Podcast appearances and mentions of jayme catsouphes

Jayme Catsouphes from soundcloud.com stopped by Starve the Doubts! We discussed music & the future of podcasting with SoundCloud! Episode Link: http://www.starvethedoubts.com/soundcloud-with-jayme-catsouphes Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CQWQVRBGQCK7E&source=url)

Dont like deacon inst by Jayme Catsouphes

Inside a wine tank at Cline Cellars by Jayme Catsouphes

Watson the puppy snoring by Jayme Catsouphes

Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park by Jayme Catsouphes

Joostun? by Jayme Catsouphes

Heyyeyaaeyaaaeyaeyaa by Jayme Catsouphes

This is the spirit of #wehack by Jayme Catsouphes

Never Ending Story 21 #wehack at betahaus by Jayme Catsouphes

My first concert - Bob Dylan and Paul Simon by Jayme Catsouphes

Everything I Do [061712] by Jayme Catsouphes

Hello! ... In my native tongue by Jayme Catsouphes

Berlin Carillon Bell Tower at Tiergarten by Jayme Catsouphes

Bayern v Chelsea Champions League Final ends in penalty kicks by Jayme Catsouphes

Saturday night jazz at Club Deluxe by Jayme Catsouphes

In 2008, double bassist and founder of the Musical Art Quintet, Sascha Jacobsen regularly attended the Sunday night chamber music jams at Cafe Revolution. But after his umpteenth time through Dvorak’s Opus 77, String quartet No. 2 in G major – one of the few chamber music standards that includes double bass – he realized that if he wanted to play something else, he’d have to write it himself. Now, after 3 years of experimentation, composition, and revision, Jacobsen presents Nuevo Chamber – an innovative collection of new chamber music that draws on unique musical traditions like tango, Afro-Cuban jazz and electronica to create songs that are complex, compelling, and universally appealing. KALW’s Jayme Catsouphes brings us this Bay Area Beats profile of the Musical Art Quintet. SASHA JACOBSEN: The Musical Art Quintet formed at Café Revolution during the Classical Revolution jam sessions that are held every Monday night. When we first founded Classical Revolution, the idea was to have a weekly classical jam session where people could just show up and read through chamber music. And I would show up. I’m a bassist, so there’s basically one piece of chamber music in the standard rep that has bass in it, and we played that piece. And then the next week, we played it again. And the following week, I was like, “Well, I don’t even really like this piece. I’m gonna have to write some new material.” I ended up writing a piece and I would bring it in to Café Revolution and we would – whoever was there – would sight-read through it. Then the following week, I would write up another piece. I would be furiously composing and I would print it out. I would run down to the café and we would just sight-read it. Every piece that I write, it’s based on a rhythm. And then I carry that through the whole piece. For instance, the milonga rhythm, which is from Argentina and has African roots, is basically this rhythm – when they teach it to the dancers they say, “Francisco SAN, Francisco SAN, Francisco SAN.” The Musical Art Quintet is a classical ensemble in the sense that it is a string quintet, string quartet plus bass. But the music we play is definitely heavily influenced by Afro-Cuban music, jazz, even electronica. A lot of the sound effects that I try to get my musicians to employ, a lot of them come from Argentine tango. I love the sounds and I think it really adds a new texture to the music. It’s not something that we do all the time, it’s just in certain key moments that we use them. And I always think, “Oh, the poor instruments.” If the instrument makers could see and hear what we’re doing to these instruments, they’d be rolling over in their graves. We’re playing these hundreds of year old instruments. My bass is over 150 years old. The violins can be over 200 years old. And we’re hitting them and we’re scraping them and scratching them and all these weird ways. There’s a sound effect called “chichara” which means cicada, and it’s a really scratchy sound where they actually bow behind the bridge, and it goes “chicachicachhhhh.” It sounds like a giant insect is flying around or something. My poor bass, we were playing this benefit last January for the Pakistani flood victims at Brick and Mortar, and I was doing some percussion on my bass and I slapped my bass with my thumb and the whole bass broke apart on stage. It just cracked open, like an egg, and I was just standing there in shock going, “Oh my god.” I think sometimes people see the group and they go, “Oh, this is going to be boring. This is going to be classical music. It’s going to be lame.” And then we have this high energy style and we just start tearing into it and we’re not sitting down, we’re standing up and we’re moving around and we’re improvising, and so I think it kind of surprises them. On this album, Nuevo Chamber, what we’re trying to do is bring new audiences into chamber music, to bring new life to chamber music, which is really just all about an intimate setting where people can get together and play music for their friends and their family and whoever is there. So that’s what it’s really about. And with this music, we do want to reach the younger audiences and say, “Hey this classical ensemble, these five guys playing string instruments can make this really vibrant, exciting music.” They might be used to going to rock clubs or whatever and they hear us and say, “Hey, this is pretty cool. I’m gonna check out some more classical music. And maybe I’ll check out Beethoven and find out that he’s just as rocking as any Metallica or whatever.” I mean Stravinsky is more heavy metal, for me, than Metallica, and Beethoven is more rocking than… well, maybe not than Led Zeppelin, but he’s pretty rocking. He’s pretty high up there.

