[Jandek] Response to a journalist re: Jandek

[Danen Jobe]

This article, to be honest, is frustrating to me, seeming to take a dip
backwards towards ye olde Chusid territory into the mucky "what a weird guy
this is" territory that I don't think had much to do with the show, almost
anti-promotional at times, or promotion from the standpoint of "we dare you
to see this."

I wish I could have. I did receive a brief report on the show from someone
who was there who said about 45 people attended and that the show, from at
least a few different viewpoints, was "very successful", with Jandek playing
a dark-toned Busendorfer (God I love these pianos) and Nicole Marcessieau (I
know I'm butchering this spelling - sorry Nicole!) playing a Steinway along
with the percussion mentioned in the article. Both pianos had been prepared,
though I'm told that neither used "bunches of paper" for effect.

Is Corwood going on hiatus? Or are we going to hear about more shows any day
now? I sure don't know. Someone could ask I guess...





On Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Seth Tisue <seth at tisue.net> wrote:

>
> this preview of yesterday's show:
>
> http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Desolation+deception/3616235/story.html
>
> has a few fresh bits, including this: "Rumour has it after the Ottawa
> performance and another in California, Jandek may go on hiatus, [Jesse
> Stewart] says."
>
> I'm quoted.  The writer asked:
>
> 1. What is there about Jandek that is so compelling?
> 2. Is it the music or the persona, or are the two inseparable?
>
> my full response was:
>
> Before there were Jandek concerts, there was no "persona".  There was
> only the music and a few old photos on the album covers.  But even well
> before the first concert in 2004, the early Jandek records had attracted
> a wide international following.  Those records are loved by their
> listeners with an intensity that's foreign to the way music is usually
> produced and consumed.  And we know the music was the attraction,
> because there wasn't anything else.
>
> In the audience, our situation with respect to Jandek isn't that
> unusual.  It's true we don't know very much about the Corwood rep, but
> usually we don't know very much about the people who make the records we
> listen to and write the books we read.  In Jandek's case we know only a
> little less.  It's not important.
>
> People have their own reasons for finding Jandek's music compelling.
> The records are a lot different from the concerts, and the concerts are
> a lot different from each other.
>
> I think what's most compelling about the concerts is that each one is a
> unique event.  He might not sing, but if he does, he brings new lyrics
> that he'll never use again.  Nobody else does that.  He sometimes uses a
> standard guitar-bass-drums lineup, but often the combination of
> instruments at a concert is unique, like in Ottawa.  And the music is
> almost wholly improvised, though it doesn't sound like "improvised
> music".  Musically, lyrically, personally, each concert is a fresh leap
> into the unknown.  There's no performer currently working that's so true
> of.  The bravest man in music works for Corwood Industries.
>
> --
> Seth Tisue | http://tisue.net
>
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>
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