motifs constantly, and is anchored by William's two beautiful bass solos at its centre. "Upload Method" features harshly percussive playing by the altoist, while the rest of the group alternately works in tandem with him or in counterpoint. On the brief, sprinting "Repetition" the horns play near-parallel lines that converge sporadically on extended unisons, with the rhythm section clearing the way; it makes for a thrilling conclusion to the record.
So who do these guys sound like? An immediate point of comparison would be a contemporary group like the Empty Cage Quartet, but (though perhaps it's excessively high praise) I'm most consistently reminded of early Art Ensemble recordings collected in the Nessa box, way before they added "of Chicago" to their name. Plus, if the liners didn't indicate otherwise, I could believe this was recorded in somebody's basement.–SG

Five animals Qi Gong video

2009-11-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

Thoughts after attending Grizzler rehearsal

2009-11-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a member of a large ensemble called Grizzler which is led by Dave Gross. We had a rehearsal on Sunday evening at Lou Cohen's house. There were 9 of us at the rehearsal.

One of the things we worked on was trying to (during the course of a piece) not play for an entire minute (as an ensemble). I made a couple of comments during our post-play discussion about what I observed during the improvisation.

Before the minute of silence actually occurred, there were at least a couple of "false starts" during which some members of the ensemble made a conscious effort to institute the minute of silence. These false starts imbued a certain pregnancy to the music which I actually found quite exciting.

It seemed to me that once we got to the minute of silence, everyone was really ready for it. But that could be because I was really ready for it. What do I know.

I was surprised at how well I thought that the exercise worked, because personally, I'm not that interested in the aethestics[sic?] of silence.

I have two main approaches to improvising within a group. The first is to be an active collaborator who seeks to blend sound effectively. In other words, I'm not always looking to stand out, I'm looking to add things that make the music as coherent as possible. I don't mean accesible, I mean that what I'm doing makes some sort of sense compared to what other people are doing.

Now, there are times when I will do the exact opposite, usually for the following reasons: 1) To make a point 2) To challenge the dominant paradigm 3) Because I deserve it since I've been a team player for most of the rest of the time. A further explanation:

1) To make a point - another of saying "For the heck of it", "Because I can", "I got kind of bored", "I wanted to see what would happen".

2) To challenge the dominant paradigm - To challenges the expectation of what the ensemble will sound like or what I will sound like.

3) Self explanatory

The other main way that I play is to see the improvisation as a series of events, to interpret those events, and to react to them. I often watch other players very closely and react to what they do. This happens a lot with drummers. I just wait for them to hit the hi-hat, or the ride. I literally wait for the moment when they do it and that's when I play. I keep an eye out for visual cues as well as musical cues.

Improvisation for me is a serious and solid study into the aethestics[sic?] of interaction. That's how we build collectively as a group of musicians.

So there you have it, a look into what goes in my brain when I'm playing with other people.

Terrorizer "Corporation Pull-In"

2009-10-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a classic song from the classic album ("World Downfall") by the CLASSIC grindcore band Terrorizer:

This song never gets old. Dominated by d-beats, it's a great example of grindcore's connection to hardcore.

Update: I guess they aren't really d-beats. I wish they were though!

Apocalyptik Paranoia review from Paris Transatlantic

2009-10-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dan Warburton wrote a very complementary review of a cd I played on. Appreciated.

Even if you didn't know that Weasel Walter, the mad driving force behind the wonderfully vicious and perennially exciting (but currently on sabbatical?) Flying Luttenbachers, is a musician singularly dedicated to "speed, velocity and violence", you could probably guess as much by looking at him on the cover of Apocalyptik Paranoia, all decked out in studs and bullets. But pop the disc into the machine with trembling hands and you may be surprised by the delicate spiky acoustic guitar (Henry Kaiser, one of Weasel's most frequent playing partners since his move to California a while back) and skittery toms and woodblocks on the opening "Scintillations". Think Bailey and Bennink – and that's a compliment. But by the time track two – "Raging War" indeed – kicks in, you know you're back on WW's familiar battlefield. Kaiser's on this as well, but here he's gone electric and plugged himself into something simply monstrous. Sounds like cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm has too. Not that the fourth member of the quartet, trumpeter Forbes Graham, can't handle it all. It's a trumpeter's treat, this album: as well as Graham, Peter Evans (whose lips by rights should be insured for about as much as Jennifer Lopez's ass) and Greg Kelley (no slouch when it comes to blowing himself silly either) also make appearances. Nor is it all apocalyptik: on "Still Life" and "Threnody" - a nod to Penderecki there? - Weasel and Kaiser return to the acoustic intricacy of "Scintillations", while Kelley and Evans huff and puff each other's houses down. Of course, if it's too nice for you you can always skip forward to "Mass Erection" and burn your own house down – or crank it up loud enough and wait for the neighbours to come and do it for you.–DW

In Baltimore at the Red Room

2009-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

The audio and the video aren't quite synced up, but take a look.

