The guitar-drums duo of Ingram and Manchester marks a decided endeavor to explore musical understatement, a project that, by considering its relationsship with “silence,” respects some of the more restrained acoustic qualities of its instrumentation. The resulting compositional vehicles therefore take on a kind of “slow motion sleight of hand,” in which exposition and obfuscation are readily available elements to be shuffled. This invitation into process, however, is rendered more enticing by means of the duo’s contant exploration of fresh, cinematic coloration. -Cliff Ingram Less

Guitarist Mitra of Sir Edmund Hillary and the Sherpas improvises with Joshua Manchester, the band’s drummer. This recording took place on February 22, 2006. Neither musician feels compelled to restrain themselves to a tempo usually, but in this recording a number of grooves develop. In this rock-based experiment, new ideas lead to various places, or slowly transmute over the course of mistakes and shifting avoidances. Less

My friend Jon Vanderbrug and I stood on this bridge watching massive cranes load coal on one side of the river and huge dump trucks move loads of rock on the other. In the distance was an imposing railroad elevating bridge and the commuter-packed skyway. Suddenly behind us a bell began to ring and our bridge began to open to allow passage of a coal barge, driving the seagulls wild and sending us running for the bank. Less

Here is the concluding music to my foray into Texas. Joey Carter starts it off with an infectious dialogue on the vibes which never quite repeats itself. This music is from a session I played with some fine musicians on tour in Ft. Worth. At Sardines, where they play live jazz 7 nights a week, I got together with Jhon Khasen (piano), Daniel Stone (bass), Chris White (bass/flute/trumpet), Leonard Belota (trumpet), and Joey Carter (vibes). I recorded this on a minidisk player next to the drumkit, so apologies for the heavy drums in the mix. Blogger Stashdauber Ken writes: johnny case, joshua manchester: most exciting music Ive heard so far this yr: an evening of free improv put together by pianist-composer-activist johnny case at sardines, of all places, featuring drummer joshua manchester. also on the set: leonard belota (trumpet), joey carter (vibes), daniel stone (bass), and mvp chris white (trumpet, flute, bass). johnny pulled it together on the quick when manchester called from his sweet home chicago to try and hustle a gig while accompanying his wife on a biz trip. tuesdays usually a dead night at the restaurant, and these cats dream about making music totally extempore, without the constraints of heads, chord changes, expectations, fans. the vibe was redolent of classic dates like dolphys out to lunch or cecil taylors unit structures. from moment to moment, a different man might be the leader, with the others listening and responding empathetically. when we got there, johnny was hammering out tone clusters a la cecil (i finally figured out who he reminds me of: jaki byard, a cat steeped in tradition who can also go out?). this led to a dialogue between belota on ruminative harmon mute and chris white playing smears and flurries of notes on open horn. (when not playing, leonard had his eyes closed a lot of the time; id like to have seen the movies that this music was making inside his head.) joshua, can play total sprung riddim a la sunny murray or his homeski famoudou don moye; there were times when the only repeating figures onstage came from joey on vibes or young bassist stone. chris white opened one piece with a virtuosic turn on flute, which manchester, stone, and case built to an intensity. then white moved to bass, playing a legato line with lotsa intervallic leaps and the music spiralled to an even higher level. carter kicked one off with his usual deft four-mallet work, and case, white, and manchester rode it out till they had nothing left to add. there are moments when this music flows like a mountain stream; at others, it surges like an erupting volcano. at all times, its like looking at the world with new eyes. be nice if sardines could do this kinda thang on a regular basis. while not jam-packed, there were a good number of music appreciators in the house. if you werent there, you missed it, kid. Check out Kens blog at http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/ This is the 5th track of a set which lasted nearly two hours, and Ill be posting all the compositions here over a seven week period. My deepest heartfelt appreciation to Johnny Case for making this happen. Thanks! Josh More info: www.joshuamanchester.com Less

