The OCG Meets Frank Ocean, or Not - Part 1

The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists Meets A Huge Popular Artist

or, Not

Everywhere: July 10 to August 14, 2015

Los Angeles, CA: August 15-23, 2015

Monday August 10, 2015 – Part I

The Home Office, Seattle, WA

8:30am

So it feels like I need to keep some notes. I’m not in the journalizing business these days. There was a time when the online journal was a part of my daily life. But the time came to let that go, and I did. This project feels like it needs to be documented, or at least annotated, if only in the most rudimentary way. So this morning it is actually raining (a little) and I thought I would take a few minutes to go through my emails and texts and make some notes about how we got this far.

• July 10, 2015. Tony and I get an email from Hernan, containing all of the correspondence that has taken place regarding an offer for the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists to take part in a performance with a Huge Popular Artist, Frank Ocean. So far, what has transpired is:

• June 22, 2015. Ocean’s management [FOM] contacts Robert through his office, saying that “Frank Ocean is enamored with Robert and The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists and wants to incorporate that into the show”, and asking if they would be available for an August show in Los Angeles.
  
  Robert’s office responds that Robert will be in King Crimson rehearsals throughout August and unavailable. He suggests that FOM contact Hernan and the Berlin Guitar Ensemble.

• June 23, 2015. FOM sends an inquiry to BGE

• July 9, 2015. Hernan responds to FOM, indicating interest, while explaining that the BGE is a much smaller ensemble than The Orchestra, and asking for details about what Ocean is envisioning.

• July 10, 2015. FOM responds to Hernan with thanks and asks if there is a group in the US that might be able to do the gig.

• July 10, 2015. Hernan forwards all of the correspondence to me and Tony, asking if we would be interested in taking on the gig.

• July 11, 2015. A round of discussions between me and Tony, primarily wondering what in the world Ocean has in mind that would include The Orchestra. Does he know that what we do is improvise, or does he imagine this is an ensemble of pros who can be counted on to sit down and sight read charts? Also expressing serious doubt that an ensemble that size could be brought together in the time available.
  
  Even if everyone in Seattle was miraculously available on short notice, it still would not be an Orchestra-sized group. The NAFGC needs to drive this. I forward all of the correspondence to the NAFGC Board, asking who will be the spokesperson for North America on this discussion. I mention all of this to the team at our weekly Circle, and we continue pondering what all this might involve. I have looked up Ocean’s tour schedule for the summer, and it looks like the date he is talking about is a large, high-profile, festival on the weekend of August 21-23, which makes the whole idea of the Orchestra somehow fitting into the concept even more surreal.

• July 12, 2015. A whirlwind of correspondence with NAFGC, including more questions about what in the world Ocean is thinking, and a general tone of disbelief. Meanwhile, the sense is that Dev should be the contact for both Hernan and FOM as this moves forward, so that The Orchestra can respond with a single coordinated voice. Correspondence from Hernan updating us on his discussions with FOM, including the issues of timing, the difficulties of getting players from Europe and South America to Los Angeles, and the never-ending request for concrete details about what Ocean is envisioning for the OCG.

I want to wrap up the email thread between myself, Tony, and Hernan, and move the whole thing over to Hernan and Dev so that nothing slips through the cracks. Taking on my (it comes naturally) role of Mr Negativity, I voice all of the questions I have about the gig.

At this point a week passes without much correspondence or discussion. I confess that my attitude tends toward the notion that this is probably a whim on Ocean’s part, and that FOM is going to conclude that it is just all too complicated, and convince Ocean to move on to another plan.

• July 20, 2015. In my role as President and Executive Director of Seattle Circle, get an email at the generic “admin” address, which reads:

Hi there,

I am trying to find a guitar ensemble, similar to Robert Fripp’s Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists…do you perform as a group or just teach?

thanks

It takes me a couple of beats to connect the dots between this inquiry and the discussions between Hernan and FOM. Then a bell goes off, and I pull up all of the correspondence with Hernan. Sure enough, the sender is FOM.

A new flurry of email. I immediately forward this to both NAFGC and the Seattle team. The NAFGC registrar indicates that he also received a similar general inquiry. It is clear that this guy is deadly serious and on a mission. I draft and send a response, cc:ing Dev and bcc:ing Hernan, re-forwarding to both the NAFGC and the Seattle team:

Greetings [FOM],

Yes, we do perform. Between 2005-2011 we presented "Tuning the Air” here in Seattle, a weekly concert featuring 8-12 guitarists performing in the round, with the audience in the center. You can see a short film about Tuning the Air here. Everyone in the Seattle Circle has worked with Robert Fripp, The League of Crafty Guitarists, and the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists, some for as long as 30 years. In May 2014 Seattle Circle organized and hosted a short Northwest Tour of Robert Fripp and the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists.

I have cc:ed Dev ([Dev’s phone number]). He is part of the North American Federation of Guitar Circles, the group that coordinates and facilitates Guitar Craft activities in North America. He is probably the best person for you to talk with in terms of laying out what you have in mind, so that we can see if we are in a position to help you out. The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists generally involves 30-100 guitarists. None of the individual associated Guitar Circles, including Seattle Circle, is as large as that.

Very best wishes,

Curt Golden
Executive Director
Seattle Circle, Inc, a Washington 501c3 non profit corporation

Seattle Circle
PO Box 70270
Seattle, WA 98127

• July 21, 2015. Response from FOM, with Dev cc:ed:
  
  
  

Curt, thank you for the response.

I am definitely looking for closer to 30 guitarists.  Does anyone in the US do that?

I send a side note to Dev that this is probably the place for him jump in. Unnecessary. He’s already on it.

I find every online example I can of the OCG, and send them to Dev, to forward to FOM. Does he really know what the OCG is/does? Is that really what Ocean is looking for in a backup band? We want to give him every opportunity to gracefully back out. We definitely don’t want to fly people in from all over the world, and to show up at our first rehearsal only to discover that Ocean has unrealistic expectations about what we do.

At this point, I lose a specific date line and bullet points. The discussion and negotiations move, as they should, to FOM, Dev on behalf of the NAFGC, and Hernan. On some correspondence I am cc:ed, and I am getting periodic updates and reports from both Dev and Hernan. I will not enumerate the details of what is being discussed, but it is all the right stuff. And it is being worked out by the right people. We are not a group that is really set up to jump at opportunities on short notice. Just the international nature makes putting together an ensemble that large a very cumbersome process. And since there are very few professional musicians involved, there is the added complexity of getting time off from jobs, not to mention working out the responsibilities to family. So having a couple of people focused on the project, with the capacity to make decisions, means that we are able to respond as swiftly as this leviathan can.

Most of what is being worked out are practicalities: travel, housing, feeding, and all of the attendant money matters. What is not really becoming any clearer is what, exactly, we will be doing in this show. Does Ocean want a “string section”, or are we reading charts, or are we interpreting existing arrangements to create something playable by a guitar ensemble, or does he want us to do that thing that only the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists does? [As of the moment I am writing this summary, I still don’t know the answer. Dev and Hernan, who are in direct (and constant) contact with FOM have thoughts on the subject, but they remain educated guesses at best.]

Over the next week or so the process of putting a team together was underway. Hernan identified the players he works with that he feels are up to the challenge. The NAFGC did the same for the North American team, and I volunteer to speak directly to the Seattle-ites on the list. By July 28, a solid provisional list is together. In Seattle, only 2 players that I speak with have commitments that prevent them from taking part. Since the CGT is going to be performing at the Seattle Creative Arts Center on August 1, with the Seattle Guitar Circle in the opening/support slot, I also volunteer to sit down with them and see if they would be willing to join the team. From the CGT, one is instantly on board, while the other two demure for reasons of family and professional obligations. By August 2, we have what looks like 26 players and 2 support (tour manager and sound) available.

For the next days it is all about business. On August 8, the contract finally arrives, and is clearly in need of refinement. Naturally, it is a Saturday. Flurry of emails, and Dev is on the job.

That brings us to this morning, when the amended contract arrives while I was writing out this summary. Five days before we fly to Los Angeles. It is over to the NAFGC and Hernan to make the call. I suspect the answer will be “yes”. I hope so. I am up for an adventure.

Feels like today is D-Day.

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