Uccello Projects

The first multimedia document: Atalanta Fugiens -Uccello style-

2011-03-29T02:20:00.000-07:00

‘THE WIND CARRIED HIM IN HIS BELLY’

Michael Maier: Atalanta Fugiens by Clarified Birds

CLARIFIED BIRDS AND THE ‘ATALANTA FUGIENS’

THE STORY BEHIND THIS PROJECT:

My older brother Joe is an amazing artist, he was self taught for a long time, sometimes toiling away for years on one drawing, developing his intricate skills, and most importantly, his own style. Now years later he's a totally 'legit' artist and he runs Viatorium Press. But remembering back, one of his early training techniques was to put on music, completely surrender to the sounds and then literally DRAW THE MUSIC, as he heard it. His tastes were consistently as varied as Japanese Shakuhachi music, Pakistani Tar music, Persian Classical, Chinese Guqin music, Jazz, Blues, various Ambient artists, even bands like Black Sabbath and Hawkwind, to name only small fraction of what he listened to, and indeed, still listens to.

Truly I say that for my brother Joe music is a bigger part of his life than anyone I know. He’s doesn’t play seriously himself (though he has the talent to) but the priority he gives music in his life is awe-inspiring. He listens to music for hours, ingesting it, letting it shape his mind, spirit, and heart. He listens more than most musicians I know and it’s awesome to see that there is someone who makes music such a big part of their life! In this age where people have so much music smashed into low-grade mp3s into their Ipods (I am sort of included in this category;) that there’s no possible way they can even listen to it all in their lifetime, here is a gem, someone who still truly values the WORTH OF MUSIC.

I used to watch him work on his drawings and I would be aware of which musician he was ‘drawing’ and one of my goals as a musician, aside from ‘paying my dues’ and getting my skills together and surviving as a full time musician (which I have done for 12 years) was to be one of the musicians that Joe ‘drew’. Thus the birth of our music/art collaborative group ‘UCCELLO PROJECT’ in 2005 was a major step forward for us as brothers, and for my creative core as a musician. It was a reclamation for me to go back to the original creative impetus that made me want to be a musician in the first place. We then went on to create yet another side project called 'CLARIFIED BIRDS'. It’s been amazing, having completed two works together so far: ‘Symmetria’, (under Uccello Project) and 'The Forest that Hears and the Field that Sees’ (under Clarified Birds). The Forest That Hears And The Field That Sees is based on the Hieronymus Bosch painting of the same name-actually on that one we switched it around and I 'played the drawing' & Joe did a letterpressed art piece inspired by the Bosch painting.

Now we are in the process of tackling our most massive project yet, our tribute to the famous, ‘ATALANTA FUGIENS’ by composer/physician/alchemist, Michael Maier (1568-1622). Combining 50 fugues, 50 emblems, and 50 epigrams, this work is considered by many to be the first ‘multi-media’ document in history. The intention of Maier being that people would get together to sing the 3 part fugues, inspect the art of the emblems, and discuss the philosophy and meaning behind the epigrams. This all started when sometime in early spring 2010, Joe sent me the sheet music for about 30 of the fugues, curious to know what they'd sound like if I read them down with bass. Somehow the fugues fit the bass really well and we were encouraged. Many different 'ensembles' were tried & finally we've settled on bowed upright with two electric basses (one fretted & one fretless). I feel thankful to Joe for discovering this music and passing it on to me, it's been a joy recording these fugues. Now, of course, we are going to build our own multi-media document that will honor the original, yet also bring something fresh to it.

So far, our intention is to create a fine book that includes a CD along with it. Joe will be toiling at length as he’s planning to create 50 emblems of his own inspired by and based upon the original 50! The epigrams may receive a similar creative treatment by Joe, or possibly a translator may be employed, or we may try to gain permission to use translations already in existence.

As for my part, the fugues, I am recording them myself using the art of ‘live looping’ and a three voiced ‘BASS CHOIR’ comprised of BOWED UPRIGHT BASS, ELECTRIC FRETTED BASS, and ELECTRIC FRETTLESS BASS. By the way, I use a Looperlative 1, the best looper in the world, hand built by Robert Ahmstadt. If it was not for the high def sound and ease of control (all with my feet) this project would have taken soooo much longer to track. It’s been such an experience of growth for me musically and spiritually, I really feel this project is making me a better person, I know that’s sounds over the top, but that is my sincere feeling at the moment.

