Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Perry Robinson, Marc Smason & friends

For over four decades, Perry Robinson has been the sui generis master of the clarinet in jazz, folk and avant-garde music. He's joined by Seattle musicians Marc Smason (trombone/vox), Ahamefule Oluo (trumpet), Talia Marcus (violin/viola), Dalton Davis (drums), plus winter spirit choir and butoh dance.
read morePerry Robinson, Marc Smason & friends

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Vance Galloway/Rafael Irisarri/Kelly Wyse

The Fading Winter Lights Will Guide You Home is an evening of post-minimalist, modern classical and electronic music with
Rafael Anton Irisarri, Vance Galloway, and Kelly Wyse, with live video projections by KillingFrenzy.
read moreVance Galloway/Rafael Irisarri/Kelly Wyse

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Eye Music

Eye Music performs graphic scores by Mieko Shiomi, William Hellerman, Cornelius Cardew, Boguslaw Schaffer, Greg Bright, Malcolm Goldstein, and Earle Brown. Ensemble members include Eric Lanzillotta, Dean Moore, David Stanford, Jonathan Way, Esther Sugai, Amy Denio, Stuart Dempster, Robert Kirkpatrick, Carl Lierman, and Dave Knott.
read moreEye Music

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Christopher DeLaurenti + Phonographers Union

The Seattle Phonographers Union celebrate the release of their new CD with two concerts, each night featuring a different subset of the group and opened with a solo set by a different band member. Tonight's line-up consists of Perri Lynch, Dale Lloyd, Pete Comely, Steve Peters, and Rob Millis. Christopher DeLaurenti premieres What is Happening in Darfur?, along with urban recordings that capture unusual confluences of sound, speech, music, and silence. DeLaurenti's set is made possible with support from 4Culture.
read moreChristopher DeLaurenti + Phonographers Union

Friday, December 11, 2009

Perri Lynch + Phonographers Union

The Seattle Phonographers Union celebrate the release of their new CD with two concerts, each night featuring a different subset of the group and opened with a solo set by a different band member. Tonight's line-up consists of Doug Haire, Christopher DeLaurenti, Susie Kozawa, Jonathan Way, and Steve Barsotti. Perri Lynch presents Towards Mamori, using field recordings collected from the Mamori Lake region of the Amazon. Her performance is funded by the City of Seattle's CityArtist program.
read morePerri Lynch + Phonographers Union

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Affinity Chamber Players

Affinity Chamber Players opens its 2009-2010 season with a concert showcasing three works recently submitted in response to Affinity's call for scores: Christopher Gainey's ballet score, No Sleep for the Wicked; Arthur Gottschalk's poignant cycle of Dark Songs, with texts by Walt Whitman; Neil Thornock's Spin; also, the haunting Eleven Echoes of Autumn by the great American composer George Crumb. The acclaimed Seattle-based mezzo-soprano Melissa Plagemann joins the ensemble, conducted by Jonathan Pasternack.
read moreAffinity Chamber Players

Friday, December 4, 2009

James Garlick & Judith Cohen

Violinist James Garlick and pianist Judith Cohen present a recital of 20th century masterpieces. The program features Charles Ives' Sonata No. 2 (1902-1910) and Bartok's last published work, his monumental Sonata for Solo Violin (1944). Also on the program are Corigliano's Selections from the Red Violin Caprices (2001), Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano (1916-1917), and JS Bach's D minor Chaconne.
read moreJames Garlick & Judith Cohen

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Makino/Manousakis/Pan: dis/continuity

Presented with support from DXARTS. Music for live electronics and solo voice with Yutaka Makino, Stelios Manousakis, and Stephanie Pan. The program includes Sequenza III for solo voice by Luciano Berio, Stelios Manousakis' Fantasia On A Single Number for digital feedback with live electronics, The Blackest Flux for live electronics, by Yutaka Makino, and Our Lady Of Late, inspired by and excerpts from Our Lady of Late (1972) by Meredith Monk, for voice and wineglass.
read moreMakino/Manousakis/Pan: dis/continuity

