Jeff Kaiser: Sitzfleisch I (PFMCD138)

Jeff Kaiser: flugelhorn, trumpet, voice, pot lids, toy car, ball and chain, and live computer processing.

All the software is authored in Max/MSP by Jeff Kaiser.

There is no pre-recorded material or samples, it is all sampled, processed, and manipulated live. The only audio post-processing is mixing and mastering.

For more information and to download my software, please go to jeffkaiser.com

SITZFLEISCH I is a continuation of my use of chess terminology to name my works. Sitzfleisch, meaning “sitting meat” or even “buttocks.” However, it goes well beyond those terms to mean in chess (and politics) the ability to sit there and endure it, persevere: steadiness in a challenging situation. A person with sitzfleisch does not necessarily win by playing better, but by outsitting their opponent. It is also used in politics.

I experience sitzfleisch sometimes in improvisation, not that the music is an opponent, but that it is important to sit there and sometimes endure challenging moments and questions such as “why did I just do that,” where do I go from here,” “I have no ideas,” “really Jeff, THAT?”

And, as my friend and collaborator David Borgo likes to remind me, we are never alone, even when playing solo. Voices of former teachers, inspirational musicians, family, critics, and more are all there in our mind talking to us— sometimes at perfect moments, and sometimes at awkward moments in a performance. We must be present, sit there, and keep going.

This was recorded in one take…you can watch the session below. It is hilarious to me to see my headphones move forward bit by bit…

Recorded for a virtual concert at Ball State University.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jeff Kaiser at pfMENTUM Studios, Warrensburg, MO (September 2020)

Layout, and Design by Jeff Kaiser

Composition by Jeff Kaiser
© 2020 Jeff Kaiser Music, ASCAP

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