LISTEN HERE: MP3s from 2-19-07 @ Mr Spot's

I especially dug parts 4 and 5... Part 1 is pretty phat as well... You know, it's all good or I wouldn't have put it up here

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST SET
featuring 5-Track (guitar), John Beezer (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Patrick Lenon (drums) and John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR THE SECOND SET
featuring 5-Track (guitar), Gerry Amandes (guitar), Reysa (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Vince Amandes (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3
featuring Chris Hogan (guitar), ? (guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), Patrick Lenon (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4
featuring Chris Hogan (guitar), N8 (guitar), 5-Track (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Knute Jordan (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 5
featuring Gerry Amandes (guitar), N8 (drums), Reysa (electric bass)

see yas
-5-

LOOK HERE: pictures from 2-5-2007 @ Mr Spot's Chai House

Courtesy of Snoose Admiral Michael Faulhaber...














5-Track (yours truly):



Amy Richards on the mic, hazy Foss in the background:



The special-est of guests, Mr Andrew Woods of Neon Brown:





Snoose Commander John Leighton Beezer:





Snoose Cadet N8:





Chris Hogan is from outer space:



Chai House counter...



Chavon and Ian:





Donovan in the Octopus Hat:



Paul Turner, drums::





Evan Strauss: "A drum set? Why no, John Foss, what makes you think I have a drum set?"





Aaron Gates sings for his life:





So does Ian:



A few last enlightening images:












dig it
-5-

The High Dive @ Snoose Junction, 2-12-2007

Yes, I DO mean
"The High Dive at Snoose Junction"
'cos Snoose Junction is WHERE WE ARE
and it doesn't matter WHERE THAT IS...



It seemed to freak people out a little bit... It was Monday, alright, and we were all us... But it wasn't the Chai House, under-21s were being turned away and there was a big stage and PA and sound man and an opening act (singer-songwriter with acoustic guitar and deep voice, Kyle Hawkins) and it was all being put on by an absentee entity called 'nadamucho'...

On the plus side, Kent was working the door.

Anyway, we started with a trio featuring Wes Amundsen (upright bass), Vince Amandez (drum kit), and myself (electric guitar). The mood was groovin' and tribal and heavy and light and we kept it up for ten or fifteen minutes before Gerry Amandez joined in on 2nd guitar, then Juliana the Human Theremin stepped up and sang her heart out for a while, and then Donovan came up to add an electric bass to the mix... Full-on bottom end bedlam! I couldn't really pick out which bass was doing what (or even which guitar at times!) but the tone, feel and mood were right on.

At about this time, Paul Turner stepped up to take the drumsticks out of Vince's hands without a pause or even a tremor in the groove... The mania escalated as a gent from the audience stepped up to sing, then John Leighton Beezer showed up with the deadly Captain Trips virus somewhat under control and played the hell out of his strat for a while. Wes took a break and I took the electric bass off Donovan and donned the Octopus Hat while Chris Hogan took Gerry's guitar spot...

Eventually Wes came back to add bowed accents to my minimalist groove, Chavon and Amy finally got up to sing for a few minutes, and Knute took over the drums for the last ten minutes of the night. We had about the same turnout overall as a Chai House Monday, though it felt emptier being in a bigger room...

Everyone I've talked to had a blast... Thanks for being part of it! I am honored to play with and for all of you.
-5-

LISTEN HERE! 2-5-2007 @ Mr Spot's MP3s

This was too cool a night to try to say anything about it, so here are the recordings instead:

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST HOUR
featuring Andrew Woods (guitar and human voice), 5-Track (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), and Paul Turner (drums) plus John Foss and Aaron Gates do some singing and Mike plays the trumpet. We started in5/8, went ambient, came back in 7 and stayed there for a while, then got into some fast 12/8 ideas and then got really really slow and grooved heavy for about 30 minutes

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO
This segment features John Leighton Beezer (guitar) and N8 Moore (drums) with Andrew Woods and Evan Strauss plus Foss, Gates and Mike on the trumpet. This starts about where part one leaves off, goes heavy latin for a while and then tumbles through some other ideas for a total of about 22 minutes

