08 Nov, 2010 :: Hank’s recent musical endeavors
In the interest of stirring up some more energy around my upcoming concert at the Carriage House Hayloft (please see more info about the concert and the Trio in the posts below), here’s a quick synopsis of what I’ve been up to in the past few months.
My New Recording
Early September: I recorded a new CD under my name for the Winter and Winter label. We recorded at the legendary Sear Sounds Studios in Manhattan, known for their wonderful, meticulously cared for vintage microphones and fine acoustics. We recorded this session, mostly first takes, on the second day ‘live to 2 track’ on analogue tape. The personnel were me on cello, Bill Frisell on guitar, Jerome Harris on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums and assorted percussion instruments (a wonderful assortment of quirky homemade and other instruments). The incredible Ron St Germaine was engineering, and my long time friend Stefan Winter was producing. Ron and Stefan were a wonderfully productive and inspirational team. It was satisfying to be working direct to 2 track tape where whatever was played would be there forever… no fixes or digital edits (which I do very much appreciate sometimes too), but recording live to 2 track inspires a different kind of psychology, where one’s determination to play it well inspires the music in a different way. So far the plan is to release this recording as a CD and as an LP (probably sometime in Spring 2011). Analogue to analogue… very cool.
Hank Roberts Trio sold-out concert in New York City
At the end of that week of recording, I played a sold-out standing room only concert at the Stone in New York with my trio, including John Stetch on piano and Jim Black on drums. It’s a slightly small space, and Nate Chenin’s pick in the New York Times probably helped attendance,. We responded well to the energy in the room and played a great concert…. very gratifying.
Playing solo and with Joey Baron and Robin Schulkowsky at The Stone in New York
I went back to the Stone a few weeks later to play a solo set, and to sit in with a great group of musicians including Joey Baron and Robin Schulkowsky. Joey played part of my piece “JB” with me during my set. (The initials happen to match his name.) We hadn’t played together since around 1991… very ‘funky’… and exciting for me. It was sort of a dream come true to play that piece with him. Robin and Joey played an improv piece with me as well. It was great to be working in New York, seeing friends from years ago, and meeting new ones, as well.
Touring Europe with Marty Ehrlich’s ‘Rites Ensemble’
On October 8th I headed back to New York to rehearse with Marty Ehrlich’s Rites ensemble with the great James Zollar on trumpet and Michael Sarin on drums. We left on the 9th for a weeklong tour in Europe, finishing up in the Czech Republic for a Jazz festival in Hradec Karlove. Marty and I first worked together in 1975 when we met in Boston. We’ve played in a variety of groups since then, and Marty has established himself as one of the great saxophone players in the world of improvised and jazz music.
Concerts and a new recording with Bill Frisell’s 858 Quartet
I flew to Vermont straight from Marty’s tour in Europe to rehearse and perform with Bill Frisell’s 858 quartet for 5 days in Johnson, Vermont. We played a concert at the Vermont Studio Center, saw lots of cool artwork by folks in residence there, and then flew to San Francisco. There we played an in-store concert at Amoeba Records in Haight Ashbury… ’my first time to visit this incredible store. We had two great nights at the Noe Valley Ministry playing new music that Bill had written in the previous month. We then went to Fantasy Studios in Berkeley to record it (the same studio where Santana recorded Supernova, his megahit CD). We had a great recording experience there for 3 days. …a wonderful challenge performing with these fantastic performers including Jenny Scheinman on violin and Eyvind Kang on viola, and of course Bill wrote some beautiful music (about 60 new pieces that we narrowed down to a couple of hours of music. The recording was produced by Lee Townsend, Bill’s longtime associate. This all was a ‘family affair’ in the most positive light.
I’m glad to be home now. I’ll be focusing on this upcoming concert at The Carriage House Hayloft with my trio on November 12th. Please see more about that concert below.
