May/June Gigs and CD News!!

http://marktaylormusic.net/fr_home.cfm?feature=1226428&postid=958073

Harris Eisenstadt - drums
Ken Filiano - bass
James Carney - piano
Mark Taylor - horn

Mark Taylor – french horn
Chris Dingman – vibes
Keith Witty - bass
Tomas Fujiwara – drums

To officially announce the release of his third CD, “At What Age” Mark Taylor serves up an interesting mix: warm brass, crystalline percussion and whatever dark woodiness Keith conjures up! The Quartet performs chamber-y, colourful sets improvised from fragments of songs and tantalizing tidbits of melody…

At What Age Release, IHS 41 and Going West in 2011

http://marktaylormusic.net/home.cfm?feature=1226428&postid=813013

At What Age, IHS 41 and Going West in 2011

http://marktaylormusic.net/home.cfm?feature=1226428&postid=813013

Mark Taylor - Horn

James Carney - Piano

Ken Filiano - Bass

Harris Eisenstadt - Drums

In addition to the great gig Saturday night with Positive Catastrophe premiering Abraham Gomez-Delgado's new work, commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program, titled "Dibrujos, Dibrujos, Dibrujos," Abe and Taylor Ho Bynum will be leading a workshop at 3:30 Saturday afternoon and THEN an open rehearsal at 5! All this BEFORE the concert that night. Whew!

So, if you're interested in how Abe and Taylor do what they do or you want to watch Positive Catastrophe put the finishing touches on our music the later that evening, come on down to the Jazz Gallery Saturday afternoon and stay through to the gig. The workshop and rehearsal are free to attend.

See you there!

As many of you know, if you've been around the Markverse for a while, I don't usually get my "Holiday Greetings" email out until well after New Year's Day. This year things are different. At least this one thing...

SO... Let me take a moment to extend my Holiday wishes to all! I hope you've had lots of fun and good times and that they will continue well into 2011.

We've had a good 2010 and 2011 is shaping up nicely, as well. Best thing so far is that, after several attempts and some tweaking to the parameters, the "At What Age" Project is finally funded! This means that, come spring, the third Mark Taylor CD will be released. You can be sure I'll keep you all informed as we finish the final stages of this album. For those of you that contributed, first a giant THANK YOU!! Second, you'll be hearing from me soon (and, hopefully, often) about the progress of the project and your participant rewards.

I'm not usually in NYC during the holidays, but this year I was fortunate to do some "Christmas'y brass player" type gigs and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Staying in town this year also has given me some time to prepare for - fanfare, please - THE FIRST GIG OF THE NEW YEAR!! Well, my first gig of the New Year, anyway.

Yes, my lovelies, the new quartet version of SECRET IDENTITY is performing here in NYC on January 6th at Miles' Cafe in midtown Manhattan. So grab some loved ones (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) and come out and see us!

The lineup is:
Harris Eisenstadt - drums
James Carney - piano
Ken Filiano - bass
Taylor - horn/mello/toons

It's a nice, early gig - 7:30 to 9:30 - so, umm.. show up, ok?

Well, it's officially over. My RocketHub campaign to fund my third CD, "At What Age" is history, like the three attempts before it. The difference this time is that we actually reached the $1500 goal - and then some!

You guys rock!!

The final total was $1705 or 114% funded. What will I do with this money? Reproduction and promotion are the two biggies. I'll be posting progress reports here and at my website (and Facebook, etc.) as I get this project "out the door" and out into the musicverse.

Stay tuned, there's lots more to come!

Mark

Eddie Allen (leader) - trumpet
Cecil Bridgewater - trumpet
Mark Taylor - french horn
Dion Tucker - trombone
Kenny Davis – acoustic bass
Carl Allen - drums

I just want to send out a big thanks to everyone who has "fueled" the "At What Age" Project. We've reached the $1500 target with 3 days to spare.  We might even go over the goal! How cool is that? Any additional money raised will go into the PR budget so we can really get the word out.

"At What Age" is pretty much all recorded (although I have some ideas for some last minute changes) and partially mixed. This money will go towards duplication and promotion so that we can let even more folks know about it.

