Greetings!
I write to you this the morning after finishing Straight Up Without Wings: The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee, the multi-instrumentalist and improviser's 166 page memoir, out now in paperback from Corbett vs. Dempsey. On any one of his instruments McPhee is a narrator though his "chapters" often feel oblique or surreal, as grounded as they are in the raw materials of life, experience, and sound. As a memoir, Straight Up Without Wings moves laterally, much like the PO music concept that has been a part of his compositional approach for decades, or the Deep Listening of his friend and collaborator Pauline Oliveros –– in print, stories may have asides or repeat for emphasis, or burrow into an odd corner that you never expected to end up in. McPhee's stories are real and the context they generate is utterly unique. It is a fascinating read and I hope you pick up a copy.
Therefore it gives me great pleasure to announce that on February 16, 2025 at 5 pm (early start!) Joe McPhee, co-author Mike Faloon, and myself will be in conversation at Tubby's –– I hope Joe will also read some from the book, because to hear Joe recite anything is a treat in itself. After that, McPhee and saxophonist/longtime musical partner Joe Giardullo will play duo improvisations. It will be an extraordinary celebration of Joe's life and work in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
Tickets are available online for $18 or at the door for $20.
This will be one hell of an evening and I hope you can make it. Please pass the word to your friends!
Interview I did with Joe McPhee years ago: https://www.cliffordallen.me/interviews/an-interview-with-multi-instrumentalist-joe-mcphee
Interview I did with Joe Giardullo years ago: https://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/giardullo.html
Take good care and thank you for your interest.