Kjerstin 'Kj' Easton

I’m getting ready to go to Burning Man for the first time.  I first planned to go so I could sing with the Black Rock City Swing Orchestra (and maybe sit in on trombone, too), but my plans have expanded!  I’ll be there for the the whole shebang, showing up a little early to help get things set up, and I’ll even be working at the Flamethrower Shooting Gallery (is anyone really surprised?).

Since the setting is pretty rustic (no running water, not to mention electricity), my robots will be on the back burner, and I’ll be in full music mode, looking for opportunities to jam or learn something new.  As such, I’m arming myself with portable instruments.

I’ve been learning to play a bit of mandolin and have an inexpensive one I can bring (if it makes it back home, that will be a bonus!).  I’ll be taking at least one set of bones (I’m quite good, actually, and enjoy teaching others to play).  I’m beefing up a washboard that has been in the family for a few generations (at the very least, I’ll add a strap and a cowbell).  I’ll take a trombone to play in the show, but it won’t see the light of day (or night) other than in the big top where we’ll do the show.  Playa dust gets into EVERYTHING, and that’s not so kind to brass instruments.  I’m considering taking a beater trombone to play for fun, but space in the van will be at a premium.  Maybe I’ll take a pennywhistle, another critter I haven’t mastered yet….

Any other suggestions that won’t break the bank or take up too much space?

I spent last week in Zurich at a robotics conference and as I hoofed it around the city in the evenings, there was music upon music at venue after venue, all of them clamoring for a little time in my ears.

Now that I’m back home in Los Angeles, in the spirit of checking out local performers, I just ordered my tickets for Cirque Berzerk‘s upcoming show,  Beneath.  They’ll be pitching their bigtop in downtown LA from July 24 through July 27.   I have a few friends in the show, so I may be biased, but empirical evidence suggests that, independent of my enthusiasm, they are awesome, so I recommend coming prepared to have your socks knocked off.

(Even if you don’t like clowns, you should go.  Maybe you just haven’t met the right ones yet!)

If you’re in the mood for a great (free!) concert tonight or tomorrow, come check out the Caltech Glee Clubs and the Occidental-Caltech Orchestra as we present Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” Details are on the calendar!

I’ve been pondering what I could say to describe just how electrifying the Carnegie Hall experience was, but everything comes out sounding trite. But now that I’m safely back home, you all deserve an update, trite or not, because in every comic-book-and-fairy-tale way, it was utterly awesome.

Singing as a soloist at Carnegie Hall was one of the greatest thrills of my life. Stepping through that door onto the stage and seeing balcony upon balcony filled with people, feeling the applause just wash over me — it took my breath away for a moment. The space, though cavernous and rich with echoes, still felt intimate, as though if I spoke softly from center stage, everyone in the audience would still hear me. In a living, breathing room like that, you can just feel the audience’s enthusiasm climb right up on the stage with you. I immediately picked out a few familiar faces in the crowd, and I was ready to sing for them, and for a couple thousand of my new best friends.

Doing this crazy thing with the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band made it all the more remarkable. Caltech’s music program has already given me so much over the years — but to be invited to join this band as a soloist for this not-even-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was a privilege that is simply unparalleled. (Though if anyone asks, I’m always willing to accept calls from the Nobel Committee!)

The CBS Evening News got pretty excited about our trip, too. They aired a segment focused on the space connection and the Phoenix lander, so I didn’t make the cut, but some friends did!

This was my first trip to New York City and I confess, I loved it. But I also realized that I’m not playing around in my own hometown nearly enough, so I’m back home with a renewed sense of adventure. Hello, Los Angeles! I missed you!

As I got off the plane and headed for the baggage claim, a huge picture of the Hollywood Bowl taunted me. Now there’s some food for thought. And meanwhile, I’ll get back to other rehearsals and back to my robots. Who knows what the future could bring?

…airlines willing, I’ll be back late next Wednesday!

I’m almost all packed and ready to head for New York City and Carnegie Hall. Our show is 8PM on Saturday, and rumor has it there might be a segment about us on the national CBS evening news on Sunday, so check your local listings and tune in to see how we fared!

Bandorama was a blast — the house was quite full Friday night and packed on Saturday. I just posted some recordings from Friday night on the recordings page, in case you couldn’t make it to the shows. Everyone was sounding even hotter Saturday night and the sound system got some much-needed TLC between the concerts, but my personal recordings of Saturday’s show sound a bit like the recorder was actually outside the concert hall, or perhaps constructed from a coffee can, string and some duct tape … or both.

So, I’ll leave you with the Friday recordings and let you imagine how much better they would be if I could actually hear myself in the monitor… or if you were to come to Carnegie Hall to hear us do it again!

The Pasadena Weekly has an article about the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band’s upcoming trip to Carnegie Hall — and were nice enough to promote Bandorama, too!

This Friday and Saturday, you can check the Caltech jazz bands and the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band at their annual Bandorama concerts. As always, Bandorama is a free show and they even feed the loyal audience cookies afterwards.

In the first half, I’ll be singing a swinging Niehaus arrangement of “All of Me” with the big band. The second half will be a preview of the Concert Band’s Carnegie Hall program, so I’ll be singing Gershwin’s “S’Wonderful” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” The shows are at 8PM in Ramo Auditorium on the Caltech campus. I’d love to see you there!

If you’re footloose and fancy free at 8PM this Saturday, the Caltech Glee Clubs and the Caltech Chamber Singers will be putting on our annual spring concert. Among other things, we’ll be previewing several movements from the Brahms Requiem (we’ll be performing the full piece with the Caltech-Occidental Symphony at the end of the month), and the Chamber Singers will be doing a great a capella set ranging from madrigals to modern compositions. If you’re a fan of “legit” repertoire, it should be a lot of fun! And, of course, there are usually cookies after the concert as an added enticement. Check out the details on my calendar page!

If you’re here for the jazz, you’ll have to wait one more week until Bandorama — then I’ll step out in front and do my diva thing. Mark your calendars!

Tonight I stopped by the Caltech-Occidental Concert Band’s rehearsal to run through my songs for their fast-approaching Carnegie Hall preformance. The band is sounding great and we’re all pretty darned excited about the whole thing.

If you’ll be in New York on May 24, you can order tickets directly from Carnegie Hall. I sure hope to see some familiar faces! If you won’t be in New York, to check out my gig calendar and catch some of the Carnegie repertoire at Bandorama on May 9 and May 10.