A solo by Chris White gives everyone the introduction to provide direction for this composition. Leonard makes his entrance fully 10 minutes into the track. This music is from a session I played with some fine musicians on tour in Ft. Worth. At Sardine’s, where they play live jazz 7 nights a week, I got together with Jhon Khasen (piano), Daniel Stone (bass), Chris White (bass/flute/trumpet), Leonard Belota (trumpet), and Joey Carter (vibes). I recorded this on a minidisk player next to the drumkit, so apologies for the heavy drums in the mix. Blogger Stashdauber Ken writes: johnny case, joshua manchester: most exciting music Ive heard so far this yr: an evening of free improv put together by pianist-composer-activist johnny case at sardines, of all places, featuring drummer joshua manchester. also on the set: leonard belota (trumpet), joey carter (vibes), daniel stone (bass), and mvp chris white (trumpet, flute, bass). johnny pulled it together on the quick when manchester called from his sweet home chicago to try and hustle a gig while accompanying his wife on a biz trip. tuesdays usually a dead night at the restaurant, and these cats dream about making music totally extempore, without the constraints of heads, chord changes, expectations, fans. the vibe was redolent of classic dates like dolphys out to lunch or cecil taylors unit structures. from moment to moment, a different man might be the leader, with the others listening and responding empathetically. when we got there, johnny was hammering out tone clusters a la cecil (i finally figured out who he reminds me of: jaki byard, a cat steeped in tradition who can also go outÂ�). this led to a dialogue between belota on ruminative harmon mute and chris white playing smears and flurries of notes on open horn. (when not playing, leonard had his eyes closed a lot of the time; id like to have seen the movies that this music was making inside his head.) joshua, can play total sprung riddim a la sunny murray or his homeski famoudou don moye; there were times when the only repeating figures onstage came from joey on vibes or young bassist stone. chris white opened one piece with a virtuosic turn on flute, which manchester, stone, and case built to an intensity. then white moved to bass, playing a legato line with lotsa intervallic leaps and the music spiralled to an even higher level. carter kicked one off with his usual deft four-mallet work, and case, white, and manchester rode it out till they had nothing left to add. there are moments when this music flows like a mountain stream; at others, it surges like an erupting volcano. at all times, its like looking at the world with new eyes. be nice if sardines could do this kinda thang on a regular basis. while not jam-packed, there were a good number of music appreciators in the house. if you werent there, you missed it, kid. Check out Kens blog at http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/ This is the 5th track of a set which lasted nearly two hours, and Ill be posting all the compositions here over a seven week period. My deepest heartfelt appreciation to Johnny Case for making this happen. Thanks! Josh Less

This music is from a session I played with some fine musicians on tour in Ft. Worth. At Sardine’s, where they play live jazz 7 nights a week, I got together with Jhon Khasen (piano), Daniel Stone (bass), Chris White (bass/flute/trumpet), Leonard Belota (trumpet), and Joey Carter (vibes). I recorded this on a minidisk player next to the drumkit, so apologies for the heavy drums in the mix. Blogger Stashdauber Ken writes: johnny case, joshua manchester: most exciting music Ive heard so far this yr: an evening of free improv put together by pianist-composer-activist johnny case at sardines, of all places, featuring drummer joshua manchester. also on the set: leonard belota (trumpet), joey carter (vibes), daniel stone (bass), and mvp chris white (trumpet, flute, bass). johnny pulled it together on the quick when manchester called from his sweet home chicago to try and hustle a gig while accompanying his wife on a biz trip. tuesdays usually a dead night at the restaurant, and these cats dream about making music totally extempore, without the constraints of heads, chord changes, expectations, fans. the vibe was redolent of classic dates like dolphys out to lunch or cecil taylors unit structures. from moment to moment, a different man might be the leader, with the others listening and responding empathetically. when we got there, johnny was hammering out tone clusters a la cecil (i finally figured out who he reminds me of: jaki byard, a cat steeped in tradition who can also go outÂ?). this led to a dialogue between belota on ruminative harmon mute and chris white playing smears and flurries of notes on open horn. (when not playing, leonard had his eyes closed a lot of the time; id like to have seen the movies that this music was making inside his head.) joshua, can play total sprung riddim a la sunny murray or his homeski famoudou don moye; there were times when the only repeating figures onstage came from joey on vibes or young bassist stone. chris white opened one piece with a virtuosic turn on flute, which manchester, stone, and case built to an intensity. then white moved to bass, playing a legato line with lotsa intervallic leaps and the music spiralled to an even higher level. carter kicked one off with his usual deft four-mallet work, and case, white, and manchester rode it out till they had nothing left to add. there are moments when this music flows like a mountain stream; at others, it surges like an erupting volcano. at all times, its like looking at the world with new eyes. be nice if sardines could do this kinda thang on a regular basis. while not jam-packed, there were a good number of music appreciators in the house. if you werent there, you missed it, kid. Check out Kens blog at http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/ This is the 5th track of a set which lasted nearly two hours, and Ill be posting all the compositions here over a seven week period. My deepest heartfelt appreciation to Johnny Case for making this happen. Thanks! Josh Less

