Kansas City New Music | Black House Improvisors' Collective

There and Back Again-A Hobbyist's Tale

A couple of months ago I was speaking with someone about Black House. Before I could really explain how we create and promote new music and work to build relationships between musicians and in the art community at large he told me that I was “just a hobbyist.” This individual obviously meant this as negative condition. I was about to say something in my defense like “No I’m not!” or “Kiss my balls!” but I realized that he was right. I am a hobbyist. I make very little money playing music. In fact I’ve never made enough money playing music to claim on my taxes. In defining a professional as someone who makes their living from playing music, I come woefully short.
 
I admit that I do aspire to one day be able make my living as a musician. So this interaction got me thinking about what it means to be a "pro." There are a lot positive things that come to mind when thinking about what makes a professional. Punctuality, reliability, competency and getting paid. I love all those things. But lately I’ve found myself thinking of traits that I don’t love. I’ve observed some undesirable character traits in professional musicians as well.
 
Professionals don’t like rehearsals.
 
Pros are always looking for the smallest amount of time commitment per paying gig. This makes perfect economic sense. Unfortunately this isn't how good music gets made. Good music requires preparation. A lot of it. If someone is looking to just show up at the gig, play some standards they already know, and promptly leave with their money, odds are that show deserves no better than to be talked over while people eat dinner.
 
Professionals don’t bring anyone to the show.
 
Pros play a lot of gigs. This is a good thing and makes perfect economic sense. Unfortunately, that generally dilutes their name value. Be wary of playing with people who don't have a least a couple friends come out to see them. This indicates that this is just a gig for them and they really don't give a shit. Which leads me to my next ...
 
Professionals aren’t emotionally invested.
 
Pros are working. They're generally content to display their competency for ego's sake. But the music doesn't really mean anything to them. They risk nothing if the music sucks. It’s not their gig. Again, this is not how good music gets made. People in the audience pick up on this. 
 
Professionals are too comfortable.
 
Pros know exactly how good they need to be to get work. Once they've achieved this level, many stay there for years. Again, this makes perfect economic sense. Doing the dificult work to continue to take yourself to the next level brings no guaranteed increased earning power. Unfortunately this puts many pros in the position of trying to preserve the status quo, despite what many of them may say. 
 

With clubs closing in town, it’s pretty obvious that whatever was the status quo wasn’t sustainable. We younger musicians need to accept that we will need to work harder than the older musicians did to make a living. This requires a deeper level of commitment and risk taking. But then again, I'm just a hobbyist. Kiss my balls.

just saying...

It's the big week of the Blue Label premiere at Take Five Coffee+Bar! I have to say that it's been extremely gratifying to be able to expand the world of Black House. We're going on our third year of the collective and it's time to start reaching out. Right now BHIC lives on the good graces of the Charlotte Street Foundation but this band is hopefully a step in a self-sustaining future. Anyways the show this Friday is free and I'll have sweet new Blue Label t-shirts for sale for the fashionable among you:

Last month at a Christmas party somone asked me what I think should be done about 18th and Vine to make it more successful. Normally this is a subject that I would avoid. But being under the influence I blurted out "I'd set up musician housing down there. Make it so that rent is $200 a month for musicians and they'll all live down there and it'll be cool." Don't they do something like this in New York?

 

It's pretty implausible but it'd work.

Moving on...

The weeks following a Black House workshop are usually an opportunity to take it down a notch and recharge. This has not been the case in the weeks after our performance last December. The Blue Label band has our first performance next week and it has been exciting and work-intensive to get all the music ready. I can’t praise my band members enough for their focus and willingness to put in the time to make this music work. With any new band, it takes time to gain a rapport amongst the musicians, but in this case things have been clicking early on. I’m really looking forward to presenting this band and this music.

Over the past couple of months there has been a lot of drama in the Kansas City jazz scene. The closing and reopening of clubs and internet controversies about race and labels have given us all a lot of to talk about. I don't have much to add on either of these fronts. I rarely went Jardine's because it was too expensive and I never made it out to 1911 Main at all, probably because I just wait for the bands I want to see to play at the RecordBar. Nicholas Payton's musings on "jazz" as a label are just boring. Jazz musicians complaining about being pigeonholed as jazz musicians appears to be a time-honored tradition. Can't we all agree that we use the term when it behooves us and and stay away from it when it doesn't? The word has the strange ability to help you attract press that you otherwise don't deserve, but it also has an incredibly negative affect on attracting audience members. No wonder we're so conflicted about it.

