Video from Blue Whale 10/25/13

I compiled some memorable moments from the last Michael Mull Octet show, featuring the soloists of the evening. Stay in touch at www.facebook.com/MichaelMullOctet as we near recording our first album in February 2014!

October Heat

Been off the ol' Blogger for a bit, sorry to be elusive. A quick update of happened and happening:

I got to help out my good friend and Michael Mull Octet bandmate Tim Fischer on a DMA lecture recital as he completes his Doctorate at USC. Luckily, for me that translated to playing great tunes with an even greater band that included Octet bassist Emilio Terranova and the illustrious Joe LaBarbera on drums! Tim's lecture focused on the music of Miles Davis's first great quintet, styles in which Joe is an expert, not to mention being "two degrees of separation" from Miles himself --- it's hard to describe, but playing with a tight group like that is so "easy"!

Beginning at the end of August, I am fortunate to be teaching Jazz Arranging and coach "combo class" at Cal State University Northridge this semester, and it has been a rewarding experience so far. This is my first time teaching in a full classroom setting, so I'm really trying to do it right and give the students a good balance of structure and freedom.

Continuing the higher education trend, the Michael Mull Octet had the pleasure of doing a masterclass at CalArts, where I did my graduate work. This was an excellent experience all around, playing some new and older music and fielding thoughtful questions from both students and faculty. It was especially interesting for me to answer some of their questions, thinking and trying to describe aspects of my music and writing process for the Octet that I had never really sat down and considered, recognizing some of the reasons for my musical choices. Thank you to David Roitstein and Larry Koonse for hookin' it up, and to the students for being fantastic - hope to see you at a show soon!

SPEAKING OF OCTET SHOWS WHATSTHATYOUSAY? Yes, the Michael Mull Octet is going to de-blubber the Blue Whale once again on Friday, October 25th, this time with the help of NYC-based trio KROM. They play some remarkable and fresh music, so this is a date to make if at all possible! Mark them calendars and cave walls, more details to come. In the near October future:

Fri 10/18 - River Song and Walsh Set Trio @ ArtistShare LA (I'm not in this but GO SEE IT and thank me later) 8pm https://www.facebook.com/events/367428453387824/

Sat 10/19 - Orkestar MEZE @ 4th Annual CalArts Wild Beast Concert Series: In other words, a FREE dance party...https://www.facebook.com/events/515180121898672/ 6:00pm

Thurs 10/24 - Mahadev @ The Crest Bar in La Crescenta: also featuring Fumosonic and Bubbeleh, 8pm (Mahadev around 10pm)

Fri 10/25 - Michael Mull Octet and KROM @ Blue Whale: 9pm, 21+ and only $10 for both sets, no minimum. Check back here soon or on facebook for more details.

Octet @ The Blue Whale this Thursday 3/28/13

Friends, it is my pleasure to "officially" announce the Michael Mull Octet's next show, this Thursday, March 28th, at the Blue Whale in downtown LA. We played our first show there in June 2012, and we have developed as a group over the past months. The Octet is taking over the whole night this time around, so come and enjoy two sets of music, much of it brand new, on Thursday! The band has been putting in a lot of work and is sounding incredible...

Michael Mull Octet is:
Michael Mull, Frank Silva - woodwinds
Harrison Kirk, Will Wulfeck - trombones
Adam Ratner, Tim Fischer - guitars
Emilio Terranova - bass
Mike Lockwood - drums

Michael Mull Octet @ The Blue Whale
Thursday, March 28th
9pm, two sets
$10, no minimum (food and full bar available)
Ages 21+ only, sorry!
facebook

Blue Whale
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St Los Angeles, CA 90012

Free street parking, or structure parking off of 2nd St.

bluewhalemusic.com

Octet Videos pt 2

Here we have two more videos from the Michael Mull Octet's first show at the Blue Whale in Little Tokyo. This first one was the set opener, entitled "Fallujah". This tune was a staple of the Big Enough Band, a quintet I was involved in for several years. It was a treat to fill out and orchestrate it for the Octet. "Fallujah" features guitarist Adam Ratner at the helm of a freight train crescendo.




