Photos from the Latest New Ting Gig

Well, from before the gig. It was great playing at Shockoe Denim; it's a wonderful space.

Fred prepares:

Tommy prepares:

Jimmy and Sam are prepared:

New Ting Gig This Week

New Ting is playing this Thursday at Shockoe Denim. We'll be opening up for Pascal Niggenkemper. We go on first, hopefully at 8 sharp. Details here. Should be fun!

New Ting Ting Loft Gig This Weekend

New Ting Ting Loft is opening up for Dave Bryant (pictured above) this Saturday night, at Sediment, right here in RVA. Also paying are Ceremonial Scissors. Promises to be a fun evening!

More info about Dave Bryant, and the show itself, here.

New Ting Ting Loft

Eddie Prévost's description of his trio can apply equally well, I think to New Ting Ting Loft. New Ting

quite intuitively ... works in a subtle, attentive way: examining what the music is and where it is going all within the process of playing; feeling the very weight of the sounds; measuring each contribution and placing sounds to be complementary and in contrast to other sounds; feeling the stuff of the instruments, and sensing the presence of other creative beings. This is part of the extraordinary and gloriously uncertain matrix of what making and listening to music should be about. These qualities signify what makes for positive, purposeful and creative human relationships. If they are not to be found in a music, then I reckon it is found wanting. (Eddie Prévost, "Touch: the weight, measure and feel of things," liner notes to Eddie Prévost Trio, Touch, 1997)

Playlist, Week of 2018-07-08

The file for the New Ting Ting Loft Strange Matter gig is up now on the Internet Archive... Back down the Roscoe Mitchell rabbit hole this week... a great place to be... I meant to write in more detail last week about Sun Embassy, the newest anthology of Sun Ra rehearsal sessions, this time from the late '60s, but I never got around to it... this'll have to do: biggest takeaway is the great run-through of "Adventures Outer Planes" (here titled "My Reality Is Real")... this is an excellent composition, the only other version of which is the live one from Copenhagen on 1971-12-05 (released on the Freedom CD Calling Planet Earth, also recently reissued on LP)... except for takes of "Why Go to the Moon" (used in numerous space chants) and "Ancient Aethiopia," none of the other compositions are familiar to me.. although "Cosmic Strut" bears a family resemblance to grooves on Universe in Blue... overall, very percussive-heavy and very minimal soloing, but well worth hearing... As uneven as it is, I continue to return to the Beach Boys' last studio album That's Why God Made the Radio... although parts of it are cursed with Mike-Love-does-Jimmy-Buffet, the album has two strong singles (the title track and "Isn't It Time"), and the last four songs, forming  kind of a suite, are as strong as anything the group did in the '70s...

Playlist 2018-07-09:

*AMM: 1998-04-03 Padova, Italy (CDR)
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2017-12-02 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Bergman/Braxton/Brötzmann: Eight by Three
*Anthony Braxton: Two Compositions (Orchestra) 2005
*Jakob Bro: Returnings
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: The Mathematics of War
*Stephen Davis/Ralph Alessi/ Kris Davis: Sugar Blade
*Jimmy Ghaphery/Jason Bivins/Ian Davis: 2007 Chapel Hill, NC (CDR)
*Mary Halvorson: Meltframe
*Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah
*Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble: 3x4 Eye
*Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: The Flow of Things
*Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble: Live at the Knitting Factory
*Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams: Duets and Solos
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 1)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-06-25 "Wood and Wires" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-07-01 Strange Matter, Richmond VA (wav)
*Evan Parker ElectroAcoustic Septet: Seven
*Sun Ra And His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra: Sun Embassy
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Taking a Chance on Chances
*Tom Rainey Obbligato: Float Upstream
*Sara Serpa: Close Up
*Craig Taborn: Avenging Angel
*Alex Ward Quartet: Inductance (streaming)
*Ben Webster with Strings: Music for Loving (disc 2)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: The Garden of Earthly Delights
*Beach Boys: That’s Why God Made the Radio (selections)
*Heldon: Stand By
*King Crimson: 1972-02-11 Wilmington DE (disc 1)
*Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom
*Mystery Science Theater 3000: Clowns in the Sky
*Parliament: Medicaid Fraud Dogg
*Richard Pinhas/Yoshida Tatsuya: 2014-12-01 Tokyo (CDR)
*Prince: 1980-03-06 Atlanta (streaming)
*Various artists: Music for Merce (1952-2009) (discs 9, 10)
*Brian Wilson: No Pier Pressure (selections)
*Yes: 1976-06-19 Hartford, CT (CDR)

Shots of the Gig

New Ting Ting Loft live at Strange Matter, 2018-07-01: in a circle, l to r: Ben Scott, Sam Byrd, Tommy Birchette, Jimmy Ghaphery, Fred McGann.