Thanks again to everyone who pledged and I'll be posting updates on how the project is progressing.

Mark

I just want to thank everyone for supporting me and this project! $591 or 40% "Fueled"! http://rockethub.com/projects/488-composer-french-hornist-mark-taylors-new-cd

BIG GIANT THANKS go out to the folks who have already begun \"fueling\" my CD project over at RocketHub. Thanks to you we\'re off to a fantastic start!

I know it\'s been a minute since my last Kickstarter project, but I wanted to take that time and review my project and goals. Well, now we\'re back with another attempt to complete and market \"At What Age\" only this time the project is hosted over at RocketHub.

http://rockethub.com/projects/488-composer-french-hornist-mark-taylors-new-cd

I chose RocketHub because I was able to get some real guidance on ways to make my project more successful and finally get this CD done! I hope that all of you who pledged with me the last time will come aboard once again.

As always, I do truly thank you for all your support.

Mark
http://rockethub.com/projects/488-composer-french-hornist-mark-taylors-new-cd

A new season has started and there are a few really cool things coming up, so I thought it\'d be a good time to let you guys in on what\'s happening here in the Markverse this fall!

First of all, I\'m sure many of you remember my Kickstarter events earlier this year to raise money to finish my CD \"At What Age\". These projects were unsuccessful because we didn\'t reach the goal I\'d set. But we did discover what a realistic goal for my project would be. So now I\'m crowdfunding again. This time through a website called RocketHub. It works the same way as Kickstarter and I\'ll be sending out an email in the next week announcing the lauch of my RocketHub campaign to finish the CD! Stay tuned and get involved!

Back in July, I took my new band SECRET IDENTITY into The Local 269 for a great set of fun music for a very appreciative crowd. My thanks to everyone there that night for all your enthusiasm! The music was loose and free-flowing, even with all the written material I threw at everyone! The lineup that night was:

Michael Attias - alto sax, Ron Caswell - tuba, Chris Dingman - vibes, Harris Eisenstadt - drums, Mark Taylor - horn/mellophone

Look for much more to come from this band!

More recently (just last week, in fact), I played with Harris Eisenstadt\'s Woodblock Prints at the University of the Streets for his record release party. Yes, I said RECORD release. Woodblock Prints has been released on vinyl on NoBusiness Records ( http://www.nobusinessrecords.com ). I believe the digital version is also availble at CDBaby. Harris\' music, written for nonet, has a chamber-ish vibe but also really grooves and covers a lot of textural ground. Check it out!

As for the upcoming events, I\'ll be back at University of the Streets on Oct. 23rd with Wayne Horvitz\' New York Composer\'s Orchestra. This will be my first time playing with this group and I\'m really looking forward to it. Then, on the 26th, we\'ll have the return of Mark Taylor\'s SECRET IDENTITY! We\'re playing a late set (11pm) at Korzo in Brooklyn. Korzo is located at 667 5th Ave between 19th and 20th Streets. The lineup that night will include:

Jessica Jones - tenor sax, Harris Eisenstadt - drums, Chris Dingman - vibes, Nir Felder - guitar, Hal Jordan - basstubaviolphonium, Mark Taylor - mellophone/horn

Come out and join us for my first time bringing one of my groups into this fine venue!

That\'s it for the immediate future, but there\'s lots coming up into next year including:

November 19th w/Wadada Leo Smith\'s Silver Orchestra

More Positive Catastrophe hits in November and beyond

Michael Attias\' group at Cornelia St. in December and...

An appearance at the 2011 International Horn Society Symposium in San Francisco next summer!

Of course I\'ll keep you all posted as these things unfold. Thanks for all your support and I hope to see you at Korzo on the 26th!

Just wanted to remind everyone that I've got two gigs coming up at the end of this month. The first one is at The Stone on Sunday, July 25th with Warren Smith's WisQtet. We hit at 10pm and The Stone is on the corner of 2nd St. & Ave. C.

The second gig I wanted to tell you about is my own group at the Local 269 on East Houston St the very next night. This is a new group or, rather, an expansion of the Quartet to include some old (and new) friends who are also incredible musicians.  I call this group Secret Identity and this will be our first gig together.  We'll be performing on Monday, July 26th at 9pm at The Local 269.

