Bill Dixon at Osmuns Music

Osmuns Music

Arlington, MA

We decided to start stirring the pot around Bill Dixon's birthday a bit early this year. Today, Bill and I drove down Route 2 to Arlington Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, to visit Osmuns Music. We both brought our Schilke trumpets down for a chemical cleaning and some light repair.

Bill Lowe has been telling me about Bob Osmun and his workshop for years, and rightly so.  We were treated like visiting royalty.  Forbes Graham and Bill Lowe popped in to surprise Bill and, after a tour of the repair facilities, we adjourned for an outdoor lunch and lively conversation.

 

Bill Lowe, Stephen Haynes, Bill Dixon, Bob Osmun and Forbes Graham at Osmuns

Pavone, Darling, McEachern and Haynes

CT Improvising Composers Project
Salisbury School
Salisbury, CT

The CT Improvising Composers Project completed our four-concert tour summer tour with an evening of music at Salisbury School, where Peter McEachern teaches. Satoshi Takeishi rejoined us on drums. The setting was pristine (a small, hillside chapel), the music was powerful, and the audience was more than receptive. CT State Representative Roberta Willis was in the house for this final installment of our Special Initiatives Grant Program project.

Next we take the project into the studio to record the music. We have just been invited to participate in the 2010 summer Music Mountain Festival. This may be the time to revist the notion of naming the ensemble. Stay tuned for details.

drawing by Dianne Englecke/photo of CICP by Steven Laschever 
graphic design by Stephen Haynes

Moving Together

CT Improvising Composers Project
Charter Oak Cultural Center
Hartford, CT

For the past year, I have been working together with Mario Pavone, David Darling and Peter McEachern on developing a new body of work and, most importantly, an authentic ensemble sensibility. Being a working band. Last weekend, this notion clicked and the music caught fire. We were fortunate to have Harris Eisenstadt join us on drums and percussion. He fit (in more ways than one) like a glove and managed to be essential to the epiphany of last weekend.

Not for nothing, we were ensconced in the Charter Oak Cultural Center, a converted synagogue, and the spirits were most certainly present and in the room. The audience, laden with Quaker friends, laid a deep listening foundation that was palpable in it's presence. We all felt it and we moved together.

This Saturday we perform at Salisbury School in Salisbury, CT where Peter teaches. Satoshi Takeishi rejoins us. After that, we book studio time and make a record of this wonderful project. Stay tuned for details...

Images by Luis Cotto