The 'thon is On! Please show your love for WFMU and Miniature Minotaurs!

2 Performances in which I won’t perform, a story for Valentine’s Day and a humble plea for support

Dear Friends,

I hope you all have plans for this shortest month Black History Valentines, eh? The weather sure has been what one expects for this time of years on some days and then not on others, eh? Especially in the area you live! And how about those sports games? Pretty exciting! On a more personal note, I’m sorry about that situation that came up at your school or place of work. I agree that your cohorts weren’t being fair with you about the whole thing.

Have I mentioned some exciting news to you already? No? Well, I have two performances this month and the best part is I won’t be performing in either of them!

On February 16, my play Under a Scar-Filled Sky: The Buddy Zinn Mysteries will be staged at Dixon Place in Manhattan’s storied Lower East Side. This is very exciting because 500 days ago I didn’t even know I was a playwright. But after a lot of work and the remarkable support and encouragement of co-producers Kristen Persinos and Urania Mylonas and director Mahayana Landowne, it seems this thing is on its way to becoming a play. Which is good news because we told Dixon Place that it was. We have a fantastic cast (which includes live music from Charlie Waters) and are hip-deep in rehearsals.

Which brings me to another point. We can’t really afford rehearsal space, not to mention costumes, props and subway fare. So please, if you’ve not, have a glance at our Indiegogo page and consider pledging your cash money love. You will get books, CDs and cocktails in evidence of our gratitude, which also you’ll receive.

The second performance I won’t perform in this month will be The Audience vs Ecstasy Mule vs John Cage vs Ecstasy Mule vs The Audience on February 24 at Willow Place Auditorium, 26 Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights as a part of the Transient Series. This will be a logical extension of Ecstasy Mule vs John Cage vs Ecstasy Mule, a performance construction situation based on a half dozen or so John Cage scores which was performed in September at the Stone and then in December in the RipRig series in Philadelphia. For this iteration, Len37 and myself will be sitting on our asses doing nothing while the entire audience figures out how to play it. Really! It’ll be fun! And it’ll be free.

The time for the first event is 10 pm. The time for the second event is 3 pm. On different days, of course. Don’t mix that up.

Meanwhile, and less specific to the metropolitan New York area, the next of my holiday stories is posted at Lulu. As some among the more faithful of you may recall, I am working on a book of holiday tales and am posting some of them along the calendrical way. Toward the end, “The St. Valentine’s Day Mackerel” is now available for your entertainment for less than a ride on the bus.

Lastly – not forever, just for now – I’ve posted a new track over at SoundCloud. It was an experiment that went awry, a sketch for something that will happen next month. The first person to guess the source material will get a factory sealed reward carrying a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of greater than $10.

As always, if you’re getting this crass commercial mass email and we haven’t talked in a while, get in touch! And, if you’re getting this and we have talked recently but you want to talk some more, get in touch! And if you don't want to be in touch, just say so! But mostly if you can, please come to Dixon Place on the 16^th.  A strong showing there could help us get a full and proper run, just like the theater folks do!

New Indiegogo (and everything tastes nice)

Quick! What's the song I'm riffing on? First one who gets it gets a prize worth more than $10!

And yes, so, we've launched a modest Indiegogo campaign to get us through prep and rehearsals for the Feb. 16 production of Under a Star-Filled Sky: The Buddy Zinn Mysteries at Dixon Place Theater. You can get all up in that by going here and pledging a bit of your hard-earned money to help us take it to the stage. On the page you'll find outlined the books, CDs, drinks and meals you can get as expressions of our gratitude.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Scroll down to the next post.

And OK, Smoofus, here's another song for ya'. Just cuz it's in my head now.

New Play by Author, Journalist and WFMU Host Kurt Gottschalk to be Staged at Dixon Place Theatre

Under a Scar-Filled Sky: The Buddy Zinn Mysteries – directed by Mahayana Landowne and produced by Kristen Persinos with live music by Charlie Waters – draws from film noir and Taoist Buddhism to tell the tale of a P.I. trapped in a purgatory of his own devise.

Saturday, February 16, 10 pm

Dixon Place Theater

161 Chrystie Pl.

NYC NY

www.dixonplace.org

January 18, 2013 (For Immediate Release) – Solon Productions is pleased to announce a staging of its first collective effort, Under a Scar-Filled Sky: The Buddy Zinn Mysteries, as a part of the Dixon Place “Works in Progress” series.