Music, as an industry, has found a consistent audience in young people for decades. But what music means to them is changing. Popular songs today often have less to do with singers than they do with the artistry of sound engineers (consider the production work on the new number one song in America: “I Wanna Go” by Britney Spears). With sound editing programs, digital suites, and auto-tune at their disposal, the concept of live performances can seem like an afterthought. But a few artists, like Bay Area rapper Lyrics Born, are working hard to keep live music, well, alive. KALW’s Jayme Catsouphes has the story. -- JAYME CATSOUPHES: When you think about it, the whole notion of going to see live music is a bit twisted. I mean, you don’t go to the Louvre and listen to the “Mona Lisa.” But traditionally speaking, music is performance art. It lives. It breathes. And recordings are just archives, snap shots, the postcard you pick up as you exit through the gift shop. Music is supposed to be perceived through all five senses. June 25, 1972: third row at the LA Forum. Music looked like tight pants, big hair, a wall of speakers. It smelled like an ashtray, tasted like a beer and felt like the deep rumbling bass of John Bonham’s kick drum. Some details just don’t quite make it onto the recording. And that’s why every summer, music fans travel across the country to attend big music festivals to see their favorite artists live and in person. But putting on a jaw-dropping live show is complicated, especially when you’re a musician who uses a lot of electronics. In hip-hop for example, it’s not uncommon for an album to be recorded, cut, and sold, all without anyone playing a single instrument. How do you turn that into a live show? Bay Area rapper Lyrics Born says that it takes a lot of work. LYRICS BORN: Interpreting hip-hop live, it’s always been an interesting thing to watch, with people that do it well. People can listen to your music in their car, or at home, or on the computer. You don't necessarily pay to see somebody perform to get the same experience. You want it to be exciting. You want to walk away from it feeling like, “Oh wow. More dimension has just been added to what I’ve previously been listening to.” Which is one of the reasons why this seasoned producer chooses to perform with a live band. LYRICS BORN: For me, I find myself frequently taking the original recording and wanting to provide a departure, for both the listener and also myself. Maybe you want to extend it or change certain things about the recording or the tempo, the groove. I mean, you just have a lot of flexibility when you play with a band. And adding live musicians makes the show more exciting for the audience. Fans get to look at the players, see their instruments, visually connect that with the sound... GONZALO CASTRO: And I was happily surprised by how much more went into the production. Gonzalo Castro first saw Lyrics Born at San Francisco’s Outside Lands music festival. CASTRO: There was a horn section, two drummers, a bongo section, backup singers, a full live band, guitar, bass, so I was kind of surprised at the production of it all. It just had a different feel to it, the music, because it wasn’t studio-based. For some fans, that’s a good thing. But Lyrics Born says there’s a flip side. LYRICS BORN: A lot of people come to the shows and they wanna see, or hear, the music be different – but not that different. You don’t want to stray too far from the original feeling. With a genre like hip-hop that’s both rhythmic and poetic, playing a live show in front of thousands of fans requires making a few artistic concessions. GEORGE ELLETT: Sometimes the lyrics go over your head because it is live. And if they have a live band, you’re kind of distracted. George Ellett Smith is a longtime Lyrics Born fan. ELLETT: But it’s always cool to see how the emcee … his mannerisms and the way he carries his flows. So that way, when you’re actually listening, I think it gives you a better picture of how he’s presenting the words, like as you’re driving and listening to their CD. So definitely, I think, hip-hop in general benefits from listening on a CD. For any venue and any genre, there will be limitations. Arena rock would be a tough sell in a coffee shop. And Lyrics Born knows a big music festival probably isn’t the best venue for a poetry slam. So when he plays a big event like Outside Lands, he beefs up the rhythm side of things and taps into his skills as a showman. And for Gonzalo Castro, it worked. CASTRO: I thought he did a great job of being very involved with the crowd and making sure everybody was dancing and having a good time and doing a lot of call-and-chant, back and forth with the crowd. There was a lot of production to it, a lot of performance and a lot of interactions, so you know, it was just a lot of fun, at the end of the day. Hip-hop artists will use different techniques to stimulate the audience. Some use dancers, some use fancy light shows. But at the end of the day, people want to see live music. LYRICS BORN: I’ve gone to some shows where it’s just one guy on stage and he looks like he’s just checking his email. Lyrics Born says that’s not a fun show. LYRICS BORN: I mean when you say it’s a live show, it should be exactly that, it should be live. And it should be a show. For Crosscurrents, I’m Jayme Catsouphes.

