George Radai has posted a new and noteworthy essay on the bass as an improvisational instrument. (This link goes to his site, use your back button to return here.)
Mastering has been completed on "Airwave Rituals"; Bag: Theory shows coming up (follow link above for more info); and PB/BT bassist George Radai has his own website up now. Expect more PB-related websites soon!
Look for "Airwave Rituals" to be released soon- probably in June. Mastering is just about completed, and work on the cover is being finalized. Check back here for more details! Work has also begun on "Victimless Crime", which was taken mostly from the same sessions as the first PB vinyl release, "Ticket To Trauma".
The site may be getting a major facelift in the near future, as Homeless Multimedia starts kicking into gear- more on this soon.
Death and Taxe$' "The Alaska 12 Expeditions" has been released, featuring the last work of wonderful musician and long time Bag friend Tom Shannon. The album was put together as a tribute to Tom by surviving DnT members Vince Martinez and Dean McCall, with help from Bag alumni M. Segal, George Radai and Dave McIntire, plus: Bag:Theory alumni Marc Mylar, Anthony Cossa and Matt Brown. All proceeds from this album will go to benefit cancer research. Get more info about all of this at www.dntmusic.com
Also: there are many new Bag-related releases coming out. Look for a new Kenny Ryman solo release, "Many Coloured Buddhas" with guest appearances by George Radai, M. Segal and Greg Segal; a new single from George Radai's "Ritual" project; a new Bag: Theory CD (recording underway); and as always, a constant outpouring of material from Greg Segal and Phantom Airship records (currently releasing a CD a month of recordings from sessions in 2003), and his project Jugalbandi (4 new CDs coming out this year).
We are hoping that there will be websites up for each individual member, and their respective projects, soon.
Work has begun on a series of Paper Bag archival releases. The first scheduled is "Airwave Rituals", a compilation of pieces from the first 7 radio sets, recorded in 1986. Look for a lot of activity from the whole Bag family of artists in the coming year! Details will be posted here.
Long time Bag friend and Bag: Theory bassist Tom Shannon passed away 11/14/02. He lapsed into a coma as a result of complications from brain cancer, and died the next morning. He died in his sleep, painlessly, surrounded by family and friends.
The Bag:Theory CD is almost on the platter for your consumption. Monday morning all materials will be dropped off for an initial production run of 1000. It will be officially released July 26th, 2001. More info about store availability, cost and shipping will be posted within the week.
The title of the work is ‘A Good Ass-Kicking Wears Many Faces’. The cover sports original M. Segal artwork front and back, with digital magic performed on it by the ingenious graphic designer Michael Perrick.
Because the ‘fancy’ CD won’t be ready for the Bag:Theory performance at Mr. T.’s Bowl on Saturday, July 7th, Many hands are pitching in to whip up 30 units to take along instead. Same package, not as pro, but a totally limited run that Anthony and I will sign. That’s one more reason to get to the show…
A three-song sampler was premiered Monday, July 2nd, 11:30 p.m. on KXLU 88.9 FM, Los Angeles. Anthony, smiling George Radai, and myself were guests of the infamous Justin Thyme on his show ‘Noise Pollution’. Thursday, July 5th, the sampler was played on KILL Radio, Hollywood.
At first, the release was to be called ‘One-Shot Deal’. The cover had been designed to look like a cheap ‘detective’ magazine built around a seriously gory photo of a bullet-to-the-head victim. Because its publishers own the photo, the attempt was made to contact them for permission to use it. They got back to us, seriously angry, to say the least, threatening everything from lawsuits to continued verbal abuse. The package concept was changed just in time to keep up with the production deadline.
At this time, it is important to stress the single-minded focus of Anthony Cossa, and the sheer hell he went through to help me make this new CD a reality. I share the piloting duties with him proudly.
Also to be thanked is George Radai and Marc Mylar, for rising beyond the call to make everything technical work. Let me not forget to stroke the ego of the band’s Personal Manager Eileen O’Mara, whose loyalty brought life to the project. Last, everyone involved thanks our Executive Producer, Marcina Motter, and a tiny handful of other investors, whose belief literally made the CD possible.