Monday, November 23, 2009

Joel Palmer & Scott Ezell: Electroacoustic Daydreams

Seattle guitarist Joel David Palmer pursues dreamy, swirly realms of richly harmonic and melodic electric guitar improvisations. Lush washes of sound are punctuated with stabs and eruptions of sonic crystals, the whole melting into a breath-like ebb and flow of atmospheric electronica. Scott Ezell is an artist, poet, and musician based in Seattle. He has lived and traveled for a dozen years in China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, and other countries, where among other things he worked as a recording artist, record producer, and composer of film sound tracks. Tonight he plays a solo set for ambient/world guitar and flute.
read moreJoel Palmer & Scott Ezell: Electroacoustic Daydreams

Saturday, November 21, 2009

John Luther Adams

Nonsequitur presents the first Seattle concert devoted entirely to the music of Alaskan composer John Luther Adams. The program opens with two solo piano pieces performed by Seattle pianist Cristina Valdes, Nunataks (originally commissioned by Music Northwest) and Among Red Mountains, and concludes with The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies, a monumental recent work for solo percussion and electronics performed by renowned percussionist Steven Schick.
read moreJohn Luther Adams

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Rendez-vous à Paris: Franck, Enescu, Szymanowski, Shostakovich

Violinists Victoria Parker, Arthur Zadinsky (first violinist with the Seattle Symphony) and pianist Oana Rusu Tomai have chosen this program after reflecting on how expatriate composers bring to their host country colorful characteristics of their native culture. Fun, light miniature pieces by Karol Szymanowski and Dmitri Shostakovich round off the evening.
read moreRendez-vous à Paris: Franck, Enescu, Szymanowski, Shostakovich

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Bad Luck: CD Release Concert

Co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch, Bad Luck is about sound art, slowly developed loops and pedals used to propel the music into new aural fields. Tight-knit original compositions meet sonic mosaics in a musical relationship cultivated by years on the bandstand. Also, Operation I.D. is a Seattle collective performing modern, original compositions and fierce improvisations.
read moreBad Luck: CD Release Concert

Friday, November 13, 2009

Lori Goldston / Dylan Carlson / KnotPineBox

Solo sets by three strong, quirky, and carefully realized voices that travel freely across stylistic borders: Dylan Carlson, electric guitar; Lori Goldston, amplified cello; KnotPineBox (Karen Hancock), electric guitar and voice.
read moreLori Goldston / Dylan Carlson / KnotPineBox

Thursday, November 12, 2009

bst.cr: Bennett/Jewell/Shook

Presented by the Gallery 1412 collective with funding from 4Culture and the King County Lodging Tax.

This heretofore unnamed vessel (pronounced Bee Ess Tee See Arrrrgh) comprises a core trio of Ben Bennett (drumheads), Ryan Jewell (snare drum), and Wilson Shook (alto saxophone). With guests Paul Hoskin (reeds), Mara Sedlins (viola), Tyler Wilcox (reeds, synthesizer), Mark Collins (bass) and, from Portland, Kelvin Pittman (tenor saxophone).
read morebst.cr: Bennett/Jewell/Shook

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Earshot: Hans Koch + Paul Kikuchi's Portable Sanctuary

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival.

Swiss reedman Hans Koch, one of the most fearless improvisers in music, performs solo on bass clarinet. Koch left his career as a classical clarinetist and has worked since with Fred Frith, Cecil Taylor, and Andrew Cyrille. Seattle-based percussionist and composer Paul Kikuchi follows with his quartet – trombone maestro Stuart Dempster and fellow percussionist-instrument makers Alexander Vittum and Jesse Olsen.
read moreEarshot: Hans Koch + Paul Kikuchi's Portable Sanctuary

Friday, November 6, 2009

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: Keith Eisenbrey, Emily Doolittle, Cole Bratcher, Tom Baker
read moreSeattle Composers' Salon

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Nu:BC Collective

Presented by WA Composers Forum as part of their Transport Series.