Julie Mehretu

2009-09-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Secondary Deviations on Taran's Free Jazz hour

2009-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

If you click here you can listen to the show!

Thanks for playing the music Taran!

Parampara Quintet - October 2008

2009-08-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Taoist Cosmic Healing

2009-08-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just picked this book up at Seven Stars in Cambridge. Amazing.
Funny thought, a Taoist death metal band would be hilarious. Somewhat oxymoronic, but also awesome. I'm laughing imaging a band like Internal Suffering or Kataklysm but with lyrics about meridians, trigrams, and the names of different Chi Kung movements!

Boom Bap

2009-08-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

Boom bap boom
Bap bap
Boom bap boom

Bap
Boom boom
Bap
Boom boom
Bap boom boom bap
Boom boom bap boom boom bap

Boom bap boom bap boom bap boom

Tracks on Soundcloud!

2009-08-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Fuckin internet there's too many websites haha
But semi-seriously, I uploaded two tracks to soundcloud.

One is a drum n' bass/IDM style track, springing off of a Jane Child sample. Remember Jane Child? The 80s.

The second is from a trio with myself, Dave Gross, and Josh Jefferson. Eventually we'll record again and release it on a cd.

Click here for the tuneage

Gunslinger Girl

2009-07-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

Just picked this up at Animadness, a new store that just opened in Waltham.

New things

2009-07-14T13:51:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted in here. I got laid off from Harvard Business School three weeks ago today. Since then I got a portfolio website set up, I created a webpage for my upcoming wedding, and I've been taking the occasional daytrip to help me cool out. I also just started freelancing doing web development. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. I have a lot of financial advantages so right now I'm not too worried about it.

I'm playing in Lowell at 119 Gallery this Friday with Kevin Frenette. Stop in!

Hoping to put together a benefit

2009-06-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

Fellow trumpet players Birgit Ulher and Leonel Kaplan are going to be coming to America in February. We are currently putting together some concerts on the East Coast. We need help however. So far we haven't secured a well funded concert (i.e. besides door money) that will help pay for their plane tickets from the West Coast to East Coast. As we all know, the funding available for such concerts has dried up due to the recession. I am a person who has been fortunate to benefit from these fundings in the past. At the same time, I don't know the system, and I have found it to be a massive pain in the ass to try to write grants or whatever the hell else. I don't know that. But I know the grassroots. And so what I'm hoping to do in the very near future, is put together a benefit event or two. Possibly at the Zeitgeist Outpost in Cambridge. If you live in Boston, I'd like to hear from you as far as what you think might be fun. I am thinking of doing another performance of "Today's Media", and maybe having some DJ's afterward and/or food.

Baliset

2009-05-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

I added some trumpet sounds to my former bandmate Greg Massi's project Baliset. Tommorrow night he's doing an album release party at Felt in Boston. I'll be there, stop through and check it out!!

You can check out a great interview with Greg here!

Timeframes

2009-04-30T12:34:00.001-07:00

Hyde Park Avenue

2009-04-05T06:37:00.001-07:00

119 Gallery

2009-03-27T20:18:00.001-07:00

From the Petite Animations exhibit currently up at 119 Gallery in Lowell, MA. Had a great gig there tonight with Wild May.

I'm on Twitter now

2009-03-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to think of it but follow me here:
http://twitter.com/forbesgraham
If you click on the link you'll find out that I'm playing at 119 Gallery in Lowell tonight with my quartet Wild May.

Watching the print media die

2009-03-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the latest paper to bite the dust. I have never read it and I probably never will. I won't miss it either. The fates of those who lost their jobs are more on my mind than what is happening to the fourth estate.

In a shrinking market, players are squeezed out. I did an interview recently where I remarked that in the creative realm, everyone can, so everyone does, but everyone shouldn't.

The last two paragraphs were a long winded way of saying that I'm going to keep putting out records even if nobody buys them because I want to. I'm not going to stop because of market conditions. Instead I will focus on improved quality.