CLICK HERE FOR PART THREE
This segment features Michael Faulhaber (drums) and Donovan (bass guitar) but beyond there I have lost track of who is playing for most of this 43 minutes. I am playing Andrew's guitar for a while, but I think Andrew is back later on. I think Aaron Gates plays my guitar for a while. I believe I hear Chavon singing something amazing, and Amy Richards too (Amy is Keith Richards' bastard daughter)

CLICK HERE FOR THE LAST SIX MINUTES
Tragically we lost the best part of this jam when the minidisc filled up... That's Chris Hogan on the electric guitar, myself on the bass and Paul Turner on the drums. This excerpt is pretty cool, but we got WEIRD in the remaining half hour

Hope ya dig it!
-5-

Snoose Log re 1-29-2007

It was a tough night, and didnn't really hit its stride until it was almost done...

Whiting Tennis and El Grande Conquistador opened it up, but they never caught fire like they did the last time, maybe 'cos we started late or maybe 'cos we weren't sure exactly who was going to play until almost the second it happened. When I got there, we had no drummer lined up, we had 3 or 4 people making calls to 1-800-NEED-A-DRUMMER but they were booked, solid. Finally we lucked onto a kit, but no one to play it, at which time Mr Van Yserloo walked into the room, followed in short order by Mr Iverson, and - like that - a quorum was achieved.

But it was a slow-burn quorum, a smoldering quorum, a quorum that had seen its shadow and was on its way back to bed. The music was GORGEOUS in places, but stumbled and staggered and spat in between - and I have the tapes to prove it. After about a 1/2 hour of false but scintillating starts, JLB called a full-on change-up and kicked everyone (including himself) off the stage.

I took the guitar, Wes took the bass, Knute got on the drums (his first visit to Snoose Junction - and a long story in itself) and Diono from Ancestor Radio hit the congas (another first) and we played a set that went over real well but felt like an uphill jog on a hot day all the way.

Not sure what happened next - Danny played the bass and Joe Reno painted her picture, John Foss gave KP a birthday roast from the heart, N8 played the drums, Amy put the octopus hat on Iverson, then she took the mic and channelled an Indian shaman for 10 minutes, Spike took the mic but I couldn't hear what he said, and then

(it was as if the sun came out from behind a cloud)

there was this great jam from Chris Hogan (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass), Knute (drums), Foss (sing) and some mandolin player from Tennessee? It coulda gone on for hours, and then it stopped

What's A Joe Reno?

That's a picture that Joe Reno painted
(of me, tho at first I thought it was a landscape, perhaps a sunrise behind a purple mountain, or maybe a submarine, til I realized I was holding it the wrong way)
during a performance by Snoose Junction at Mr Spot's Chai House...

I saw one of his new ones the other day, a beautiful Mt Rainier with a pterodactyl

yup
-5-

Snoose Log re 1-22-2007

On this night (with Beth and Julie behind the counter) the first set was thrown down by Paul Turner (drums), Donovan (bass), Gerry Amandez (kaos guitar), and Aaron Gates (sing, guitar), and it was rocknroll

Beezer subbed in for Gates on guitar at 8:50, followed eventually by me on bass and N8 Moore on the drums. A kid with a guitar turned up and jammed powerchords with Chris Hogan for a little while, then Donovan took one guitar and a man I don't know took the other. He was going to step down after a few jams but Turner came back to the kit (replacing Mike Faulhaber) and told New Guitar Guy to stay right where he was

Roslyn came back this week to play the mouthpiece and eventually the whole clarinet ("not slower," she advised us as we dropped the dynamic for her approach, "just quieter") in a multiphony of duckcalls and cellular melodies while Ian McKagan took the mic (he had it in him, and it got to get out) and shared it intermittently with Amy and Chavon and Kansas City Cunningham

Where was Foss during all this? He was in the shower... But the new expanded format (thanks to Superbarrista Beth) allows him to shower and sing on the same night, and he was in the house by 9 in his Guatemalan Coffee Pickers Hat and a bright yellow shirt that says 'Fuma' (ask the Mugicians where he got it)

Some drunk came in and we let him make an ass of himself on the mic for a while but then he broke a tap off a keg and wanted to play the bass. Beth gave him the Big Red Snow Boot and he took a hike with his girl who couldn't stop laughing at him... "This is our clubhouse," Foss told them, "you can't be breakin up the clubhouse!"