The below video was the set closer, "Sources". This was originally written for a 5-piece band at CalArts, and I expanded and re-arranged it for the Octet. One of the more complex tunes I've written in a lot of ways, it is based on 9-beat grooves and features a collective improvisation from myself on bass clarinet and Harrison Kirk on trombone. Taking us barreling to the end is Tim Fischer on his brand new guitar.



If you are liking the influx of videos recently, keep your eyes open; I had a fun Michael Mull Trio performance in Northridge on Friday evening, and we filmed a lot of that evening's music as well. It won't look or sound as wonderful as the above videos though, so thanks again to Alex Chaloff for the great Octet videos...enjoy!

Octet Videos pt 1

The first performance of my new octet was part of a wonderful night at the Blue Whale. The room was packed to the gills (pun slyly intended) for Blockrad, who played an extraordinary set of subtle musical creations. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and had a great casual feel that is sometimes lacking when the music starts to get "fancy". After a mad rush to set up and get the recording gear going, my octet braved the new music for all to hear. There were some great moments, and thanks to videographer/recording engineer Alex Chaloff, we got it on tape. Here are videos of what I feel were the strongest performances of the night.

The first is an original, "The People Who Raised Us", composed specifically for this group. It was actually the first piece I completed when forming the octet. Will Wulfeck is featured on trombone, getting just the right amount of outrageous with Emilio and Mike on bass and drums respectively. I recommend viewing these full-screen and with headphones; Alex did a fine job all around and it's worth seeing/hearing fully!



The next is an arrangement of "Caught Up In You" by the rock band .38 Special. I had been hearing this song my whole life and just heard something else in it one day. The band really blends here and Frank Silva takes a gorgeous solo.



Looking forward to making more music with these fellas. Stay tuned here for more videos from the performance and more gigs! I have a trio gig coming up in a couple weeks too, info to follow!

Benefit Event for Japan at Peace Yoga

Friends, the media rolls onward to cover the latest news, but we mustn't forget the terrible happenings that began with an earthquake in Japan on March 11th this year. I am pleased to invite you all to a wonderful event a week from today to take place at Peace Yoga in downtown Los Angeles. My wife Ami Mull has been working tirelessly for the past few months organizing, recruiting, scheduling, and rehearsing for this event, and she has lined up three bands, a short dance show, and an enticing stack of raffle prizes for those who attend. The best thing: ALL proceeds go to the Japanese Red Cross --- all entertainment and prizes (plus use of the venue) were donated, allowing admission/raffle ticket money to go to Japan %100! With a big event like this one, this is a rare claim; come support our neighbors across the Pacific and have a blast doing it.

I'll be performing a set with my quartet, featuring Juanma Trujillo, Emilio Terranova, and Mike Lockwood. You can find all other info below, including the event on Facebook. You are encouraged to download the flyer below and spread the word! The more people to party, the more we help those in need.


BENEFIT EVENT for JAPAN at PEACE YOGA
Sunday, June 5th
Doors @ 1:30pm, entertainment/raffle 2:00-6:00pm
$10 donation for admission (or more if you want!)
$2 raffle tickets (check here for a listing of awesome prizes)

Peace Yoga
903 S Main Street, Los Angeles
Click the flyer below to view closer!

This Weekend

I've got two gigs this weekend that I'd like to share.

First, I'm playing with drummer Alex Smith for his official CD release concert. The concert will feature Alex, myself, Tim Fischer (guitar), Paul Krueger (piano), and Emilio Terranova in various configurations from trio to quintet. You can expect a mixture of standards, arrangements, and originals, and a lot of swinging.

