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Yes, Boise is on its painful way to become a musically diverse city (now the third largest city in the NE US, but it still has a long way to go. In support of your point below, David, we indeed have a fair amount of folks who appreciate diverse and interesting music (especially at the university)...the problem is that the venue owners are playing the conservative route: they go on the safe side with mainstream, monolithic styles of music like traditional jazz, blues, classic rock, country, classical, and folk...stuff that will appeal to the "Idaho Conservative Populous". There is only one venue in town that breaks this rule, and that is the Kulture Klatsch, which I play at the first Thursdays of every month. I've heard everything there, and it is always appreciated, albeit by a very small crowd on occasion. There used to be a hip venue called Pi. I played in a fusion/funk/jazz Scofield like original band there once...it was a cool place, great pro like stage, amazing lights and sound system, etc. They brought bands in from out of state, everything from free jazz and acid jazz to trip hop and adult alternative rock. But the owner couldn't keep the place alive, and he had to shut it down. Boise doesn't even have a part time jazz club...it was proposed by a jazz enthusiast/investor, but shot down in flames because of the grim prospect on ROI. During the Gene Harris Jazz festival, everyone claims to be a jazz fan, but then when the event is done and the hype is down, folks go back to their normal lack-of-support behavior. So, yes the idea of an avant-garde Cellist here in Boise is borderline ludicrous. I think most people here think avant-garde is playing an unplanned solo during a jam session, or a non-rock instrumentalist sitting in with a pop band. I once asked a local bass clarinet player if he was interested in collaborating with me, because I hear he had played with some rock or alternative groups. I thought, cool....now I can do the Nordic Quartet thing like Terje Rypdal. His response was that he had to make money and he wasn't interested in playing with screeching violins and atonal improv. But, maybe there is hope. A lot of it depends on having a large enough listening base that will support a venue. In a city of 210,000, 100 people who listen to real avant-garde probably isn't enough...this could be an exaggeration. Perhaps I should place an ad...it's worked for me before. I found bass player her interested in playing jazz like John Abercrombie. 1 response, and we've been great friends since. Cheers, Kris -----Original Message----- From: David Trenkel [mailto:improv@peak.org] Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 4:03 PM To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: Re: 3 Mah-na mah-na MP3s Here On Saturday, June 4, 2005, at 06:37 AM, Hartung, Kris wrote: > You're leaning cello? Move to Boise asap. I can't find a cello player > in a 300 miles square radius who is interested in looping and playing > avant-garde music...sort of like Kronos Quartet meets Joe Morris. > Anyone guitar players out there listen to Joe? I have a few of his > CDs...he's kind like the Cecil Taylor or Eric Dolphy of > guitarists...not for everyone, but seems to be where my mind has been > drifting these days. > > All hail Grover.... > > Kris out > > P.S. I had my first gig a few days ago with my laptop and virtual VST > effect rack. I'll post a soundclip this week of a very experimental > tune I recorded. > Hey Kris, Joe Morris is indeed cool, I've seen him a couple of times, and he always blows me away. He has such a pure conception, everything is conveyed in his note and harmony choices, his tone and technique seem to be pretty transparent. Beautiful player. Good luck on finding an avant-garde cellist in Boise! Until a few months ago, I would have just laughed at you trying to find any avant players in Boise, but now I think you might at least have a chance. I grew up in far-east Oregon and spent a lot of time Boise as a kid/teenager. Seemed like a real music backwater at the time. But, I played a gig there, as part of the Gene Harris Jazz fest a few months ago, and, after not being back for 20 some years, I was really surprised and pleased at how hip the audience at our show was! Met some very cool people, and felt that our own outward-leaning jazz-funk was well understood and accepted. Met a couple of music students from BSU who had huge ears, I believe the guys we talked to played trumpet and guitar, but the music school might be an avenue for finding cool players.