There’s so much more I’d love to tell you about regarding this esoteric project, but I feel I’ve already run too long. One thing I do really want to mention is that I am reading the transcriptions by the great Joscelyn Godwin during my tracking. There is just such a multi-layered complexity behind this work that I’m going to go ahead and link to some cool stuff I found on the web regarding different aspects of this amazing work:

--Background on music scholar/author Joscelyn Godwin--

--Podcast by: Patricia Goodson, David Vaughan (a bit of historical context)--

--The complete original book in pdf format--

2011-01-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Uccello Project 2010 highlights:

2010 was a really great year for the Uccello family. There were lots of fun times and lots to keep us busy. It’s just been a blast to be with Kathy and our little one Viola (getting bigger all the time!). It’s been amazing seeing Vi grow so fast and learn so much in such a short amount of time, I’m blown away by her intelligence! Musically 2010 was filled with various and numerous gigs, recording sessions, and jams, that I’ve not only played bass for, but also some lead guitar, mandolin, and cello.

2010 was also a great year for my solo outlet “Uccello Project”. I got to meet so many amazing folks and play my music in some really fun situations. Here are some of the highlights of this past year:

January:

-I played on KPIG radio as a solo artist for the first time and debuted my song ‘Hillcrest’

Hillcrest (Live on KPIG 1-10-09) by Uccello_Project

-I held a house concert at my home in Monterey which featured the amazing duo of singer/songwriter/pianist Kira Small and bassist extraordinaire Bryan Beller. They were so fun to meet and to listen to and I was so proud of my crowd for coming out on a rainy weeknight to catch the show. Adding to the host duties, I also opened the show with a few of my songs and got to do a little improv bass jam with Bryan too!

If you want a little taste of how awesome a house concert with two such beautiful musicians can be-follow this link to a song from that night on Kira’s youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/KiraSmallMusic#p/u/12/rMgV4P93-iY

February:

Played with master guitarist Rob Michael of ‘Atmos Trio’ in his ‘Live Stream Jazz’ online concert series. It was such a pleasure to play with Rob in a duet format. Not only did he arrange the whole show and record it, but then turned around and mixed an album of the whole show! The cover was by the wonderful artist Linda Mills.

Here is my tune ‘All Right, Right Now’ that Rob sight read beautifully!

March:

-I opened for singer/songwriter Kim Boekbinder (formerly of Vermillion Lies) at The Alternative Café, in Seaside. Super fun show, but no recordings to share here, unfortunately, but I think a song or two of mine may be archived on Kim’s ustream channel.

-My good friend/singer-songwriter/house concert organizer Nancy Cassidy had me open for another good friend of ours from Spain: ‘Nueva Cancion’ singer-songwriter, Juan L. Sanchez at a house concert at her Palo Alto home. It was really a treat to share some of my original music with Juan’s audience, and to feature the amazing Dayan Kai on clarinet with me for “Golden”.

-A real treat for me was playing bass and a wee bit of tenor banjo in Jackson Stock’s group ‘Taking Stock’ at the Monterey Jazz Bash. The group also featured virtuoso saxophonist Gary Meek (plays w/ Dave Weckl, Brian Bromberg to name a few). I learn so much from playing with guys like these!

April:

I discovered the insanely cool bassist Juan Garcia a.k.a. ‘Snow Owl’, who plays a custom contra-bass-guitar (6 string bass an octave below the guitar), and the sound of his music inspired me to try to have a Resophonic contra-bass-guitar made for me. Through my research of builders I found a master luthier of Resophonic guitars: Paul Beard. I discovered him through the website ‘Reso Hangout’

http://www.resohangout.com/myhangout/bio.asp?id=17149

and contracted him to make me, what might be the first ever Reso-contra-bass-guitar.

-I put on a bass looping themed house concert: “Bass Looping On The San Lorenzo”. Bass phenom Dan Robbins headlined, and the show also featured Matt Bohn a.k.a. ‘The Bass Doctor’, Zack Parkes, myself, and percussionist Armando Mafufo. Here’s a vid of Dan, Armando, and myself from the show playing ‘Magnetic Domain’ –it was awesome to have a little ensemble for this piece…

http://www.youtube.com/user/UccelloProject#p/u/11/OJkG9xeKJRM

May:

May saw me mostly doing a lot of gigs. Jazz gigs with Hot Club of Watsonville, playing the Hyatt jam with pianist Weber Iago and guitarist Michael Lent. The ‘Mushroom Mardi Gras’ with the John ‘Broadway’ Tucker Blues Band, some children’s shows with Nancy Cassidy, and Rancho Cellars with pianist Bob Phillips and saxophonist George Young. I also co-founded a little R&B band with the mind-blowing singer Malinda DeRouen. Also there was a lot of planning going on for shows and continued dialogue with Paul Beard.

June:

For the last few years I’ve played a little bass at Mike Marshall’s and David Grisman’s ‘Mandolin Symposium’. This year I got to play with blues mando man Rich DelGrosso as well as jazz mandolinist Don Sternberg, not only at the Symposium, but also at the Freight And Salvage in Berkeley, CA at Mike Marshall's International Mandolin Celebration. I am a part time mandolin player and I love getting to be involved in this wonderful event every year.

