Daniel Popsicle

Daniel Popsicle was organized to meet an obligation to Plonsey's former teacher, Anthony Braxton
"Sir, we must now write music for the next millennium!"

Plonsey took this to mean that it was time overdue for a paradigm shift in the musical world: that existing forms would be no longer sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of the new world-to-be. Daniel Popsicle therefore strives to evoke and bring into being a world less cynical, less troubled and less cluttered, in which art can be as simple as it wants to be, and in which everyone can participate. A world more in tune with our nature as animals, but striving beyond equity (a noble goal) to true generosity.

The music played by Daniel Popsicle is not classical, jazz, rock, or any established genre; rather it is simply Music of El Cerrito: music which is happening here, wherever that largely imaginary, ideal, idealistic here is for us, and for you too. The music is simple: emerging from whatever Plonsey was humming that day, which might have something to do with music he heard last week or as a kid growing up in Cleveland Heights. The music is there to sweep you along, down a creek in an innertube. The music is there to provide color for your art and imagery for your blackberry pie-making. (We hope that you have a bush nearby.)

Ah, if only you could be with us in El Cerrito! If you could sit with us under our willow tree, sipping mint julips, listening to the music of the wind through the branches and leaves, the chirp and buzz of the bushtits and hmmingbirds, the occasional appearance ofwaxwings. If you could walk with us up through the curvy, hilly streets of Northern El Cerrito, remarking on the strangely beautiful mix of Japanese and Mediterranean style architecture and landscaping: the sparse and even scraggly roses spotting a yard of gravel; the snaking garden hoses the use of non-structural horizontal beams as decoration (the horizontal lines of house after house evoke M. C. Escher in the way they seemingly are both in front of and behind each other, but if this is an affront to Euclid, it is utterly without guile) the manicured bits of lawn and poodle-cut bushes the mix of deep greens with chartreuse the decorative use of orange traffic cones the contrastingly (colors randomly chosen?) painted fences the needlessly painted stairs and walkways the simple pattern of parallel lines etched on garage doors the bottle-brush trees lining a segment of a street, cauliflower-trees lining another the awkward combinations of green, red and blue here; pastel and even minty colors there... Photos of cwEl Cerrito (on facebook) There is the El Cerrito I describe, the El Cerrito you see in photographs, and then there is the imaginary El Cerrito: distinct from the more cynical, striving, crass, Bay Area. For us, beauty isn't something you purchase: either you make it yourself, or just go outside and look: it's everywhere, but you need the right expectations: the beauty is partly as a result of earnest attempts at replicating various memories of beauty, partly apparently accidental juxtapositions. These houses, these yards... they're not being designed by professionals. It's as though everyone came from far away, and the have to make do with local shapes, local color. You can feel the melancholy, the longing. Our music is like that: imprecisely remembered, unprofessional, but with similar melancholy, yearning. We are in an important sense unprepared. We didn't clean up first. Pictured: Daniel Popsicle at the Ivy Room (Jan uary, 2009). Left to Right: Plonsey, Cory Wright, Micheal Zelner, John Shiurba, Lynn Murdock, Chris Silvey. Photo by Myles Boisen.

Since its inception, Daniel Popsicle has been dedicated to presenting the music of El Cerrito, in an open-ended series of volumes. Of the following, music from volumes 1, 2a, 2b, and some of 3 have been recorded. Two pieces from volume 4 were recorded at a concert at the Berkeley Arts Festival. Fourteen pieces from the collected "Cerrito Theatre Music" were performed April 9, 2002, at the Black Box, and were recorded by both Zoka and John Shiurba.

Volume 1: Music of Dan Plonsey (party music) (Yesnolp, CD-R)

Volume 2: Relations among Two of the Three Primary (Great) Kingdoms of Natural Objects: Plants and Animals

Volume 2a: Moving About, Humming, Still Our Flowers are Blooming, Under the Old Portcullis (UnLimited Sedition, CD)

Volume 2b: Wise King Taken by the Foolish One

Volume 3: The 23 Marches for Casual Space Tourist, a.k.a., Destination: Fremont!
(These Marches were commissioned by New Music Works, Santa Cruz, for 2001: A Space Garden (Garden Party))

Volume 4: Music for Occasions of State, El Cerrito

Volume 5: El Cerrito Annex: late 14th Century French Secular Polyphony

Volume 6: Music from Northern El Cerrito: Daniel Popsicle plays Cerrito Theatre Music of Dan Plonsey

Volume 7:The Playback Operas of El Cerrito

Volume 8:``Jazz at Yoshi's'' (Yesnolp, CD-R; re-released on digitalis records)

Volume 9:The Color Music of El Cerrito (99 pieces, banter, and a selection from approximately 3000 photographs)

