2002: self-isolation before it was cool?

The difficult third album - recorded during a time of intense introspection in 2002. I locked myself in my room in Wellington for all of November with an analogue 4-track cassette recorder.The results rapidly put an end to my promising New Zealand music career! In 2002, a year whose digits are an anagram of this … Continue reading 2002: self-isolation before it was cool? →

Ruasagavulu – with Snake Beings in Fiji

Made in Suva, Fiji - the new album by Dave Black & Dr Emit Snake-Beings "So easy to get totally lost in this music, recommend for helping with your inner peace" - Andi Verse Indo-Fijian inspired tropical devotional avant-garde instrumentals for keyboards, ukulele, dholak, duduk, harmonicas, DIY kitchen gamelan, and video. This was one of … Continue reading Ruasagavulu – with Snake Beings in Fiji →

in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (part 2, 2014)

A few years ago I wrote a chapter of Jazz Aotearoa, a book about New Zealand jazz music history, discussing the free improvisation and avant-garde jazz scene in Wellington at the turn of the millennium. in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway is a collection of improvised instrumental music with some of the musicians in that … Continue reading in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (part 2, 2014) →

11 through the viewer 7

11th July 2019 https://youtu.be/oi-nq7lcF8o Improvised acoustic guitar and video effects by Dave Black, Featherston, NZ. A followup to Solstice Shards 19, another home recording - dialling back the electronic sound effects, but keeping some dynamic filters on the visuals. The consumer-level technology that's available nowadays lets me (or anyone) put together this sort of thing … Continue reading 11 through the viewer 7 →

Solstice Shards 19

I spent the longest night of the year at home and improvised this: . As I'd been doing mainly solo acoustic songs recently this was a palette cleansing electric improvisation from the other side of my coin. I think of acoustic as yin and electric as yang forces. The winter solstice is always a relief … Continue reading Solstice Shards 19 →

Other Islands: 2012-2018

fiffdimension vol3 (see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012) brings us into the current decade - with further wide-ranging experimentation and exploration sonically, temporally and geographically, in New Zealand, Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTMQw7roXH0&list=PLtbrBpNjlOHOfvink1dJANU_UFOs6My4Y by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, … Continue reading Other Islands: 2012-2018 →

22nd July – Tapioca Dragon, the Electricka Zoo, 1/3 Octave Band @ Pyramid Club

A night of improv, otherworld musics, and ethereal sonic crunch at Wellington’s Pyramid Club, plus an album release for The Electricka Zoo. Saturday 22nd July 2017, 8pm @ the Pyramid Club 272 Taranaki Street, Wellington NZ - $10 door sales The Electricka Zoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n2bjE_Y36Y&w=210&h=113 The duo of Dave Black & the Digitator, The Electricka Zoo combine influences from … Continue reading 22nd July – Tapioca Dragon, the Electricka Zoo, 1/3 Octave Band @ Pyramid Club →

The Winter: Exit Points

Today is the last day of winter in the southern hemisphere - so to celebrate, here's the fifth album from The Winter - a New Zealand free improvisation trio of Mike Kingston, Simon Sweetman and Dave Edwards… with a sound that swerves from acoustic folk/blues with hints of Asian, Celtic, and Balkan influences, to electroacoustic … Continue reading The Winter: Exit Points →

The Winter at Pyramid Club, 2015

Thanks to Brent for the photos and to everyone who came along to the Pyramid Club on Thursday! The Winter's new album 'Exit Points' is now available! First formed on winter solstice day 2003 in Wellington, The Winter is an improvised music trio of Mike Kingston, Simon Sweetman and Dave Edwards... with a sound that … Continue reading The Winter at Pyramid Club, 2015 →

Ngumbang

Out now!! the new collaboration with even more legendary & underground NZ artist Snake Beings. Ngumbang is the first collaborative album by two of New Zealand’s more unusual artist/musician/filmmaker/ethnomusicologists - performed on guitars, bass, banjo, percussion, saxophones, clarinets, harmonicas, synthesisers, Okinawan sanshin, ukulele, violin, loop pedal, piano, drums and spoken word. The album was recorded … Continue reading Ngumbang →