July:

I played some shows with Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai. Most notably we opened for the band Little Feat at the Chico Brewfest. We also did a house concert in Oakland at a unique venue called “The Boathouse”. I played the tune ‘Golden’ solo in the middle of the show-I really enjoy bringing my brand of instrumental ‘bass-music’ to a folk/vocal audience and having it received well, it means a lot to me to successfully cross lines like that ☺

August:

Right at the top of the month I opened for singer-songwriter Saul Kaye at The Venue" in Seaside. What a great musician and a really cool guy, he also is quite the Live Looper! Then Kathy, Vi and I went to upstate New York for Kathy’s sister’s wedding. I played acoustic guitar for the ceremony, Kathy was a bride’s maid and Vi had her first gig as a flower girl-it was insanely cute! Around this time I was also regularly meeting with master luthier Rick Turner as he was installing a custom pick-up system onto my upright bass. Some of you might remember me referring to this process as my ‘tone quest’, alas- ‘tis fulfilled!

September:

September started with a bang, a big-bang to be precise, The Monterey Bay Jazz Orchestra reconvened to play a show together at the Aquarium. So nice to jam with cats like Paul Contos and Eddie Mendenhal! Then there was the streaming Jazz show in Berkeley with Rob Michael, Dave Hoffman, Jason Parker, and Darin Wilson. After that it was up to Sister’s Folk Fest in central Oregon to accompany Dayan Kai on upright bass. Jazz Festival weekend I played a gig with the local Monterey Jazz group ‘Along Came Betty’ in Big Sur.

October:

A visit to KPIG again with guitarist/looper Bill Walker started out the month. Then I played in Santa Cruz at the Y2KX International Live Looping festival-had a great time playing, as well as listening to, and meeting other musicians. I played two of the “Atalanta Fugiens” there for the first time live. Lots of good firsts for me this year it seems.

I also did a show with guitarist Bill Walker at The Alternative Café. Here is us playing ‘Chiral’ together-double slide action!

http://www.youtube.com/user/UccelloProject#p/u/6/gtijGhdgBGo

-On 10-10-10 my new virtual duo ‘sung’ with the Australian percussionist/composer Nat Grant released “Melbourne, Monterey”. It was the first collaborative record I’d. Though it’s an online project the CD came out sounding like a very intimate performance. One of my bass heroes, the inimitable Jeff Schmidt, created a very cool podcast about the making of “Melbourne, Monterey”. If you would like to hear it, check out the post on this blog about our ‘virtual duo’ sung. This also inadvertently led to doing some collaborative recordings with Jeff Schmidt, which will hopefully surface in 2011!

November:

Yet another visit to KPIG, this time it was to advertise a house concert with singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist Amy Obenski. We had a really nice show together at Nancy Cassidy’s Santa Cruz house concert venue. I opened the show, and also sat in with her and her awesome cellist, Dan Brown. We did some double bow low string playing together, what a rush!

December:

I played a show at the Corralitos Cultural Center with my good friend and long time musical co-conspirator, Dayan Kai. I played a few tunes of mine as well as accompanying Dayan and, we both did a bit of live looping. Here’s a good old Dayan song called ‘When You Know”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf55vqMnQSw

There’s lots more between all the cracks, I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but for now there’s the ‘progress report’ on Uccello Project, I’m looking forward to an even better year in 2011. I hope you all are making big plans for the upcoming year, also I’d love to hear about them, please leave a comment so I can keep an eye on what’s happening ☺

New 'virtual duo' sung release 'Melbourne, Monterey'

2010-10-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

The new duo 'sung' comprised of Steve Uccello and Australian percussionist, Nat Grant have released a new CD: 'Melbourne, Monterey'. The new release contains an array of string and percussion instruments as well as electronics. The whole record was done virtually by Nat and Steve by sending files across the web for about a year. To learn more about the duo, and the record check out this wonderful podcast done by Jeff Schmidt (Musician/Producer/Bassist, KFOG/KSAN Creative Director, Contract Sound Designer World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Diablo 3, & other games/films)

To purchase a high quality download of 'Melbourne, Monterey', simply click the 'BUY' button on the above BandCamp player. There are a limited number of physical CD's available, if you'd like one purchase the download from the BandCamp player and email us at - sungduo@hotmail.com - with your address. You can also visit us at our sung Myspace profile.

Why Bass Looping On The San Lorenzo?

2010-03-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Bass Looping on The San Lorenzo-April 24th, 2010 6pm in Felton, Ca

Here's a little background about the upcoming 'Bass Looping On The San Lorenzo' event. It's a house concert right on the beautiful San Lorenzo River near the Covered Bridge in Felton. The show will center around TheBass (Upright, Electric, more...) and the art of Live Looping. Though it will be an intimate, little show, it's inspired by Rick Walker's groundbreaking Y2k Bass/Drum Looping Festival, which featured Steve Lawson (Here's a cool interview by Daniel Elliot with Steve Lawson, Michael Manring, and Rick Walker done around the time of that festival). This upcoming house concert was also inspired by the amazing time I had listening/attending/playing at the latest of Rick's amazing Y2K series. I'm aware that there' a lot going on around the world in regards to these arts, these are just the things that spurred me into the worlds of solo bass and live looping.

