Over the course of the past year I've found myself delving deep into the depths of uncharted chillwave territory. I can't tell you what struck me about this music but there was something about the likes of Neon Indian, Washed Out and similar "bands" that resonated with me. I recently saw an interview with Ernest Greene (aka Washed Out) where he talked about his experience coming at dance music as person who knew little about the genre and didn't really grow up listening to it. I came from a similar place. It was so far from anything I had done before that it intrigued me. Like those "groups" my foray into dance music began (and has mostly remained to be) a solo venture. My initial intention had been to record some reference tracks, assemble a band (ideally with a vocalist) and to perform at loft parties/DIY spots in the area (Bushwick). Alas, things did not go as planned and throughout my year-long search for collaborators I continued to accrue more and more of these "reference tracks". In my most prolific periods I was writing, recording and mixing one track per day. Needless to say, I wasn't getting out of the house much. When my search for bandmembers finally took the backburner for me I was left with approximately 60 demo tracks, none of which had proper titles or vocals recorded. Instead of giving up on the project entirely I've assembled my 9 favorite tracks (plus one bonus goof track) that I feel can stand alone sans vocal. The Color of Television (taken from William Gibson's Neuromancer) is the "band". "Lip Service" is the LP. The download is free. The music is shamelessly hipster, sloppy and positive. The sounds are gritty, overdriven and neon.

Listen to it loudly.

I've posted a few tracks from the upcoming HasHaveHad release... I'm really happy about how this album is sounding. It's always a pleasure playing with Ben, Jacob and Max. They are certainly some of my most favorite musicians around. Dan did a really amazing job engineering and mixing the record. He had the patience of a saint to put up with me tracking the Danelectro through three different amps simultaneously.

Psyched to be tracking Steph Carlin's upcoming "Tree of Series" release this week with Xander Naylor, Wes Reid and Javi Santiago at Hoboken Recorders. What a fantastic studio! Pete Thompson is one hell of an engineer. I also have to say, I had no idea Hoboken was so cool. That town has such a unique vibe. To think it's so close, yet I had never been.

HasHaveHad is gearing up to record a full length next week. I'm really excited to finally be laying something down with this great group of guys. As a warm up for the session we'll be playing set at Goodbye Blue Monday this coming Monday (the 17th) at 10pm.

Also, at the end of next week (the 21st) I'll be heading out with Elliott Sharp, Don McKenzie, Tracie Morris and Ladell McLin as part of Elliott's Electric Willie project (performing the music of Willie Dixon). We'll be playing dates in Germany, Slovenia and Serbia. Once that run is over I'll be hanging in Italy for a few days before heading to Berlin where I'll be playing a show with my good buddy Janis Gorlich and couple of his friends. It should be a great trip! Please get in touch if you happen to be in any of the areas I'll be passing through. It would be great to see familiar faces.

This Sunday (7/24) I'll be playing at 8pm at The Local 269 with a few close friends of mine. Tunes by Jon, Sebastien and myself.

Ryan Weisheit - Alto Saxophone
Jon Lindhorst - Tenor Saxophone
Sebastien Ammann - Rhodes
Russ Flynn - Electric Bass
Danny Wolf - Drum Set

The Local 269
269 East Houston Street
New York, NY 10002

Also...Monday night (7/25) I'm honored to be covering the bass chair for the Rex Complex for this weeks installation of their ongoing residency at Cafe Orwell. I believe we hit around 9pm.

Cafe Orwell
247 Varet Street
Brooklyn, NY 1206

Come out and support new creative music.

It's been a pleasure to part of the recording of Jules Gimbrone's WREST at Seizures Palace over the past few days. Jason LaFarge is a great engineer. I think the record is going to come out really amazing(ly?). It's been inspiring to record in the same space that so many of my favorite records were done (Sonic Youth's EVOL, Zorn's Naked City, etc). If I knew how to do it I would upload the photos of the Zorn masters from the late 80's that Martin Bisi has kicking around the space. I guess I need a refresher in the html writing I learned freshmen year of undergrad.

Note to self: Travis Bean aluminum neck bass (courtesy of Jason) in drop 'c' through completely beat-up (and cranked) Acoustic Control 126 (ported 1x15" combo) sounds unreal. If you're going for that Rottweiler barking through a Fuzz Face sound there's no better way to go.

