“Setup Madness!” Episodes 03 & 04 are live on ‘Brian Grimm’s Cello Zone’ youtube page! feat. Jargar Superior A D (medium)

Episode 03: Jargar Superior A string (medium)

In Episode 03 and 04 of my new series “Setup Madness!” we’ll be changing from Pirastro Perpetual Soloist A & D (med) to the Jargar Superior A & D (med)! I was very excited to try this new Superior string set from Jargar because I grew up playing on Jargar’s Classic A & D strings (med). I have high hopes for their new developments in string making (and honestly think it’s a little overdue!). You’ll be listening to me make observations, noting crucial differences between the Pirastro and Jargar strings. For episode 03, I’ll still have the Pirastro Perpetual Soloist D (medium) and Cadenza G C strings (light) on my cello; and in episode 04, I’ll be switching over to Jargar’s Superior D (med) string.

Special Thanks again goes out to the Dane Arts Council for awarding me one of their 2021 ‘DANG! Arts Grants’ which funded the purchase of my new camera setup and all of its accessories! http://www.danearts.com


Episode 04: Jargar Superior D string (medium)

I’ll be taking a vacation for the next 2 weeks, so there’ll be no new ‘Setup Madness’ episodes until the end of January, next year… But! Here’s what you have to look forward to in the next few episodes!

Episode 05 will feature the Larsen original C string (heavy gauge)
Episode 06 will feature the Larsen original G string (heavy gauge)
Episode 07 will feature the Pirastro Passione gut G string (strong gauge)
Episode 08 will feature the Pirastro Passione gut C string (strong gauge)
Episode 09 will feature the Pirastro Oliv gut D string (light)
Episode 10 maaaayyyy possibly feature the Pirastro Eudoxa gut A string (medium) with the Passione GC and Oliv D… we’ll just have to see…. but it looks like I’m moving back to gut….

Annnd, starting with Episode 07 you’ll finally get to see some footage from my new camera!!

Lots already filmed, as you can see, so subscribe to the “Brian Grimm’s Cello Zone” youtube channel to keep up to date when each episode as it comes out (I post on Monday or Thursday).

Happy New Year,
Stay safe out there!
~ Brian

8/7 | Ben Willis + Brian Grimm @ Bos Meadery

8-7 Ben Willis and Brian Grimm v2

Sun 8/7  |  6pm  $5  @ Bos Meadery

849 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703

solo & duo performances from

BEN WILLIS – double bass

BRIAN GRIMM – guqin, cello

Bos Meadery – “Mead Made Modern” our mission is to make the world’s oldest fermented beverage in the most modern possible way using local ingredients, so that our mead reflects the flavor of the Wisconsin landscape. Much like farm to table eating, this is field to glass drinking.

BEN WILLIS (DET/AA, MI) – solo double bass

Egret/Flatlander is a set of solo bass pieces by Ben Willis. Composed through development and exploration of improvisational practice, the movements have taken shape as open cellular structures, that act as themes and zones for extemporaneous development.

The pieces make use of a range of extended double bass techniques, drawing inspiration from contemporary classical music and free improvisation. The musical language draws from many influences, including rock structures, folk harmonies and melodies, and doom metal.

Ben Willis is a bassist whose affinities lie in collaborative projects, new music, improvisation, and the merging of cross-disciplinary elements. He’s performed his original collaborative work at venues and festivals around the U.S., including the International Society for Improvised Music Conference, Electroacoustic Barn Dance at the University of Mary Washington, the Whitewater Arts Alliance Series at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater and the Ratchet Series at the Skylark in Chicago. In 2013, he was a Robert Black Bass Fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival. Much of his work highlights the importance of collaborative, performative process in the development of new art. He is a member of the Weather Duo, an electroacoustic ensemble with cellist Pat Reinholz, dedicated to performing new music that blends classical training with improvisation and folk idioms. The Weather Duo has contributed music to the Li Chiao Ping dance company, a video project with artist Doug Rosenberg and dancer Sally Gross, and composed occasional film scores. In live performance, they explore multimedia collaboration with the help of live video artist Anna Weisling. He has also toured and recorded as a sideman, working with many indie/folk artists, including Anna Vogelzang, Dietrich Gosser, and Thistle and the Thorns. He often participates in recitals of new music and collaborations with composers, and performs regularly with the jazz/rock project Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps, and the free improvisation trio Glacier. He currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI. He earned a BM in Performance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and MM in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He’s studied bass with Richard Davis, Diana Gannett, and Bob Hurst, and composition with Andrew Bishop.

Buy Egret/Flatlander here >>


BRIAN GRIMM (MAD, WI) – solo cello & guqin

Cellist & composer Brian Grimm grew up surrounded by Chinese string instruments of every sort. After initial lessons in Chinese music with Yang Wei (pipa) & Daxun Zhang (bass) of the Silkroad Enesemble, he was lucky to then study guqin (zither), pipa (lute), gaohu (fiddle) & daruan (bass lute) in Hong Kong with members of the 香港中樂團 Hong Kong Chinese OrchestraWuji Ensemble 無極樂團. Over the last 15 years Grimm has developed a deep language of Free Improvisation & Composition with groups such as The Brothers Grimm, Lovely Socialite, and Brennan Connors & Stray Passage. In conjunction with performing & teaching, Brian runs GrimmusiK Records – a label for all projects involving him & his brother AJ (classical & flamenco guitar).

