Tuesday, January 04, 2011

This Blog Has Moved

Hi, All:

I'm now blogging at http://arborville.com.

These old, archived posts will stay here for the time being. Look for new posts (after January 3, 2011) at the new site.

And let me hear from ya'.

Bob

Sunday, December 12, 2010

More on the CMS Archive Project

Have you received volume 1 of the Creative Music Studio Archive Selections?

If so, please send Karl Berger and Ted Orr an email message (creativemusic@verizon.net) and say, "I got my volume 1."

Also, it would be a big help if you could respond to Karl's Thanksgiving message (see the post below), and let him know whether or not you can attend CMS day at Columbia University next April. Even if you can't, just drop a Karl a line and say, "Wish I could be there; I think it's a terrific idea."

The CMS Archive Project offers you a chance to capture and, if you were there, relive the sounds that made the Creative Music Studio such an extraordinary musical community. There's never been another place like it.

"The collection is unique in its artistic scope: an international treasure, featuring some of the most outstanding and ground-breaking composers/performers in World Jazz, World Music, New Music." From the liner notes to Creative Music Studio Archive Selections, volume 1.

Peace,

Bob

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Letter from Karl Berger; CMS Day at Columbia

UPDATE (February 20, 2011):

Hi, All. Although Karl mentions below that there were tentative plans afoot for a CMS party and festival in Woodstock on April 18, those plans have been scrapped. There will be no CMS events in Woodstock on April 18.

April 18 will be the first of a series of CMS-style workshop performances at The Stone in NYC. Stay tuned to CMS Update at http://arborville.com for more information on that series.
***********************
Dear Friends,

It is a long time since the CMS days, yet it feels just like yesterday. It's been great to reconnect with so many of you, as we strive to complete the CMS Archive Project. Over 100 tapes have been re-mastered by Ted Orr, with more than 300 to go. It is exhilarating to listen to all this music in the process. There is truly nothing like this anywhere else.

I'm writing to share some great news:

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2011 WILL BE 'CMS DAY' AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK. Throughout the day, four panels will explore the oral histories and musical implications of the Creative Music Studio. Our desire is to involve as many of you as possible (and not just those who live in New York), sharing your CMS Stories and memories, which will be recorded and used for an upcoming book as part of the CMS Archive Project.

On Sunday, April 17, 2011 I will lead a Student Ensemble from the Columbia Jazz Studies Program in a concert at Columbia University's Miller Theater, reminiscent of our orchestra sessions at CMS in Woodstock and around the world. And, depending on your response, we might conclude the weekend with a CMS Party-Festival on Monday evening, April 18, 2011 in Woodstock, where all of us can get another wonderful chance to play together again.

If we are to preserve the spirit of CMS, time is of the essence. We all are growing older, but hopefully our fond memories of CMS are not. We need your active help to keep the CMS spirit and legacy alive. Please help to:

  • Connect us with all former participants at CMS
  • Join our membership/subscription program
  • Pass the membership/subscription info on to your contacts and friends
  • Lead us to radio and press contacts in your area
  • Be in touch with your personal ideas and suggestions on how we can re-invigorate CMS.
Once again, we're facing enormous financial pressure and cannot rely on outside support. We've tried grants and fundraising without much success. So now it's time to turn to you; we need to make it happen ourselves. If your time at CMS gave you something unforgettable, now is the time to give thanks by giving back to CMS, helping support the Archive Project as described above. With your renewed energy, the CMS spirit and legacy will live on.

I am eager to hear from you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Karl Berger
creativemusic@verizon.net
http://www.creativemusicstudio.org/

Saturday, November 06, 2010

CMS Day at Columbia U

This just in:

Karl Berger writes:

April 16, 2011 is CMS Day at Columbia University in New York City, with all-day panels exploring the “Oral History” of CMS and its participants. I hope that you will be able to participate and/or contribute to the life-changing stories surrounding the CMS legacy. More news on this to come.

Thanks. with music always,
Karl Berger

--
Creative Music Studio
POB 671
Woodstock, NY 12498
www.creativemusicstudio.org

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Don Cherry on Albert Ayler

If you're at all acquainted with what it was that made the Creative Music Studio a unique community, you'll know something about how important a figure Don Cherry was in CMS's history and development.

And if you're at all familiar with Don Cherry's stature in creative music, you're likely to find his monolgue on his first meeting with Albert Ayler fascinating, as I did.