The one-act philosophical farce is based a series on four flash fictions contained in Kurt Gottschalk’s 2011 collection Little Apples: A Story Cycle concerning Buddy Zinn, a koan-spouting private investigator more interested in intellectual posturing than solving a case. At the suggestion of musician and actress Kristen Persinos, the four stories were developed for the stage, with well more than twice as much new material penned. When the first-time playwright and the first-time producer met the experienced director Mahayana  Landowne, the project began to get off its feet.

Buddy Zinn, the hero of the story, ruminates about crossword puzzles, pop music, the devil, Greek mythology and Buddhist parables in a dingy office he never seems to leave. The potential clients who attempt to hire his services end up frustrated with his seeming indifference and unamused by his pontificating. But is he enlightened or just drunk? Is he divinely unattached or miserably detached. Ultimately, the answer may be uncomfortably unclear.

The one friend, or foil, in Buddy’s life is Charlie, a confidante and yes-man who may be a product of Buddy’s imagination. In a unique act of staging, Charlie is played by musician and composer Charlie Waters, who provides a jazzy soundtrack live on the set while giving Buddy the ego support he needs.

Casting will be announced soon. The production staff is available for comment.

Watch http://buddyzinn.blogspot.com/ for updates.

Writer, journalist and musician Kurt Gottschalk's first published piece was a letter to Trouser Press magazine about David Bowie when he was 13. He received a Master’s in journalism from Columbia 
University and has written for the Village Voice, Time Out, Wire, The Brooklyn Rail and magazines in England, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Russia. He produces and hosts the weekly program Miniature Minotaurs on WFMU radio.  “Under a Scar-Filled Sky” was originally conceived as four short stories within his Little Apples: A Story Cycle, published by Lulu in 2011. Last year his Sentences was published under the Lulu imprint. http://spearmintmusic.blogspot.com/

Director Mahayana Landowne looks to create work with dramatic visions that transcend daily life. Recent productions include : MIXED (Baruch Performing Arts), Impossible Country (Mudbone Collective), Baruch Voices (Baruch),  Picasso Project (Luna Stage), Blue, (Vital Theater), Carcass (Diaspora Drama), The Heiress, (The Roundtable Ensemble at the Mint), Machinal (U. of Rochester), Post-Code (American Living Room, HERE) and Terrible Infant (Fringe Festival). Musicals include: Spring Bling, Summer in the Hummer, and The Dick Cheney Holiday Spectacular (Ace of Clubs), Western Unidad (Ice Factory Festival, Ohio Theater) and Post-Code (American Living Room, HERE). Favorite past productions include: The Skriker, Antony and Cleopatra, The Seagull, brass logic, Streetcar Named Desire, Obgynt, King Lear, and Mud. Affiliations/ Fellowships include: Drama League 00’, Second Stage, NYU-BFA Acting and Yale School of Drama, MFA Directing. As a Director, Landowne has also used her skills for creative grassroots organizing for social issues including the NYC Dance Parade which brings together over one hundred dance organizations to dance down Broadway and many art action activities that promote participatory art culture. yana.landowne.org

Producer Kristen Persinos is no stranger to downtown theater and a graduate of the Boston University acting program. She has performed at the Downstairs Series in some early pieces by playwright Anne Washburn and the first Blueprint Directors Series, both at the Richard Foreman Ontological Theater.  She participated in a Mabou Mines workshop her first year in NYC, has acted in many pieces over the years and has performed in her own rock band, Impostor Syndrome. http://impostorsyndrome.net/

Musical Director Charlie Waters: composer, performer, fighter of uptown hegemony, dealer in stolen tonalities, processor of metaphysical alpha notations, geographer of city sounds, leader of the nuAtonality, sparkler, father & husband, Concertomentist, Baptist, Southerner, flower-lover, Williamsburger, day-jobber.

Please note: As per Dixon Place policy, complimentary tickets are only available to industry professionals. Please visit the dixonplace.org to buy tickets or contact the production staff at buddyzinn@gmail.com for passes or for further information. 

Closet Cleaning Sale

Some stuff I've worked on that's piling up on the shelves. Deals and trades considered. Paypal preferred. Satisfaction guaranteed.

READING

White Fungus #12: 156 page journal from Taiwan (printed in English) with my profile of David First. Also includes interviews with Carolee Schneemann and Pauline Oliveros, comics, art and a CD with tracks by If Bwana, David Watson & Sean Meehan and Our Love Will Destroy the World. $9

Signal to Noise #62: 82-page magazine with my cover story on the ICP Orchestra, also pieces on Liturgy, Time-Lag, Andrew Ford, Erdem Halvacioglu and Nick Hennies. $4

Signal to Noise #61: 74-page magazine with my cover story on Mostly Other People Do the Killing, plus features on Thollem McDonas, Rahim Al Haj, Jason Robinson, John Berndt and Tim Foster. $4.