Though hoping to make this an event that will draw Central Coast bassists and loopers together and promote the expanding role of the bass as well as the inspiring art of Live Looping, I am also exhilarated about the wide ranging appeal that the music will have. The lineup that's featured on this special event goes way beyond just being bassists or loopers, they are artists whose goal is to transcend the 'tools' they're using and create enchanting music in and of itself. It's exiting to me that a non-bass/looping crowd could walk in and simply listen to the sweet sound from these fantastic artists, with eyes open or closed. I feel that is a good way to bring these more obscure art forms to people's attention and thereby reward the listener with quality, unique music and, hopefully, to create opportunities for the practitioners of such arts.

I'm extremely proud to be organizing and playing at this show. The bassists involved are all such uniquely musical people! Dan Robbins and Zach Parkes are a treat to hear playing within an ensemble, but their solo music extends the bass beyond the conventional supportive role in varied and beautiful ways! Then there'sMatt Bohn a.k.a. The Bass Doctor, a community pillar for bassists as a luthier, as well as a stunningly powerful bassist. Matt has chosen the finale piece, Big Brother, by Stevie Wonder, and suggested doing it as a bass quartet (2 uprights, 2 electrics). It promises to be really fun! Also joining in on percussion will be the legendaryArmando Mafufo. The music will start around 6 but make sure to come early (5ish) to enjoy a potluck and a little hang by the river.

-I'd love to see you there! RSVP me at 831-801-4920 or stevebassbird@yahoo.com for the details

Bass Looping on The San Lorenzo APRIL 24th

2010-03-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Steve Uccello here, announcing the next House Concert I'm organizing. It will be an event centered around two of my favorite things in music: Bass and Live Looping.

On Saturday, April 24th 6pm, in Felton, the ground will rumble with the beautiful sounds of bass. The show will feature the inimitable DAN ROBBINS playing his intricate and fiery solo bass music. Also the subversive, part time deck-hand/bassist/student, Zach Parkes, will be opening the show with some of his beautiful solo bass music. In the middle of all this I will play a set of my acoustic/bass/looping tunes. I will be accompanied by the legendary Armando Mafufo on a bit of Percussion. As a 'Grand Finale' Matt Bohn (A.K.A. The Bass Doctor) Dan, Zach, and myself, will perform a song especially arranged for this event together in a bass quartet featuring two upright basses and two electric basses! It promises to be an evening of fantastic music whether you're a fan of bass, looping gadgets, or just a lover of beautiful music in general! Also, please come early at 5pm for a bountiful potluck. This is a House Concert at a private residence in Felton, CA (near the Covered Bridge) right on the San Lorenzo River, it should be a sweet hang as well as an epic show! Join us and enjoy the food/drinks/music/friends! (Suggested donation: $10)

Please RSVP to me at 831-801-4920 or stevebassbird@yahoo.com for details

2010-03-12T02:30:00.000-08:00

Uccello Project is very excited to be featured as the opening act for Kim Boekbinder
Thursday March 18th At The Alternative Cafe, Seaside CA

http://www.thealternativecafe.com/index.php

Check out this wonderful night of music if you are in the area, or if you're out of the area and you want to come hear a great show!

Symmetria Reviewed On Foxy Digitalis

2010-02-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

On February 10, 2010, Symmetria was reviewed on Foxy Digitalis by contributor, David Perron. We are very exited about this, as Symmetria is Audio Centaur's first release.

Here's a link to the review on Foxy D's website: Symmetria Review on Foxy Digitalis

Here is the review pasted into this post:

Uccello Project "Symmetria"

Audio Centaur

First of all, it must be noted that “Symmetria” has some truly stunning artwork and packaging, something that can seldom be said of most CD releases. Featuring intricate ink drawings and letterpress design, not to mention lengthy excerpts of spiritual texts, there is plenty to ponder while taking in the sounds of this album.

As a listening experience, “Symmetria” is also quite dense. Steve Uccello, the gentleman behind this project, is clearly a gifted bass player and multi-instrumentalist, and his talents span numerous styles and genres. Aside from the requisite grandiosity, quite typical of album blurbs, it is worth printing the statement provided on the fold-out poster that comes in this album as it does lend some clarity to Uccello’s intent:

Fourteen songs, weaving golden darkness with otherworldly joy, unfold. Seamlessly, canopies of free form Jazz give way to mystical Folk , and passages of languid Prog become swarming Baroque lines. We sojourn over oceans of horse hair on gut drone, through labyrinths, to islands dreaming of pixillated flora and fauna. This is music of an imaginal America: where the exotic lounge of the fifties is forged with the Psych of the sixties, and Chinese masters of the ancient Guqin strum in bayous alongside the first practitioners of the Blues. Uccello Project travels deep into the earth, where roots of distant musical lineages converge.