And thank you, my friends and fellow BagFolk, for waiting so patiently. We hope you will be as pleased with the finished product as we are.
M.
11/26/00: M. on Bag: Theory: "12 hours of constant self-flagellation has yielded a magnificent CD. All that remains is to arrange the songs (once named) into the ever popular 'roller-coaster effect'. 6 tunes are from our studio session a few months ago, 6 are from the KXLU show of 10/30, and 2 are from the Riverbottom gig, 9/9."
9/11/00: M.'s latest update on Bag: Theory: "9/8/00 at Frank Rosato's Woodcliff Studios in Los Angeles, Bag:Theory spent 10 hours recording. From this, we will be boiling down the hefty wad O' material to produce the band's first official release. Mixdown will be completed by 10/15/00. In the style created by big daddy Paper:Bag, it was all live, all improvised. This outing, the insidious, calculating virtuoso Matt Brown ran his keys direct, except for some wailing tracks on the Hammond organ n' Leslie (a lovely couple, eh what?). Tom Shannon ran, walked, sauntered and floated on the vapours of the very beyond itself! (whew...) direct to the board, using multiple basses and Chapman Stick. Anthony Cossa brutally abused, then caressed, then defiled, then sugar talked/body slammed his helpless guitars and devices, Bogner amp hidden in another room for its very safety. As usual, M. Segal hogged almost all of the studio's space with a hideous tangle of tubs, tubes, metal, wood and things yet to be given a name. There was barely enough space left to contain his immense ego and utter disdain for the world."
And according to phone messages relayed here to BagWeb central, the two gigs this weekend (including one the same day as recording) went very, very well. Must have been a busy time! ..........
PB Alumnus and humble webmaster (HA!) Greg Segal will soon be attending the birth of the new Jugalbandi 3-disc set, due to be available within the next 2 weeks- improv fans take note, most of it's improvised, kids! Fully nutritious. He can also be seen in a rare public appearance in the L.A. area playing drums with punk/goth/horror band Antiworld on the 22nd of September at Release the Bats in Long Beach. For more info please go to the appropriate sites by clicking on the linked names above.
6/29/00: Bag Theory has a new member: Matt Brown, keyboardist. Here is M.'s "bulletin from the trenches":
"All confirmed Bag:Folk,
The Bag:Theory show at Mr. T.'s Bowl was a fabulous success. M. Segal,Anthony Cossa, Tom Shannon and new member/keyboardist Matt Brown played to a fully packed house last night. Writers, having caught the buzz, came to check things out bringing many photographers in tow. They include The New Times, Flipside Magazine, The L.A. Weekly and the L.A. Times. One astute writer asked if I would mind if he called us (in his article, that is) 'the next logical step in the Paper Bag: saga'. I told him if he also wrote about the new PB: release coming out soon. He excitedly said I had a deal. Word was also spread about Greg's Joogulbondi (sp?) and George's Ritual projects. Also mentioned was the desire to continue the propagation of improvised music, for which I received a hearty round of applause."
4/14/00: Recording for the new Paper Bag release took place in Los Angeles before a small audience of invited friends on 3/31. PB played three sets over a three hour period, all recorded live to a portable digital studio. The lineup: M. Segal, drums and percussion; George Radai, basses, bass pedals, effects, and master of the recording crew; Dave McIntire, vocals and percussion; and Greg Segal, guitar and effects. The pare-down has not yet begun and I have not heard any of the playback, but I recall there being a lot of good stuff. Look for more info here soon........Several PB related projects are in the works. Bag Theory is out and playing, but beyond that there is talk of: World Bag, to feature M. Segal, George Radai and Ken Rosser, playing on a variety of acoustic/ethnic instruments but improvising according to PB rules; and Word Bag, to feature poet Dave McIntire and a handpicked band, members to be announced, doing verbally oriented pieces, also according to the PB method........
3/8/00: Plans are firming up for a new live Paper Bag recording, to take place at the end of March..... Bag Theory, a PB spinoff band featuring M. Segal, Tom Shannon and Anthony whose last name I still do not have, are in rehearsal. The band will be working straight out of the PB rule book, creating improvisational music.