Interview with me at Brilliant Corners

2009-03-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Chris Rich did an interview with me for his blog Brilliant Corners and you can read it here.

Raphe Malik tribute

2009-03-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

Portal

2009-02-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

I used to play Portal on my Commodore 64 as a child. It was a unique game. There were 12 different dataspaces that the player navigated between in order to expose the story.

You play a space traveler who has returned to an empty Earth after being away for decades. This was the perfect game for a lonely only child to play. The game was all mental, took a long time to play, and involved doing a lot of reading.

Apparently, it was set up so that eventually you would "win", no matter what, but it didn't really seem that way. You had to navigate to the right dataspaces in order to unlock new information at other dataspaces.

Anyway, I'm about to read this website for a little bit.

Vectors

2009-02-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the idea of using vectors in a composition. I'll try to make another post once the ideas are a little more hashed out.

Tangents I and II

2009-02-22T06:50:00.000-08:00

I created two graphic scores recently, entitled Tangents I and II. Each is a response to a work of visual art. The process was fairly simple. I laid a white sheet of paper over top of the artwork, and then drew tangent lines on certain curves. Only certain details made it through the white sheet of paper, and I was not able to even begin to respond to every curve, shape, and line in the artwork. But I feel I stripped these works down to a certain bare essence that was my own.

I then superimposed an X-Y coordinate system, and predictably, made X equal time and Y equal pitch. After that, I created a composition in Csound that performed the data using sine waves.

I found it a bit lacking!

After that, I thought about thickening up the synthesis aspect. I haven't tried it yet (and it doesn't help that my Csound is a bit rusty), but I am not even sure if that is the answer.

What I think could work, using the graphic score as a guideline for a composition for human musicians. Thinking about this, and music writing in general, has made me ask bigger questions that I've usually avoided.

My music compositions tend to be rigorously organized, and the results are usually fantastic. But I never take into account much beyond the actual notes. I'm so busy trying to make them fit the right way, and thinking that if they do fit, everything else will work. I still believe that. But I think that future compositions could speak even stronger to the human spirit if I was able to really think about *how* these notes are played. The how will breathe a whole new life into the music.

Confession

2009-02-12T17:22:00.001-08:00

I've barely practiced in the last month.
In early January I did a gig with Pandelis Karayorgis, Dave Rempis, and Luther Gray. The gig was recorded, two sets.
I got my copies in the mail, listened to the first set, and was pretty disappointed in myself.
Ever since, I've been in a bit of a limbo.
Pandelis emailed me recently and asked me if I wanted to proceed on mixing with the project. I told him that I didn't like the way I sounded at all on the first disc, but that I'd listen to the 2nd disc and let him know.

I'm only four minutes in, but at least from my angle, it's a lot better. My contribution is stronger and I do feel like I can hear some sort of connection between myself and the other players.

This quartet is without bass, and Pandelis picks up the slack. But there's a sort of sparseness, a vulnerableness, that's there.

Before I put this disc in today, I did practice. And it was good practicing (I think anyway).

I've got to get back to practicing daily, because this is what I do. I should do it.

Cute and cuddly demon

2009-02-10T12:00:00.001-08:00

One night, I was walking home and in
my mind
I saw a demon sitting on a
car.
It had black skin and eyes
like milk, wide
and quite puppy like.
I was not afraid, but still
I ran the rest.

Meditations on space - 1

2009-02-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

From this vantage
A plane, a line, just that is my view
Reduced
due to the vantage, beyond it
I
hover in space, bereft
of any
Form, I am apart
from this vantage, I see none.

I made this lasagna awhile back

2009-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

And let me tell you that it was really good.
I used a cashew cheese for one of the filling layers and there is nutritional yeast on the top. As well as fresh thyme.

Yum!

Wild May weekend

2009-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Wild May is going to be playing a couple of concerts in late March. On March 27, we'll be in Lowell at 119 Gallery. And on March 28, we will be in Pittsfield at the Zeitgeist Gallery. Hopefully we will record something before that, because Ryan is going to Europe with his death metal band Ehnahre.

Above is a graphic score that will (hopefully) end up in our repertoire.

