20091230

High Bias #16


NAME: Rodrigo Amado

BIO: For Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, improvisation isn’t only a process of making music, but an end in itself and a cause he pursues with great passion. His long span project Lisbon Improvisation Players and other groups he formed with, for instance, Ken Filiano, Steve Adams, Dennis Gonzalez, Carlos “Zíngaro”, Kent Kessler, Paal Nilssen-Love, Miguel Mira or Gabriel Ferrandini, all share the same method of opening the concept of real-time composition to as many perspectives as possible.

With one foot in modern jazz and the other in free improvisation, what he likes most is to play in the jazz idiom, without any tunes or preconceived structures, but forging a work of strong structure, clear direction and deep meaning, in real-time. So, his improvisation, although not free in formal terms, is free anyhow in its strategies and in the open spectrum of possibilities it offers musicians working with him. And that ambiguity is what interests him.

Born in Lisbon in 1964, he studied saxophone since he was 17 years old. Since then, he developed an intense activity focused mainly on the Jazz and Improvised music fields. Studied briefly at the Hot Clube Music School of Lisbon and had private lessons with some of the leading jazz players in Portugal, namely Carlos Martins, Jorge Reis and Pedro Madaleno.

Some of the musicians he played or recorded with: Lou Grassi, Steve Swell, Herb Robertson, Lisle Ellis, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hebert, Gerald Cleaver, Luís Lopes, Aaron Gonzalez, Stefan Gonzalez, Paul Dunmall, Raymond Strid, Sten Sandell, Per Zanussi, Adam Lane, Joe Giardullo, Harris Eisenstadt, Tomas Ulrich, Alex Cline, Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Dominic Duval, Mike Bisio, Scott Fields, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Chris Jonas, Michael Thompson, Wade Matthews, Gail Brand, Michael Attias, Andrew Drury, Sture Erikson, Rachim Ausar Sahu, Per-Ake Holmlander, Jan Roder, Elliott Levin, Mark Whitecage, Peter Epstein, Greg Moore, Phill Niblock, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Sei Miguel, Rafael Toral, Manuel Mota, Ernesto Rodrigues, DJ Ride, Carlos Barretto, Ulrich Mitzlaff or Nuno Rebelo, among many others.

In September 2001, Amado joined brothers Pedro and Carlos Costa to start the label Clean Feed, totally devoted to record creative contemporary jazz and improvised music. Very quickly, Clean Feed found itself at the vortex of the international creative jazz scene, releasing projects that reached far beyond what was initially imagined. In 2005, Amado left the company and started his own label, “European Echoes”, focusing mostly in his own work. Since then, he is spending more and more time with his own projects, with music and photography. He also writes on a regular basis for one of the most prestigious Portuguese newspapers, Jornal Público.

He leads the projects Lisbon Improvisation Players and his Motion Trio with Miguel Mira and Gabriel Ferrandini, and tries to mantain regular collaborations with his other projects; the trio with Kessler and Nilssen-Love, the trio with Zíngaro and Filiano, and the quartet with Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hebert and Gerald Cleaver.

WEBSITE: www.rodrigoamado.com


Do you read reviews of your work?

Yes.


Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?


I only read them once (occasionally, I go back to them, years later). After that, they lose the surprise effect.

Yes, I save all of them. They are an important source of information on my site and they help me track certain aspects of my personal evolution. Also, my memory is getting worse everyday, so all this written information gives me a lasting perspective on my work. The strongest look I have on my early years as a musician (20/25 years ago) is a group of reviews, articles and interviews.

Yes, I quote them.


Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?


When I started playing, reviews had a big impact on me and on my work. Bad reviews would make me angry and frustrated and good reviews had an opposite effect. Overall, I think they played a strong role on my formation, as a musician, in a positive way. Gradually, I started identifying critics and writers and interpreting their opinions accordingly. Recently, I face reviews as info, essential to spread the word about my work, but they don’t seem to affect my music in any way.


Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?