The Nu:BC Collective, ensemble-in-residence at the University of British Columbia, presents a program of works by Canadian, French and American composers, written for chamber ensemble and tape: Christopher Sivak: A Perfect Focus (2008); Dorothy Chang: Miniatures (1998); Kamran Ince: MKG Variations for solo cello (1998) Chris Paul Harman: Doubling (2007); Jacob TerVeldhuis: The Body of Your Dreams (2004) Phillipe Leroux: ppp (1993); Marc Mellits: Fruity Pebbles (1997)
read moreNu:BC Collective

Monday, November 2, 2009

Earshot: Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival & Polestar.

The astounding trio of Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (alto saxophone & clarinets), and Wilbert de Joode (bass) incorporates aspects of contemporary classical music, free improvisation, and the jazz tradition with enormous sympathy, dexterity, and power. The ensemble can create sparse, tense music from the bristling details of quiet interaction, while later firing through heated group improvisations as fast as the ear can follow.
read moreEarshot: Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Earshot: Tom Varner Tentet + Sjenka

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival.

The French horn has a rather short list of jazz masters, usually led by Julius Watkins. One of Watkins’s foremost proponents, Tom Varner presents his tentet performing their new CD, Heaven and Hell. The new work showcases the orchestration of Varner’s elastic harmonics, his use of the ensemble as an instrument, and his Ellingtonian ability to animate against the instruments’ limitations.

Sjenka is young trombonist Andy Clausen’s ambient electronic trio, which synthesizes diverse musical styles into dynamic layered soundscapes filled with striking juxtapositions.
read moreEarshot: Tom Varner Tentet + Sjenka

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Earshot: Wash. Composers Orchestra (WACO)

Presented by Nonsequitur and Earshot Jazz Festival.

Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, and Tom Varner lead this adventurous 15-piece ensemble featuring top-flight Seattle improvisers and composers including Mark Taylor, Thomas Marriott, Eric Barber, Byron Vannoy, and Phil Sparks. Tonight, WACO features four extended compositions by Holcomb, Horvitz’s concerto for clarinet River of Whiskey, Chris Stover’s The Murderess, and the Seattle premier of Holcomb's Laredo, commissioned by the Rova Saxophone Quartet.
read moreEarshot: Wash. Composers Orchestra (WACO)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Earshot: Phantom Orchard + Peggy Lee & Saadet Türköz

Presented by Nonsequitur and Earshot Jazz Festival.

Long-time collaborators at the forefront of the Downtown NYC avant garde, electronic percussionist Ikue Mori and electronic/acoustic harpist Zeena Parkins (aka PHANTOM ORCHARD) weave a mix of beauty and noise amidst live video projections in a musical partnership that borders on the telepathic. The esteemed duo of Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee and the astonishing Central Asian vocalist Saadet Türköz combine free improvisation with the Kazakh and Turkish forms of Türköz’s childhood.
read moreEarshot: Phantom Orchard + Peggy Lee & Saadet Türköz

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Rachel Grimes + Gretchen Yanover

Presented by Nonsequitur.

Co-founder of Louisville indie chamber group Rachel’s, pianist Rachel Grimes performs her new solo album of lyrical piano compositions, Book of Leaves, along with music by Erik Satie. Seattle cellist Gretchen Yanover combines her classical chops and gorgeous tone with layered electronic loops in a hybrid of minimalism and romanticism.
read moreRachel Grimes + Gretchen Yanover

Monday, October 19, 2009

Earshot Jazz Festival: 3rd Man

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival.

