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when music burns - fire and improvisation
Last week I attended the monthly improvised music series at The Make-Out Room in San Francisco. Host and musician Karl Evangelista has been doing a great job of curating this series for a number of years. The shows are free, but Karl makes sure that everyone in attendance has an opportunity to stuff a donation into the “hat”. At the end of the show on this night, he made a heartfelt announcement that stuck with me. I’ll share that with you in a bit. First, let me tell you about the show.
I never know what kind of improv to expect at these shows, and I love that. The series is called “Jazz” at the Make-Out Room, but it’s often more Rock or Noise adjacent, and as you’ll hear in the video, last week’s show was very Noisy. Which is not to say that it was loud. I don’t think I even put in my ear plugs. It had its loud moments, but was often very quiet, demanding focused attention from both the performer and listener.
The quartet in the first set had a vocalist that sang without words. He stretched his vocal cords in curious ways that made me wonder exactly where the sound was coming from as he alternately waved a small megaphone and a microphone in front of his face, sometimes creating controlled feedback as he interacted with the others in the quartet. His throat singing technique was a highlight for me.
While the first set was a quartet of acoustic instruments, the second set was a laptop performer. The third and final set was mostly electronic instruments, featuring Karl himself on guitar. Their synthetic and percussive squawks and scraps built to a very busy, frenetic, and yes, loud pounding conclusion that I found very satisfying.
The above YouTube video of this performance contains excerpts only. In the description box you’ll find chapter markers for each of the sets and links for more info about the performers.
At the end of the show, Karl reminded us about the recent LA fires and the impact it’s had on the people there that make music we all love. It’s easy to get jaded about the over-hyped news cycle that bombards us almost daily. Make no mistake, these fires were devastating.
You may not live near LA, but chances are you’ve loved some avant music that originated there. It’s about a 6 hour drive for me to get there, but I probably won’t be doing that very much anymore. My only close friend in LA died last year from cancer. Through him I learned to love LA over the years from the cultural exposure that infects you from any city worth being called a city. Now my strongest bond to LA comes from meeting the musicians that tour through my neck of the woods, sometimes playing my local tavern.
Not too long ago I was in LA to interview and see Acid Mothers Temple. I did a story on them and the venue they played at called Zebulon. After Karl’s reminder I started to wonder if Zebulon had survived. It had.
Karl, being a touring musician himself, knows plenty of musicians in LA. He apparently started a GoFundMe for two of them. Here’s what Karl said on his Facebook page:
Karl Evangelista:
Anyone who knows Bobby Bradford and William Roper will understand that they can speak for themselves. I only wish to say that, in light of the sheer magnitude of the LA fires and the devastation in Altadena, the donations that we've collected are much needed and tremendously helpful. We can't replace the history that has been lost, but we *can* help the people who have to survive this crisis.
McCoy Tyner wasn't joking when he said that this music is "as serious as your life." It's a thing I live by. I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to live among and play with the giants of this music, and I think you'll agree when I say that giving back to this art is one of the few consolations I can imagine at this time in history.
Karl also provided a link to a somewhat DIY “master list” of fundraisers along with this proviso … “Caution: it's not for the faint of heart. The scope of this situation is unbelievable.”
As I write this, there are almost 400 names of affected musicians on this list.
If you are not too overwhelmed yet, and you want to support the affected community in a more general way, I’ve included two links here. Musicares says it’s been around for 3 decades helping musicians recover from disasters. If your generosity can be extended to visual artists, then check out the relief fund created by a coalition of LA arts organizations led by the Getty Foundation.
MusiCares - Your support is needed to help those affected by the LA Wildfires
Foundations and Arts Organizations Create $12M LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund — Emergency relief fund will provide critical support for artists and arts workers impacted by Los Angeles fires
Not too long ago I wrote a story about how GoFundMe’s have become the default health insurance in the US for avant-musicians (and others). At that time I did not think that story would be the first of a series of stories on the avant world of GoFundMe’s, but here we are. Let’s hope I don’t have to write the next one any time soon.
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