The night wound up with Gerry on bass, Thomas The Cat Nelson on guitar, Foss and Amy and Chavon singing and Mike Faulhaber on the drums

Gerry was cool enough to bring out an ADAT and and a mixing board and get some hopefully decent live sounds to 8-track digital. Some of us have been laying down the sounds in his home studio in the middle of the night (check out Magna Freak) but this should be the best sounding live tape we've got yet, in our natural habitat

Snoose Log 1-15-2007

Tonight began with a set from the Columbia City All-Stars, which is to say, John Beezer (guitar) brought in Steve Turnidge on the bass (amp supplied by Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss), Mike Faulhaber on the drums, Jason Dennie on keys and vox, and John Lee on keys... I came in halfway through their set, chill and late for a change, with no responsibilities or gear, and boogied down with Zack and Danny from Luxxe while the All-Stars rocked it out good-like

The first substitution of the evening came at 9:15pm (Beezer offered me the axe at 8:45 but I declined as I played ALL NIGHT last week and ALL WEEKEND this week)... with Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss subbing in for Mr Turnidge, resulting in a funkier groove but a remarkable restrained and deep one for Evan, who likes to play the Irrepressible Mad Bass Funk. The keys set up some ambient drones, and I wandered onto the guitar for a time as Foss stepped up to finally sing some things

Paul Turner came up and took Mike's place behind the drums for some scattered aggro-fusion (or something) and then I got on the bass with, um, N8 Moore on the guitar and lay down fractured post-everything grooves with Paul until newbie Roslyn came up with her clarinet... "My instrument is a lot quieter than yours," she pointed out, so we (now including Chris Hogan on guitar instead of N8 and Mr Donovan on the keys) settled into a slow, chill, simple rock&r&b groove for a loooongg time and this woman Amy2 came up and sang BEAUTIFULLY from a chair next to the keys for a while, what a lovely, sweet slow jam it was...

I tried to get Danny up to play at that time but she wouldn't... So eventually I turned it over to Eric, who I met at Danny and Zack's house one New Year's Eve. Little did I know that Danny and Zack had eaten the leftover New Year's Truffles of Spike earlier in the night and were pleasantly zonked. Eric lay down the mad bass funk with John Beezer and Vince Amandes (drums) and then I subbed in for Beezer for the SuperBarristas Funk Jam dedicated to Beth who is the Man even if she is a Woman (The Very Reverend Betty that is)... Foss told everyone to get up and dance but they wouldn't so Amy danced like a whirling dervish in the aisle for a while and then

to cap it all off, Danny came up with Zack and N8 (and Donovan on the keys!) for some space-groove ambient improv that ROCKED AND ROLLED and I DANCE AND DANCED and th-th-th-that's all, folks!

Evan, thanks for letting us keep your gear late! Roslyn and Eric and Amy2, thanks for being the new kids! See yas in the future,
-5-

Snoose Is Up!