 

Workshop #9 Recording

Here are the recordings of all the work from Workshop #9

BHIC Workshop #9

1. Cil Augas-Russell Thorpe

soprano sax solo-Russell Thorpe

2. sorry all over the place-Music by Hunter Long Lyrics by Jennifer Coates

tenor sax solo-Hunter Long

3 Furry Burglar-Russell Thorpe

soprano sax solo-Russell Thorpe

4. Theory-Leah Sproul Pulatie

5. !@#$%-Russell Thorpe

6. Dreams..I think...-Music by Brian Padavic Lyrics by Jennifer Coates

7. Street Cleaning-John Chittum

trombone solo-John Chittum

 

Ensemble

 

Leah Pulatie-voice

Teri Quinn-clarinet
Peter Lawless-alto sax
Rusell Thorope-assorted winds

John Chittum-trombone
Eric Chapman-trombone

Mike Shanks-drums
Brian Padavic-bass
Hunter Long-computer/tenor

 

 

Congrats and Thanks

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show last week and congratulations to all the participants on a wonderful workshop. Details for the spring Composers' Workshop will be coming soon. We're not finished mixing the recordings from this past session. But for now, here's a finished recording of my piece.

Sorryallovertheplace 

vocals-Leah Sproul Pulatie

sax solo-Hunter Long

Final Thoughts

This Sunday was the last rehearsal of a fantastic workshop. I realize that I haven't written much about the day to day of this workshop(getting married is a terrible blogging distraction). Nevertheless it's been one of the best. More importantly, it's been delightfully different in tone and style from past workshops. Once again Russell Thorpe stepped up in a major way and wrote 3 different tunes. Multi-resident John Chittum has finally wrote a piece for us and it doesn't suck. Brian Padavic and Leah Sproul Pulatie also brought in strong work and have performed amirably. Peter Lawless continues to be his opinionated and refreshing self. And we have three great newbies in Eric Chapman, Teri Quinn, and Mike Shanks. I want to thank Pat Conway for coming and giving us a fabulous critique and Jennifer Coates for collaborating with us and writing lyrics for both Brian and myself.

I have not put up any recordings from rehearsals simply because the recordings I have are very poor quality. And by poor I mean way worse than the less than terrific recordings I usually put up. Luckily Peter has been gracious enough to record yesterday's rehearsal and hopefully that will yield something blog-worthy.

I invite you all to come out this Friday to check out the art and hear something truly unique.

Brief Interviews with Black House: Leah Sproul Pulatie

Returning for her second Black House workshop, is the talented Leah Sproul Pulatie. I orginally had reservations about bringing in a vocalist but she blew us away with her technical abilities, her musicianship, and the fearless way that she deals with all the weirdness that we write for her. And with that, here's Leah: 

Where are you from and what brought you to Kansas City?

Originally, I'm from a town called Rockwall right outside of Dallas, Texas. I came to Kansas City to get my doctorate in composition at UMKC Conservatory.

Who are you musical heroes and why?

I don't know that I have heroes, exactly, but there are definitely people whose music and careers I admire. Carol King has always been a model for my songwriting--her songs are catchy, concise, and say exactly what they mean. I like other songwriters like Annie Clark and Neko Case for the opposite reasons--their musical and lyrical complexity. Art Music-wise, I love composers Libby Larsen and Meredith Monk. I must admit part of the reason is because they are women--still quite the minority in this field, and hence an inspiration--but it's also because they are total innovators of craft, form, genre...you name it. Larsen has developed the uncanny ability to incorporate American language and all of is various regional dialects within her instrumental music, and Monk is just a maverick. She makes the art that she has to with no apologies. It's really motivating.

How do you feel about Kansas City's music scene in comparison to other places you've lived?

It's pretty great--especially in the realms of art music and jazz. There's a ton of support. I lived in Louisville, KY prior to moving to KC, and that city ihas a big Indy/Pop music scene (I still stream their indy radio station online! go WFPK!), but Kansas City has proven to be just as much of a music town as Louisville--just of a different stripe.

What had you heard about Kansas City before you moved here?

Not a ton. My dad is originally from KC, and I have some family in town, but I had no idea about the arts/music/cultural scene until I got here. Paul Rudy described it to me upon my first visit as a "sleeper city," which I like. It's a lot more happening than most folks give it credit for.

I've really admired the confidence in your delivery and how you well you've fit in with the different composers' music in Black House. How do you approach this?

