Here’s a live recording of Sundial Bridge by Craig Padilla. It was recorded on the patio of the cafe of the south end of the bridge. It’s about 20 minutes of symphonic electronic music. It starts off quietly, until it begins to soar. I accompanied Craig, and ran audio. There is no mic on the audience, but you do hear our voices briefly at the very end.
Sundial bridge2 by SkipMurphy 
The Sundial Bridge has arguably become the symbol of Redding CA. The architect for the bridge is a world famous artist named Santiago Calatrava, although I don’t see this particular work listed on his website. I haven’t looked through the whole site.
The folks at the host Turtle Bay Museum seemed happy to have us play there. The venue was really hot (thermal hot, not swinging hot) and it’s not acoustically great for either listeners or players. And for an art museum, the staff seemed really unimpressed that world famous musician Craig Padilla had composed a complete symphonic music composition named after the bridge, just for the occasion. Like, “Yeah, that’s nice.”
Anyway, I came across the recording in the studio, and thought I’d share it with the world again. At least, that part of the world that wasn’t at the event. Like any live recording, it has some issues, but I think the spirit of the muse comes across intact. See what you think.
New music piece inspired by a photo
Swaddled by SkipMurphy Somebody plopped this little human in front of me while I was at work in the office. I don’t know who it is. Not thinking much about it, I took a picture with my iPhone. Later, seeing the image inspired me to try and capture the musical feelings I got from looking at the image. Like some art, I’m not sure I got what I wanted. So this remains a musical sketch. But art can be surprising. Perhaps like this baby:
It will grow on me over time.
It may not be finished. Whatever finished means.
Jonsi in concert
Craig Padilla told me there was going to be an extraordinary video concert simulcast yesterday on NPR, of all places. Jonsi is the lead singer of Sigur Ros, a big favorite of mine. The concert did not disappoint. Hey, it’s still available to see for today only, at the NPR site. Well worth a view. Jonsi integrates art and music in a really different manner. Again like yesterday, its not ReallyRedding, but it is Really Interesting, and in the greater scheme of things, an online concert simulcast has no actual geographic location. The wolf and deer imagery was genuinely spectacular, and the final tune with the storm imagery had me by the throat. Jonsi’s singing is pretty unique. Check it out.
Eye of the Storm
Here’s a recording from 15 years ago. Craig Padilla was asked to make a soundtrack for a video to be aired on Redding’s cable access channel. Local video artist Namaste had edited video footage he had taken of stormclouds moving into the valleys and mountains of southeastern Oregon and the Mt Shasta area into a longform video for his abstract series titled Meditate On This. In the studio, Craig came up with a few sequence structures on his ESQ-1, and then we riffed on a few musical ideas together about how it should go. Then we just turned on the (analog) tape recorder. It was played live, one-pass. No edits.
I regarded the piece as a “throwaway” sort of one-off. In fact, I didn’t even listen to it after we recorded it. Later, after a few auditions, the music just seemed to grow on me. It’s spare and stark, like the video imagery, but it was a surprisingly appropriate evocation of the high desert and sky. I don’t have the video, and I think I only saw it once, but the music remains. An artistic and beautiful reminder of an era and an artistic endeavor. Craig ultimately thought highly enough of the music to make it the centerpiece of his first professionally produced CD on the See Peace label in 1996, where it became the title track. BTW. Of the two of us, Craig is far and away the one most responsible for this music. I played some parts, and it definitely wouldn’t be the same without my contributions, but this is truly Craig’s talent and inspiration in full glory. This CD is still in print. The photo is one I took in Lassen Park last year.
Eye of the Storm by SkipMurphy
A time capsule of indigenous music from 20th century Northern California. It’s ReallyRedding.
Agate Beach -new music
Dusted off the instruments and put up a new track. Reflecting on light surf I recorded on the NorthCoast. About 20 minutes of coastal ambience for meditation and study.
I am going to try and load more of my music at a page in the right sidebar. Hope you enjoy the listening as much as I did the creation.
Agate Beach
Agate Beach1 by SkipMurphy
First ever Sundial Music Festival and Rib Cook Off
Erin took a few shots of the event on Saturday at the Convention Center. It looks like there were a lot of vendors. Between her shots and the image at the RS, I saw no musicians as subjects, so we’ll assume the food was the center of attention. Looks tasty.
Redding's Tour de 'Shrooms
Yesterday’s video reminded me that I did a sort of naturescape video/photo tour of Redding last February, and then never posted it. Take a look.
Fairy Rings in our fair city from Skip Murphy on Vimeo.
During a break in our Winter weather, I went to a bluff overlooking the Sacramento River to shoot some panoramas of my town, Redding California, poised beneath newly snow dusted mountains. While shooting, I noticed the really interesting activity that was taking place at my feet. Fairy Rings of mushrooms were scattered about around the Valley Oaks on the bluff. Evidently this is a good year for fungus of all sorts. Back in the studio, I tried to create music ‘scenery’ that reflected the photographic images, and the spirit they evoke. My first attempt at using Vimeo, which is a quite nice service. As an early experiment, I think it turned out interesting. But that’s just me. It is Really Redding.
Flight Day 7 on the Shuttle mission STS131 -put to music
Over at SOMA-FM, they are doing live online Space Music to the live audio feed from Redding’s (okay, the entire U.S’s) Shuttle mission currently spinning overhead. Thought provoking music.
It’s a very unique idea. Maybe not something you’d listen to every day, but very nice on this rainy day, for sure. And think of it. There’s a group of intrepid humans whizzing silently through space, and creative space music playing humans in San Francisco putting it all to music. Art.
There are only a few of our Shuttle missions left to go before they end forever. Ponder that idea while you listen to the music.
Safe journey, astronauts. We are thinking of you today, and we are twice as inspired.
Watch NASA TV Here. Images courtesy of NASA and SomaFM
Redding musician Craig Padilla interviewed on Dutch music website
Craig Padilla and his music was featured recently at the Sonic Immersion webzine from the Netherlands authored by our friend Bert Strolenberg. Whenever I read interviews with musicians, I am reminded of the old saying “talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” For musicians, music is the form of expression. When you try to put things into words, something gets lost in translation. Be that as it may, it’s always interesting to see that appreciation for our local music crosses the Atlantic, and across all languages. Music is sort of a universal language in that regard. But if you care to witness this dance about architecture interview, click on the image below. Thanks Bert!
