Its the official Nathan Hubbard best of 2009 -

several records i purchased or were given to me a gigs that i've enjoyed very much -
frank rosaly milkwork
jen shyu
alex cline continuation
nels cline coward
brad dutz the other three
crepuscule trio

a few vinyl things i've bought but still not listened to -
arthur lyman legends of pele
les baxter moonlight on the cliffs
chick corea electric band
tackhead
flashdance motion picture soundtrack

two out of print records i transfered to digital this year -
paul lytton the inclined stick
parker/lewis/guy/lytton hook, drift and shuffle

two other things i transfered from vinyl because, as far as i can tell, they are not available in a digital format -
napalm death contemptuous
eric b. and rakim in the ghetto (b side of the single)

two people we lost this year and that i miss greatly -
Maryanne Amacher
Max Neuhaus

favorite performance (that i played on) -
Builders Association of Encinitas NSDT Point Loma CA
Le Quan Ninh/Michel Doneda /Ellen Weller/Jeanette Kangas/Nathan Hubbard San Diego Center for the Arts CA
Cosmologic Pyramid Atlantic Maryland
Zsa Zsa Gabor large group (blind dead debut performance) Che Cafe CA
Cosmologic Aroma Jazz Festival Idyllwild CA
Jam Session @ Tango Del Ray (w nina Deering Quartet) Pacific Beach CA
Horse Latitudes w Jason Robinson Tango Del Ray Pacific Beach CA
Hubbard solo @ Other Ideas San Diego CA
ARC Trio Cuyamaca College San Diego CA
Three Concert for the Winter Solstice San Diego County CA

favorite performances (that i attended) -
Nels Cline/Alex Cline Sushi SD
Jen Shyu San Diego
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Casbah San Diego
Barnyard Drama Sushi SD
Steuart Liebig/The Mentones Spring Reverb San Diego
Moment Trigger Spring Reverb San Diego
The Mudhead + Census Other Ideas SD
La Baterista Other Ideas SD
Frank Rosaly Other Ideas SD

worst concert i attended -
Bozzio/Holdworth/Levin/Mastelloto brick by brick

several records i played a part in creating but are still not released (and possibly not even done) -
Nathan Hubbard/Skeleton Key Orchestra furiously dreaming
Ogd_S(11) Translation Has Failed this middle ground
David Borgo/Paul Pelligrin untitled
Zsa Zsa Gabor the blind dead
Curtis Glatter/Nathan Hubbard glasshouse vertigo

recordings i did release this year -
Nathan Hubbard - aegis II
Nathan Hubbard - drive (for JS)
Ogd_S(11) Translation Has Failed - bring back the gasmask

good things -
Elliott William Hubbard, Julia Diane Hubbard, Kelly Michelle Hubbard, Termite Studios, Nate Atwood, food, fresh squeezed juice, the wind, Goodie Mob, metronomes, friends, Brady, Nina Deering, the bossa nova, nyc, 15" hihats, music

bad things -
the sunshine, leaky roofs, meltdowns (see above), this middle ground

August 24th-26th 2009 - spent the week in the cozy confines of Studio A @ UCSD, recording music with David Borgo (woodwinds), Bill Barrett (chromatic harmonica), Junior (electric guitar/effects), Danny Weller (bass) and Paul Pellegrin (drumkit). I was mostly on vibraphone, but we did sneak in a bit of marimba. Under the watchful eye of Joe Cusera, we had two days of tracking with the full band, and i came back for a third day of fixes and overdubs. Whew! Damn that music is hard!

Its 11:13pm thursday February 5th 2009. I just got home from a New Sounds Downtown gig where i played a duo set with Nate Atwood. And as i get home, i find a message in my inbox from Marcos Fernandes that Max Neuhaus has passed away.
Fuck.
I just sent him an email, requesting his address so i could send him a CD (i dedicated one of the pieces on it to him). He was very nice, replied right away.
Nate was over a few nights ago, we stayed up way to late watching Max videos about his Times Square piece and Radio Loop. We spent a lot of the time discussing the fact that (well before the internet), Max was doing cross-country pieces involving multiple performers (and doing it on NPR). Watching the videos is an eye opener, with Max dealing with 1970's technology and some engineers who are clearly not interested.
But i'm getting ahead of myself.
In 1999 i was preparing for my senior recital and working on the Karlheinz Stockhausen piece Zyklus. Danlee Mitchell borrowed a few recording of it from the music library for me to listen to. They were all of Max Neuhaus. Including a version of Max and Cristoph Caskell doing a simultaneous version (still waiting for that one on CD). I guess the most eye opening record was Max's record Electronics and Percussion - Five Realizations by Max Neuhaus. As much as i name check Paul Lytton and David Tudor as influences for my interests in electronics, i have to say Max's amplified cymbal version of Earle Browns Four Systems was the beginning. I'm still shocked everytime i listen to it - Its 1968, lets put out a record with a version of Cages Fontana Mix, realized entirely with feedback? And it gets released on Columbia Records? And the cover (Max, bare chested, surrounded by percussion and electronic equipment) is great, hilarious and awe-inspiring.
Beyond the electronics, i loved how dramatic his percussion playing was. It seemed like he had the verve of someone like Max Roach, all that energy, all that motion. It was only years later that i learned Max's biggest influence was Gene Krupa, and how he always wanted to be a jazz drummer. It definitely makes sense, with the in-the-moment immediacy of his playing. But that doesn't complete the picture, you hear him play King Of Denmark and you begin to sense that there are many levels of his musicality that you never noticed.
I could go on for hours about pieces, concepts, albums, but lets leave it there. Goodbye Max, you will be missed.

Please see Max's website - http://www.max-neuhaus.info/home.htm