The mysterious figure in white in that last shot is Tom from To Live and Shave in LA, checking up on email? I guess? while we play....

New Ting Ting Loft Gig This Sunday

New Ting Ting Loft will be playing this Sunday, July 1, at a show for RVA Noise, at Strange Matter, opening for To Live and Shave in L.A. (pictured above). Not sure where we are in the lineup (except that we won't be last)---we're actually lobbying to go on first so it won't interfere with our bedtimes--we ain't youngsters any more. I'll be playing a reduced kit (for portability). I am looking forward to checking out the headliners; one of their recordings features Matt Mitchell. Should be a blast!

There's a Facepook page for the show, and details are below:

RVA NOISE Presents:

TO LIVE AND SHAVE IN L.A. (Earth)
http://www.toliveandshaveinla.com/
https://toliveandshaveinla.bandcamp.com/

w/ special guests:
NEW TING TING LOFT (RVA)
http://worldofabstractdreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/new-ting-ting-loft-short-retrospective.html

And local support by:
OOZING MEAT (RVA)
https://chaoticnoiseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/oozing-meat-splatter-high-cassette
FUK U / IDIOT (NYC/RVA)
DJ RAT-WARD (RVA)
http://ratward.blogspot.com/

Sunday July 1st, 2018
8PM Doors // 9PM Sounds
$5 // 18+ 

"TO LIVE AND SHAVE IN L.A. is an experimental music collective founded in 1993 by avant-garde composer/producer Tom Smith (formerly of Washington, DC groups Peach of Immortality and Pussy Galore) and Miami Beach musician/producer Frank "Rat Bastard" Falestra. The group's primary aesthetic assertion posits that "genre is obsolete". Although often categorized as purveyors of noise music, TLASILA have been noted to pursue an unorthodox approach, "construct(ing) songs around an overwhelming plethora of sonic detail, challenging the listener to engage with a surfeit of information,"deliberately blurring "the line between harsh metal-on-metal noise and abstract musique concrète" Smith's lyrics "distance" the group "from any potential peers," "scanning like (they) came from some previously unearthed hermetic treatise." They'll be accompanied by NEW TING TING LOFT from Richmond, Virginia, playing an aggressive blend of improvised music with a 20 year history of troubled and adventurous aesthetics. filling out the bill will be OOZING MEAT, NYC/RVA act FUK U / IDIOT and soundscapes provided by DJ RAT WARD!

Gig Canceled Tonight

The New Ting Ting Loft gig for tonight is canceled. Snow it goes.....

Upcoming New Ting Ting Loft Gig

New Ting Ting Loft will be playing in RVA this weekend. It's been a while since we played in town, so I'm really looking forward to it! I am also really looking forward to seeing Trio 000 (great video of them here).

Here are details:

A night of instrumental experimentations featuring DC-based Trio OOO with locals New Ting Ting Loft and Ceremonial Scissors .

Saturday, December 9th
Doors at 8:30pm
Sounds at 9pm
$5-$10 sliding scale

Trio OOO performs Fire Music. The group was founded at DC's Goldleaf studios in 2010 by Aaron Martin (alto sax), Luke Stewart (bass) and Sam Lohman (drums).
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Trio-OOO-381946611934198/about/?ref=page_internal

New Ting Ting Loft play an aggressive blend of improvised music with a 20 year history of adventurous aesthetics. The members of New Loft have collaborated, recorded, or performed with a variety of musicians including Bern Nix, Gregg Ginn, John Medeski, the Technical Jed, Bio Ritmo, Ululating Mummies, UYA, Hotel X, Matt Heyner, Pat Best, Byard Lancaster, Ian Davis, and Jason Bivins.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22New+Ting+Ting+Loft%22

Ceremonial Scissors, a new band from Richmond, VA. Electroacoustic noise occult.
https://ceremonialscissors.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq_SFvWanow&feature=youtu.be

...and there's a Facebook page for the event. Hope to see you there!