Tonight we are convening the Snoose Junction Greenwood Posse for another evening of crazed and unreasonable jams blasted into hifi digital immortality in the basement of a condemned house in (you guessed it) Greenwood, Seattle, WA, Earth

Personnel of course varies, but it's Gerry Amandez' house, for one thing, so he'll be there playing guitar and maybe some bass and running the studio. His brother Vince is a good bet for drums. Rey will likely be playing some bass. I'll play guitar. Foss will sing and I understand someone named Troy is going to be there as well

What tends to happen is, is that we lay down a lot of weird tracks in the middle of the night until everyone passes out and then Gerry mixes and edits it all down into something vaguely presentable and eventually it makes its way onto a CD and gets back to us. Last time it was John Beezer, Gerry, Vince, Patrick Lenon (drums - Glass Goblins & also Variety Pack), Foss and myself. We haven't heard that yet, but the tracks we have mixed include Gerry, Vince, Paul Turner, Foss, Rey, Donovan and myself

You can hear two tracks from that session at the Snoose Junction xxspace page: 'Magna Freak' and 'Live And Let Live'

Gerry sez these aren't finished mixes, and I believe him, but they're totally listenable and really spaced out... Ask Foss who plays what on which, he has it written down

Word from the Chai House is time to head for Greenwood. Snoose is up!

Snoose Log 1-08-2006

First Snoose of the year...

Starting lineup was Paul Turner (brought the drum kit with geegaws and whatnots and played the hell out of it) with Donovan on bass, Gerry Amandez on kaos guitar and 5-Track on guitar, eventually Aaron vocals and piano...

Then Foss on the sing, and then Vince Amandez on the drums, 5 on the bass, N8 on the drums, Chris Hogan on the guitar, and Sarah the Sometime Superbarrista's Sister (name? sorry I missed it!) on the post-Alice Coltrane piano stylings... And Rey on the kaos guitar, and then Donovan on it, too

Beezer sez:
" I decided I would only play if the quality dropped below the 95% level for more than 20 seconds. Y’all went and rendered me redundant ... but with a big grin on my face."

I think I played for almost 3 straight hours!
ptite...
-5-

Happy Birthday to Agent HH, 12/26/2006

This has been a test of our emergency Snoose Junction Hotline...

Wherein, with little advance warning and only 15 minutes notice to convene, we were able to raise a quorum and then some, with which to converge upon the Center Of The Known Universe, aka Mr Spot's Chai House, at or around 8:15 pm local time and commence to BRING THE HOLY NOISE

In the service, as it were, of commemoration of an adjunct unit, the organism known as Agent HH. Let it never be said that Snoose Junction does not take care of its own!

Time restrictions, though established with firm clarity early in the proceedings, proceeded to warp and bend ala tube-driven Dali. Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss provided the low end with able assistance from Donovan. John Beezer and myself brought in the guitar amplification and accompanying axes (bold as rain) with assistance from Chris Hogan in the P.A. and guitaristics department. Big Stephen sang the boogie and in deference to the Agent no one called a foul on the non-improv state of his boogie - especially since half the room was dancing!

And the benevolent deity Reverend Betty, she who walks between the Chai jugs, she who presides over the evening's wave/fractal incursion, not only allowed this all to continue well past the prophesized Time Of The Closing (and on a Tuesday no less - ain't that supposed to be Chess Night?) but instigated in full complicity the conncluding James Brown Memorial Funk Jam, for our fallen Soul Brother #1... I'm not saying it was great, but we tried, and the whole room boogied down this time at the command of latecomer John Freakin' Foss: "This is a dance party, everyone!"

Props from the 5 to everyone who made it out to play, sing, dance, or otherwise pay tribute to the birthday girl. Had this been a genuine emergency, casualties would likely have been nil. A night that requires Snoose Action will not catch us napping

Snoose Junction & Musical Channelling, 12/22/06

So far in Snoose Junction, nearly all the music has been of an intentional but entirely freeform character. The only exceptions I can think of (in 6 months of weekly performance) are a) John Foss’ “Superbarristas” closing theme, which itself most likely originated as an improvisation, and b) an instance of Guitoracle which took place in December 2006, although the purely improvisational nature of El Grande Conquistadore (November 2006: Beezer, Iverson, Tennis, Van Yserloo) has been debated, mainly the contribution of singer / guitarist / visual artist Whiting Tennis.

The set by El Grande Conquistadore was nonetheless one of my favorite sets to date, and if Tennis is in fact bringing preconceived material to the stage, the results are still largely intentional freeform channelling with Whiting's contribution serving as a catalyst, since I know John Beezer won't play in bands that rehearse or play songs...