I have my opinion on some people that write about my work. Others, I don’t know well enough (meaning, I didn’t read them enough to have an opinion). Some, I respect more than others and I am happy to see that they took time to listen to my music. Very often, they will write something that interests me, almost like a conversation between them and my music. I also write about music, and have a strong respect for the discipline. I know how hard it is to choose the right words and to make a text that is both informative and personal, connecting with the music you’re writing about. I’m really not happy with my own writing but I love the challenge.


Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?


Not really. I might say something exchanging mails, but that’s just part of daily communication. When I meet a writer that I feel has a strong insight into my music, we can talk about that, although I don’t feel very comfortable. Most probably, we’ll have a strong empathy and end up talking about everything but my music.


Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends? Do they write about your work? How does that make you feel?


Yes. It happened a few times. If we got friends through the music, I feel it’s really special if they continue to write about my music. They have a privileged view on my work, and they can go deeper in writing about it, which is the most important thing, in my opinion. Some might choose not to write anymore, after being friends, and I totally respect that. It happened once, that a good old friend of mine ended up writing about music, and he wrote about a couple of my records. That felt really strange. Not comfortable.


Has you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?


No one told me that yet, but I feel it has happened. I respect it.


Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.

Well, I have felt in interviews that the journalist has an agenda. And he keeps directing you to his objective instead of really listening to you. That’s annoying. Also, in a small country like Portugal, you always get these little vibes, these subtle signs, that have to do with groups of people, informal lobbies…I care much more for what is written about my music outside Portugal (with a few exceptions). It tends to be less biased.


Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?

Yes, I do it often for a Portuguese daily newspaper (Público). I invited two other writers to join the team, so I don’t need to write about Portuguese musicians that I know very well or have played with. My policy is to cover every Portuguese jazz release that comes out. Unless it’s really bad and I feel the musicians don’t deserve to hear about it.


Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?

I feel music journalism is going through a deep change. There are great writers. Blogs give the possibility of strong personal statements. The record industry crisis is affecting the stability of many. Magazines are closing and online writing hasn’t found the means to finance itself. Everything is a little scattered. Let’s wait.

20091227

Stranded on the Prairie

I crashed on the prairie while trying to see my dad
With his little cats who make my nose run real bad
I was stranded on the prairie, afraid, alone
Trying to figure a way to get an airplane back home
But how was I to know that the wreckage of my plane
Had been iced up and snowed in in the Prairie State

Meanwhile, back in New York

Baby, baby, let's make radio
You know your old-time DJ is sucking up the snow
He's stranded on the prairie, sad as he can be
So come on pretty baby, just you and me

Meanwhile, back on the prairie

The Lincoln impersonators had me on the run
When something heavy hit me like a bushel of sorghum
When I woke up and my heart started to hate
I had a strange feeling I was John Wilkes Booth bait
I felt someone eyein' and I looked to see
That's when I found out they was aimin' at me
Mary Todd, get me outta here!

Meanwhile, back in New Jersey

Baby, baby, let's make radio
You know your old-time DJ is sucking up the snow
He's stranded on the prairie, sad as he can be
So come on pretty baby, just you and me

Meanwhile, back on the prairie

I jumped out of the snowbank, I finally got away
I was frantic, worried about what Station Manager Ken Freedman would say
So I jumped in the cornfield and started to crawl
My chance of makin' airtime gettin' pretty small
So I thumbed down a mule that was headed my way
And I reached Jersey City in about half a day
When I got to Montgomery Street I was almost dead
Heard him talkin' to my listeners, and this is what he said

Babies, babies, that DJ's no good
Babies, babies, should have understood
You can listen to me just as long as you please
So come back pretty babies tune in to me
Cause I love you (I love you, I love you, you're fine babies)
Cause I love you (So damn fine)
Cause I love you (I got no job, the marathon's in March)
Cause I love you (Did I show you my bandwidth?)
Cause I love you (I'll take you for a ride)
Cause I love you (Big major 7th ending or some shit)

20091225

My Home Town #2


Michelle Hill, the new guitarist for The Slits, sports a t-shirt from the Springfield zoo at the Highline Ballroom in New York. She didn't know what it was.