Performances

1. December 2, 1999: The Starry Plough
2. July 22, 2000: The Zeum courtyard.
3. October 15, 2000: ACME Observatory
4. June 24, 2001: A Berkeley Arts Festival and Beanbender's Presentation.
5. December 8, 2001: two pieces performed by: New Music Works of Santa Cruz
6. April 9, 2002: The Black Box, Oakland, CA.
7. June 21, 2002: Garden of Memory: Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, CA.
8. July 27, 2002: New Langton Arts Award Show, San Francisco, CA.
9. August 5, 2002: At the Richmond Arts Center, Richmond, CA.
10. September 30, 2002: At Yoshi's, Oakland, CA. (A Jazz in Flight presentation.)
11. June 19, 2003: Memorial Concert for Matthew Sperry
12. September 28, 2003: Daniel Popsicle Subsidiary Marching Band in the "How Berkeley Can You Be?" Parade
13. April 25, 2004: CD Release at the Jazz House
14. June 27, 2004: Outdoor conccert at MoCHA
15. October 30, 2004: Berkeley Arts Festival HQ
16. June 12, 2005: Santa Cruz New Music Works Avant Garden Party
17. June 02, 2006: The Starry Plough, as part of the 4th annual SperryFest.
18. October 6, 2006: The Illuminated Corridor (at 21Grand)
19. October 7, 2006: Museum of children's Art, Oakland
20. May 4, 2007: The Berkeley Arts Festival HQ (2323 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley)
21. May 9, 2007: 21Grand, Oakland
22. June 21, 2007: The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland
23. August 23, 2007: The Starry Plough
24. September 15, 2007: Peanut Butter Jam, Alameda
25. February 22, 2008: The Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Avenue
26. July 13, 2008: The Transbay Skronkathon, 21Grand, Oakland
27. June 21, 2008: The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland
28. September 12/13/14, 2008: The Milkbar International Film Festival at The Noodle Factory, Union/26th, Oakland.
29. Jannuary 19, 2009: The Ivy Room, Albany, CA.
30. April 11, 2009: Koi Pond, Oakland (Val's Birthday)
31. June 21, 2009: The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland

Musicians who have played in the ensemble:

Dan Plonsey Carol Adee Kyle Bruckmann Ben Goldberg Michael Zelner Matt Ingalls Randy McKean Scott Rosenberg Cory Wright Joshua Smith Fran Holland Jared Prolo Joe Karten Liz Albee David Bithell Chris Grady Chris Silvey Tom Yoder Tim Madden Jen Baker Jay Rozen Phil Gelb Ward Spangler Wayne Vitale Tom Swafford Naomi Okuyama Sarah Willner Danielle DeGruttola Samantha Black Ashley Adams Myles Boisen Marc Culbertson Matthew Sperry Steve Lew Randy Porter John Schott John Shiurba Steve Kirk Mike Pukish Jenya Chernoff Matt Lebofsky John Hanes Suki O'Kane Erling Wold Lynn Murdock (Wold) Myra Chachkin Mantra Ben-Ya'akova Cleveland Plonsey

c melody saxophone, oboe, clarinets piccolo oboe and English horn clarinet clarinet clarinet bass clarinet sax, contrabass clarinet soprano, bari sax, bass clarinet tenor sax, drums bass clarinet bassoon shofar trumpet trumpet trumpet trumpet trombone trombone trombone tuba shakuhachi xylophone, glockenspiel, percussion Balinese percussion & gangsa violin violin viola, Balinese instruments cello cello bass bass bass bass electric bass cumbus, guitar, violin national steel guitar electric guitar banjo drums & percussion drums & percussion drums & percussion drums & percussion toys, drums & percussion farfisa organ acrusonic organ little Yamaha synth, bass, cello voice percussion, Italian keyed whistle

Poster by Alan Anzalone

Appearances

December 1, 1999:
The Starry Plough, Berkeley With: Dan Plonsey, c melody sax; Joe Karten, shofar; Phil Gelb, shakuhachi; Ben Goldberg, clarinet; Tom Yoder, trombone and sackbutt; Erling Wold, farfisa; Lynn Wold, acrusonic organ; Tom Swafford, violin; Sarah Willner, viola and gangsa; Samantha Black, cello; Ashley Adams, bass; Matthew Sperry, bass; Randy Porter, cumbus, guitar, violin; Wayne Vitale, Balinese drum and gangsa; Ward Spangler, percussion; with Henry Kuntz, guest, Balinese instruments.

Sunday, June 24, 2001:

A Berkeley Arts Festival and Beanbender's Presentation. With: Dan Plonsey, c melody saxophone; Phil Gelb, shakuhachi; Carol Adee, piccolo; Ben Goldberg, Michael Zelner clarinets; Tom Yoder, trombone; Sarah Willner, viola; Randy Porter, electric guitar, violin, cumbus; John Schott, John Shiurba electric guitars; Mark Culbertson, acoustic bass; Wayne Vitale, Ward Spangler, various children percussion; Mantra Ben Ya'akova, voice.