Why I don't agree with having a Secretary of the Arts

2009-01-13T04:04:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately, part of my position is cynicism.
Put simply, I think that this position will result in more bureaucracy, and will continue the pattern of funneling the wealth and resources in the arts to those at the very top.
I also think that in the middle of a gigantic economic crisis, any policy this person recommends (especially if it involves spending $$$) will simply be ignored. And perhaps for good reason, perhaps not. Considering that we are the throes of a gigantic economic crisis.
I'm skeptical that the federal government will execute any kind of visionary program that will enrich the lives of the nation through the arts.
I will come back to the later today, as I study the ideas being put out there more closely.

Raphe Malik Tribute concert

2009-01-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

Photo by Lillian Schrank

Trumpet section (from L-R):
Flip Barnes, Forbes Graham, Ted Daniel, Matt Lavelle

The end of an era

2009-01-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Bored

2009-01-07T08:33:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting here at work not doing much - so before I do the one little piece of work I have to do I'll say this.

I find that life presents me with many opportunities to numb my brain and that it is a struggle for me to resist the urge to continue to sedate myself. My dreams of a better life relate not to a greater material standard of living, but to the realization of a potential currently unreached. Which is why from time to time I try to read a new book, write a new piece of music, etc.

I just want to train my brain, or even my soul, to do a better job at this self improvement. I literally need to reorient who I am in order to do this.

In other news, I have been creating many graphical scores inspired by the Chautisa Yantra magic square. There are certain symmetries that are being revealed through this process that I am only getting an inkling of now. They are sometimes frustrating but I think they will result in music that works.

Musings

2009-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Lillian and went to Mass MoCA on Saturday. It was the brightest moment of my vacation (from the reality of my day job).

I am impressed at the quality of the work exhibited here. This was my second visit. When we were home in Silver Spring, we took a trip to the Hirshhorn. Nowhere near as good. Same goes for the ICA, which is average at best. I need to go to more contemporary art galleries and museums. Based on the one time that I visited, the DeCordova is close to Mass MoCA in terms of quality.

In fact this trip, particularly the Sol LeWitt exhibit, was downright inspiring.
Here's one of my favorites.

We also ended up hanging out with Norman Rockwell's eldest one Jarvis! He is exhibiting in downtown North Adams. Check this out:

I'd like to spend more time in North Adams. I still can't say that I am even close to figuring this region out at this time.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about religion. I've been a philosophical Taoist for years now, but I find myself lately in a spiritual no man's land. It's possible that the answer to this is to study Taoism closer. Atheism is out of the question because I don't believe in it at all. Another possibility is to get a religion. However, there is no one religion that appeals to me entirely. I thought about making up my own religion, just for myself to practice. Which I know is probably offensive in some way to both my atheist and religious friends.

To me, every possible response is fickle in some way. Probably the best thing to do is ask myself first, what do I really believe. Then, ask myself, what is it that I am being called to do. Finally, figure out a way to mediate all of those questions and answers with everything else that is going on in the world.

Where am I now, where do I want to be, and how do I get there. Ah.

It's the 21st century!

2008-12-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

All I can say is, it's almost Christmas, a time when we need to reflect on the theme "Peace on Earth"

These vigilantes should be prosecuted and people need to see the humanity of all mankind.

Check out some unreleased music

2008-12-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

"We Got It" and "So Off The Hook" are fairly recent tracks. "Avoiding A Movie" is several months old at this point. Check em out and let me know what you think!

Come post on my messageboard

2008-12-12T13:10:00.001-08:00

www.polyrhythmatics.net/forum
Do it!!!

Letter to Xavier

2008-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

I'm participating in a pen pal program through work. I wrote a letter to a 4th grader today. Here's what I wrote:

Hello Xavier,
It is a pleasure to write to you. My name is Forbes Graham and I work at the Harvard Business School as a Faculty Assistant. I am originally from Silver Spring, MD which is a suburb of Washington, DC. I have lived in New England since 2003.
As a child, my favorite subject was math. How about you? I also enjoyed reading about the solar system. I was sometimes teased for being a nerd. But I didn’t let it get to me that much.
Do you have any favorite books or stories? I love science fiction and tales about robots. Robots are an interesting topic to me. Do you think there will be ever be cool robots walking around? I think I’d rather just read about robots than actually live in a world with cool robots that can walk around.
I also play the trumpet and have been doing so for about 22 years. I love music of all types. Are you interested in any forms of art? I think that the arts are a great way to express yourself. Drawing, painting, sculpture, music, they are all fantastic.
Do you have any pets? I have a cat named Mickey. He is an American shorthair. He is very shy and runs away from me a lot, which makes me sad sometimes. My fiancé Lillian takes care of him. She loves pets. Do you keep any animals at your school?
When I was your age, I wanted to ride a motorcycle and own a bookstore on Mars. What are your dreams for the future? Whatever they are, think big and think positive. Anything can happen.
I hope that you will write me back soon. Take care, Xavier. It was nice writing to you.