Secret Identity is: MIchael Attias - alto sax, Brandon Ross - guitar, Chris Dingman - vibes, Keith Witty - bass, Harris Eisenstadt - drums and yours truly on french horn and, maybe, mellophone!

So come on out and check us out. New band, new music and a brand new venue for us as well.  See you there!

Mark Taylor - french horn/mellophone

Chris Dingman - vibes

Keith Witty - bass

Tomas Fujiwara - drums

special guest: Brandon Ross - guitar

Summer's officially here on the 21st of June, which means it's time for Make Music New York 2010! Make Music New York is a city-wide, all day celebration of live music in all five boroughs (and in many other cities around the world as well)!

This year there will be over 1000 performances on the streets and in the parks of the city and two of those performances will feature yours truly and the return of the FRENCH HORN NATION! Last year, MMNY started a program called Mass Appeal that called for large groups of a SINGLE instrument to perform during MMNY 2009 and I was tapped to organize the french horn ensemble. Well, we're back for 2010 with, hopefully, many more citizens and twice as many performances (this year we have - two!). So, to get your shot of massed french horn music, come visit the FRENCH HORN NATION! at 1pm in Madison Square Park (Broadway and E23rd St.) and at 6:30pm at the Archway under the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO (Water St. and Anchorage Pl).

Also here's a heads up for the upcoming MTQ gig at the Local 269 at 9pm on July 26th. More to come on that one in the next week or so.

Mark

June 21st. Make Music New York: Mass Appeal - FRENCH HORN NATION! We're all set to go with 2 performances this year. The first is at 1pm in Worth Square inside Madison Square Park (Broadway and E24th St.) and the second is at 6:30pm at The Archway under the Manhattan Bridge (Water St and Anchorage Place). Last year the trombones managed to round up 100 players for Mass Appeal! Let's see if we can't drum up an amazing showing THIS year!

Bring your horn, bring some friends or just come to hang out and listen! The FRENCH HORN NATION! is about to hit the streets!

MMNY 2010 is almost here. As usual, the date is June 21st which is a Monday this year. We have been invited to do two sets this year. The first is at 1pm at Madison Square Park (Broadway and E23rd St) and the second is in DUMBO at 6:30 at the Manhattan Bridge Archway. I'm working on an exact address for the Archway, but it's in the massive footing at the Brooklyn end of the Manhattan bridge.

We have lots of new charts to read (thanks, Linda!) mostly octet stuff and I'm hoping that some of us will feel up to having a little read-through session sometime before the 21st. Maybe at the Union. No pressure to make it and don't feel like you shouldn't come play if you can't /don't want to do the read-through. It's just so we'll have an idea how these charts go BEFORE we hit!  All you really need to do is show up on the 21st with a Horn and a stand (and maybe bring a couple of hornplaying friends?) ready to have fun.

Lastly (for now), I've thrown up a design for a simple FHN! T-shirt should anyone want to get it. Again, no pressure to wear anything in particular (though everyone should probably wear SOMETHING) to the gigs. You can find the shirt at http://www.zazzle.com/mmny_french_horn_nation_tshirt-235719254311220679?rf=238682047736794738 and until midnight tonight there's a Father's Day Special.  Enter the promo code DADDYTEEDEAL at the checkout to get $4 off your FHN! T-shirt.

More news to come as we work out the read-through, etc. Stay tuned!

Going to be in NYC on June 21st and want to do some playing? Check out MMNY's Mass Appeal project:

http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/makemusicny/about

"Last year, MMNY introduced Mass Appeal, a series of June 21st concerts bringing together hundreds of musicians to play pieces written for a single type of instrument.

24 huge ensembles of trombones, cellos, guitars, accordions, megaphones, and more performed outdoors throughout the city, garnering praise from the NY Times, New Yorker, NY Post, NY Daily News, and more. And hundreds of musicians without groups of their own got a chance to take part in the festival, just by showing up to the right place with the right instrument."

Come out and bring your Horn! Tell other Horn players and bring them too! This gathering is ALL about having fun making music. A guaranteed "no-vibe" zone!