Apart from sounding like a Dungeons & Dragons adventure, this statement does highlight the multitude of styles that course through “Symmetria”, sometimes within individual songs. The more rock-leaning, groove-based moments, like in “Garnet Film” and “Place of Seven Turns”, have a whiff of early Tortoise in them, but Uccello is more prone to detouring into non-Western tones.

While I can appreciate the high-level of musicianship on display here, I have a difficult time fully getting behind “Symmetria”. Much of this sounds a bit overly studied and a bit too polished for my tastes, bearing a sort of New Age/Bass Player Magazine sensibility that is lost on me. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a bass player or Dungeon Master though. 6/10 -- David Perron (10 February, 2010)

2009-12-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

A Year in Uccello Project

To put it simply, 2009 was an amazing year. I got to spend massive amounts of time with my lovely wife and quickly growing daughter. I also got to be part of some great recording projects, playing and engineering. There were many fun, beautiful shows I played as a bassist with various artists. I got to be a featured guest on bass at the 2009 Mandolin Symposium and hang out with David Grisman and Mike Marshal. The Jazz big band I play upright bass in, The Monterey Bay Jazz Orchestra, appeared at the 52^nd Monterey Jazz Festival, at which I was a featured soloist. There’s too much information to include details about all these things here, but if you want to follow what I’m doing with music/life in more detail, please check in with me over at Twitter or Facebook. I am writing this post to commemorate some of the high points specifically pertaining to my original musical/visual art project: Uccello Project

Any year that starts out this good has got to turn out wonderfully! On January 22nd I co-hosted, w/ Nancy Cassidy, a house concert in Santa Cruz, CA with Steve and Lobelia Lawson. This was a total treat for me, meeting Steve and Lobelia was major fun! After becoming a huge fan of their music over the internet, hearing them play live in an intimate setting like a house concert was awesome. I even got to play upright bass on an improvised song with Steve, he's so fun to jam with! In short, they are two of the warmest, most talented people I have ever met and any time you can hear them play together live it will be a good day!

Around the time of the show with the Lawson's, through twittering w/ Steve and Lobelia, I met Gust af Fjelstrom, an amazing ambient, live looping artist, and the phenominal Jazz guitarist Rob Michael of Atmos Trio. On April 10^th, in Capitola, I co-hosted, with Juan Candaleria, another house concert. The show also featured my long time friend, the soulful songwriter/guitarist, Aaron Ford. It was quite a jam packed show. To start the evening out Juan's niece played guitar and sang a traditional Ranchera song! We did a first set of Aaron, Gustaf, and myself playing in the round, one song each for 3 songs. Then Atmos Trio played one long set, then we did this crazy free jam, it was a really fun night. Check out songs from that night: As Shards Descend by Gustaf, Armondo's Rhumba by Atmos Trio, Golden by Uccello Project, and of course the 'All star jam'.

Uccello Project also released 2 records this year: “Symmetria” in August and more recently, under the name "Clarified Birds" They released "The Forest That Hears And The Field That Sees” in December.

Another high point was writing a guest post on the Bass Guitar Blog: "I Hate Bass Licks" about the challenge of surviving as an artist, and the specific issues bassists face. I also appeared on The HumperLust Blogtalk Radio Show, and got to do my first official interview and play live on the 'air'!

I was also featured in the bass related site notreble.com's player spotlight in September, thanks to Corey Brown. In partnership with 'no treble' the online bass academy, Learn The Low End approached me about creating instructional videos for their site. I made four bass courses for Learn The Low End, two centering on songs from Symmetria, and two centering on rudimentary techniques. And I thank Evan Keppner for inviting me to be a part of this innovative new site for bassists.

The response to Symmetria has been really great, I got some really nice quotes about the album from some people I admire very much. Also, Symmetria got a wonderful review by the great bassist/educator/writer Damian Erskine in Bass Musician Magazine

Another high point for Uccello Project was playing a set at the Y2K9 Int er n ational Live Loo ping Fest ival on Sunday October 18th. It was an amazing festival attended by a really cool group of ultra open minded folks. I felt a warm sense of community and it was nice to have such an attentive audience. I haven't yet got videos from the set, but you can watch my set on the Ustream archi ves, the Uccello Project set is about 11 minutes into this video segment.

The first full length Uccello Project show, a house concert in Seaside, CA at our midwife, Maggie Bennett’s house, was a fitting climax to such a great year. Kathy played a bit of mandolin and sang some great harmonies on the vocal tunes we did together, the rest was solo with live looping, it was a blast. It was the first time Magnetic Domain was played live!