Going back to school

2008-11-25T08:07:00.001-08:00

I am going back to school, starting in January. I will be entering a part time program in Web Development, taught at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University. My main purpose is to improve my economic prospects, because I'd like to earn more money in the hopes of saving more money. I intend to save the money for this purpose:

Early retirement.
(not to mention supporting a family - now Lillian won't get too mad at me ;0 )

I also am interested in self-employment. And with that in mind, if you need a webpage, let me know. I need to build my portfolio, so we can do deals. I am learning more by the day. Check out www.polyrhythmatics.net for my latest work. I'll be redoing www.blaqlghtn.com eventually too.

If you live in the Boston area, I'm looking for someone to help me out with The Music Workshop. All you would need to do is program and promote one concert a month. You need to promote the concert as well as program it. I will maintain the internet stuff, but any flyering and mailing list stuff is on you. I need a bit of a break to deal with school and have some space to deal with planning a wedding, etc. I may not always make it to your event, but I will certainly try at least some of the time. If you live in Hyde Park, Roslindale, JP, or on the South Shore this is perfect for you, because it's close by.

Played some great gigs last week. I'll bug Lily to get me some pictures so that I can post them.

Dave Fischer took this

2008-11-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

You can look at the rest of the photos here.

Fuck it, I'm posting!

2008-11-04T20:34:00.001-08:00

First black president! 2008!
As for me, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, working on my music and trying to make a positive contribution to society, which is what I think everyone should do regardless of your whole voting thing.

Lo Shu - 2nd order segments

2008-11-01T19:19:00.001-07:00

From the 4x4 square generated from the pair 7 and 5

2008-11-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wow!

2008-10-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

To see the rest of the pictures click on this
All jumping pictures ever.

A new composition

2008-10-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Gentle Fall Soup

2008-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

1 cup of water
1 cup of vegetable stock
1/2 cup of rice
4 celery stalks
2 large carrots
1 small apple
2 handfuls of cashews
1/2 onion
tbsp of curry powder

Set 1 cup of water to a boil. Add rice and turn heat to low, cover.
Chop your carrots, onions, and celery. I prefer to do the carrots lengthwise.
Add vegetables to pot. After about 25 minutes, add the vegetable stock, apples, cashews, and curry powder.
Turn heat up to medium. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes. Soup should be ready. The rice might be a bit al dente. I like it that way, but if it's not soft enough for you just turn down the heat and cook until it is.

Rainbow Salad

2008-10-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Salad #1
Cauliflower (a quarter of a head should do)
Yellow Pepper (1/2 a pepper)
Tomato (2)
Carrot (1 chopped edgewise)
Spinach (1/2 a bunch)
Purple Cabbage (1/4 of a head)

Rainbow Salad #2
Endive (1/2 a head)
Golden Raisins (3 handfuls)
Red Delicious Apple (1 apple)
Sweet Potato (1/2 a potato, spiralized or chopped into thin slices)
Lettuce (use generously)
Plum (2 plums)

Use whatever dressings you like. Both of these would work well with walnuts as well I think. My guess is this would serve 2-3 people.

Composition 103 + 169 - an insider review

2008-10-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

A long time ago I knew that October 11 would be the day that I would don a green outfit, cape, hat and a zorro mask and make my way through Composition 103 for 7 trumpets. I had performed the piece almost a year earlier, so I knew what I was getting myself into. This time, I was better prepared for the constant meter changes, position changes, and mute changes. At least I hoped that I was. Deep down, I was afraid that I wasn't. And although I had a vague idea of where this music lived as a complete being, I wasn't sure that I personally had found it's life.

All of that was on my mind as I drove to New York city last Wednesday for the first rehearsal. I don't really remember the drive down very much. I left early so that I had plenty of time. I don't recall taking advantage of it to do anything great. Actually, strangely enough, I wanted to stop in Middletown to eat and catch a breather, but I missed the exits. Then, I stopped in New Haven trying to find this raw vegan restaurant, even though I don't know where in New Haven it is. I got stuck in traffic on the way to New Haven.