3rd Man is a trio of Dutch "drummer" Han Bennink (Instant Composers Pool), American expat and fellow ICP member Michael Moore, and accordionist Will Holshouser (David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness, Matt Munisteri, etc.). Imagine something like a completely unhinged soundtrack to your favorite Jacques Tati film.
read moreEarshot Jazz Festival: 3rd Man

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Jesse Canterbury & Friends

Seattle clarinetist Jesse Canterbury joins forces with Brian Cobb (bass), Tiffany Lin (piano), and Paul Kikuchi (drums & percussion), playing a new suite of his original compositions.
read moreJesse Canterbury & Friends

Friday, October 16, 2009

Paul Hoskin

Seattle veteran improviser Paul Hoskin does his annual 80-minute solo contrabass clarinet improvisation.
read morePaul Hoskin

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Richard Craig

Presented by WA Composers Forum.

Scottish/Swedish flutist Richard Craig makes his premiere US performance here at the Chapel, performing recent works for solo flute (with and without electronics), including many US premieres (*): Donald Stewart: os justi for solo flute *; Tristan Murail: Unanswered Questions; James Dillon: Sgothan; Brian Ferneyhough: Cassandra's Dream Song and Unity Capsule; Rei Munakata: Cascading Lotus *; Christer Lindwall: Path *; Dominik Karski: Streamforms *; Malin Bång; Alpha Waves *; John Croft: ...ne l'aura che trema *
read moreRichard Craig

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Nicolás Varchausky: SPK

Presented by DXARTS, in collaboration with Archivo P.A.I.S. (Programa Teatro Acústico-UNQ). Nicolás Varchausky performs with his SPK (Speaker Performing Kiosk), an autarchic performing device that uses the speaker not as an object that reproduces sound but as an object that generates it, using analog and digital feedback as its main material. Holding two wireless mics in his hands, the performer transforms the emerging sound in real time acoustically – by moving through the space and changing dramatically the angle of the microphones – and digitally – by means of a computer software. While inside the device, the performer is sometimes in control of the system and sometimes the system controls him.
read moreNicolás Varchausky: SPK

Friday, October 9, 2009

EQLateral Ensemble: Half-Light

Featuring sublime to frenetic strings, ethereal voxings and hypnotic rhythms enhanced by experimental/electronic soundings and of-the-moment inspiration, EQlateral's dramatic soundscapes range from the sensual to the cosmic and back again. With John Ames (cello), Sebastian Lange (violin and laptop), Peter Toms (bass and ambient noise) and Susan Dumett (“vox vespertinus”).
read moreEQLateral Ensemble: Half-Light

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Subtext: David Buuck + Joel Felix

NOTE: This is the final Subtext reading for the time being, as the collective considers possible futures.

David Buuck is author of The Shunt (Palm) and Buried Treasure Island (Barge/YBCA). Founder of Bay Area Research Group in Enviro- aesthetics, co-founder of Tripwire, and contributing editor at Artweek, he teaches at the SF Art Institute and Bard College. He lives in Oakland. Joel Felix is a poet and co-editor of LVNG (Chicago) recently relocated to Seattle. His most recent chapbook is Regional Noir (Bronze Skull). Other works include Monaural (Answer Tag), and Catch and Release (Chicago Poetry Project).
read moreSubtext: David Buuck + Joel Felix

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

!!ArtsLaunch!!

Sponsored by Allied Arts Foundation, !!ArtsLaunch!! is a series of informal evenings of performance and inter-disciplinary dialogue, presenting works-in-progress by emerging and established Seattle artists. This edition features choreographers Vidya Guhan, Christy Fisher, Diana Garcia-Snyder, and Rosa Vissers, composer Clifford Dunn, and writers Karl Thuneman and Peter Choi. Following the performance there will be an informal discussion between artists and the audience where each work provides a window into the creative process.
read more!!ArtsLaunch!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Anton Batagov: Bells & Other Sounds

DoubleSharp presents the distinguished Russian pianist Anton Batagov in his Seattle debut, and his first public performance in 12 years. Heralded as “one of the most significant and unusual figures of Russian contemporary music” (Newsweek, 1997) and "a Russian Terry Riley" (Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 2008), Anton Batagov is one of the most influential Russian composers and performers. (REVIEW)
read moreAnton Batagov: Bells & Other Sounds