Burning Ambulance #3: 104-page journal (solid! no ads) with my cover story on Anthony Braxton. Plus features on David Weiss, Jon Irabagon, the Moritz von Oswald Trio, Hollywood in the 1960s, composing for orchestra and progressive metal. Only one copy left in my closet. $7. 

Little Apples: A Story Cycle (Spearmint Lit) by Kurt Gottschalk: 17 short stories which might also be a novel, also includes original artwork by Gill Arno, Ben Owen, MP Landis, Cooper-Moore, Peter Evans, Steve Dalachinsky, Yuko Otomo and others. 180-page paperback, $12.

Sentences (SpearmintLit) by Kurt Gottschalk
A nice square book filled with lovingly crafted and unconnected sentences. 100-page paperback, $12.

LISTENING

Joëlle Léandre & Jérôme Bourdellon: Evidence (Relative Pitch) Beautiful flute and bass (plus some vocals and bass clarinet) duets. I wrote the liners. Sealed CD $10. 

Loren Connors & Suzanne Langille: I Wish I Didn't Dream (Northern Spy)
Man, I'm proud of this one. While working on a forthcoming book of MP Landis's paintings, I started wanting a soundtrack and my first choice was Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille. Northern Spy readily agreed and we were soon underway! Comes with a booklet of Landis's paintings. I produced and wrote liners. Sealed CD, $10.

Haunted House: Blue Ghost Blues (Northern Spy) Man, this kills! New album by the great quartet of Loren Connors, Andrew Burnes, Suzanne Langille and Neel Murgai. Thunderous avant blues. I produced and wrote liner notes. Sealed CD, $10; Sealed LP, $12

The Spanish Donkey: XYX (Northern Spy) Blasting session by Joe Morris, Mike Pride and Jamie Saft. I wrote the liners. Sealed CD, $10

VA: Clandestine Cassette #2 (Northern Spy) Compilation I produced of tape-manipulation artists. Exclusive tracks by Aki Onda, Nonhorse, Bonnie Jones and Jason Lescalleet. Cover design by MP Landis. Two copies left, out of print. Cassette, $5

Yuganaut: Sharks (Engine) Inventive out jazz by Stephen Rush, Tom Abbs and Geoff Mann. I wrote liner notes. Sealed CD, $8

VA: Dictaphonia #2 (HalTapes) 24-track compilation of pieces recorded on mini-cassette, includes my piece “Difficult Fortnight” performed on alto saxophone and radio. Mini-cassette, $5

VA: Dictaphonia #7 (HalTapes) 13-track compilation of mini-cassette works, includes my “Magnibanjoscope” recorded with dictaphone placed inside a banjo, plus a found recording by Stephanie Stone on piano and voice. Mini-cassette, $5.

Kurt Gottschalk: 24b Abstract blues recorded at home, solo electric guitar. CDR $5

Kurt Gottschalk: Bluefly Variations Abstract blues recorded on a riverbank in Vermont, solo acoustic guitar. CDR $5

2012: A Newel's Retort

Portrait by Lisa Ferber

We’ve always liked the phrase avoir l'esprit de l'escalier – it so nicely captures the moment, walking down the stairs after having left the party, when you think of the clever thing you should have said when you were still there. It makes us imagine that the staircase has some special power: It’s on the steps that we become our sharpest and most aware.

Escalators are an entirely different thing: contemplative, observant. When else do you move at a diagonal not of your own volition? Elevators are purely functional, escalators sublime, but stairs bring mind and body together. The task of climbing or descending the stairs – not so simple that it can be entirely ignored – causes us to become attuned. And then we think of that perfect witticism: “Ah, yes, well, what’s good for the goose is good for Furtwängler!”

We wonder, then, if the stairwell itself ever has anything amusing to offer, if the newel ever whispers to the banister, once the passerby has passed, that “The purse of his notoriety must be stitched with waxen thread.” (The humor embedded in such wry commentary is, of course, lost without context but saving for a lack of time we must proceed here and in good faith.) Ah, we think we’re so clever, but what if it proved to be our fixtures and appliances who had the last laughs (or is that “lauves”?)?

The end-of-year letter listing one’s accomplishments is, perhaps, a streamlined and immodest way of making good on the avoir l'esprits de l'escalier (not in a literal sense, of course, but more in a vague sense as we are at our mother’s house in western Tennessee and have neither the time nor the concentration to quite make sense) of the year coming to close. It is an opportunity to present ourselves as if everything we did followed some greater schemata, to affix an agenda and leave out our own crushingly miserable failures.