20091223

High Bias #15


NAME: Amanda Monaco

HOME: NYC

BIO: Playing guitar has led Amanda Monaco to perform at the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Tonic, Joe’s Pub, and the JVC Jazz Festival, as well as other venues in the United States and Europe.  Amanda’s quartet Deathblow (with Michael Attias – alto and baritone saxophones; Sean Conly – bass; Satoshi Takeishi – drums) combines free-bop sensibilities with through-composed pieces equal parts textural, adventurous, and whimsical. Deathblow performs a mix of Monaco's original compositions and modern twists on classic and obscure jazz repertoire. Monaco’s latest CD, I Think I’ll Keep You, was released on LateSet Records in October 2009 and is available for download from iTunes, eMusic, and amazon.com. As an educator, Amanda has served on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, New School University, and the National Guitar Workshop and is the author of Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner (Alfred Publishing). A former student of Ted Dunbar, Amanda graduated in 2008 with a M.A. from The City College of New York.

WEBSITE: www.amandamonaco.com 


Do you read reviews of your work?

- yes


Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?

- yes, yes, and yes


Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?

- not really, though I get really annoyed when I’m misquoted.


Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?

- at some point I would like to reach out to the publications that focus on women’s interests because jazz can be seen as such a man’s world, you know? And maybe if there was an article on a female jazz musician it could introduce women in music (other than pop) to a wider audience. I am fully aware of the fact that this could totally backfire, but it’s something I’ve always thought about in terms of getting jazz back into the mainstream a bit more.


Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?

- Both


Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends? Do they write about your work? How does that make you feel?

- Yes. Yes. We became friends after they wrote about my work, and I value their opinions.


Has you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?

- Yes. Well, he’s my husband and I think that it’s ok that he doesn’t want to write about me. He will give me an honest opinion off the record, though, which I truly appreciate.


Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.

- Once there was a journalist who saw my essay about the ups and downs of being a female musician and wanted to ask me why I was so “angry”, which only proved that he just didn’t “get” it and was one of those chauvinistic idiots who liked his “girl musicians” demure as opposed to real.


Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?

- I’ve interviewed Kenny Barron and reviewed a few CDs for AAJ-NY. I don’t write about music very often, but I enjoy writing about music and enjoy reading about it as well.


Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?

- I think it’s abhorrent that some jazz journalists think that the music can’t survive without them; furthermore, it is disgusting that they take the promo CDs they receive and sell them on eBay; that hurts the musicians financially.


Anything you'd like to add?

-  Nothing I can think of right now.


Anything you want to ask me?

- Not right now. Thanks for doing this!

20091216

High Bias #14


NAME: Jon Rose

BIO: For over 35 years, Jon Rose has been at the sharp end of experimental, new and improvised music. Central to that practice has been 'The Relative Violin' project, a unique output, rich in content, realising almost everything on, with, and about the violin - and string music in general. Most celebrated is the worldwide Fence project; least known are the relative violins created specifically for and in Australia.

In 1977, he started Australia’s first musician run collective for the promotion and recording of improvised music – Fringe Benefit.

In the area of interactive electronics, his work is considered exemplary, having pioneered the use of the MIDI bow in the 'Hyperstring' project in the 1980s with the Steim Institute, Amsterdam - and with whom he continues to collaborate often in interactive projects involving sport, games, or the environment.

Jon Rose has appeared on more than 60 albums and collaborated with many of the mavericks of new music including John Cage, Derek Bailey, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Alvin Curran, Fred Frith, George Lewis, Otomo Yoshihide, Christian Marclay, etc. at festivals of New Music, Jazz, and Sound Art world wide such as Ars Elektronica, Festival D’Automne, Maerzmusik, Dokumenta, North Sea Jazz Fest, Leipzig Jazz Fest, European Media, New Music America, the Vienna Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, etc.

Apart from Europe, considerable interest in Rose's output currently comes from California where he was awarded the David Tudor Residency at Mills College in 2007 and completed a concert and lecture tour of all the major UC campuses.

In 2002 he set up the Australia Ad Lib website for the ABC – an interactive guide to the wild, the weird, and the vernacular in Australian music.