HasHaveHad and Sea Whip


1st set: HasHaveHad

Russ Flynn -- bass

Ben Syversen -- trumpet

Jacob Teichrow -- saxophone

Max Jin Jaffe -- drums


2nd set: Sea Whip

Edmund Mooney -- electronics

Bruce Eisenbeil -- guitar

Orin Buck -- video projections

Dan Godston -- trumpet, small instruments



suggested donation



Café Orwell

247 Varet Street

New York, NY 11206

Join us tomorrow (Monday, the 7th) at Tea Lounge for two sets with the Russ Flynn Large Ensemble as part of J.C. Sanford's "Size Matters" Series!

9 and 10:30pm

Andy Allen - alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet
Ryan Weishiet - alto saxophone, clarinet
Alex Lopez - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Jacob Teichroew - tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet
Josh Sinton - bass clarinet

Ben Holmes - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ben Syversen - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ryan King - trumpet & Flugelhorn

Ben Brody - F horn
Jared Dubin - trombone
Jackson Hardaker - trombone
Steve Duggan - tuba

David Linaburg - electric guitar
Sebastien Ammann - piano & Fender Rhodes
Russ Flynn - electric bass
Bryan Bisordi - drum set

On Thursday the 20th we'll be playing two sets at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

The band will be playing two sets: 9 and 10:30pm.

Derek Beckvold - alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet
Ryan Weishiet - alto saxophone, clarinet
Alex Lopez - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Jacob Teichroew - tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet
Josh Sinton - bass clarinet

Miki Hirose - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ben Syversen - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ryan King - trumpet & Flugelhorn

Nathan Koci - F horn
Jared Dubin - trombone
Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalen - trombone
Steve Duggan - tuba

David Linaburg - electric guitar
Sebastien Ammann - piano & Fender Rhodes
Russ Flynn - electric bass
Danny Wolf - drum set

The Large Ensemble will be at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Sunday, December 5th. This will be the band's first performance in several months. Come out and support new live music.

The band will be playing two sets: 9 and 10:30pm.

The show is presented as part of the Jazz on the Avenue Series curated by Joe Phillips and Ryan Keberle.

Andy Allen - alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet
Ryan Weishiet - alto saxophone, clarinet
Alex Lopez - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Jacob Teichroew - tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet
Josh Sinton - bass clarinet

Miki Hirose - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ben Syversen - trumpet & Flugelhorn
Ryan King - trumpet & Flugelhorn

Nathan Koci - F horn
Jared Dubin - trombone
Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalen - trombone
Steve Duggan - tuba

David Linaburg - electric guitar
Sebastien Ammann - piano & Fender Rhodes
Russ Flynn - electric bass
Danny Wolf - drum set

Derek Beckvold - conductor

“The 15-member group plays an orchestral brand of jazz that revels in controlled chaos.”
- Alana Harper (WNYC)

For those of you staying in the metropolitan area for Thanksgiving I will be play at IBeam with The Premature Burial on Friday, the 26th (the night after Thanksgiving). The show is a co-bill with a great band called Turtleboy (http://www.myspace.com/turtleboytrio) from Canada.

The Premature Burial is......

Derek Beckvold - alto saxophone
Nigel Taylor - trumpet
Anthony Coleman - organ
Russ Flynn - electric bass
Peter Negroponte - drum set

"To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallan will scarcely be denied by those who think. The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? We know that there are diseases in which occur total cessations of all the apparent functions of vitality, and yet in which these cessations are merely suspensions, properly so called. They are only temporary pauses in the incomprehensible mechanism. A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels. The silver cord was not for ever loosed, nor the golden bowl irreparably broken. But where, meantime, was the soul?" - Edgar Allan Poe (The Premature Burial)

Freshly mixed Large Ensemble tracks have been posted at http://rfle.bandcamp.com/.

All three tracks are available for free download.

The tunes were engineered and mixed over the past few weeks by drummer Danny Wolf at our place in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Enjoy!

8pm - Ben Syversen Trio (http://bensyversen.com/)
Ben Syversen - Trumpet
Xander Naylor - Guitar
Jeremy Gustin - Drum Set

9pm - Russ Flynn Large Ensemble
Andy Allen - Alto and Soprano Saxophones
Ryan Weisheit - Clarinet
Atsushi Ouchi - Tenor Saxophone and Clarinet
Jacob Teichroew - Tenor Saxophone and Flute
Josh Sinton - Bass Clarinet
Miki Hirose - Flugelhorn/Trumpet
Ryan King - Flugelhorn/Trumpet
Michael Stupak - French Horn
Elizabeth Westphalen - Trombone
Jackson Hardaker - Trombone
Steve Duggan - Tuba
Sebastien Ammann - Piano
David Linaburg - Electric Guitar
Russ Flynn - Electric Bass
Danny Wolf - Drum Set


10pm - holus-Bolus (http://joshsinton.com/)
Josh Sinton - Saxophone and Clarinet
Johnathan Goldberger - Guitar
Peter Bitenc - Bass

Douglas Street Music Collective
295 Douglass St. (between 3rd and 4th Avenues)
Brooklyn, NY

$10 suggested donation

Photography and graphic design by Michael S. Everett

Hello hello!

