Fly South, the new album from Ramon & Jessica (my duo with Dina Maccabee) is now available here.

I recently composed original scores for two beautiful modern dance/theater pieces: The Rambler by Joe Goode Performance Group, and Moveable Feast by Tanya Bello/Project B. The music makes for a good listen on its own, and
I’ve created an “album” of these pieces to share with you. You can download it at:

http://jesseolsenbay.bandcamp.com/album/the-rambler-moveable-feast-music-for-dance

You can name your own price for this music, but I’m permitted only a small number of free downloads, so even a small donation is very much preferable to none. Enjoy!

Announcing the release of a brand new album: 

Flight Patterns

by Open Graves (Paul Kikuchi and Jesse Olsen) with Stuart Dempster

This is the second album by my Open Graves duo project with Seattle-based percussionist/instrument-builder Paul Kikuchi. We are joined by the legendary trombonist Stuart Dempster.

For this recording, we returned to the Dan Harpole Cistern in Port Townsend, an underground empty water cistern with a reverb time of around 45 seconds. This album documents our group improvisations on trombone, percussion, guitars, voice, and invented instruments. The music is meditative, haunting, delicate, and fierce.

The album is available on CD and LP (vinyl!). The LP version is highly recommended, as this music really benefits from the warmth of the vinyl sound. Both versions have beautiful cover art by Renko Dempster.

There are a two ways you can get this album:

1. You can mail order or pick up directly from me. I’m offering a package rate with copies of my most recent solo album, Ojito.
- $15 for the LP, $8 for the CD
- $20 for Flight Patterns LP and Ojito CD, $13 for for Flight Patterns CD and Ojito CD
- Add $2 for shipping
You can make a PayPal payment to tangledmusic@gmail.com, or mail checks to Jesse Olsen 730, 45th St. Oakland, CA 94609

2. You can order online at CD Baby (easier but pricier because they take a cut):
- $20 for the LP, $13 for the CD, or $10 for download

You can also read more and listen to the album at the above CD baby websites.

I’ve uploaded some new audio and video clips from recent projects:

Video from Towards The Meeting Grounds, 4/19/09, Santa Rosa:

“Stepping Song”
“Humming Song”
“Opening Song”

And some audio from the same performance:

“Stepping Song”
“Homing Song”

Audio from Open Graves/Tide Tables (Paul Kikuchi, Jesse Olsen, Alexander Vittum) at the Festival of Music for People and Thingamajigs, October 09, San Francisco:

Thingamajigs Excerpt

And a rough mix of a recording in the Dan Harpole Memorial Cistern at Fort Worden, WA, with Paul Kikuchi and Stuart Dempster

“Pond Life”

Enjoy!

I’ll be playing songs from the album, with help from an amazing group of musicians including Peter “Tallpaw” Bergquist on guitar/piano/vocals, Maxwell Church on trombone/vocals, and Ben Gustin on guitar/bass/vocals (yes we’ll all be singing!). Reverent Sisters is the duo of Dawn McCarthy (of Faun Fables) and Joni Davis. This will be a really nice, intimate concert, and maybe your only chance to hear me play these songs live!

Saturday Oct 24, 8pm
Sebastopol Center for Arts, 6780 Depot St, Sebastopol
$10, no one turned away
for reservations: deconstructmyhouse@riseup.net

Read about “Ojito” in the post below titled “Ojito is done!”…and listen to samples at www.myspace.com/jesseolsen

an evening of unique live music, film, and performance

…electro-acoustic music performed on hand-crafted, sculptural instruments…
…dance performance with live musical accompaniment…
…environmental dance films & DIY animation…

Saturday September 26, 8pm
Green Valley Village Barn
Sliding scale $5-10

Read the rest of this entry »

from the liner notes…

“This music was created during a year spent living in the high desert of New Mexico. Our small farm was surrounded on all sides by endless open space, with a small stream running nearby, the only water for miles around. With only a limited solar-power system, any sort of amplified or digital music making was impossible.

I spent days on end wandering with my guitar and a hand-held tape recorder, recording myself playing and singing into that bare, harsh, shockingly beautiful landscape. Much of this album consists of these original cassette tapes, layered and collaged together. Ojito is a reflection, investigation, and dialogue with that place, a record of what I saw and felt during my brief but transformative time there.”

—–

Ojito is a collection of strange and beautiful songs and sound-scapes. Guitar, piano, banjo, toy instruments, and found objects mingle with field recordings, creating a sound-bed for simple melodies and impressionistic lyrics. The hiss, click, and grainy sound quality of lo-fi technology take on their own voice, shaping the music, adding layers of dust and grit.

You can hear some of the tracks at www.myspace.com/jesseolsen

The CD is available online for $15 at www.cdbaby.com/cd/jesseolsen

You can also buy the entire album or individual tracks as downloads. If you want this album but can’t afford the CD Baby price (or would like to offer more as a donation), you can send a check for your desired price, plus $1.50 for shipping, to:

Jesse Olsen
18320 Willow Creek Rd.
Occidental, CA
95465

This is the debut album from Open Graves, the duo of my self and Paul Kikuchi, a Seattle-based percussionist, composer, and instrument-builder. “Hollow Lake” is a document of three days recording in the Dan Harpole Memorial Cistern, an empty 2 million gallon water cistern in Port Townsend, WA. The cistern is known to have the longest reverberation time of any structure in the world, reaching 45 seconds or longer.

These are sparse, carefully constructed improvisations on percussion, voice, guitar, trombone, scrap metal and driftwood, exploring the possibilities of this unique and magical space.

Released on Prefecture Records, this album is available as a CD or a download from CD Baby:

www.cdbaby.com/cd/opengraves

Listen at www.myspace.com/opengravesmusic

And stay tuned for a recording of our second session in the Cistern, featuring the trombonist Stuart Dempster, due out in November…

Taproot Dance Project and DeconstructMyHouse present...

towards the meeting grounds

An evening of new work by Frieda Kipar and Jesse Olsen
Friday & Saturday, April 24 & 25, 8pm
at The Imaginists Theatre Collective
461 Sebastopol Ave, Santa Rosa

Towards the Meeting Grounds weaves together dancing installations, a capella songs, and new solo dance and music works, in a landscape of movement and stillness, melody and rhythm, silent language and wild sound. With performers Peter Bergquist, Donna Denevan, Claire Drucker, Meryl Juniper, Meadow Leys, Chance Massaro, Anne Carol Mitchell, and Lee Wylie.

For reservations or more information, contact deconstructmyhouse@riseup.net or (707) 823-5008.

Check out the posts below for some new video and audio, including:

Video clips from a recent performance of “Makings”, Jesse’s adaptation of writings by his grandmother, Tillie Olsen

Rough mixes of a collaboration between Jesse Olsen and Paul Kikuchi, recorded in an underground water cistern in Port Townsend, WA

Work-in-progress songs from Ojito, a project of Jesse’s inspired by his year living in the high desert of New Mexico.

Enjoy!