---

Tuesday, April 9, 2002

At the The Black Box, 1928 Telegraph Ave, Oakland CA. With: Dan Plonsey, c melody saxophone; Carol Adee, piccolo; Matt Ingalls and Michael Zelner, clarinets; Tom Yoder, trombone; Randy Porter, mandolin, cumbus; John Shiurba, electric guitar; Matthew Sperry and Mark Culbertson, acoustic bass; Lynn Wold, keyboard; Matt Lebofsky, keyboard and drums; Ward Spangler, vibes and percussion;

---

Sunday, June 12, 2005 at the Santa Cruz New Music Works annual Avant Garden Party, at the UCSC Arboretum We played a 15 minute semi-improvised marching set and then 30 minutes of Music of El Cerrito, Volume 5: Simple Music: Series 2: "Colors." With: Suki O'Kane, Ward Spangler, John Shiurba, Lynn Wold, Michael Zelner, Randy McKean, Scott Rosenberg and Dan Plonsey.

---

May 4, 2007

The Berkeley Arts Festival HQ (2323 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley). We played a full concert of two sets of the Color music. With: Suki O'Kane, Lynn Murdock, Chris Silvey, Tom Yoder, Cory Wright, Michael Zelner, Randy McKean, Joshua Smith, John Schott and Dan Plonsey. Pictured, Left to Right: Chris Silvey, Michael Zelner, Suki O'Kane, Tom Yoder.

---

2213 Shattuck Avenue (formerly Gateway Computers next to former site of Eddie Bauer!) $10-$5 Program: Selections from the Color Music of El Cerrito (the complete set comprises 99 pieces, designed to accompany artists at work) aqua brown white orange pink & pale blue clown yellow gray gabardine green guys octave blue off white olive red pale green, dark blue, orange pale turquoise & burnt sienna pink red blue orange red orange blue green blue pink red red green & transparent medium red we do for red red yellow blue rufous & rose & sky blue saffron titanium white & green titanium white & green titanium white mars titanium white & sky yellow red green blue Also: My Version, The Superhero of Shirts, Pictured, Left to Right: Chris Silvey, Randy McKean, Cory Wright, Lynn Murdock, Dan Plonsey.

June 21, 2008: The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland

At The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, as part of the annual summer solstice concert, The Garden of Memory. we played outdoors at the very top and back of the Chapel. We played three setss of: COLOR music, and three parts of Hockey Season. With: Lynn Murdock, Myra Chachkin (cello), Chris Silvey, Cory Wright, Michael Zelner, John Schott, John Shiurba, Mark Culbertson, Suki O'Kane, and Dan Plonsey. Photo by Randy Porter: Standing, L to R: John Schott, Mark Culbertson. Middle row: John Shiurba, Myra Chachkin. Front row: Michael Zelner, Cory Wright, Chris Silvey. Standing, right: Dan Plonsey. Hatted head, back right: Suki O'Kane.

---

Monday, January 19, 2009

At the Ivy Room: 858 San Pablo Ave (between Solano Ave & Washington Ave), Albany, CA. With: Jen Baker (on trombone, making her debut with the band), Myra Chachkin, Mark, Culbertson, Lynn Murdock, Suki O'Kane, Dan Plonsey. John Schott, John Shiurba, Chris Silvey, Cory Wright, Michael Zelner. Pictured, left to Right: Plonsey, Wright, Zelner. Photo by Myles Boisen.

---

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Val Esway's 40th Birthday Party. With: Myra Chachkin, Mark Culbertson, Lynn Murdock, Suki O'Kane, Dan Plonsey, John Shiurba, Chris Silvey, Josh Smith, Cory Wright, Michael Zelner. Pictured, left to Right: Plonsey, Zelner, O'Kane, Chachkin, Wright, Silvey, Culbertson, Shiurba. Photo by Myles Boisen.

---

June 21, 2009: The Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland

For the fourth year, we played this fantastic event of multiple simultaneous performances as part of the annual summer solstice concert, The Garden of Memory. Again, we played outdoors at the very top and back of the Chapel. On this occasion, we alternated sets with Orchestra Nostalgico. With: Myles Boisen (debut performance), Myra Chachkin, Mark Culbertson, John Hanes, Lynn Murdock, Suki O'Kane, Dan Plonsey, John Shiurba, Cory Wright, Tom Yoder, Michael Zelner. Front: Cory Wright; Second row: Myra Chachkin, Tom Yoder, John Shiurba Back row: John Hanes, Suki O'Kane, Mark Culbertson Photo by Dan Plonsey

---

Current Lineup of Daniel Popsicle:

• Myra Chachkin
• Mark Culbertson
• Randy McKean
• Lynn Murdock
• Suki O'Kane
• Dan Plonsey
• Jared Prolo
• John Schott
• John Shiurba
• Chris Silvey
• Cory Wright
• Michael Zelner

---

Below: Eight members of a very early Daniel Popsiclei, circa 2000, after a rehearsal for the recording of "Portcullis." Photo presumably by Mantra Plonsey.
Top row: Tom Swafford, John Shiurba, Sarah Willner
Middle row: Tim Madden, Mike Pukish
Bottom row: Lynn Murdock, Danielle DeGrutolla, Dan Plonsey