Snoose Junction improvisations are characterized less by form or preconception - most consisting of stream-of-consciousness themes and variations which arise from musical dialogue between the players - than by juxtaposition of different energies in the form of different combinations of musicians. In this sense we are all the composer, and an absence from the stage is as much a part of the picture as a presence.

-5-

SNOOSE LOG re: 12/18/06

Separate reports label this the Best Snoose Ever!

We had Andrew Woods from Neon Brown playing the oddly-tuned and often-tapped 6-string guitar with a hidden microphone in the volume pot, all night...

And we had Michael Faulhaber on the drums, followed perhaps too quickly by Dave Foley (he was walking by and we flagged him down) who played GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT, followed I think by N8, followed by Paul T (and that's just the first 4 drummers!) by which time I had switched from guitar to bass. Evan had started off on the bass but took a breather and graciously allowed me to play his fretless 4-string bundle of joy while... Thomas "The Cat" Nelson I think picked up the guitar at this point, and Chavon came up to help John Foss out with the singing, then Amy came up to help out Chavon, and left-handed Woody turned Evan's bass upside-down and played a great coupla jams with Evan on the Kaoss Pad and John Beezer on the 2nd guitar and Chris Hogan on the 3rd guitar, and then Woody and Evan swapped places, and then... I'm not sure what exactly happened but then this girl I've never seen before played some terrific guitar and Michael was back on the drums and it all wrapped up around 11:30 with a big fat heavy groove that went on for DAYS! And I think it ended with a trio of myself and Chris Hogan on guitars, no bass, Michael on the drums, and Foss singing "SuperBarrista" to the chords from "Stand By Me" ... Some monday night!

see yas
-5-

Snoose Log re:11/27/06

'scuse the same post as m-sp-c- page, still ironing out the details of the overarching concept...
-5-

Last night:

Jason Dennie came out to play keys and sing in a band with John Leighton Beezer, Soctt Boggan and Michael Faulhaber... Very excellent, pswampy psoul psych... The rest of the night involved 5-Track on guitar, Spencer on the drums, Nate on the drums, Evan on the bass, 5-Track on the bass (for a minute, and the drums for even less), and Paul Turner on the drums. Have I forgotten anyone? Oh yeah: Chris Hogan on the guitar!

np: Thunder Before Dawn (south african compilation on vinyl)

Let It Snow... Chai House Monday Night

re: 11/27/06
Beezer Sez:

"Hi,

I’m pretty psyched about the line-up for the Chai House tonight ... and even though the weather may make it tough to get around, I can’t think of a better place for a warm drink (cider, tea, hot chocolate, chai ...). Or a cold beer, for that matter.

Come by if you can make it ... here’s the starting line-up:

Drums, Mike Faulhaber. The original guitar player in the Thrown Ups, who has somehow morphed into a subtle and totally tasteful jazz drummer (?!).

Bass, Scott Boggan. A musician who earned my undying respect freakin’ 20 years ago in Room 9 ... still astonishing and a natural at improv. Scott’s latest ensemble is Down With People. Here’s their MySpace page:

Down With People!

Guitar. Yours truly ... and as an added bonus, we’ll rotate 5-Track in as early as I can stand to let go of the axe, Eugene.

Vocals & Keyboards, Jason Dennie. The man behind the Columbia City jams makes the trek out to Ballard. Jason will be playing his new Nord keyboard which is said to be capable of emulating the classic Hammond B3 sound, which I kind of have a thing for. To hear what Jason has been doing lately, here’s a link to the MySpace page for The Western Shore, where he’s on keys and vocals ...

The Western Shore!

We have also invited Michael Uxa to rotate in on saxophone. I’ve never heard him play sax, but he’s an incredible drummer, so we’ll see what happens. If you’re jonesing to play tonight, send me an e-mail and I’ll try to rotate you in, too.

As usual, the music starts at 8:00 and goes to 10:00. Feel free to forward ...

JLB"