Don Cherry on Albert Ayler, on YouTube

Monday, June 28, 2010

Different Music V; CMS Goes to Turkey

On Saturday, July 3, at the Colony in Woodstock:

CMS Goes to Turkey!

The Legendary Creative Music Studio Featured at Istanbul Festival*

Sneak Preview Performances during the "The Different Music Festival" @ The Colony Café in Woodstock NY, July 3rd, features -Steve Gorn, Ingrid Sertso, Karl Berger, John Lindberg, Tani Tabbal, Ted Orr-the legendary CMS World Jazz Orchestra - CMS Funk All Stars - Blue Food/Futu Futu soloists.

Woodstock's legendary Creative Music Studio will be the center of an unusual 11-day festival in Istanbul,Turkey, at the end of July, with a sneak preview for area music lovers at the Colony Café in Woodstock, Saturday July 3rd, 7:30pm.

Turkish melodies will guide much of the improvisatory explorations that CMS is known for: exciting ensembles from Trios, Quintets to the legendary 18 piece CMS World Jazz Orchestra led by Karl Berger, take part in this festive evening, where every player is a soloist, including special guest Steve Gorn, bansuri flute, performing with Ingrid Sertso, vocals, CMS founder Berger, piano/vibes, John Lindberg, bass, Tani Tabbal, drums. The evening also includes the CMS Funk All Stars, led by Ted Orr and featuring the “Duchess of Funk” Alana Orchid and members of Blue Food and Futu Futu, plus CMS Orchestra Soloists.

Proceeds for the Colony Cafe event will benefit the CMS Archive Project. Tickets are $ 25, students/seniors $ 20, CMS members/subscribers free.

For more information on CMS, the Woodstock concert event and the Turkish fetsival, contact Stanton Warren at 845 679 8847.

Why Turkey? CMS, known internationally as the birthplace of the contemporary world music movement, has always considered Turkey the Ground Zero of World Music, with influences converging from Asia, Africa and Europe. Several Turkish musicians were regulars at the CMS Woodstock campus in the 70s and 80s, notably composer/saxophonist Ismet Siral. The Istanbul event is dedicated to Ismet Siral and CMS. Therefore the title ISCMS Festival .

The Turkish festival features 11 days of workshops and concerts. Some of what will be performed on July 3 at the Colony Café will be performed 4 weeks later in Istanbul by a host of international and Turkish performers and an international student body.

The Creative Music Studio, founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, was the pre-eminent institution for world music and avant-garde jazz. Credited as the birthplace of World Jazz, the Creative Music Studio featured some of the world's most renowned improvising musician/composers. The CMS community now exists as a remarkable network of creative musicians all over the world.

The Creative Music Studio Archive Project started two years ago: CMS collaborates with Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies in preserving its tape collection and providing first-person accounts of this exiting period of the development of free and world jazz. Among the extraordinary artists included on these recordings: Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, Leo Smith, Sam Rivers, Ed Blackwell, Foday Suso, Abdullah Ibrahim, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Giuffre, Frederic Rzewski, Steve Lacy, Carla Bley, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Paulo Moura, Nana Vasconcelos, Pauline Oliveros, Karl Berger, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Gorn, Ismet Siral, Fred Frith, Oliver Lake, Lee Konitz, Leroy Jenkins, George Lewis, Olu Dara and many other stellar talents (for more info, visit http://www.creativemusicstudio.org/. and http://www.myspace.com/cmsarchive . CMS has had a major impact on improvising musicians across several generations" ... The Jazz Times.

Karl Berger at the Stone

We missed this one, folks. . . or were you there?

Karl played at The Stone in NYC on June 27.

It was "a CD release concert, with world-premiere performances of compositions/improvisations from Karl's Tzadik Release 'Strangely Familiar', introspective 'Miniatures for Piano Solo' (Tzadik Records)." http://www.thestonenyc.com/calendar.php?month=0

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Vision Festival XV 2010

It seems that the bigger Vision Festival gets, the fewer CMS alums I see in the lineup! The festival is huge this year. It includes once-upon-a-time CMS folks Hamid Drake, Joseph Jarman (natch), Marilyn Crispell, Wadada Leo Smith--that's all that I could recognize from the schedule.

Good to see former Detroiters Gerald Cleaver and Salim Washington in the schedule.