Going to be in NYC on June 21st and want to do some playing? Check out MMNY's Mass Appeal project:

http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/makemusicny/about

"Last year, MMNY introduced Mass Appeal, a series of June 21st concerts bringing together hundreds of musicians to play pieces written for a single type of instrument.

24 huge ensembles of trombones, cellos, guitars, accordions, megaphones, and more performed outdoors throughout the city, garnering praise from the NY Times, New Yorker, NY Post, NY Daily News, and more. And hundreds of musicians without groups of their own got a chance to take part in the festival, just by showing up to the right place with the right instrument."

Come out and bring your Horn! Tell other Horn players and bring them too! This gathering is ALL about having fun making music. A guaranteed "no-vibe" zone!

New York, NY ' Make Music New York, described by city officials as

'one of the largest musical events in the city's history,' is back for

a fourth year of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five

boroughs of New York City, all on the first day of summer. On Monday,

June 21, from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, musicians of all

ages and musical persuasions ' from Hip-hop to opera, Latin jazz to

punk rock ' will perform on streets, sidewalks, stoops, plazas,

cemeteries, parks and gardens. Alex Ross of The New Yorker called last

year's installment 'impressive ' more than 800 events across five

boroughs. Subversive'musical disruptions invite urban dwellers to

abandon their tight routines and let the rhythms of the city take over.'

This year, for the first time, there will be eight or more stages of

music in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. All performances are free

and outdoors and will happen "rain or shine.' Whether you are young or

old, in a stroller, a bicycle or on your feet, music will surround you

from every corner of Dumbo -- and ring in summer. Be prepared for a

day of acoustical treats!

SCHEDULE - ALL PERFORMANCES BELOW ARE IN DUMBO, BROOKLYN

The Archway ' under the Manhattan Bridge

1:00-1:45pm Lucky Chops brass band - blues/hip hop/jazz

2:00-2:45pm William B. Johnson's Drumadics - percussion and horns

3:15-4:45pm DJs from halcyon the shop - DJ dance music

5:00-5:45pm Mass Appeal Percussion: Mantra Percussion - percussion with electronics

