Is That Jazz? Tom Baker Qt. + Cuong Vu Trio

IS THAT JAZZ? Festival is dedicated to daring and exploratory artists who are redrawing the boundaries of jazz. Presented by Seattle Composers' Salon, Present Sounds Recordings, Seattle Percussion Collective, and Nonsequitur, with support from 4Culture. Seattle Times preview.

Seattle guitarist and composer Tom Baker, with clarinetist Jesse Canterbury, bassist Brian Cobb, and drummer Greg Campbell. The brilliantly creative Cuong Vu brings his trio mates (Stomu Takeishi and Ted Poor) from New York to headline and close out the festival.

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Is That Jazz? Bad Luck + Jesse Canterbury & Vertigo

IS THAT JAZZ? Festival is dedicated to daring and exploratory artists who are redrawing the boundaries of jazz. Presented by Seattle Composers' Salon, Present Sounds Recordings, Seattle Percussion Collective, and Nonsequitur, with support from 4Culture. Seattle Times preview.

Bad Luck, co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch, use loops and electronics to propel the music into new aural fields. Seattle clarinetist Jesse Canterbury's acoustic ensemble Vertigo mixes chamber music, improvisation, and tune-oriented melodic material.

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Is That Jazz? Bill Smith Trio + Threat of Beauty

IS THAT JAZZ? Festival is dedicated to daring and exploratory artists who are redrawing the boundaries of jazz. Presented by Seattle Composers' Salon, Present Sounds Recordings, Seattle Percussion Collective, and Nonsequitur, with support from 4Culture. Seattle Times preview.

Master composer and clarinetist Bill Smith leads this impressive jazz trio (with bassist Brian Cobb and drummer Greg Campbell) through his original compositions and improvisations. Seattle’s prolific young jazz lion, Evan Flory-Barnes brings his big band, Threat of Beauty, featuring voices, brass, harp, and percussion.

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Is That Jazz? Sunship + Sun Ra Tribute Band

IS THAT JAZZ? Festival is dedicated to daring and exploratory artists who are redrawing the boundaries of jazz. Presented by Seattle Composers' Salon, Present Sounds Recordings, Seattle Percussion Collective, and Nonsequitur, with support from 4Culture. Seattle Times preview.

Sunship features Brian Heaney, one of Seattle’s most creative guitarists, with New York saxophonist Michael Monhart, drummer David Revelli, bassist Andrew Luthringer, and trombonist Stuart Dempster. Also, an all-star dectet reunites to pay tribute to the inspirational iconoclast Sun Ra, playing many of his compositions from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

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Floss

Wildman saxophonist Izaak Mills leads the formidable bopcore trio Floss featuring Monktail Creative Music Concern founders John Seman and Mark Ostrowski on bass and drums. Floss draws its sound from the hardcore records of the eighties, but its soul belongs to the free improvisation scene of late sixties Chicago. Tonight they celebrate the release of their new CD, Vitamin A.

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Seattle Percussion Collective

See previews at Seattle Times and the Stranger.

The Seattle Percussion Collective presents their second program, Metal and Breath: An Evening of Contemporary Music. The concert will include the rarely heard jazz-influenced All Set (joined by Brian Cobb, Harumi Flesher, Stuart MacDonald, Greg Sinibaldi, Chris Stover, and Matthew Swihart, conducted by Jonathan Pasternack) and Homily by Milton Babbitt; The Raccoon King of Plastic and Tin by Jeff Aaron Bryant (World Premiere); The Light in Amsterdam by Greg Campbell; Sonnet No.4 and A Slightly Evil Machine By James Romig; Mornings by Stuart Saunders Smith (World Premiere); Cross Hatch by Toru Takemitsu; and Metal and Breath by Christian Wolff. Thanks to the City of Seattle’s smART Ventures program for support.

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Amy Denio + Beth Fleenor & Figeater

Presented by Nonsequitur.

Amy Denio is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer based in Seattle. Since the mid-80s she has maintained a constant flurry of musical activity spanning many genres: free improvisation, art rock, scores for dance and film, solo and in groups such as the Tiptons Sax Quartet, Hell's Bellows accordion ensemble, Kultur Shock, Correo Aereo. Beth Fleenor's robust, malleable sound, organic approach to improvisation, and openness to experimentation in all forms have fueled a list of collaborations. Tonight she brings her band Figeater, whose disjunctive, raucous, soaring, and powerful improvisations are punctuated, buttoned, and launched by original compositions and song-like psychedelic episodes.

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Seattle Composers' Salon

The Seattle Composers’ Salon fosters the development, performance and appreciation of new music by regional composers and performers. At bi-monthly, informal presentations, the Salon features finished works, previews, and works in progress. Composers, performers, and audience members gather in a casual setting that allows for experimentation and discussion. This month's composers: Gavin Borchert, Keith Eisenbrey, Jay Hamilton, Steve Scribner, Peter Stevens.

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