Just for fun, even though it's not directly Uccello project related, here's a video of me playing bass with Mike Marshall's student ensemble at the Mandolin Symposium, it was such an honor to play a bit with him, as well as David Grisman.

Thanks to all who read this, I look forward to 2010 with much enthusiasm, hopefully we'll get to meet up someday soon!

2009-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

There is a new release coming soon from Audio Centaur! It's called Clarified Birds: The Forest That Hears And The Field That Sees. It will mark the first release in our new packaging template, designed by J.F. Uccello. There will be letter pressed art/text, alchemical poetry and the audio is burned to high quality Tiayo Yuden CDR's. We're doing a limited run of 25-they will be available soon.

In the meantime please enjoy listening for FREE (and downloading for a limited time-SHHH!) to the whole album on the widget below and please stay tuned for the official release announcement! Oh, by the way, the wonderful site Sound Cloud, which seems to be the only site around cool enough to allow extended length songs to be uploaded to their site, is currently the 'web home' of these recordings, if you are an ambient artist looking for a place to put your extra long pieces, I would strongly recommend checking them out!

CLARIFIED BIRDS THE FOREST THAT HEARS AND THE FIELD THAT SEES -ON CD BABY

2009-10-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Clarified Birds

The Forest That Hears And the Field That Sees

Inspired by the amazing Hieronymus Bosch painting, “The Forest That Hears And The Field That Sees”, the second release from Audio Centaur, a label with the unique goal of melding the visual with the aural arts, attempts to create an enriching experience by joining the power of music with the magic of viewing art. Audio Centaur also continues its’ mission to bring back the luxury of vinyl packaging to the CD format while offering a product for the same price someone might pay for a digital download. When complete, along with the full, 33-minute piece of music, there will be extensive letter pressed, customized art by J.F. Uccello. This art will be designed to view while listening to the music.

The best of both worlds are encompassed: if one wishes to import the audio to an mp3 player, focusing only on the sounds, one can, or if one chooses to appreciate the visual side on its’ own, that can be done as well. But, the most rewarding 3rd option is to explore the art while listening to the music and thereby enjoy the alchemy of sight and sound intertwined!

The music was totally improvised, no plan whatsoever excepting to try and match the feeling of Bosch’s masterwork. The music was recorded all in one take using the art of live looping (for a description of live looping check out master looper, Steve Lawson’s looping basics video.) This video (about half the piece) is of the performance in the studio by Steve Uccello. It’s intended to give a taste of the music, and an inside view into how it was created. After recording the initial tracks there was minimal mixing and editing (an extended ending was added using Digital Performer) and what you see and hear is done totally live with Upright Bass, Acoustic Guitar, and Dobro Slide Bass. After the long and arduous task of completing Symmetria, which involved lots of overdubbing and editing, this newest piece reflects a desire for a more live, flowing approach to the creation process. This piece truly created itself!

Please follow this blog or add a bookmark for it to get the latest news on the impending release of the full length, art laden CD of Clarified Birds: The Forest That Hears And the Field That Sees.

Uccello Project To Play Y2k 2009 Loopfest Oct 18th

2009-10-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

Upcoming live show for Uccello Project at this year's Y2k International Live Looping Festival. Sunday, October 18th, 5pm at Peal Alley Studios in Santa Cruz, California. Come check out this amazing fest and tons of amazing artists, all live loopers. This will be the first show with my new upright bass, and the set is getting really fun, come down to hear good upright drones, walking bass, Dobro Slide Bass, and much more:

Y2K 2009 International Live Looping Festival-show schedule

Symmetria Reviewed In Bass Musician Magazine

2009-10-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

Symmetria has just received a great review in the October/November edition of the Northwest's own, Bass Musician Magazine. The magazine staff has been particularly supportive and have given me encouragement and motivation during the process of creating Symmetria, more on that later, at my other 'side blogect', "Steve Uccello's Blog-The Perspective Of An Independent Musician" if I get around to writing about the story behind the progress of the creative process.

In any case I am extremely exited about the review and just to give a little back ground, in their own words:

" Bass Musician Magazine, a bi-monthly virtual bass magazine and community, is unlike any other as far as content is concerned. We feature a world class staff of diverse and extremely experienced bass players in their own field, covering not just the more or less "how to" approach, but looking into the methodology and personal experiences these players have to offer as well to gain insight on what we hope to make the focal point of this magazine, that being, becoming a better "musician".

Bass Mucician Magazine features articles on the most influential players (known and unknown) of our day. Our regular columns cover a vast amount of musical territory with a diverse look at any and all pertinent info that will aid what we feel should be the main focus of any aspiring bassist, finding "your own voice"."