6:30-7:15pm French Horn Nation! - french horn choir

7:30-9:00pm DJs from halcyon the shop - DJ dance music

Dumbo Arts Center - 30 Washington street

1:30-2:15pm Xenia Rubinos - experimental/pop/world

4:30-5:15pm Threefifty Duo - classical guitar duo

6:00-6:45pm Jody Redhage and Fire in July** - classical/pop chamber vocal

7:30-8:15pm Nathan W. McKee - live electronic

The Main Street portion of Brooklyn Bridge Park

10:00-10:45am Shake, Rattle & Roll** - hands on family drumming

11:30-12:15pm Oran Etkin: Wake Up Clarinet! - children's music/jazz

2:30-3:15pm Threeds - oboe trio

4:00-4:45pm Valerie Plauché  - participatory singing

5:30-6:15pm UpBeat NYC** - kids/world/jazz/classical

7:00-7:45pm Shinbone alley stilt band - jazz band on stilts

8:30-9:15pm William B. Johnson's Drumadics - percussion and horns

Bubby's - 1 Main Street

12-12:45 Rona Figueroa - rock/alternative/indie

1-1:45pm Dylan Rice - singer/songwriter

6-6:45pm Lale Sayoko and Kenji Williams - belly dance with violinist

7-7:45pm Raya brass band** - world music

8-8:45pm Pete Sturman - singer/songwriter

Galapagos - 16 Main St

3pm The Mighty Third Rail - spoken word/hip hop

4pm Joanna Parson - comedy singer/songwriter

Jacques Torres Chocolate - 66 Water Street

11-11:45am Floanne - French chansons

12:15-1:15 Hilliard Greene - jazz/bass

1:30-2:30pm Fiona Crawford - singer

3:00-4:00pm Daniel Reyes Llinas - jazz quartet

5:00-5:45pm Vlada Tomova and Chris Rael - Balkan

6:30-7:15pm Issa Cabrera** - jazz/latin/world

Bargemusic - 2 Old Fulton Street

7:00-8:30pm Voxare String Quartet - instrumental classical

Pier one - Brooklyn Bridge Park

12:00-12:45 Carolyn Enger - classical piano

1:00-1:45pm Tomasz Halat - classical piano

2:00-2:45pm Opera for Humanity - opera

4:30-5:15pm Gamelan Son of Lion - Javanese-Balinese percussion

Fulton Ferry Landing - 2 Old Fulton Street

3-3:45pm The Petr Cancura Band - sax drums and guitar trio

4-4:45pm House of Waters - world music - hammered dulcimer

5-5:45pm Dylan Rice - singer/songwriter

6-6:45pm Voices of Gotham - a cappella choir

9-9:30pm Cassis & the Sympathies - alternative pop

68 Jay St Bar at the corner of Jay and Water Street

6 & 9:30pm The Strung Out String Band  - Appalachian old time jigs

7pm The Maybelles - "Up tempo soulful country"

8pm Will Scott - Americana Hill Country Blues

9pm Special Mystery Guest

**NOTE these performers are recipients of Brooklyn Arts Council Grants.

As always, MMNY takes place simultaneously with similar festivities in

more than 300 cities around the world, all based on France's Fête de

la Musique. Further details can be found at www.makemusicny.org.

Major support for Make Music New York 2010 is provided by the Stavros

Niarchos Foundation, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the

Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Media partners include Metro

New York, Time Out New York, and WNYC.

Well!

Here we are with less than a week left in the "At What Age" project. So far, we have just over $1100 pledged to fund the completion of my third CD "At What Age" and need another $3900 or so to make this project a success.  I'll be reaching out to everyone again in this final week (starting with this update) and urging you to "take the plunge" pre-order the CD and back this project.

Your pledge (of ANY amount) will 1. HELP ME reach my target! 2. GET YOU the fun and exclusive rewards listed on my project page (including the finished album of course) and 3. SUPPORT NEW MUSIC that you want in your hands. You'll also be the first to have the music, even before it's public release date. The amount you give is not disclosed - and every amount helps. The deadline is May 22nd. Will we succeed? Back the project NOW to make it happen!

Please do share this effort with any friends who like my work and may want to support this campaign. Help fund the final mixing, mastering, design, production and marketing of the new album. Nobody's pledge gets charged and nobody gets fun prizes unless we meet our $5,000 goal by May 22nd, so tell everyone you know!!!!!

http://kck.st/dDjYOp

Well, we're at the final 10 days of the SON OF KICKSTARTER project and there are 18 backers who have pledged towards the completion of my 3rd CD, "At What Age". So this is the final big push to "get 'er done" and bring this CD to life! Everyone who has been meaning to pledge "tomorrow" should come on and join in before it's too late. With $895 of the $5000 total pledged, we still have a ways to go and, as you know, if we don't reach the $5000 goal then we'll get no funding at all and "At What Age" slides a bit closer to digital oblivion (insert dramatic underscore here...)

Kickstarter is a platform that allows friends, family, fans and other interested parties to help bring new creative work to life. Artists have completed everything from films to books to films to CD projects with funding from their own fan base through Kickstarter.com. The target amount reflects costs for recording, manufacturing and promotion and we have some cool incentives to get involved, from a pre-release digital copy of the CD to having your name in the liner notes as an Associate or Executive Producer.

Also, please spread the word and let people know what we're doing here. If you know people who are fans of creative, independent art, tell them about Kickstarter. It's a great way for people who want to get directly involved to support the art and artists than move them.

19 days left to pledge! Kickstarter - AT WHAT AGE: The New Mark Taylor Project: http://kck.st/dDjYOp

Benito Gonzalez - piano

Rachim Sahu - bass

George Gray - drums

Andre Murchison - trombone,

Mark Taylor - French horne and mellophone

Anthony Ware - tenor saxophone

Hello everyone,

I thought it was about time for a quick update to let you know what's happening with my Kickstarter project to fund my third CD, 'At What Age'.  Just to refresh everyone's memory, Kickstarter.com is a wonderful new website that allows friends, family, fans and other interested parties to help bring new creative work to life. Artists have completed everything from films to books to CD projects with funding from their own fan base through Kickstarter.com.

