Mike Evans likes coffee. I like coffee. Sometimes we get together and have coffee. Sometimes we get together with Patrick Grant because he likes coffee too. In fact I was at the Goya show at the Met the other day and Mike called me to get together for some coffee. Although I don't think Mike ever tasted Tony's coffee which is the best coffee I've ever had and that's how we start every mixing session at String Theory Studios.
Mike Evans is a percussionist extraordinaire. I never wonder what Mike was like as a little boy because, at heart, he is still that little boy. And that's why I asked Mike to lend his ear and talents to a couple of projects including ZXE's Sound Of Music. He plays on several tracks; especially the closing track The Sound where he displays his finger drumming virtuosity. He invited me to his basement in downtown Brooklyn to record him. The basement is short and not meant for people of my height - I only banged my head about six times - and it is filled to the brim with all sorts of sound making implements ranging the entire world. He speaks of a piece of metal he found at a flea market as if talking of a lover. Here is a clip of that afternoon of wonder that I will never forget. The end of the clip segues into the ending of the song The Sound with the voice of Bradley Eros.
I look forward to getting that coffee with MIke as I always do. His accomplishements are beyond the beyond. Here's the short list of people he has worked with: Ron Anderson, Jeff Arnal, Audio Artists, Claire Barratt, Samm Bennett, Jac Berrocal, Carla Bley, Naval Cassidy, James Chance, Martha Colburn, Combustible Edison, Lol Coxhill, EasSide Percussion (ESP), Roger Ely (the Devil’s Chaueffeur), Nicolas Dumit Estevez, Ken Filiano, Fast Forward (Gobo), Chris Ferris, Michael Gira (Angels of Light, Swans), Gisburg, Gilbert Godfried, God Is My Co-Pilot, David Grubbs, Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), Susan Hefner, Steve Horowitz’s Code Ensemble, Jarboe (Swans), Pamelia Kurstin, Skip LaPlante’s Music for Homemade Instruments, Zach Layton, Gen Ken Montgomery, Neil Leonard, Aimee Mann, Karen Mantler, Sean G. Meehan, Donald Miller, Eric Mingus, Gordon Monahan, Joe Morris, Michelle Nagai, Anders Nilsson, Evan Parker, Andrea Parkins, Maxime De La Rochefoucauld, William Parker, Yvette Perez’s Birdbrain, Yvette Perez’s Mitra Sumara, Gino Robair, Lary Seven, Elliot Sharp, Moe! Staiano, LaDonna Smith, David Simons, Jesse Stewart, the Talking Band, Toronto Dance Theatre, Stephen Vitiello, Christopher Walken, Jason Willet, Peter Zummo’s Noisy Meditation Band, John Zorn..............and Zero Times Everything.
For my next blog I will explore turntablism and its effect on music making.
Richard