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Steve Peters: 50th Birthday Retrospective

Nonsequitur co-founder Steve Peters celebrates his 50th birthday with a concert of his music from the past thirty years: Chamber Music 5: Stained Glass (2008) site-specific sound installation (pre-show); Paris, once (1984) solo piano, performed by Robin Holcomb; Planctus (1993/94) Javanese gamelan, performed by Gamelan Pacifica; Brief Lives (2008) assorted instruments & objects, performed by members of the Eye Music Ensemble; Improvised set by members of the Seattle Phonographers Union; Webster Cycles (1981) performed by Stuart Dempster, Lesli Dalaba, Jeremiah Cawley, David Marriott, Nelson Bell, and Andy Clausen.
read moreSteve Peters: 50th Birthday Retrospective

Friday, September 25, 2009

Gamelan Pacifica

Seattle's Gamelan Pacifica performs music of ensemble member Jessika Kenney, including Bahar Amad (based on a poem of Mowlana Rumi) and Her Sword (based on a poem of Attar), which also feature the mercurial viola stylings of soloist Eyvind Kang. Her music combines aspects of Persian and Indonesian traditions, particularly in the sense of tonality, and are often based on intensive, almost exegetical readings of classic Sufi poetry in Persian, Arabic, and Javanese. The second part of the concert features Lou Harrison's A Soedjatmoko Set (1989) for gamelan, soloist, and mixed chorus.
read moreGamelan Pacifica

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Bill Horist

Guitarist Bill Horist celebrates his 17th anniversary (to the day) of landing on the shores of Puget Sound. The first set will be acoustic, featuring unreleased works and improvisations as well as pieces from the upcoming North Pole Records release Covalent Lodge. The second set will feature Bill's trademark prepared electric guitar improvisations.
read moreBill Horist

Friday, September 18, 2009

David Haney/Julian Priester & Friends

David Haney and Julian Priester have recorded three CDs for CIMP and Cadence Jazz Records. With guest musicians Dan Blunck (reeds and flute), Marc Smason (trombone), Roslynn deRoos (clarinet), Dan O'Brien (bass), Ken Paine (drums), and Dalton Davis (drums).
read moreDavid Haney/Julian Priester & Friends

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Danse Perdue: El Asalto

Danse Perdue continues to probe the effects of social trauma and degradation upon the world body, using the dancer’s flesh and physio/psychological responses as a locus of experimentation and empathy. Based on the novel by Reinaldo Arenas, El Asalto forges a vision of totalitarianism at its zenith — a society exploding its own measures of brutality and absurdity. Dancers: Vanessa Skantze, Alex Ruhe, Ariel Denham, Kaoru Okumura, Lin Lucas, Katrina Sirena, Lugh, Richard Woods. Musicians: celadon, Joy Von Spain.
read moreDanse Perdue: El Asalto

Friday, September 4, 2009

Seattle Composers' Salon

The bi-monthly Seattle Composers' Salon kicks off its eleventh season with music by composers David Mesler, William O. Smith, Doug Palmer, Keith Eisenbrey, and Paul Clark.
read moreSeattle Composers' Salon

Saturday, August 29, 2009

AnyWhen Ensemble + Wayne Horvitz

The AnyWhen Ensemble (Eugene, OR) draws its influence from classical/new chamber music, jazz, and free improvisation, as well as rock, electronica, and folk music. The music is intimate and personal, blending the spontaneity of improvised music with the balance and form of chamber music. Led by composer/trumpeter Douglas Detrick, the group includes Hashem Assadullahi (sax), Steve Vacchi (bassoon), Shirley Hunt (cello), and Ryan Biesack (drums, percussion). Wayne Horvitz will perform a set of piano solos and then join the AnyWhen Ensemble for one of his compositions, arranged by Douglas Detrick.
read moreAnyWhen Ensemble + Wayne Horvitz

