I’m on the plane home from Germany (by way of London Heathrow. Oh My God – don’t ever go through Heathrow if you can avoid it. The lines and the logic are insane). I will upload this post when I return, as well as a couple of pictures.
(Speaking of God – I cannot believe I actually saw 3 of the Republican candidates for President raise their hands when asked how many of them believe that the biblical explanation of creation is the literal truth. How frightening. Just finished a great book by Richard Dawkins called The God Delusion. )
The most interesting thing about this flight (not the trip, just the flight) is my discovery that a Mars bar is apparently the same as a Three Musketeers. Maybe the bar was just mislabeled, because I believe Three Musketeers is also made by Mars, so that doesn’t make much sense. Can someone clear this up for me? Vielleicht Ich wilt googlen.
Here is a picture of Klaus Kugel and Christian Ramond setting up for our gig at SchauspielHaus, a very cool little theater in Bergneustadt which is near Koln.
Klaus and his wife Uta, who is an actress, live in the country near Koln. Here is the view from their terrace. As a New Yorker this is mind-blowing to me…like living in Central Park.
Klaus recorded the concert. We played a couple of tunes and some free. The gig went very well and I will post some mp3 samples soon. Watch this space or email me to be notified when the samples go up. Particularly interesting (or so I felt when we played it) was a deconstruction of Monk’s Straight No Chaser. We’ll see if my perception was correct. [EDIT: the recording didn’t come out due to technical difficulties. We’ll try again next time.]
I also had some nice gigs with guitarist Roland Heinz, who is a brilliant and creative improvisor. It was our first time playing duo togetther. I hope we will do more in the future and perhaps I will try to record it.
Now I’ve got to start practicing for the September 24th “21st Century Schizoid Music” concert. I have to relearn the Nabokov music I wrote about two years ago; at this concert I also intend to perform a sonata for violin and piano sonata written by my father, Frederick Piket, in 1932 when he was studying with Franz Schreker in Berlin. (Look for a web site about Frederick Piket in the future. I have reserved the domain name but haven’t had time to put anything up.)
The other half of the concert will be my trio with Billy Mintz and Ratzo Harris. So it should be an enjoyable evening showcasing the variety of creative music I am into. As Duke said, “there are only two kinds of music – good and bad.”
I almost forgot…this pic is mostly for the amusement of the West Coasters…
Time to hit the (piano) keys.
Can’t wait to hear the mp3’s!
Love your playing.
Chris
So gratifying to finally get some feedback, musical and political, on this blog. Chris, unfortunately, the recording that Klaus tried to make had some technical difficulties relating to the fact that it is new and unfamiliar equipment. However, we will be recording in October and I will definitely post something shortly thereafter. Thanks for your support.