And so it is that here we have our 2012 Newel’s Retort, a chance to overlook our own penny-pinching episodes, our crises of faith and soul-wrenching weeks of self-doubt. We paint a portrait, a self-portrait, metaphorically of course, of ourselves as not only productive but fascinating. Not entirely dissimilar, perhaps, from the lovely portrait of our founder painted by Miss Lisa Ferber and rendered at the head of this communique. 

We fear that this meandering preamble might prove to be more interesting than the actual content being promoted which is to follow. If that be the case, so be it! Let us know and we will devote 2013 (or the balance thereof upon notification) with preambles and permutations, leaving the actual actualities inactualized.

And so, until further ado be requested:

We at Kurt were excited to present our second volume of words that aren’t necessarily true. Words, of course, do not have truth value, but sentences do and Sentences is a book of sentences unhinged from truth value, context or even lateral motion. It is shaped in a pleasing parallelogram and is available through the SpearmintLit page at Lulu.

Also at Lulu until we take it down which we suspect we haven’t yet done is a Christmas story with the given title “Amore” (which in truth was posted last year at Red Lemonade). We have been working on a volume of holiday stories and have made the unilateral decision to start offering some of them at calendrically-appropriate moments. Watch in February for the next issuance, “The St. Valentine’s Day Mackerel.”

And on the front of writing of untruths (and we do meanwhile continue our efforts in writing – or at least our efforts in trying to write – truths about odd and fancy musical artists in various paper and pixel outlets), we have been very excited to undertake the writing of a theatrical production, which will be presented at Dixon Place Theatre in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, New York City on February 16, 2013 CE. It is a dismal one-act farce based on the Buddy Zinn stories in the book Little Apples, which was written by Kurt Gottschalk (which is us) and is also available through Lulu. But you knew that.

Another ongoing venture which we pursue with enthusiasm, fear, vigor, and a fairly transparent over-compensation for a lacking of confidence is the making of if not music then certainly sound which we are pleased when people are patient about. Details of 2012 soundmaking are henceforthwith offered.

Ecstasy Mule, a duo comprised of Len “Thirty-Seven” Siegfried and our own me, lunged itself belatedly into the digital age with both a Bandcamp page (for older releases on our Batterrie Records and a new digital 7” single which can be heard via an embedded hearing mechanism below) and a SoundCloud page, where you can find their new release The Ballad of Rice Cooker and the SpectralLarvae. It is also the case that we have launched a SoundCloud page for other audio ephemera created or collected by us, that being me.

There at the latter you can also find should you be inclined a recording of “Radio Music for John Cage,” a piece I constructed for Free103point9’s “100 Hours for John Cage” broadcast tribute and performed by a crack team of my fellow WFMU DJs. 

Ecstasy Mule performed another Cage tribute, entitled “Ecstasy Mule vs John Cage vs Ecstasy Mule” at the Stone in Alphabet City and the GreenLine Café in Philadelphia City. In February we expect to do it again, or not do it, in Brooklyn Heights, on which occasion the entire audience will be asked to perform the piece while we sit and listen.

And indeed and for that matter we were happy for the opportunity to work again with Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille, conceiving, producing and even writing a little story for their 7" and CD I Wish I Didn't Dream, a set of improvised songs to the paintings of MP Landis, available through Northern-Spy Records. And on that count, we were pleased also to write liner notes for a new release by Joëlle Leandre and Jérôme Bourdellon on Relative Pitch.

Lastly, we would like to announce the launching of a new blog for the coming year. We have received great joy at our central office listening to doo wop during the past year and have decided to share our discoveries via a Tumblr page. Please visit Toowop Duesday every single week for a new, old harmonic treasure. It will suspend operation on Dec. 31, 2013, at which time we will write you another letter. And of course, you can meet me on WFMU every Friday from 3 to 6 pm. 

A Christmas Story

I've been working on a collection of holiday-themed stories which I hope to have done sometime in 2013. It's a fun challenge. Holidays are so loaded with emotions and iconography that there's a lot to work with and even more to avoid! 

I've decided I'll make some of them available through the coming year at seasonally appropriate moments, the first one being "Amore," my Christmas story. Some of you may have seen this last year when it was posted at Red Lemonade, but now it's up at Lulu as a PDF with a monotone cover for a mere $2. 

Some of the holiday stories I've written so far are a bit racy, even vulgar! Some are actually kinda sweet and sentimental. This one I like a lot. It's kinda sad, I guess, but I like it. Maybe you would, too. 

If you're so inclined, you can find it here.