** BC Grimm’s new CD “Orbis Obscura” for Pipa, Fuzz & Delay drops Friday, 8/12 on Other Obscura Records @ ArtIn Gallery on East Wash! **

J100

COMING SOON! NEW BC GRIMM CD “ORBIS OBSCURA” DROPS FRI 8/12


 

 

Solo Guqin Album F.M.O.P. Remastered + Upcoming Release “The Ideating Knell” on Signal Dreams

FLOCK MIGRATES OVER THE PINES [2011] by BC Grimm
a solo GUQIN album for meditation, yoga, & relaxation

June, 2014 – remastered & availalbe digitally for $8 on GrimmusiK.bandcamp

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FMOP has been remastered in anticipation of a new solo zither album, The Ideating Knell by BC Grimm coming out next Tuesday, 6/17 on Signal Dreams records.  Stay tuned for more details, follow Signal Dreams on bandcamp & soundcloud!

GD07  “The Ideating Knell”  available 06/17/2014 on Signal Dreams 
An experimental acoustic album of compositions for two ancient Chinese zithers, Guqin 古琴 & Guzheng 古筝. This record includes 6 ‘doppler phase’ pieces for guqin, emulating tape composition techniques to create the movement of sound to/from the vanishing point on the horizon line to/from the listener’s ears. There are 6 pieces for prepared guzheng using: dulcimer hammers, cajon brushes, metal chopsticks, mate straw, metal bowls, broken teaware, clay sculpting tools, snare wires, & seashell strands. 3 pieces revisit the title track composition from BCG’s 2011 solo guqin album, “Flock Migrates Over The Pines”: with re-recorded, reconstructed versions in two custom tunings, and a new variation on the theme in a traditional tuning.  The actual notation in the composition’s score visually depicts various forms & shapes of birds taking off and in formation during flight.  A new ‘Pentatemperment’ tuning system on guqin has been specially devised for this project – splitting the octave into 5 equal steps, instead of 12 [low to high: C-40c D0c E+40c G-20c A+20c C-40c D0c].  Guzheng 古筝, a 21 string bridged zither spanning 4 octaves, and Guqin 古琴, a 7 string fretless zither spanning 1 octave, both tune to pentatonic scales.  These instruments share a culturally important performance history stretching back about 2,500 years to the Warring States period.

Brothers Grimm farewell show at Color Field Ensemble Festival For Contemporary Music | 2013 KARJAKA Studios | http://karjaka.com/

Brothers Grimm farewell show at Color Field Ensemble Festival For Contemporary Music | 2013 KARJAKA Studios | http://karjaka.com/

 

 

Featured Performer ☛ CJ BOYD |COLIAS 1 2xCD Release Party 4/26 8pm

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  |CJ Boyd.com |CJ Boyd.bandcamp |Joyful Noise Recordings |Kurva Choir|

|Radio-preview 4/25 11pm on Gross Time w/ DJ EW/RadioTWC|

 Fri, 4/26 8pm  

  Bright Red Studios | $7 Entry + CD | $5 Entry Only | All Ages  

COLIAS 1  RELEASE PARTY
BROS.GRIMM + DB PEDERSEN   (MAD)
NUDE HUMAN   (MAD/MKE)
ESKIMEAUX   (PHL/CHI)
CJ BOYD   (USA)

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promo_cjboyd1 - Copy

CJ BOYD

Equal parts ambient and virtuosic, melancholic and playful, CJ Boyd’s bass playing melts glaciers, creating a sea of low, flowing rhythms, while also supplying melodies that soar over the ocean to melt the sun itself. Waves of bass loops are garnished with harmonica drones and constant improvisational exploration. This is deep-sea-diving for the hungry and alone. While certainly following in the footstep of great bassists like Mingus and Meyer, Boyd’s aesthetic sensibility also seeks to wed the minimalism of Reich and Glass with what might be called the maximalism of Beethoven chamber music. But all this is further complicated by the presence of Boyd’s improvisational prowess. Not funky, not a bassplayer’s bassplayer exactly, but something refreshing and impressive-improvising with fingers that only know how to dance to the deepest tunes. One thinks Nietzsche might have had CJ in mind when he said, “Maturity consists in regaining the seriousness one had as a child at play.” This is childsplay for the experienced listener.

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௵ Friends,  Improvisers, New Music appreciators, & Colias collaborators ᗙ we’ve got a special guest joining us! Come to Bright Red Studios this Friday, 8pm to hear CJ Boyd – a constant traveler, who considers no/every place his home. We’re delighted he chose to drop by Madison and share his talents!  CJ’s contribution to the COLIAS 1 release can be found on Disc 1, it’s a lush string trio piece from his group Kurva Choir ᗉ they’re wondrous – check ’em out below!

►Preview 2 | Kurva Choir – Love in a mist/ devil in the bush

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PS… COLIAS Preview 3 tomorrow!