Pre-order The New Urban Nerds Release, "Fear Is Not The Natural State Of Civilized People"

Email: daren@darenburns.com

Music: http://urbannerds.bandcamp.com/track/goyathlay?permalink

Pre-order the new Urban Nerds release, "Fear Is Not The Natural State Of Civilized People" CD for $12, download it now and when the CD is officially released on 3-15-12, we’ll send you a copy.

Recording features four new compositions by bassist Daren Burns, the mastery of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, guitarist Scott Collins, pianist Sarah Phillips, and drummer Craig Bunch.

www.UrbanNerds.Com

The title of this CD is a quote from the Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi (who was recently released again; for how long, we'll have to see) and the music is my comment on the US post 9/11. As We have been running scared for now over eleven years, and seem willing to give up our most important and basic freedoms based only on fear, I say that maybe it's time we looked at some of the true heroes of the world, some of them peaceful others violent; who stood up, with 100% of their total energy and focus for what they believed in while paying greatly with their own personal costs. Blindly and foolishly giving up constitutional rights for the illusion of safety is not the answer.

This recording is dedicated to Goyathlay (Geronimo) the great Apache leader, Gandhi the Indian revolutionary, Aung San Suu Kyi the Burmese political prisoner, Fela Kuti the Nigerian fighter of governmental corruption, and anyone else who believes that life based on fear is not an option.

Music Is the Weapon.

credits
released 15 March 2012
Daren Burns - composer/fretless bass
Wadada Leo Smith - trumpet
Scott Collins - guitar
Sarah Phillips - piano
Craig Bunch - drums

Recorded 6-23-09
Mixed 9-15 and 11-24-09
by Wayne Peet @ Newzone Studios, Los Angeles

Artwork and design by Kio Griffith

Live video from my band Onibabas last gig 08-07-10

Here is some video of a recent performance by my band Onibaba recorded live @ Royal/T in Culver City, LA and presented by Rocco Somazzi and his Angel City Arts

Onibaba is:

Vinny Golia - woodwinds
George McMullen - trombone
Scott Collins - guitar
Daren Burns - bass
Joe Berardi - drums/percussion
Kio Griffith - live video

Onibaba exists between composition and improvisation and is described as being somewhere between the light and the dark, the ethereal and the earthly - Creative Music. Created by Daren Burns in 2006, the band synthesizes its sound by using elements of the Chicago avant-garde, jazz, rock, world, techno, noise, and classical, to create a new type of fusion that is definitely not the smooth, funky jazz of the 80’s and 90’s, but a new living music.

Set 1:

Set 2:

© Urban Nerds 2010

www.urbannerds.com

Tracy Caldwell/Daren Burns Quartet rehearsal...

Interesting how after not playing with someone for 12 years, the passage of time can be erased almost immediately by the simple act of making music. Tracy and I went to CalArts together in the mid to late 90's, she pursuing her MFA, me on the way to my BFA. we kept in touch over the years but we never got together to make music for whatever reasons that would rear their head; life, work, and whatnot.

We set up a gig at Redcat this coming Sunday, 11-15 and Tracy Caldwell and I wrote some new music for the quartet we decided on. It was kind of eerie how similar our music was, in flavor at least; not necessarily in its construct. Chalk it up to both being students of Wadada Leo Smith I suppose!

Rehearsal went well, with Josh Charney on keyboard and Craig Bunch on drums. I am looking forward to the performance this Sunday!

Onibaba one of Bricks Picks of the week

Just had a great show with my band Onibaba @ the Museum of Neon Art and I was fortunate enough to be included in the LA Weekly's Brick's Picks article (Jazz picks of the week) along with McCoy Tyner, Lanny Morgan, and Larry Goldings (yikes!). Thanks to those who came out. Special thanks to David Witham and Jeff Gauthier at Cryptonight and Kim Koga at Mona!

Brick's Picks Article

Band included:

Ulrich Krieger - Sax/bass clarinet
George Mcmullen - Trombone
Eric Klerks - Guitar
Me - Bass
Craig Bunch - Drumset
Kio Griffith - Live Video

Welcome!

This blog will about my thoughts on improvisation, composition, bass, and other various meanderings. I hope to touch on web 2.0, music business and whatever is on my mind.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Real music is not for wealth, not for honours or even the joys of the mind... but as a path for realisation and salvation."-Ali Akbar Khan

“If you miss the sensual part of music, you risk becoming a gynecologist and not a lover”-Rabih Abou-Khalil

"Don't play whats there, play whats not there." -Miles Davis

"It was when I learned you can make mistakes that I knew I was on to something." -Ornette Coleman

About me:

Daren Howard Burns, fretted and fretless electric bass player, composer, and improviser has been playing and making music for more than half of his life. Much of his musical interest lies in the area of improvisation and how to make new systems for developing improvisation in new ways. In the past few years he has also become interested in classical Indian rhythmic and melodic systems.

Born in El Centro, California, but moving all around as child, to places like New Mexico, Texas, and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Burn’s musical life began in Junior High School when he purchased his first bass with money from a paper route he had. At this time, he was immersed in the rock music of the time, but was quickly turned on to jazz by purchasing bassists, Jaco Pastorious and Stanley Clarke’s first albums and classical Indian music by listening to Ravi Shankar. He received his formal education from Fullerton junior College (1991-1994), California Institute of the Arts (1994-97, BFA; 2006-08, MFA). He also studied privately with Wadada Leo Smith, Ralph Rose, Baba Elephante, Gary Willis, Aloke Dutta, Aashish Khan, Vinny Golia, and Jeff Berlin.

As an Improviser/Composer Burns has studied, Western European music, the classical music of North and South India, Ghana music of Africa, Japanese, Eastern European/Arabic music, and American Blues, Rock, and Jazz. He is working on notation systems that incorporate world music and jazz and open structures that give the musician freedom while also giving the composer his realized ideas.

Daren has taught privately from his home and at Woodlowe Music in Woodland Hills, CA for over ten years. He is a member of the American Composers Forum and an ASCAP member. He was a winner of the Dan Radlauer composition competition in 1994.

As a composer he has written for soloists, various ensembles, and creative orchestras. As a performer he has played in every situation imaginable and has shared the stage with Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, John ‘Drumbo’ French, Neil Sadler, Butch Morris, Mike Keneally, Nels Cline, Jeff Kaiser, Motoko Honda, Ori Barel, Chris Opperman, Andre LaFosse, John Bergamo, Randy Gloss, Houman Pourmehdi, Miroslav Tadic, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharp, George McMullen, Kurt McGettrick, Bruce Fowler, David Roitstein, Joe LaBarbera, Eleanor Academia, Frank Macchia, and many, many, many others.