Uccello Project is honored to have Symmetria reviewed in such a respectable publication. Follow this link to see the review, written by performer, writer, and educator Damian Erskine :

REVIEW OF SYMMETRIA IN BASS MUSICIAN MAGAZINE

Instructional Video by Steve Uccello on Learn The Low End

2009-09-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Symmetria has gained a bit of attention and all the feedback has been positive, Uccello project stands in a debt of gratitude to all those who have helped us out. One of the most exiting developments for me has been constructing an instructional video for the online bass institute LEARNING THE LOW END centered around the 8th song on Symmetria: CHIRAL. Evan Kepner, the creator of Learn The Low End, approached me about teaching my theories on how to achieve a multi-textured arrangement through the use of live looping. I felt Chiral was a good place to start because in the live version, I use only one instrument (other arrangements I’ve created have me switching between 2 to 3 instruments, more on that in later lessons!) but…I still employ a lot of the same techniques in Chiral that I use on more complexly arranged songs. In relation to this, Learn The low End is Partnered with the bass-related website NO TREBLE which did a wonderful feature on Symmetria and an even more wonderful player spotlight on me . Though you can’t really go in and view the lesson on Chiral without buying it (it’s going for a very reasonable $10, which gets you the lesson for life) you can check out the site itself as well as some of the other great courses there (some of which are free) Actually as I write this there are some different promotional options being kicked around to get this lesson out there, please leave a comment on this post if you are interested in a free sample view of this lesson, and I’d be more than happy to oblige you. In summation, this is a huge step for Uccello Project, Symmetria, and my career as a bassist/musician/educator! I extend a hearty THANKS to Evan Kepner, and the whole Learn The Low End Team as well as the whole No Treble crew! –Steve Uccello

Wizards of Sonic 1

2009-09-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

Dr. James Hopkins: The Pythagorean Monochords. This man has created instruments that are made to nest against the human body in order to absorb the Pythagorean magic.

"I call it the end of all conversation. The human intelligence is important for survival. But it's also important to turn that off."

See the wondrous video at The Pythagorean Monochords

2009-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Ideas Behind the Album 3: Wooden Books

2009-08-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

A source of guidance in this project is the very focused yet illuminating work Symmetry, the Ordering Principle, by David Wade, part of the inspiring series Wooden Books. This series encompasses a vast array of knowledge, all the more remarkable that each book is only fifty eight pages, with invariably one page chapters followed by an illustration. Wade writes in his introduction:

Symmetry has a very wide appeal; it is of as much interest to mathematicians as it is to artists, and is as relevant to physics as it is to architecture. In fact, many other disciplines lay ther own claims on the subject, each having their own ideas of what symmetry is, or should be. Clearly, whatever approach is taken, we are dealing here with a universal principle, however, in our day-to-day experience conspicuous symmetries are comparatively rare and most are far from obvious. So what is symmetry? Are there general terms for it? Can it, indeed, be clearly defined at all?

On investigation, it soon becomes clear that the whole field is hedged about with paradox. To begin with, any notion of symmetry is completely entangled with that of asymmetry; we can scarcely conceive of the former without invoking thoughts of the latter (as with the related concepts of order and disorder) and there are other dualities. Symmetry precepts are always involved with categorization, with classification and observed regularities; in short, with limits. But in itself symmetry is unlimited; there is nowhere that its principles do not penetrate. In addition, symmetry principles are characterized by a quietude, a stillness that is somehow beyond the bustling world; yet, in one way or another, they are almost always involved with transformation, or disturbance, or movement.

The more deeply one investigates this subject the more apparent it becomes that this is at the same time one of the most mundane and extensive areas of study-but that, in the final analysis, it remains one of the most mysterious.

2009-08-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ideas Behind the Album 2: Balance

2009-08-05T18:59:00.001-07:00

When conceiving the album Symmetria, Uccello Project felt the urge to express the struggle to achieve balance in one's own life and actions, the microcosmic sense, and how this played into the achievement of balance on a macrocosmic level. The ancient Hermetic maxim states that which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above, and Uccello Project felt driven by this seemingly simple idea, subconsciously at the outset, then increasingly aware of what was happening as the music and art were unveiled.

The early influence of fantasy and sci-fi literature was also drawn upon, namely the Elric series of Michael Moorcock. Moorcock posits a multiverse of parallel realities, where heroes, or eternal champions, are used as pawns to fight on the ever shifting sands that comprise the balance between law and chaos. As a physically sickly emperor who nevertheless possesses great knowledge of sorcery, the antihero Elric drives himself away from his decadent, hyper evolved kingdom into the wider world, to experience life on the edge of reality. Elric begins by serving Arioch, the lord of chaos, but ends as a servant of law, and ulitmately, the great and mysterious cosmic balance. Uccello Project, in a sonic, visual, and even tactile sense, was dreamed as a vehicle, a body, to attempt in its own microcosmic way, to contribute to this striving for balance. It is partly a fantasy, but through fantasy, music is dreamed, sound is birthed, and from this sound, art flowers.

