Brian Havey Trio @ Blue Whale on Wednesday

UPDATE 9/24/12: Brian's album is now available on bandcamp at: http://brianhavey.bandcamp.com/album/absence-of-appropriate-affect

Hi friends, just wanted to do a quick plug for my good friend Brian Havey, pianist and music-maker (quite a Yoshi's Cookie player as well). He is releasing his most recent album, the first with his trio, with a performance at (what should be) everyone's favorite live music spot in LA, the Blue Whale. It's taking place this Wednesday, September 12th at 9pm.

You might not have heard Brian before - but trust me, you want to. Hear something you might be in for on his soundcloud page. Brian and I have played together in some extremely varied settings over the last 7 years or so, and he was a part of a group I led in my CSU Northridge days that I consider to be one of the most influential workshops in my development as a player and composer. His playing has extended far, in many directions, since then.

I hope to see you at Brian's show on Wednesday night, and I'm looking forward to grabbing the new record. You can check the event details on Facebook and below.

Brian Havey Trio @ Blue Whale
Wednesday 9/12/12
9pm, two sets
21+ only

Brian Havey (piano)
with Emilio Terranova (bass) and Martin Diller (drums)

Orkestar MEZE September 14th

It's been a while since the last post, but this will be the triumphant return, primarily to announce another triumphant return: that of your friendly neighborhood peasant funk band, Orkestar MEZE. After a couple of months off, we are gearing up to re-explode Rusty's Surf Ranch in Santa Monica on Friday, September 14th! All your favorite peasant jams, plus some brand new surprises, so don't miss it!

Orkestar MEZE @ Rusty's Surf Ranch
256 Santa Monica Pier
10pm, all ages
$7 ($12 if under 21 without a guardian)

If you or a loved one (or a despised one, I'm not too picky) doesn't have MEZE's debut album "Peasant Funk" in the ol' collection, we are holding a "Back to the Farm September Sale" at orkestarmeze.com/store. This means free shipping worldwide and an amazing "I Peasant Funk" sticker included with every purchase! Hard to resist.

There will be tons of great music happening this month, including an Octet house concert (9-22), Mahadev at a yoga studio (9-15), and my musical buddy Brian Havey's trio at the Blue Whale (9-12). Keep this blog on rotation for more specifics soon!

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!

Trio & Mahadev This Weekend

I've got two fun and entirely different gigs coming up this weekend, come hear some live music! If you're on the San Fernando Valley side of things, come to Barclays Coffee and Tea in Northridge (on Tampa between Nordhoff and Parthenia) to hear one of my primary brainchildren, the Michael Mull Trio. Not a fancy name, but pretty fancy tunes... We're playing a free show, a couple sets of originals by yours truly, and there are delicious drinks to boot. Flyer coming soon...

Michael Mull Trio (hear us here and here and hear)
Michael Mull - alto/soprano sax, bass clarinet
Ben Shepherd - bass
Cameron Hicks - drums

@ Barclays Coffee and Tea
8976 Tampa Ave, Northridge 91324
FREE show, donations welcome/CDs for sale
7-9pm, two sets


If you're on the Hollywood/LA side of things, check out the world/fusion/Indo/Balkan adventure known as Mahadev at the Dancing Shiva yoga studio. They're having a big "India Night" and Mahadev's music is being featured around 6pm in the greater event schedule to kick things off. Sounds like a party...info on the flyer below, and below that too, in case it's too small to read! You can listen to/stream/buy Mahadev's album here.

@Dancing Shiva
7466 Beverly Blvd, LA 90036
6pm for Mahadev, don't be late!
Free, donations appreciated/CDs for sale

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!

Octet + Blockrad @ Blue Whale 6/19/12

Haven't been staying up on the old blog recently, but I'm jumping back in with a very exciting show coming up on Tuesday, June 19th at the Blue Whale. This will be the debut performance of my octet, and we have all been putting in a lot of work to get this music sounding great. We are joined by the Blockrad trio, and I am super excited to hear what they have for us to hear! The show will be recorded and filmed, so come be a part of the action and the permanence, and be able to say "I was there!" Details about the show can be found on facebook, or take a look below. Also, check out the writeup for LA Weekly.

9pm - Blockrad
Steven Blum - Piano/keyboards
Mike Lockwood - Drums/percussion
Andrew Conrad - Tenor sax/clarinet

10:30 ish pm - Michael Mull Octet
Michael Mull - Alto sax/soprano sax/clarinet/bass clarinet
Frank Silva - Tenor sax/soprano sax
Harrison Kirk - Trombone/bass trombone
Will Wulfeck - Trombone
Tim Fischer - Guitar
Adam Ratner - Guitar
Emilio Terranova - Bass
Mike Lockwood - Drums

Blue Whale
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka Street, Suite 301
Los Angeles 90012
$10, no minimum
21+ only (unless accompanied by a guardian)
Parking in structure off of 2nd street (look for yellow "P" sign). Bring your ticket upstairs to the Blue Whale and give it to the door attendant. It will either be free or $5 (heard they may be charging now).