I want to thank everyone who has pledged towards the completion of the CD.  With just under 30 days to go, we are steadily moving towards the $5000 goal with $785 pledged, but there is still a long way to go! The target amount reflects costs for recording, manufacturing and promotion, so if you've been thinking about pledging but put it off, come on and join us. There are lots of incentives to get involved, from a pre-release digital copy of the CD to having your name in the liner notes as an Associate or Executive Producer. Also, please spread the word and let people know what we're doing here. If you know people who are fans of creative, independent art, tell them about Kickstarter. It's a great way for people who want to get directly involved to support the art and artists than move them.

I guess that's about it for now. Again, if you're getting multiple copies of my emails or you (gasp!) don't want any emails at all from me, please let me know.

Thanks,

Mark

Just finished a demo for the score for a short documentary about the construction of the new glass canopies at Lincoln Center. Keep your fingers crossed!  I'll let you know if I get the gig...

Michel Gentile - flutes

Kathy Halvorson - oboe

Sara Schoenbeck - bassoon

Mark Taylor - horn

Positive Catastrophe

Taylor Ho Bynum (trompette/cornet)

Abraham Gomez Delgado (percussions/vocal)

Jen Shyu (vocal)

Mark Taylor (cor)

Reut Regev (trombone)

Matt Bauder (saxophones/clarinettes)

Michael Attias (saxophones)

Pete Fitzpatrick (guitare)

Alvaro Benavides (basse)

Tomas Fujiwara (batterie)

Positive Catastrophe

Taylor Ho Bynum (trompette/cornet)

Abraham Gomez Delgado (percussions/vocal)

Jen Shyu (vocal)

Mark Taylor (cor)

Reut Regev (trombone)

Matt Bauder (saxophones/clarinettes)

Michael Attias (saxophones)

Pete Fitzpatrick (guitare)

Alvaro Benavides (basse)

Tomas Fujiwara (batterie)

This has been an interesting week for me already. Yesterday and today were rehearsals for the recording later this week of Anthony Braxton's opera, Trillium E.  Rehearsals have been intense, as we haven't had a lot of time to learn some very challenging music. The whole process has been very rewarding musically and also because I've gotten to reconnect with some friends and colleagues who are also involved. The next step is to spend the rest of the week recording.  How exciting!!

Some of my regular FB visitors may remember that last month I was doing a bit of hand-wringing over writing a "narrative statement of purpose" for a submission packet I was working on.  Well, the application was to participate in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute this summer and I just found out that I was accepted to the program!

The JCOI, joint project of the American Composers Orchestra and The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, is a workshop designed to help "jazz" composers develop the tools and techniques necessary to be comfortable working with orchestras and conductors.

From the JCOI website:

"Writing for the symphony orchestra remains one of the supreme challenges for the aspiring composer, but opportunities for jazz composers to gain hands-on experience in this field are few. The Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute will present a five-day series of workshops that will include the study of scores and new compositional techniques, including electronics; best practices regarding orchestration, instrumentation, notation, score preparation, and performance practice; and techniques for structuring improvisation within the orchestral context. Professional development workshops will address promotion, publishing, copyright and commissioning agreements, and other career essentials."

I'm really excited to be a part of this and expect to learn lots in the process!

Happy 2010 everyone! I know it's almost March, but there hasn't been a newlsetter or blog since before the New Year so I'm entitled!

A couple of things going on in the Markverse that I wanted to tell you about. First of all, there has been a MASSIVE redesign of the Mark Taylor website (and a new webhost, even) so I'd love for everyone to drop by and check it out. Let me know what you think!

Also, you might remember that before Christmas I launched a project with Kickstarter.com to fund the completion of my next CD, "At What Age". We got a good response, but ultimately failed to reach the $5000 goal I'd set for the project. The way Kickstarter works, if you don't raise ALL the money, you don't get ANY of it so... (drumroll, please)

Announcing the "SON OF KICKSTARTER" project starting today. Essentially, it's the same project to fund the completion, duplication and promotion (and other words ending in -tion) of my third CD. There are some nifty, keen incentives to participate so please drop by http://tinyurl.com/yfszked and be a part of this exciting experiment!

That's about it for now. Enjoy the new website and be sure to let me know what you think!

MT

featuring the Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble