FTW, 2.10-11.2024

I was recently reminded that Sarah Ruth Alexander was the first musician to play at the Grackle Art Gallery, a house in my neighborhood that over the past eight years has become the place to go in my city to hear music I dig. So it was fitting that she was performing there when we stopped in to see our friend Martha Anderson's art as part of the current exhibit. 

As much as I dig Sarah's work in ensembles -- a duo performance she did with Joshua Miller (Same Brain, Trio Glossia) at Grackle last year was a nice object lesson in how to do non-idiomatic improv with small instruments -- it's her solo performances that are my favorites. This time, her announced theme was "questions," and she started out by using some electronic treatments including a Kaoss pad on her pellucid and splendidly controlled voice to craft a sonic bed, then responded to the sounds so produced. She used the piano and organ patches on her keyboard, including some dissonance and surprise pitch-bending, to create different moods -- a human scale psychedelic dreamscape, and a very satisfying 30-minute excursion. My wife isn't a huge fan of experimental music, but says Sarah is an exception. Then we visited with the Oakhurst crew before heading home to our geriatric cat.

The following day, I was back to participate in the Second Sunday Improv Jam, which on this occasion was the opener for Kavin Allenson's retirement party. Kavin's the fella who makes the Grackle music happen, and a fine guitarist himself. Usual suspects like Mark Cook, Robert Kramer, and Darrin Kobetich were absent (DaKobe showed up later), but Mark Hyde was present with his Partscaster, and I attempted to play repeating figures for folks to test their pedalboards on. (This kind of reminded me of when Pete Bollinger and I used to play the four chords to "Maggot Brain" for half an hour while encouraging his son Nick to blow lead. The last time I saw Nick, he gave me a CD he'd made. He sounded just like me if I played Christian death metal.) After awhile I got up and let another fella play my guitar, like I used to do with Lee Allen at the Wreck Room. My right hand fingers were unhappy with me for hybrid picking after not touching a guitar for a month.

Hopefully Kavin will enjoy his retirement and get to travel and play out more. He, Linda Little, and Matt Sacks have created a nice little locus of community for creative types here in a city that can sure use it. (Respect also to Arts Fifth Avenue and South Side Preservation Hall.) Long may they run.