Stashdauber Ken writes: “johnny case, joshua manchester most exciting music i’ve heard so far this yr: an evening of free improv put together by pianist-composer-activist johnny case at sardines, of all places, featuring drummer joshua manchester. also on the set: leonard belota (trumpet), joey carter (vibes), daniel stone (bass), and mvp chris white (trumpet, flute, bass). johnny pulled it together on the quick when manchester called from his sweet home chicago to try and hustle a gig while accompanying his wife on a biz trip. tuesday’s usually a dead night at the restaurant, and these cats dream about making music totally extempore, without the constraints of heads, chord changes, expectations, fans. the vibe was redolent of classic ‘60s dates like dolphy’s out to lunch ‘n’ cecil taylor’s unit structures. from moment to moment, a different man might be the “leader,” with the others listening and responding empathetically. when we got there, johnny was hammering out tone clusters a la cecil (i finally figured out who he reminds me of: jaki byard, a cat steeped in tradition who can also go “out”). this led to a dialogue between belota on ruminative harmon mute and chris white playing smears and flurries of notes on open horn. (when not playing, leonard had his eyes closed a lot of the time; i’d like to have seen the movies that this music was making inside his head.) joshua, who plays regularly at an open jam sponsored by the aacm (still active ‘n’ vital after all these yrs), can play total sprung riddim a la sunny murray or his homeski famoudou don moye; there were times when the only repeating figures onstage came from joey on vibes or young bassist stone. chris white opened one piece with a virtuosic turn on flute, which manchester, stone, and case built to an intensity. then white moved to bass, playing a legato line with lotsa intervallic leaps that reminded me a bit of one local muso’s comment that “chris’ bass playing is a lot like his flute playing,” and the music spiralled to an even higher level. carter kicked one off with his usual deft four-mallet work, and case, white, and manchester rode it out till they had nothing left to add. there are moments when this music flows like a mountain stream; at others, it surges like an erupting volcano. at all times, it’s like looking at the world with new eyes. be nice if sardines could do this kinda thang on a reg’lar basis. while not jam-packed, there were a good number of music appreciators in the house; some of ‘em even ate food. if you weren’t there, you missed it, kid.” Check out Ken’s blog at http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/ This is the warm-up track of a set which lasted nearly two hours, and I’ll be posting the next six compositions here in weeks to come. My deepest heartfelt appreciation to Johnny Case for making this happen. Thanks! Josh Less

Composed entirely of the sounds of an antique and misused record. This piece is an examination of the hiss underlying albums and a kind of exploration into why it is such a comforting sound to so many people. At different speeds and in different contexts, these background noises, which normally go unheard because of their ubiquity in the recording, take prominence in ‘Character’. As the tessitura and tempo of the music slow down, it is hoped that the listener will find something comforting in the humming narcosis- a retreat to the origin we all share. Less

Editor Robb Scott reads his article, “The Magic Bonsai Tree: Building Stories to Enhance Acquisition,” from the May 2002 ESL MiniConference. The full text is at: eslminiconf.net/may/story6.html Photo above is of Yoshikawa sensei, Robb Scott, and Tadashi Shiozawa sensei, of Chubu University’s Modern Language Department, 1991. References: Grellet (1981), Krashen and Terrell (1983). Less