Mahadev + Rafe Pearlman 5/12

Mahadev has a gig next Saturday with an amazingly talented and interesting vocalist, Rafe Pearlman. We've been collaborating with him since he sat in with us on our CD release, and we've got a few gigs lined up with him this month, starting with the Fretted Frog. Check out the flyer below!

Recent News

Long time no post...

It's been a busy but rewarding Spring, with music and travel mixing together flavorfully. I was able to visit Orlando, Toronto, and San Diego to do some playing and a good amount of exploring and sampling. Toronto is an amazing city and I hope to go back sometime for more!

Orkestar MEZE played for an absolutely packed house in April at Rusty's in Santa Monica. Everyone partied the night away, a bittersweet gig before taking a couple months off while bandleader Milen gets back to his roots in Bulgaria. The hiatus will yield more peasant funk and deeper grooves than ever, though, so stay tuned for the madness to come! We are getting distribution in Bulgaria, soon to be all of the Balkans, and truly going international. Visit www.peasantfunk.com to get your fix of the new album if you haven't already.

Maintaining a beneficial (hopefully mutually) relationship with CalArts, I had the opportunity to participate in some recitals by drummer Cameron Hicks (of Michael Mull Trio fame) and guitarist Brice Albert (Free Sample), and later join them at Capitol Records for the annual CalArts CD project. Tracks will be available for free in a month or two on the CalArts website.

The Summer is beginning to look good, with a premier performance of my octet (unnamed as of now) coming late June. I'll be playing a dance show at CalArts with Free Sample on the 7th of May and at the Fretted Frog with Mahadev on the 12th, more details to come. Take a listen/download the Mahadev album on bandcamp, it turned out grooving and sinuous!

Peasant Funk March 2nd

Orkestar MEZE is rocking Rusty's Surf Ranch again, tomorrow night in Santa Monica! To hold you over, here's a fun video of our CD release show at the Key Club overlayed with some cuts from the album. You can get event info on facebook or just come by Rusty's around 9pm!
     Rusty's Surf Ranch
     Santa Monica Pier
     Friday, March 2
     10pm; all ages
     $7 at the door

Mahadev CD Release at Alva's Showroom 2/26/12

The Mahadev debut album has finally arrived and looks/sounds fantastic! I'll let bandleader and guitarist give you the details in the following press release:

"Ok it is almost here! We're getting ready to perform for you on next Sunday at Alva's. The CD's should be arriving to my house today, we had an awesome gig Saturday as a warmup for this coming sunday, and we're ready to go.

The show is $15. Remember,  it's an early show (4 PM), so you'll be able to get back home in time for the Oscars, and we're offering the CD for JUST $5! It will be the only time you can get it so cheap.

You can hear a few tracks at http://soundcloud.com/davecipriani/sets/mahadev-tracks-1

We'll be posting it on Bandcamp later in the week and it will be available to purchase directly from us for those who can't make it this Sunday.

We're going to do all the songs from the CD, and we have awesome trumpet player Greg Zilboorg from Sogo Takeover now in the band and percussionist Jamie Papish from the Yuval Ron Ensemble. We're also going to have my good friend Rafe Pearlman join us for a vocal improvisation; you can see a video & interview with him here.  It's going to be a really wonderful show, with high charged music and deep meditative grooves.  

RESERVATIONS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

We'll be lining up more gigs as the spring comes.  Please also signup to our official email list at www.reverbnation.com/Mahadev to stay in touch!

See below for details on each one as well as FB event pages if you want to send it to your friends! We look forward to seeing you there!"

SUNDAY FEB 26, 4 PM, $15

THE BIG SHOW! MAHADEV CD RELEASE AT ALVA'S IN SAN PEDRO!

Special guest Rafe Pearlman (others tba)

Dave Cipriani, Indian Slide Guitar & Classical Guitar

Eric Klerks, Bass

Michael Mull, saxophone & clarinet

Chris Payne, percussion (cajon, frame drum, shakers, zabumba)

Jamie Papish, percussion (cajon, riq, frame drum)

Greg Zillboorg, Trumpet

800-403-3447

1417 W. Eighth Street

San Pedro, CA 90732

http://www.alvasshowroom.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/348239991861287/

The band is sounding beautiful and this will be an experience to remember! In other news, Orkestar MEZE had a killer show at the world-famous Troubadour last weekend, and will return to Rusty's Surf Ranch in Santa Monica for our monthly peasant party on Friday, March 2nd. It's already proving to be a productive and eventful year, with much more on the menu; stay tuned here for all the gory details, and I'll see you on Sunday!