I forgot to write down the address of the rehearsal space, I only had the directions. Luckily Nate was early and he was standing out in front of it. Luckily I did not leave the area to get a drink, because a tow truck showed up and began preparing to take my car away. I ran across the street and hopped into the car, laughing. It turns out that almost the entire West side is for commercial vehicles only until 6pm. I returned and parked the car right in front of the rehearsal space and watched it until rehearsal.

The first rehearsal was sort of riding a bike after having not done so for 10 years. I know what that is like because I went that long not riding a bike once. Everything was familiar but on shaky ground. We gradually got our bearings together. The other trumpet players really helped me to grasp the method of conducting all the measures with the extra 16th. This was my real eureka moment. Once I got the hang of that I could focus on feeling the music.

I left the rehearsal feeling ok. Not great, just ok. I went and got some food and then connected up with my old friend Jessica at a karaoke night in Brooklyn. I got to meet her boyfriend and some of her other friends. I sang "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper and "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith. Afterwards, I headed to my motel in Nyack. It was my first time on the Palisades Parkway. I'd love to see it in the daytime.

The next day I went to a vegetarian Caribbean place (my favorite food) in Spring Valley. I was really trying to get off the beaten path and explore new areas. Spring Valley was ok. It sort of reminded me of that movie "Be Kind Rewind" with Jack Black and Mos Def (I can't remember where that took place - Hackensack?)

Afterwards I drove into the city, bought a suit, some ties, and a belt (for a wedding) and headed to rehearsal. For me personally, the rehearsal went much better than the first. I walked out feeling really confident. Back to Boston, and to work.

The day of the gig I drove down to New Haven to pick up Taylor. Then we picked Tim up in Washington Heights and finally we were off. We discussed the usual topics, politics and music. Not that I am the most interested in discussing politics, but I can contribute. Tim and I were discussing post-modernism and an image came into my mind that has humorously stayed there. I tried to find it on youtube but I didn't see it. It's the scene in Coming to America where Eddie Murphy's characters joyously yells, "Yes! Fuck you too!" in response to his neighbors yelling "Fuck you!" at him because he is practically serenading the neighborhood.

So we got to the gig and had a short rehearsal with Anthony conducting. His conducting cleared things up for me even more. At this point I was feeling fairly confident. So on to my sentiments on the performance: Overall I think we did a fantastic job. The inner logic of the composition was able to shine forth on at least some level. The bullfight theme is perfect for the work because there is certainly a feeling of man going up against something large and perhaps barely making it through, but making it through with a feeling of victory. We didn't really do the movements this time, but I hope that they will come back in the future. Because I can see better now how the movements go together with the music. Anthony told that he was (for the future) working on 3D strategies, but I think he's already approached that with this piece.

Composition 169 for brass quintet is very different from 103. It has a more homophonic feeling, with many of the parts playing the same stuttered, challenging rhythms together. The discipline of holding these parts together is impressive. Not only that, I am impressed by the discipline of the composer, to develop it slowly. This piece is golem like, evoking the images of our historical mythic tales. Particularly I found myself thinking of Promethus, bringing fire to man.

It was a great time, a bit too much like a vacation. I wish more of my life could be like last weekend. Not that I don't appreciate what I have here, I'm just saying.

"I Won't Stop" on Amazon.com

2008-10-07T18:02:00.001-07:00

Get "I Won't Stop" in mp3 format from Amazon

I wonder if anybody remembers these death metal bands

2008-10-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

Afflicted
Acrostichon
Disharmonic Orchestra

"I Won't Stop" on eMusic

2008-10-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

You can buy "I Won't Stop" on eMusic. Check it out!

Inspired by the stupid financial crisis

2008-10-01T09:57:00.001-07:00

... I gave money to my alma mater (American University)
Before you become a pauper (if you are not one currently), may I suggest you do the same if you have not already? If you didn't go to college then give to your state institution or something like that.

Blah blah blah...

Weasel Walter quartet - last week

2008-09-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Youtube

Embedded videos don't seem to be working right now! Bamas.

My thoughts on the economy

2008-09-26T08:22:00.001-07:00

Here are my brief thoughts on the situation:
1) There is a lot of money out there that does little or nothing productive that is of actual value.
2) But remember, that money is not everything, unless you are down to your last 2 dollars and you have to walk into town because you can't afford to drive and you are living off ramen. In that case, money might be the only thing. I remember buying ramen and a couple pieces of kale in some of my worst moments. Luckily I had a family.
3) As artists, what we do doesn't put food in anyone's mouth, or keep anyone warm. But it has a value, and the only way it will have a value is if you put something into it. STOP making shitty music that doesn't mean anything! Create something that is beautiful, thought provoking, brutal, harsh, intense, loving.
4) Life is about more than possessions, so treat yourself and the people around you like you are worth more than whatever "things" you can get. Live your life with a value system that affirms what you believe in! And if you don't believe in anything, at least try to have some fun.
5) Do whatever you can to get out of debt, and stop living beyond your means, unless you have to just to eat.

