The 9INE project, organized by RJ Bernfeild (Epilogue, Miche and the Anglos), had nine musicians for a grueling 9 hours of harsh-noise/free jazz improvisation on April 9, 2012 at The Vinyards in Rochester, NY. It was a Monday. We were playing from 9am to 6pm. Despite being open to the public and the presence of a tip jar, we really did this for ourselves.
Featuring: Brian Barrett, Brian Blatt (Gaybot, Thunderbody, Incrediblepurp), RJ Bernfield, Josh Bucci (Electronica Organica), Michael Lloyd (Epilogue), Bobby Maville (Epilogue), Michael Rae, Michael Schuler (Maybird), AK Williams (Black Bandit and the Stickups, CLAM, People with Teeth)
Around 2018, I discovered the digital archive of the 9INE music project on Soundcloud.
“9INE has 36 Followers? Oh, that’s cool,” I say to myself, “more than I would expect.”
I look at the list and one of them is Roger Eno.
I own a bunch of albums featuring him on piano, including a few by his brother – producer of U2, Talking Heads, and Devo – Brian Eno. I have a vinyl of the album Roger did with Harold Budd and the Cocteau Twins on prominent display in my den.
Skeptical, I dug a little. But no doubt—it was the real Roger Eno. Even more surprising: he only followed 93 accounts.
9INE has long runs of complete chaos, and even when it falls together, it’s challenging. If you’re hep to that jazz, you might like this. I couldn’t sleep for two weeks from the trauma.
However, there are a few legitimate jams in this. And not all of it a horror film soundtrack, although a bit of it is. Return of the Sky Raiders is a highlight. I Hear Ya Buddy! has a charm. Opium Jungle starts off a bit of a mess, but at about 4:10 drops into something beautifully sleazy, like the house band of The Roadhouse Bang Bang Bar afterhours party. In the Wake of the Submariner is straight-up funky. If you dig, you might find stuff to dig—or at least gain the satisfaction of having dug.
Whatever. Roger Eno, or at least someone who works with him, thought it was cool.
We did this again with twelve musicians on 12/12/12 for twelve hours. The art gallery we were scheduled to play did not fully comprehend the concept and doubled-booked an event later in the day, and we had to move to another venue after about four hours. The recording never stopped, and most of us were set up and playing within 20 minutes. I lost my CDs of it, which was whole freakin’ book, when my car was totaled.