Other written works were a great inspiration along the way. In Harmonies Of Heaven And Earth, a book dedicated to exploring the profound and mysterious power of music, author Joscelyn Godwin writes,

"In the Li Chi, the ancient Chinese book of Rites whose compilation was begun by Confucius (551-487 B.C.) there is a long discourse on how music should be used in conjunction with ceremonies to bring civilization into a proper state of harmony and order. This is how the functions of the two are described:

Harmony is the thing principally sought in music. It therein follows Heaven, and manifests the expansive spiritual influence characteristic of it. Normal distinction is the thing aimed at in ceremonies. It therein follows Earth and exhibits the retractive spiritual influence characteristic in it.

Hence the sages made music in response to Heaven, and framed ceremonies in correspondence with Earth. Music, which derives from inner experience, and ceremonies, which are derived from observing the situation in the outer world, are seen as complimentary powers, as are their respective origins, Heaven and Earth. Music brings out in mankind the unity of purpose and of feeling, reflecting the perfect harmony of the heavens, without which civilization cannot stand; ceremonies assign everyone’s distinct place in the earthly hierarchy."

Garnet Film (Live Looping)

2009-06-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Garnet Film is the fourth song on Symmetria. This is the live looping arrangement of the song. Before recording Symmetria, I had not yet begun to practice the art of live looping, but when all the tracking was complete, I thought about how the material on the record could be performed live. The songs on Symmetria often have two to five bass parts on them and it seemed extraneous and unrealistic to have to hire multiple bassists for each show, especially since I had played all the parts on the record, looping seemed a logical solution. After beginning to arrange some of the songs off Symmetria, I realized that they lent themselves very well to the looping art. Of course, some changes to the recorded versions were necessary when arranging the live looping versions. This was actually a positive thing. Often, the changes came as a total delight as I found myself creating new transitional sections or soloing for more extended periods of time. Another consideration for putting a live show together was the logistical limitations of large amounts of equipment. The three instruments in this video (guitar, upright bass, dobro bass) are the three that I seem to have settled down with for my live show. I may at some point add a microphone and various percussion instruments (as seen in the Magnetic Domain video) but as my goal is to play out more and get some opener slots, I need to be more streamlined in my approach to playing live. This is also influenced, partly, by my upcoming performance at the Y2K 2009 Looping Festival in Santa Cruz (mid-October) where the set up & break down times are very limited. The streamlining of my live show (and, indeed, a large impetus to loop in the first place) was also greatly influenced by solo bassist/looping master (and cofounder of the Y2K Looping Festival) Steve Lawson. His suggestion to me was to use guitar and standup bass first and see how much was possible with just the two. Steve's suggestion set me thinking about what the most versatile, yet small, ensemble would be. First off the upright is the biggest obstacle (literally) I am in the process of working with master luthier Matt Bohn on taking a 5/8 size upright and converting it to a bolt on neck and then having the world renowned Rick Turner install one of his patented bass pickup systems. The Dobro bass is the instrument I chose to serve as an electric bass (for harmonics, chords, ect.) plus I can use it for slide playing, which is featured on the Garnet Film Video. The guitar is pretty self explanatory, perfect for the jazzier songs where I need accompaniment that occupies a small sonic space, yet contains a bass line and cluster chords. Bass music is tricky, it's not the most natural thing in the world, one has to arrange things so the bass is brought out (it's SO easy to cover up) and I find that guitar stays out of the way, sonically, fairly naturally. That's the basic logic behind the instrumentation on this video. It's the ensemble that I'm also composing new music for, so the next record (whenever that will be!) will be somewhat more succinct between the transition from studio creation to live show.

Ideas Behind the Album 1

2009-05-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

This article deals with the tradition in Japanese belief, that objects have or can acquire souls over time. It confirms the mission of Uccello Project, to create an object that has some feeling in it beyond just the moment one plays it on the stereo. The actual paper, the design, the essence of the object is important. Over time, what happens to an object upon which one lavishes attention?

The Japanese Concept of Things

Magnetic Domain

2009-05-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Magnetic Domain, sequestered in bowed drones, is liquidly dark cornerstone of Symmetria. Live version played in Monterey, at the home of Uccello Project.

Uccello Project, Symmetria, Golden

2009-05-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

"Golden" is the opening track of Symmetria; this is a live version of the song, in all its looped glory.

Uccello Project: Symmetria

2009-05-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Symmetria master is at the factory, awaiting its next stage on the way to completion. The artwork is moments away from being finalized and spirited off from the Aerie to the auspices of Stumptown Printers. Much hard work has been put into this. We are quite excited about the results, and trust it will meet with surprise and delight by those who acquire it. The Uccello Project is a conglomeration of art and music masterminded by bassist Steve Uccello. SYMMETRIA is an album where many streams successfully merge into a current of joy, mysticism, and quietude. Dreaming drones, jazz, Chinese and European classical inflections...