Everyone has their own view, based on their own life, of what they think our society should be. I believe that everyone reading this should take some step towards making that society possible. It's time to stop being bought off by fucking Ipods, videogames, eating out, and whatever else we use to get through life. Stop living the unexamined life right now.

Pitch class squares

2008-09-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

7 5 2 3
5 2 3 1
2
1 1 2 3
1 2 3 5

4 x 4 square with a pivot generated from the pair 7 5

2 0 2 2
4 2 2 4
6
2 4 2 2
4 6 2 8

4 x 4 square with a pivot generated from the pair 2 8

6 5 1 4
5 1 4 3
1
4 5 1 6
5 1 6 7

4 x 4 square with a pivot generated from the pair 6 7

"Rediscovering" things you should already know

2008-09-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

I started playing around with Max/MSP again yesterday. I had a very simple goal, which was to generate a really big and fat synth bass sound. I had no idea that my simple hunch of using three sawtooth waves slightly out of tune would have done the trick. I'm glad that I didn't end up buying the keyboard that I was thinking of buying!

All I need to do now is put some envelopes and filters on the thing. But I already generated some great sounding material.

That means some new music is coming!

Oh yea, look what Lily made for me on Friday!

2008-09-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

I have a wonderful life!

Forbes and Lily's (and Martin and Taylor's) trip to NYC

2008-09-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Dave Douglas: FONT Mogul

Yesterday morning Lily and I left for New York so that I could play at the FONT Benefit concert. Plans changed a couple of times literally as we were leaving, which left Lily in a bit of a grouchy mood. It didnt help that she was hungry. We brought peaches and diluted pomegrante juice along with us, but it didn't do too much good. Things got a little better after I repeatedly apologized and she had a granola bar.

We first went to Middletown, CT to pick up Martin. We ate first, because at that point both of our stomachs were planning an insurrection. Lily was happy, and so I was. Boy that Cajun Spiced Tempeh was good. That's what I'm talking about. It was nice to return to Middletown, a place that I hadn't been to in about 3 years. As we left, I thought about the future of the defense industry, a major employer of Middletown citizens.

Our next destination was Fair Haven, CT, home of Taylor, who finally escaped New York. He and his wife Rachel haven't really finished unpacking yet (the move was recent), but it seems like they are living in a cool little spot. Too bad I've had enough of cities.

We continued the journey, finally arriving at the venue, where Nate Wooley (our co-conspirator in trumpet) was waiting for us. I hadn't seen Nate since last year's FONT, so we chatted a bit and caught up.

Lily had to go pick up her artwork, which had been hanging at the Supreme Trading bar, which (lot of which's in this sentence) was very close to the venue. She returned shortly thereafter and noted her dismay at the complete lack of a security protocol at Supreme Trading. She simply walked in, said she was taking her artwork, and walked out with it.

After we had a short rehearsal, Lily and I braved the hipster wilds of Williamsburg in search of food. We had dinner at Bliss, a spot I hadn't eaten at in years, and then hit up Pennylick's, a new place that has a lot of vegan sweets. It was fun. At least hipsters are down with decent food.

Dave Douglas and Taylor presented an award to Wadada Leo Smith, who this year's festival is honoring. After a couple of short speeches, we opened up the concert with a series of escalating solos, duos, and trios, leading to a fanfare and one of Martin's compositions. I was very satsified with everyone's playing, even my own.

After us John Zorn and Dave Douglas played a duo. I've been listening to John's music for years, ever since I was a teenager, and let me tell you, he put it down. In fact sitting there I found myself a bit embarassed that it took me that long to come see him play. Well minus the time I tried to go see Painkiller in DC in 94 and my dad wouldn't let me go, lol.

They were joined by Josh Roseman, the proprietor of the venue for an excellent trio. Dave Douglas played with a lot of economy and soul. I was very pleased with the music. Josh did funny dances while he played. He also played great. It was awesome to meet him.

Finally Wadada did a duo with Pheeroan AkLaff, which ranged in texture from the bombastic to the sublime. Every time I've seen Wadada play has been great and this was no different.

