Meeting Minutes September 17th

Met at the dojo at 8:45 PM. Attendees: Victor, MB, Martin, Glenn, and Chris P (an attendee of the Free Circle). Another attendee, Armand, stayed and watched. Chris joined us in the circle. We began by tuning. We played a circulation and then Third Relation. This went well. Then, Victor asked us what we have been working on. MB had worked on Third Relation and the Bach piece most recently. Martin is working on a new composition. Glenn has a new composition titled The World Blind. He showed us how it goes, we picked up on the chord progressions for two parts and played them in a loop while Victor tried to work out a baseline. We did some more circulating. Then, played EotN which felt rocky. A break consisted of MB talking about the dance project and going over a recently generated handout. The plans seemed to land with the group who were doing some AT lie down work while listening to the handout review. After this Chris P and Armad left us. We worked on embroidery exercises first normal with more melody from MB and fewer notes from the regular note-rich. Then, some work on rhythm recognition from the player to the left IDed before beginning a new embroidery. Finally, a wonderful circulation I thought. The meeting ended with discussion about new elements. Then, Victor declared that he was choosing to be done, so we were. Post-meeting...Jeff (a Free Circle participant) had left us with pics from ArtBeat and last years Ruby and Billy summer party. We discussed the Lowell gig. Homeward. -- MBAH

Meeting Minutes - Sunday Sep. 10th

Attendees: Victor, Glenn, David, Mary-Beth
Location: South Boston

When we arrived, the free Beginner's Circle was finishing up a little late. Took a while to get them out and us set up. Discussion about the gig last Friday, the need for a dedicated sound person, what the circle should be doing, what's getting in the way (key point: negative emotions in everyday life and their effect on our playing). Observation how many pieces start out pretty well, then fall apart midway through, in contrast to how we used to play them (though Eye of the Needle still tends to start weaker and end stronger). Worked on the Bach invention for about an hour. Was much rustier than at the performance. Didn't have any mistake-free run-throughs, but improvement as we went along. Eye of the Needle, Third Relation (almost made it through intro without any open strings), and an aborted Bicycling to Afghanistan. Discussion about the possibility of a 6-day intensive retreat for "just us" followed by a series of performances next year (end of summer, or maybe earlier). A lobster walks into a bar joke.

Labor day at MB&G's 9/4/06

David K was the first to show up for guitar circle. He let himself in, and I found him standing in the foyer. I said "Am I on time?" Martin and Victor arrived not long after. We were working on Hope when MB returned. Where is Alex L? Joshing around. Gus sits in the center of the circle. Lark's Thrak, Eye of the Needle (which Victor thought was quite good), Askesis, Third Relation. Growing Circle. People took a little break and Victor and I ran Chrysanthemum. MB showed us the "belly dance glute isolation workout" video. Discussion about the gig on Friday. We are to be there around 6 PM, earlier if possible. Bartok, Bach Inv. 1, Bicycling. And so on.