There are a few tracks now up at the following location......
http://hashavehad.bandcamp.com/
.....of a new project with some fantastic musicians/friends of mine.

The group is called HasHaveHad and it includes Ben Syversen on trumpet, Jacob Teichroew on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Janis Gorlich on drums and myself on electric bass.

Check out the site (with free downloads) and please share your thoughts (if you feel so inclined).

More to come.

Ladies and Gentlemen.......

Thursday, June 17th will be the official debut performance of the Russ Flynn Large Ensemble at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope. We will be doing two sets of largely never before performed material, one at 8pm and another at 9:30pm. We hope to see you there.

Tomorrow night Tiny Churches (Peter Negroponte and myself) will be playing a late night set at Glasslands in Brooklyn (we hit at 2am Saturday morning). Special guests Derek Beckvold (saxophone) and Nigel Taylor (trumpet) will be joining us on this one. Earlier in the night will be Danergoo and El Topa.

http://www.myspace.com/tinychurches

http://www.myspace.com/dangerooduo

A More Perfect Union will be playing Le Grand Dakar in Clinton Hill this Thursday (the 11th of March) starting at 8:30pm. The show is part of the Infrequent Seams (http://www.myspace.com/infrequentseams) series curated by saxophonist/composer Pete Robbins (http://www.peterobbins.com/).

A More Perfect Union is......

Atsushi Ouchi - Alto Saxophone
Jacob Teichroew - Tenor Saxophone
Nathan Koci - Flugelhorn/Accordion
David Linaburg - Electric Guitar
Russ Flynn - Upright Bass/Baritone Guitar
Danny Wolf - Drums

This coming Sunday (the 21st) I will be premiering some new compositions with the help of some fantastic musicians at Rose in Williamsburg. The show is part of Chris Conly's ongoing Sunday night series; Brooklyn Experiments. The concept behind the material is to challenge the conventional roles instruments typically assume in a small group setting. The instrumentation is trumpet (Ben Syversen), tenor sax (Jacob Teichroew), electric bass (yours truly) and drums (Jason Nazary). I'm thrilled to be playing with these guys, it should be a blast.

I'm really excited about the show this Monday. It's gona be an avant-metal throw-down with Mike Gamble's Second Wind and my new duo group with Pete Negroponte (Tiny Churches). The plan with Tiny Churches is to have a different guest musician on each show we play. We're decided to start out with a bang; Andrew D'Angelo on alto and bass clarinet. Andrew is one of our favorite players around and we couldn't be more thrilled to hit Zebulon with him on Monday.

Mike's group will be playing at 9 and Tiny Chuches will go on around 10:15-10:30ish.

Each band will play only one set, so don't be late.

Thanks to everyone who came out to The Tea Lounge last night, we really appreciate your support. I think we all had a lot of fun. We were able to record the entire first set of the show, I'll get some tracks up here in the next few days.

For those of you who didn't make it to Park Slope last night, or those of you who didn't get enough, we'll be playing Hank's in Downtown Brooklyn this coming week on the 14th. We'll be hitting at 9 and will be followed by Scott Barkan (who's one serious guitar player) and his band Barky (http://www.myspace.com/barky), with Noah Jarrett and Brook Marinez.

Thanks for visiting, I'm excited to finally have this website up and running. I've got some great shows coming up around Brooklyn. Tomorrow (12.20.09) A More Perfect Union will be hitting Rose with Pete Robbins, one of my favorite musicians (http://www.peterobbins.com/), and Chris Conly's Lucky Bastard. Also, we'll be joined by special guest Landon Knoblock, a damn fine musician, on Wurlitzer (http://www.landonknoblock.com/). Show starts at 9pm.

In no particular order (although I will say that Bitte Orca is definitely #1)....

The Ditry Projectors - Bitte Orca
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble - Eternal Interlude
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Henry Threadgill - This brings us to vol. 1
Tyft - Smell the Difference
Darcy James Argue - Infernal Machines
Ben Allison - Think Free
Jim Black's AlasNoAxis - Houseplant
Nels Cline - Coward
Theo Bleckmann and Kneebody - 12 Songs by Charles Ives

Please be patient.....