As an encore Dave, Nate, Martin, and myself joined Wadada and Pheeroan for a short piece. Also superb.

Basically, I had a great time, everyone was really kind, there were a lot of good vibes all around, and I got to see some friends that live in NYC too.

We drove back that night which was pretty punishing. Luckily Martin and Taylor helped.

Thanks guys! And everyone else too.
All photos posted by Lillian Schrank.

Blaq Lghtn on Facebook

2008-09-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

Join the Facebook group!

Alvin Ayler and other stories

2008-09-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a write up of Weasel Walter, who I'll be playing with (along with Greg Kelley and Paul Flaherty) this Tuesday. Really exciting, I feel it will go well. White Mice are also on the bill and they are a band that I've always liked.

Please note that we all make mistakes, but I definitely did a slight chuckle at the mention of Alvin Ayler.

I'm going to call Albert Ailey about this!

I'm also playing in NYC on Saturday at a benefit concert for the Festival of New Trumpet. I'd like to thank Taylor for getting me involved again.

In closing, a word of advice: In music, don't play by the common groupthink rules established by your particular sector of musicland unless you really truly believe in them.

Chris Rock is my favorite comedian

2008-09-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

My dad was an early adopter of cable: we had it in the early 80s.
My mother also got cable fairly early, and I remember watching Comedy Central at her house as a pre-teen. Back then Comedy Central was mostly clips of stand up. No South Park, Daily Show, none of that. I loved Margaret Cho and I was even a big Ellen Degeneres fan back in the day. She has a good self-deprecating style of stand up.

Different comedians have different strengths, Dave Chappelle can distil larger bits of information into a soundbite, Katt Williams is an amazing physical comedian. Chris Rock does some of the best things that comedy can do: make us look in the mirror.

I can't tell a good joke to save my life though..

Yesterday I was playing around with Garageband making beats out of the pre-made loops that came with my computer. Which was fun and all until I asked myself the question "what do I want to say with this?"

I didn't have the slightest idea. Hopefully I'll figure it out.

Still not too motivated to write

2008-09-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Also I hate politics.
I redid the Blaq Lghtn site
www.blaqlghtn.com

I have been listening to a good deal of juke and ghettotech lately.
Also, I am doing the edits on the recording I did with Tatsuya Nakatani in July. Trying to get some more records out.

Basically yea thats the deal.

I wish I could dance! (I mean like real good. That reminds me Hive is coming to Boston!)

Check this out! Michael Myers meets footworking

Sorry I haven't posted lately

2008-08-19T11:45:00.001-07:00

I have been very busy and I haven't been very motivated to post.

Quantum Jazz Music Suites is out!

2008-08-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

In fact, we (Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble) had the cd release concert a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible. I just received my copies of the recording from that and it's quite superb! So I felt it was my duty to inform you that you can buy a copy of Quantum Jazz Music Suites by visiting fmrje.com.

Listen to "I Won't Stop" in it's entirety on last.fm

2008-08-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

I Won't Stop by Forbes Graham
Forbes Graham - trumpet, electronics
And if you want to buy a copy, you can visit Blaq Lghtn

Books of late

2008-08-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Picked up both of these recently (yesterday) and so far I am very pleased. Whoever thought you could make a pancake out of flaxseed meal! Well, it was more like a weird cookie but man did it taste good.

I can't lie, there's a bit of the pretentious know it all tone in the books, but a strong personality is often the type that ends up doing things like writing a vegan raw food cook book.

I also picked this book up for my godson's birthday:

I hope that he likes it and it makes a positive impact on him. Lillian said he's too young (he's not even a pre-teen), but hey my dad had me reading Richard Wright and James Baldwin when I was his age..

The Mackie Burnette

2008-07-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

Check out this wild video, a mash up between Tony Hawk and Fully Celebrated Orchestra!

Labelling your music

2008-07-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

What do you call your music?
(Inward groan) "Oh, it's a little bit of this, and it's kind of like that, and sometimes it's like this"

If you don't want your music to be called a certain thing, the only solution is to decide what it should be called, and start calling it that. The challenge (and indeed this is my problem) is to *insist* that it be called that thing YOU say it should be called.

That's scary! I'm not sure if I'm ready for that part yet. But it's going to happen soon.

Wild May @ Washington Street Art Center, July 11

2008-07-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

I will probably put some other clips on YouTube, but here's my opening solo from our set last Friday.