Recently Jon Rose has been commissioned by the Kronos String Quartet to write and build “Music from 4 Fences” for the Sydney Opera House; realised his bicycle powered “Pursuit” project at Carriage Works, Sydney; performed a completely new and improvised solo part for the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; created a major radiophonic work for the BBC on the history of the piano in 19th century Australia; toured in Europe with his current improvisation group 'Futch'; premiered his interactive Ball project at The Melbourne Festival; and been apprehended by the Israeli Defence Forces at the Separation Fence near Ramallah in the occupied territories; performed his interactive multi-media composition “Internal Combustion” for violin and orchestra at The Philharmonic, Berlin.

In 2007 he gave the Peggy Glanville-Hicks address - Listening to history: some proposals for reclaiming the practice of music. It has been published in over six journals, including The Leonardo Music Journal of MIT Press.

He holds 3 passports, one of which declares him a 'Berliner for life'.

WEBSITE: www.jonroseweb.com


Do you read reviews of your work?

When I get sent them.

Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?


I put them on my website under Press...so when concert promoters ask for press...it's there to grab. I am partial to the really bad reviews.


Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?

No, it just means I stopped reading the Wire a long while ago.


Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?

The writers who have some media power and write the history of experimental music seem to carry the same aesthetics in their bag, I'm not part of that club. And as Groucho said "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member".


Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?

In the book "Violin Music in the Age of Shopping" - a certain jazz critic was taken to the cleaners. In 1980 I did ring up a reviewer from the Adelaide Advertiser who had by misfortune been told to review my concert when he was programmed to review a choir singing madrigals. He clearly was out of his depth - so I rang him to help him through the hoops. At first he denied writing it, then, when pushed, said "Look I don't mind modern music, I like the Beatles!" I haven't bothered since then.


Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends? Do they write about your work? How does that make you feel?

I have no reviewing friends that I'm aware of.


Has you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?

No that never happened...but people have written to me to say positive and negative things about my work, but no critics that I'm aware of.


Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.

Possibly reviewers don't like it when musicians write as I guess they think of it as crossing into their territory.


Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?

I have written (with rainer Linz and some 8 other anon authors) two books "The Pink Violin" and "Violin music in the Age of Shopping". I write a lot of stuff about the violin, improv, music history, strings, electronics, which can be found on my website. I occasionally submit stuff for publication, not the Wire as it's clearly a little club of back scratchers anxious to keep the history of music for themselves and their mates.


Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?

You will never get writers with the passion or knowledge of Mann or Adorno ever bothering with music again. Music lost its power and place in society when the notion of a professional musician became extinct. Now it's just celebs, minor celebs, or wannabes, talent challenged ex pop stars, and downloads.


Anything you'd like to add?

It's a big subject - I'd suggest that I deal with this issue in Listening to history: some proposals for reclaiming the practice of music. The basic assumption that it all happened in the 20th century is nonsense, it all happened in the 19th century and before. Nothing much new under the music of the spheres, just changes of context.


Anything you want to ask me?

No, but feel free to quote from that article - it remains current somehow.

20091210

Larry Ochs is Not Jazzy Enough

By Giles Tremlett
The Guardian Wednesday 9 December 2009

Jazzman Larry Ochs has seen many things during 40 years playing his saxophone around the world but, until this week, nobody had ever called the police on him.

That changed on Monday night however, when's Spain's pistol-carrying Civil Guard police force descended on the Sigüenza Jazz festival to investigate allegations that Ochs's music was not, well, jazz.

Police decided to investigate after an angry jazz buff complained that the Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core group was on the wrong side of a line dividing jazz from contemporary music.

The jazz purist claimed his doctor had warned it was "psychologically inadvisable" for him to listen to anything that could be mistaken for mere contemporary music.

According to a report in El País newspaper yesterday, the khaki-clad police officers listened to the saxophone-playing and drumming coming from the festival stage before agreeing that the purist might, indeed, have a case.

His complaint against the organisers, who refused to return his money, was duly registered and will be passed on to a judge.

"The gentleman said this was not jazz and that he wanted his money back," said the festival director, Ricardo Checa.

