Racer Session #119 | Kevin Glasel | May 20, 2012

The way that I wish to approach this Racer Session is inspired by my experiences shopping and working at record stores. Since the age of 16 I have been an avid supporter of local shops and physical media. There is nothing like the feeling you get picking up a new band solely on a recommendation from an employee or finding that one album you have been in search of for years.  I thrive on the excitement you feel when discovering an entirely new genre to dig deep into. In 2009 I was lucky enough to start working at one of my favorite shops. Throughout my time at the store I was turned on to many things: Early African American gospel, 1960-80’s Highlife/Afrobeat, and Psych-rock from around the world, amongst others.

My evolving musical taste was influenced by many of my co-workers, including my good friend Kurt, who led me to my first Racer Session, after which I was hooked. With the help of Kurt as well as another good friend and coworker Jordan we will be performing one piece of improvisation. Our performance will combine multiple genres and techniques into a sound collage: noise, gospel, blues, tape manipulation, etc.

My idea for the jam session is that once the players are assembled on stage, someone will draw from a hat. This hat will contain different genres on pieces of paper, for example blues, soul, classical, and so forth. After the genre has been chosen I would like every person who is improvising to interpret what that genre is to them, in their own way. It’s okay if someone isn’t all that familiar with a genre; I would just challenge everyone to play what they feel when they think of that style of music. It’s meant as a starting point for creative collaboration.