Chinapainting, the international, virtual, improvisational, acoustic looping duo of Jim Goodin and Daryl Shawn, began in the fall of 2006 with a simple email conversation. They soon found a common interest in improvisation and acoustic instruments and began collaborating online, taking advantage of new technology to interact live despite the geographic distance between them (Shawn lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, Goodin in Brooklyn, NY). In addition to exploring different instruments including flamenco, 12-string and fretless guitars, mandolin, violin and oud, Shawn soon incorporated his unorthodox use of cassette tape loops, creating a surprising range of textures to compliment the stringed instruments. By the spring of 2007, they'd released two CDs drawn from their online sessions. Then in August, the musicians met in person for the first time and played several East Coast venues including Brooklyn's Center for Improvised Music and The Space in Hamden, CT. They also appeared in a special live radio performance on Scott Raymond's Secret Music broadcast on Vassar College's WVKR-FM station. Taking advantage of the rare opportunity to be together, the pair then spent two days recording at FlyMax Studios in Woodstock, NY. In the fall of 2007, Chinapainting was honored to appear as a featured artist in the 6th Annual International Live Looping Festival in Santa Cruz, CA, receiving a special welcome from the mayor of the city. Returning to on-line sessions through the winter months that followed, Goodin and Shawn united again in the summer of 2008 for another series of shows in New England. During the summer tour, Chinapainting released their first studio CD, titled Night Blooming Cereus after the mysterious desert flower that blooms only once in a lunar cycle then disappears a few hours later. The flower was miraculously in bloom on engineer Pete Caigan's studio grounds the night the duo was recording. Jim Goodin's music has been called "inventive and entrancing". The native Arkansan takes influence from Celtic, classical and blues music as well as much visual imagery. Growing up with a broad musical exposure including piano, guitar and woodwind instruments, Goodin committed to the guitar in his mid-20's after experiencing the music of Michael Hedges. In recent years Goodin has begun experimenting with fretless instruments including guitar, violin and oud.   Goodin is an accomplished guitarist with six solo releases to his credit. He is an endorsing artist for GHS Strings and Godin/Seagull Guitars, and performs nationally solo in a range of venues including clinics at Sam Ash Music stores and with Chinapainting. He is also a published Mel Bay author with a new book/CD DADGAD Encyclopedia released in 2008. Daryl Shawn has a broad musical background including private flamenco and classical guitar studies, a jazz education from Berklee College of Music, and many years writing and playing rock and experimental music. In 2004, Shawn moved from San Francisco, California to Oaxaca, Mexico, there to begin concentrating solely on the nylon-string guitar. He fuses his command of fingerstyle techniques & compositional intuition with his unusual cassette tape loops to help create the nuanced, textural music of Chinapainting. Shawn tours nationally both as a solo artist and with Chinapainting. This album is a recording of a live performance of Chinapainting on August 2, 2008. It was produced by Randy Winchester for ARTSomerville. CD quality FLAC files of this recording are available from http://www.archive.org/details/FiveKnavesAtTheNave-Chinapainting


ARTSomerville (ARTS) is a volunteer arts organization based in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA, which draws upon the talents of local creativity, strengthening communication among artists and the public by presenting exhibits, performances, and educational activities. Albums appearing under the ARTSomerville logo are from artists that have given performances at ARTSomerville sponsored events. Visit www.artsomerville.org to learn more.

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