"He didn't get his money. After all, he knew exactly what group he was going to see, as their names were on the festival programme.

He added: "The question of what constitutes jazz and what does not is obviously a subjective one, but not everything is New Orleans funeral music.

"Larry Ochs plays contemporary, creative jazz. He is a fine musician and very well-renowned."

"I thought I had seen it all," Ochs, who reportedly suffered a momentary identity crisis, told El País. "I was obviously mistaken."

"After this I will at least have a story to tell my grandchildren," the California-based saxophonist added.

20091209

High Bias #13


NAME: Cooper-Moore

HOME: NYC


Do you read reviews of your work?

Yes.


Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?

Yes.Yes.Yes. I have used quotes only once that I can remember. It was a pamphlet for a performance and workshop. It was never distributed. More often reviews document the where, when and who with.


Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?

Years ago I remember a writer talking about the difference between performances in clubs as opposed to concerts on stage in larger venues. The presence of alcohol or not being an important factor in how a performance is presented.


Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?

It's not something I give thought to.


Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?

Yes I did one time. It was to inform the person that his negative comments were misdirected. We the musicians on the recording had no control over what tracks released, or how they were recorded mixed and mastered, or the final order of the tracks on the CD. The problem was not with the musicians but with the producer and the label. I wrote to inform.


Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends?

I consider you a friend. It has nothing to do with your writing about me or anyone else. You are one of only two people that I have met in NYC in the past 25 years who ever offered and gave me a ride home after a gig. William Parker was the other one. With all my stuff it can be very difficult to make a gig. It usually always cost me more than I make on a job. That impressed me because I am from a place where people with cars always offered ride to people with none. Maybe that has changed but it is what I remember as being proper behavior.


Do they write about your work?

Yes.


How does that make you feel?

The more I appear in the press the more likely I am to work. That makes me feel good.


Have you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?

No.

But I see that as a writer's problem. I am much more critical of what I and those around me do than any critic can be. I hear everything, good and bad, in tune, out of tune, sloppy playing, forgetfulness. I appreciate truth.

I know you are more concerned with musician-and-writer. But there is a huge problem in my world with musicians being able to be critical of one another, like being able to tell another musician stuff. I just isn't appreciated.


Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.

No.



Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?

No. I am not a consumer of music.


Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?

I don't know if the journalism is any better or worst. There seems to me to be a problem with the core quality of the music performances I experience. Too few venues and venues that confine bands to one set. I grew up hearing bands playing multi-sets nightly. This helped educate the listening ears and enabled musicians time to develop in ways that do not happen in rehearsals or from practicing their instruments.


Anything you want to ask me?

Nope.

20091203

On Auto-Tune

This is a piece I wrote a few months ago for the Living Music Journal which was supposedly coming back to life but now, well, it seems to be unclear. I chatted with Chuck about auto-tune while I was writing it, and he kindly segued me in his High Bias interview below into my posting it here. Thanks to Rob Voisey for letting me post it here, and hopefully LMJ will still see the light of day.

In June of 2009, Jay-Z released the single “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune),” an indictment of the pitch-shifting software used to “fix” the vocals in almost all pop songs on the radio today. In an attack that gained its impetus more from his clout than any real argument, the rapper suggested that use of Auto-Tune is emasculating, implying that Sinatra wouldn’t use it and namechecking T-Pain (one of the heaviest users), telling him to quit singing and “get violent” to prove himself.

You rappers singin’ too much
Get back to rap, you T-Pain’n too much
I’m a multi-millionaire
So how is it I’m still the hardest nigga here?
I don’t be in the project hallway
Talkin’ bout how I be in the project all day
That sounds stupid to me
If you a gangsta, this is how you prove it to me
Yeah, just get violent
This is death of Auto-Tune, moment of silence.