Photos from Gig

Here are photos from the New Ting Ting Loft gig last night at Bandito's. All photos except the last taken by Erik Schroeder.

l to r: Tim Harding, Fred McGann, Sam Byrd, Alex Ricart, Jimmy Ghaphery, Ben Scott (behind), Tommy Birchett

l to r: Fred McGann, Sam Byrd

l to r: Sam Byrd, Jimmy Ghaphery, Alex Ricart

New Ting Ting Loft Gig at Bandito's This Weekend

New Ting Ting Loft is playing this Sunday, at Bandito's Burrito Lounge, at 10 PM. We'll be opening for our RAIC friend Sam Goff's band Among the Rocks and Roots.

Sam has more kind words for us:

Sonic tricksters? Avant Garde afficionados? Whatever. They were here before you and will be here after you're gone. Best live band in Richmond. Best improv band in Richmond. The irony of an avant garde improv act playing a sports bar/burrito restaurant on a Sunday night is not lost on us by the way. Thanks to Bandito's for allowing us to put on such craziness! As excited about this as anything this year. 

Well, we'll be tearing it up and hopefully helping those late-night tacos get digested better! The Facebook event page is here.

Long-time Bands

Alexander Hawkins on the value of long-standing musical relationships:

“One of the things that’s really important about the Blue Notes is that they show the value of long-standing – long-standing – musical relationships and empathy,” he said, adding the Schlippenbach Trio as another instance of this. The free-improv era, Hawkins explained, gave musicians a lingua franca, an ability to make music in impromptu, one-off meetings. The Blue Notes, however, pointed to another way of working. “They really show the power, that where there’s long-standing relationships and understanding, then that’s really a deeply productive way to create new music. I think lesser musicians are worried that long-standing relationships create something predictable. The great musicians, the history of the group – the Ellington band, the Basie bands, the Blue Notes – shows that long-standing understanding probably creates the deepest freedom.” (Jumpin’ In by Greg Buium, Point of Departure , issue 52, 2015)

...and Mary Halvorson on the same topic:

I really appreciate longstanding bands ... of course there is always the excitement of newness, but there is also a certain element of chemistry which can only develop over time. (Mary Halvorson: Variety and Contrast by Troy Collins, Point of Departure, issue 52, 2015)

I have been extremely lucky to have had several long-lasting band experiences. The improvising core of New Ting Ting Loft (Jimmy Ghaphery, Tim Harding, and myself) has been together since 1996, for 20 years now (!), first as a sax/drum duo, then as the New Loft Quartet, then, as a trio, just plain old New Loft, and now, with the augmentation from our valued bandmates for the last few years, as New Ting Ting Loft. I think we have continued to surprise ourselves over the years!

UYA lasted for almost 8 years, and I've been playing with Rodger Coleman at least once a year for the last 16. Going further back, Tad Thaddock played as a unit for 4 or 5 years. Alexander Hawkins is absolutely right!

Photos from Strange Matter Gig

Here are some photos (taken by Jimmy Ghaphery) from New Ting Ting Loft's gig last week at Strange Matter.

Getting ready to play....

Fred in his element:

A closeup of some of Fred's equipment:

New Ting Ting Loft Upcoming Gig at Strange Matter Wed. Sept. 28

Don't go home! Instead, come out and see New Ting Ting Loft at Strange Matter this Wednesday, part of their "Locals Only" series, curated by RAIC. Four exciting acts, many minutes of fun.

Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1158030857619151/?active_tab=highlights

New Ting Ting Loft Sediment Show Photos

Here are some photos from our gig last Sunday at Sediment Arts here in town. It was great to be able to stretch out with the full septet, and it was also really nice to share the bill with three such exciting and energizing acts: Lucas Brode, RAIC, and Taciturnal. A wonderful night, overall! I believe these pics were taken by Claire Zitzow, Sediment's Director.