Thank you! I have really enjoyed getting into everyone's different styles. I think it evolves much in the same way as the rest of the group--you feel it out and find out what your part has to say within the whole. I'm a terrible sightreader, so the first few sessions I'm able to sit back and listen to everything else come together, and I can then make better choices about my own part once I start woodshedding. It's kind of cheating, but at least now my shameful secret is out and my conscience is clear.

How much jazz experience do you have?

I started singing with the jazz band in high school and I sang with a few combos during my undergraduate degree. The only jazz specific training I had was listening and singing along with Ella, Billie, and Diana Krall albums. That, and a single, very painful, semester of jazz piano. I began working with non-jazz based improvisation during the latter part of my undergraduate and throughout my master's degree, and that's how I came to Black House for my first session. It was kind of a shock having to read standard notation again, haha. 

Where do you see yourself going with your music?

I'll continue performing in addition to writing and having my works played by other people. I also love collaborating, so that will be a part of it, too. It's difficult to say for sure. I've got many seemingly unrelated musical interests--art music, improv, pop, theatre music--I want to find a way to synthesize them all into what I do. That's why I'm still in school, I guess...to figure that part out.

Do you consider yourself as more or a singer or a composer? Does that matter?

I consider myself a composer. I don't know that it matters, really, but I've got a lot of friends who are professional, classically trained singers. They work a lot harder and know a lot more about the technical aspects of singing than I do, so it's more difficult to compare myself with them. I do, however, work very hard at composing, so I am much more comfortable with that title. Many singers also don't do the extended vocal techniques I do (screeching, high belting, screaming/yelling), because they're not very sustainable on the instrument--there are only a few specialists who can perform that way without losing their voices. I think it is because I am a composer that I'm more willing to contort and strain to get the sounds that will have the greatest impact. It may sound flippant, but I'm not as protective of my voice because I don't consider it as my main focus. I love singing, and I will sing until my cords fall out, but it's just a part of the whole.

How to write better music

 

Feedback 

This is the beginning of a series of posts on composition. My favorite question to ask other composers is “How do I write better music and not just more music?” It’s a difficult question that doesn’t get a lot of satisfying answers. I certainly don’t consider myself an authority on musical composition, but I am a dedicated practitioner. I’ll also be reaching out to other Black House residents to get their perspectives on this subject.
 
For this first post I’m going to talk about actionable feedback. That is, feedback that directs you to make specific changes to your compositions. This type of feedback tends to be very precise and often includes suggestions instead of blanket criticism. This feedback will generally come from fellow musicians. 

 
Examples of feedback that isn’t particularly actionable:
 
“I don’t like it.”
“Something’s wrong with the ending.”
“Ehhh ...”
 
Examples of actionable feedback:
 
“You have too many counter lines.”
“The horn pads are muddying up the texture.” 
“The piece loses momentum after the sax soli.”
 
There's something to be said for the idea that the lay audience's feedback is the only kind that matters. In a certain sense that's true, but in matters of craft, the lay audience isn’t particularly helpful. Generally speaking, most of us don’t really know why we like anything. We just like it or we don’t. The liking or disliking comes first, and then we justify it later.

 
It’s important to seek out peers/mentors to get their perspectives on your work. I've found that this is harder than it sounds. Maybe this is product of living in the Midwest, but many musicians don’t seem willing to pick apart each other’s work directly to their face. Usually the people giving you feedback will like you and not want to upset you or come off as thinking they’re superior. When you ask for someone’s feedback, be sure to let them know that you want to know what’s not working and what can be improved. Otherwise you can get useless commentary like “sounds good” or “depends on what you’re going for.” Humor can be helpful in this situation  “Tell me why this sucks!” is a good way to start.
 
I would argue that as a whole, we may be little too sensitive about our work. While watching a documentary about Anna Wintour, I was struck by the rigorous culture of ruthless editing that goes into producing a magazine. Photographers and editors bring in lots of material and she rejects most of it and they go back and try again. I want my own personal Anna Wintour holding me accountable and requiring that I go back and fix my weaknesses.
 
My favorite personal experience with actionable feedback occurred in a lesson with Bobby Watson. I was soloing over a song when he stopped me and said, “You’re bullshitting whenever you get to the 7th bar.” Insightful, specific, and actionable.

 

*****Performance*****

Friday December 9th

8:00pm

admission is free

 

The Black House Improvisors' Collective is concluding its 9th composers' workshop with a performance of newly composed music at the Charlotte Street Foundation's open studios. We will be performing works by: John Chittum, Brain Padavic, Leah Sproul Pulatie, Russell Thorpe, and Hunter Long.