It might not be the sturdiest of syllogisms, but Jay-Z has weight to throw around. He has sold 26 million records and is the former CEO of both Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella. And in the endless oneupsmanship of hip hop, he is putting himself above rappers who resort to singing, and then have their voices fixed in the studio. (Chastising a rapper for singing is, in itself, pretty funny. Prince, one of pop’s finest voices, did as much 20 years ago: “You see in rap, the first problem /usually stems from being tone deaf / Pack the house, try to sing / won’t be no one left.”) But oddly for a man who’s made his millions in a universe of artifice, Jay-Z is missing the point.

Auto-Tune was initially created by an Exxon engineer who discovered that programs used for interpreting seismic data could also analyze and modify tones. While slight fixes in songs can be seamless, the technology has also been pushed to force sonic stairsteps, first and most famously heard in the chorus of Cher’s 1998 single “Believe.” The robotic voice-morphing as she intones the title is the only thing that made the song memorable, an endearing aural trick that at once sounded futuristic and retro. This is not the harm but the charm of Auto-Tune.

There is something quite likable about the artificiality of Cher’s (or T-Pain’s, or Lil Wayne’s) robot voice which is quite different than it’s purely fix-it application employed by such “real” singers as Reba McEntire, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Using the tool to fix a flawed vocal perhaps does amount to deceiving the listener, as did hiring Glen Campbell to play on the Monkees records, or hiring whoever it was that sang Milli Vanilli’s parts.

But the Cher-Pain-Wayne usage is, of course, a different thing. The attempt there is not to fool record-buyers, but to create (and subsequently emulate) a new sound, something novel. In that sense, it’s not like hiring a session musician to play the parts the band can’t, but like speeding up a tape to create an effect, or for that matter using someone else’s vinyl record to create a new sound on your own (you still with me, Z?). It’s not trickery, it’s seduction, a snappy come-on line to get your attention. It’s artificial and, if all is as it should be, it’s novel. It’s artifice and novelty. These are the qualities that, presumably, Jay-Z (and others, Wyclef Jean for one, who have condemned the application in song) wants to separate himself from. But artifice and novelty are not qualities that should be dismissed so easily in pop music. These are the things that put a smile on our face, that make us feel bemusedly nostalgic, when we hear “Crimson and Clover” or “Do You Feel Like We Do” or “1999” or “Funky Town” or any other of a number of processed-vocal songs.

Auto-Tune abuse will prove to be the pop zeitgeist of the early 21st century. And in a style as concerned with immediacy as is rap, it might be one of the few lasting impressions being made.

20091202

High Bias #12



NAME
: Chuck Bettis 

BIO
: Raised in the fertile HarDCore soil, nourished within Baltimore's enigmatic avant garde gatherings, blossoming in NY's Downtown Musical tribe 

WEBSITE
: www.chuckbettis.com 

Do you read reviews of your work?
 
Unfortunately, i do.

Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?
 
I am disgusted that i read them at all, never save them, never quote them.

Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?
 
Only serves as a reinforcement to my belief that you should not care what other people think of your art.    

Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?
 
Nope, bring it on, i will fight you all! 

Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?
 
No, since i believe that once you put something out into the public sphere, it is no longer yours, it belongs to the public.   i guess i passively subscribe to the notion that there is not such thing as bad press.  Also, i'm am a strong proponent of the philosophy that actions speak louder than words.   

Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends? Do they write about your work? How does that make you feel?
 
I am friends with a couple of reviewers, very few whom dared to write about my work. I am glad they took the time to write about my music and hope they could do so without our friendship tainting an honest response.  

Have you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?
 
Not directly, but yes that is a factor.   Knowing who the artist is ALWAYS changes your reaction to their work, be it listening to or writing about. 

Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.
 
Yes, i have dealt with many asshole journalists, most whom i have confronted and literally called them an asshole.  i did an interview for [an arts weekly] where the conniving writer twisted my words and pitted me against my friends in the musical community, plus for some reason he decided to write about my shoes too, what the fuck!

Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?
 
Yes, almost weekly, Yes, but i try to make reviews interesting for me to read instead of being a cookie cutter template.

Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?
 
No nostalgia here, time always tells who does their homework and who passionately cares about the artists. 

Anything you'd like to add?
 
Stop writing about music, go listen to it!

Anything you want to ask me?
 
How do you feel about auto-tune?