Saturday, October 16th
6-7:30pm
$10 suggested donation

Trinity Lutheran Church
4783 W 130th Street (Corner of Inglewood and 130th)
Hawthorne, CA 90250
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Second, I am jamming a short set with Orkestar MÉZÉ at the Bulgarian Festival in Griffith Park on Sunday. Free admission, free parking, kid friendly, and lots of great Bulgarian food, music, and culture. The festival runs 10:30am-5:30pm, we play at 1:30 for about 45 minutes. Come by if you are around and want to get a little Bulgaria in your life!

Orkestar MÉZÉ @ BG Fest
Sunday, October 17th
1:30-2:15pm (Festival from 10:30am-5:30pm)
Free admission/parking

Griffith Park (Crystal Springs Picnic Area)
4730 Crystal Springs Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90027


Hope to play for you this weekend!

A few gigs and a project

Happy 4th of July weekend to you all. I'm playing a quartet gig at a party tonight with Milen Kirov, a great composer/keyboardist. We're playing some killer Bulgarian and Macedonian funk jams, ornaments and odd time signatures, but always funky. If any of you are going to be in the South Bay tomorrow morning (Saturday), come check out the Alex Smith Trio featuring Alex Smith on drums, Emilio Terranova on bass, and myself on saxophones. Yes, this is JAZZ THUNDER under the leadership of Alex!

Close friends of mine know that I have been a long-time fan of Meshuggah, a metal band whose music centers around intricate, "over-the-barline" rhythms set over a deep groove. Meshuggah holds various points of interest for me, but I am finally getting to a little project of transcribing some of the incredible guitar solos by lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal. I've only got one down so far, but several more planned for the coming weeks. His solos are both frantic and skillfully constructed, and each solo yeilds a different, highly creative approach, something not often found in the rock/metal world. I will post some pdf files here for reference and (hopefully) discussion once I've compiled a few solos. In the meantime, if you haven't checked out Meshuggah yet, DO IT!

Walk and Talk

From wikipedia.org:

"Walk and talk is a distinctive storytelling-technique used in film and television in which a number of characters have a conversation en route. The most basic form of walk and talk involves a walking character that is then joined by another character. On their way to their destinations, the two talk. Variations include interruptions from other characters and walk and talk relay races, in which new characters join the group and one of the original characters leaves the conversation, while the remaining characters continue the walking and talking."

I've been spending a lot of time thinking the past few days about different processes and/or means of composing for and playing with improvisational ensembles. An opportunity has arisen to start a new project with drummer Colin Woodford and bassist Emilio Terranova (and perhaps another horn or two?), and certain leanings of my good friend Colin toward the integration of language into music got me thinking: what if the driving force behind each composition and subsequent improvisation was generated by some manner of language? Pianist Jason Moran has produced some amazing work using pre-recorded voice in conjunction with his live trio (my favorite utilizes one side of a phone conversation), and Colin has put together several extremely entertaining "storytelling" pieces performed on his graduation recital this Spring at Calarts. My initial concept involves a little more distillation of the "language material", so that none of the original words or sound will actually overtly appear in the performance.

I've been toying with ideas of varied complexity: I would like most of the material to be concise in length and concept, to be developed mainly by the musicians in the group during performance. A piece could be written based upon something as simple as one word, or as complex as a paragraph from a novel or exerpt from a speech. Cool Hand Luke, anyone? For audio clips, the delivery will definitely be a focus in shaping a musical interpretation. For words written on a page, I am imagining creating grooves or textures based on the word choices, creating tone poems ("setting" the text without actually using it in performance), or a combination of both.

The wikipedia definition as it pertains to film and television shakes up some ideas as well; my flavor of improvisational music is definitely coming from a conversational place, and often times could be viewed as a "journey". Individual characters conversing as they travel through space and time to get from one place to another? Sounds like quite a concept to tackle in a musical arena, but the kind of challenge I could really wrap my brain around.

If anyone has ideas and suggestions, this early stage is a most welcome time to hear them. Additionally, I would love links to great quotes, passages, movie clips, etc. that make you feel something. Keep an eye/ear/(foot?) out for Walk and Talk stuff; I'll likely be using this blog as a notebook for ideas as well as a forum for suggestions, so pass this along to anyone who might be interested.