HOST: From KALW News in San Francisco, I'm Casey Miner with this local news update. Advocates of same-sex marriage are celebrating in San Francisco today, after a federal court ruled California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The majority decision upholds a lower court ruling against the ballot measure, which has banned same-sex unions since 2008. KALW's Jayme Catsouphes has more. AMBI Cheering CATSOUPHES: The court found that Prop 8 lessens “the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.” Earlier today, dozens of people gathered outside the federal building to celebrate the 2 to 1 decision. Joe Capley-Alfano said he and his husband have been worn down by discrimination. CAPLEY-ALFANO: I grew up hearing the messages that I didn’t matter and that I could never fall in love, and that gays were incapable of loving, and other horrible stereotypes like that. And I’m really happy now that the next generation of kids don’t have to grow up that way. They get to grow up in a world where they are included and accepted and treated as equals, and that’s an amazing thing. CATSOUPHES: San Francisco Supervisor Scott Weiner represents the Castro District – the same district that Harvey Milk represented 30 years ago. Milk was the city’s first openly gay elected official. WEINER: When Supervisor Milk was in office, it was a lot less clear whether LGBT people would ever get true equality in this country. Today, we can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. We still have a ways to go but we can actually see the end game here, and that’s something that I’m sure Harvey Milk is smiling from heaven right now. CATSOUPHES: The ruling applies only to same-sex marriage in California. Proponents of Proposition 8 are expected to appeal to the US Supreme Court; the advocacy group Protect Marriage issued a statement saying today’s decision “disregards the will of 7 million Californians.” For KALW News, I’m Jayme Catsouphes.

HOST: Apple Store managers in major cities around the world, today, received a stack of papers bearing a quarter million signatures demanding Apple improve working conditions for employees in its manufacturing plants. KALW’s Jayme Catsouphes reports from near San Francisco’s Union Square. -- CATSOUPHES: At Apple’s flagship store in downtown San Francisco, representatives of Change [dot] org and the Apple retail workers union handed the documents to general manager Larry Verder. VERDER [apple store manager] [3:19-:22]: Is that it? That’s quite a bit actually. Well thanks guys, thanks for bringing this up. CATSOUPHES: The petition was inspired by recent reports of workplace abuses in Shenzhen, China, where many high tech components are made. Change [dot] org communications manager Charlotte Hill says she has an iPhone and a MacBook but doesn’t want to be complicit in worker abuses. HILL [1:16-1:33]: 17sec As much as we love Apple we would love it so much more if we could trust that our products were being made by workers who were working regular hours who werent suffering from loss of the use of their hands, or from swollen legs or from neurological damage from chemicals being used in these factories. CATSOUPHES: And Change [dot] org CEO Ben Rattray says it’s not just about Apple. RATTRAY: [:40-50] If Apple changes its policies, it doesn’t change one company, because the iconic nature of this company, it changes two, and then ten, and then hundreds. CATSOUPHES: Apple issued a response the the protest, saying, “We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made. Our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with Apple.” And Apple has made recent changes. Last month, the company joined the Fair Labor Association, which will independently report on workplace conditions in the factories of Apple’s suppliers. For KALW News, I’m Jayme Catsouphes, in San Francisco.

Party Time (Take 1) [Instrumental] by Jayme Catsouphes