Also, here's another advance blurb I missed until the show was over, from RVA Must-See Shows:

The New Loft, on the other hand, is just gonna get wild as hell. I had the pleasure of playing a show with this ensemble not too long ago, and while everyone from young metalheads to middle-aged jazz fans were represented in the crowd, everyone agreed that this group was an incredible sight to see. Fronted by two saxophone players, this group also features keyboards, guitar, and squelching electronic noise–and all of it is wielded in the free-est and most playful way possible. If you’re down with Sun Ra, the Fugs, Borbetomagus, and Captain Beefheart, you’re going to find something to love in the work of the New Loft. And even if you have no idea what I’m talking about right now, trust me, these guys will keep you entertained throughout their set.

I hope we did!

The full crew. L to R: Tommy Birchett, Tim Harding, Ben Scott, Fred McGann, Sam Byrd, Alex Ricart, Jimmy Ghaphery.

Upcoming Gig for New Ting Ting Loft

New Ting Ting Loft will be playing at Sediment Arts in RVA this Sunday. We'll be doing a 35-45 minute set, which will be a nice change-up from our typically shorter live sets (well, except for the hour-long Musicircus set, heh heh).  Details about the evening are here, including this wonderful blurb from promoter Samuel Goff:

The New Loft 

Okay I admit I am a total fanboy of this ensemble. My first reaction upon viewing them 2 years ago was the sort of fainting hysteria that surely gripped teenage girls upon seeing the Beatles in the early 60's. The best jazz / avant improvisers the city of Richmond has to offer. One of the biggest highlights at this past year's Noise Fest, every time I see this ensemble perform it is even more amazing, weird and glorious than the time before. One of the few ensembles I have seen that I totally get immersed in the sheer abrasivesness, playfulness, atonality and musicianship and my brain shuts off and just floats away. For real. Must be seen and heard to be believed. 

Nice, huh? Come check it out; it should be a fun show.

New Ting Ting Loft at RVA Noise Fest V This Sunday

Forget Game of Thrones! New Ting Ting Loft will be playing a 15-minute set at 8:30 this Sunday at the RVA Noise Fest V at Gallery 5! See the link for the full schedule. Short Style Weekly blurb here, in which our music is referred to as "deep left-field jazz." I'll take it.

New Ting Ting Loft at Musicircus

Here's some video. Big space, not a big crowd, still tons o' fun. New Ting Ting Loft at Musicircus, 2016-04-13, University of Richmond, Booker Hall. Tommy Birchette: electronics, styrofoam. Jimmy Ghaphery: alto sax, wood flute. Tim Harding: guitar. Fred McGann: keyboard, guitar, vocal. Ben Scott: electronics, percussion. Sam Byrd: drums, percussion.

New Ting Ting Loft at Musicircus April 13 at UR

Akira Kinoshita, courtesy of the John Cage Trust

New Ting Ting Loft will be participating in this year's annual Musicircus event, Wednesday, April 13 (tomorrow night!) at the University of Richmond's Booker Hall of Music. Curated by Brian Jones, this event is nothing but fun. The John Cage composition goes like this:

Created in 1967, MUSICIRCUS is an invitation for as many performers as possible to assemble and play together where multiple performances occur simultaneously to create new, unusual configurations. Each ensemble or soloist prepares a set of works that they will perform. Each group plays what it has prepared and the overall effect is a circus. MUSICIRCUS is not a jam session-- one group does not try to blend in with another group.

Here's what Style Weekly says about it:

An unpredictable Richmond tradition, the event gathers a wide cross section of Richmond musician and scatters them throughout the building for exactly one hour of simultaneous playing. It’s an opportunity to see some of RVA’s best players up close, and to experience the uncanny frisson of moving between radically different styles. Or just standing where free jazz, samba, bluegrass and Balinese gamelan run together in a multiplexed collision of perfect noise.

We always have a blast doing this. Come check it out! 8:50 or 9:00 or thereabouts, sharp!

Recent Activity from New Ting Ting Loft

Here are a couple of short videos from our most recent improv session of last week.



Not sure how to fix the bleedover into the right column. These are from "Ambiguity Promiscuity," from 2016-04-04. That's Fred McGann on keyboard and guitar, Tommy Birchett on electronics, Jimmy Ghaphery on alto sax and clarinet, and Tim Harding on bass and keyboard. I'm behind the kit with my phone. Here's audio of the full session:

And as a bonus, here's the 44-minute session from the week before:

As always, we get into some strange territory! These and much more available at the New Ting pages on the Internet Archive.