Recent doings

Several projects dating back to last fall are nearing fruition.

My two most recent concert pieces, Isis and the road to vara blanca, will be premiered by the Sissy-Eared Mollycoddles on Oct 31. They're playing at Chicago's legendary Green Mill jazz club as part of its Sunday new music series. Here's the facebook event page.

I also have two albums nearly complete. The first, with my sort-of-folksy sort-of-group Golconda, is called Lost Horse Porch Music, and it's an EP of some of the songs I wrote at Joshua Tree last October and November. That'll be along shortly now, within the next couple weeks.

Then there's Lake of Five Oceans, my post-jazz post-folk post-rock band. (Whoops.) This outfit's first (post-?)record, Castle Rooms and Landscapes, is coming along well and should be ready to roll sometime in October. The album name is a nod to ol' James Castle, and the titles of the album's compositions recognize a few of his incredible, atmospheric soot drawings. The relationship of Castle's art to the music is admittedly tenuous (i.e. nonexistent), but fairly, the whole project did have its genesis last December when I saw an exhibition of JCC's work at the Art Institute in Chicago. And it makes for good titles, I hope. Incidentally, "Lake of Five Oceans" itself means nothing at all, and I have no idea where it came from.

Both albums will be released solely online -- I'll try and do some good-quality shouting from the rooftops when they're done.