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Rob Angus + Rich Mack

Seattle composer Rob Angus creates a 4-channel ambient surround mix of processed and looped sounds, joined by Lesli Dalaba (trumpet), Greg Powers (trombone), and Dean Moore (percussion). Rich Mack opens with digitally-transformed guitar sounds mixed with field recordings. Both sets accompanied by the artists' projected photography/artwork.
read moreRob Angus + Rich Mack

Friday, August 21, 2009

Jones/Rawlings/Eubanks/Cogburn, night 2

Seattle Improvised Music presents a mini-festival/residency featuring four improvising musicians from around the country, each one engaged in making contemporary work and providing the physical spaces necessary for performance in their town: Bonnie Jones, electronics (Baltimore); Vic Rawlings, cello/surface electronics (Boston); Bryan Eubanks, electronics/soprano sax (NYC); Chris Cogburn, percussion (Austin). Each will play solo, in small groups, and in large ensemble with local improvisers.
read moreJones/Rawlings/Eubanks/Cogburn, night 2

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Jones/Rawlings/Eubanks/Cogburn, night 1

Seattle Improvised Music presents a mini-festival/residency featuring four improvising musicians from around the country, each one engaged in making contemporary work and providing the physical spaces necessary for performance in their town: Bonnie Jones, electronics (Baltimore); Vic Rawlings, cello/surface electronics (Boston); Bryan Eubanks, electronics/soprano sax (NYC); Chris Cogburn, percussion (Austin). Each will play solo, in small groups, and in large ensemble with local improvisers.
read moreJones/Rawlings/Eubanks/Cogburn, night 1

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Kelvin Pittman & Friends

Seattle Improvised Music presents Portland saxophonist Kelvin Pittman, playing improvised duets, quartets, and sextets with saxophonists Paul Hoskin, Wilson Shook, and Tyler Wilcox and bassists Mark Collins and John Teske.
read moreKelvin Pittman & Friends

Friday, August 14, 2009

Seattle Percussion Collective: RRRRRRRRRRRR!

The Seattle Percussion Collective (SPC) presents its debut concert of adventurous music written for percussion instruments. Comprised of Becca Baggenstoss, Greg Campbell, Dale Speicher, Bonnie Whiting Smith and Denali Williams, SPC unites some of Seattle's most diverse and exciting percussionists to present a program featuring music by Keiko Abe, John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, and Stuart Saunders Smith.
read moreSeattle Percussion Collective: RRRRRRRRRRRR!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Jacob Zimmerman: solo saxophone

Saxophonist and composer Jacob Zimmerman is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle, and studied at the renowned New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is currently a Masters Composition student at Mills College. Most recently he has been focused on a collection of solo pieces that highlight the various techniques and improvising strategies that have comprised his musical vocabulary over the years, hoping to refine his own language and improvising tendencies, while constantly seeking a balance between structure and the freedom to pursue (as Derek Bailey called it) "whatever is endlessly variable."
read moreJacob Zimmerman: solo saxophone

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Subtext: Norma Cole + Will Owen

Presented by Subtext Reading Series.

Norma Cole is a poet, painter and translator. Her most recent book is Where Shadows Will, Selected Poems 1988-2008 (City Lights). Canadian by birth, Cole migrated via France to San Francisco where she has lived since 1977. She has been the recipient of a Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Award, Gertrude Stein Awards, as well as awards from The Fund for Poetry. Will Owen has published poems, translations, and collaborative reactions in Peaches and Bats, Slightly West and A Side, and Crawlspace's Scrawl. Since last October, he has been enthusing a bleak landscape through Gallery 1412's reading series and related evenings.
read moreSubtext: Norma Cole + Will Owen

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Gust Burns & Adrienne Varner

Two local pianists of diverse musical persuasions come together for an evening of varied music spanning the last century to the present moment. Adrienne Varner performs Henry Cowell's Three Irish Legends (1912, 1919, 1922), Leo Ornstein's Impressions of Notre Dame (part 1) (1914), Jarrad Powell's Islands, Uluru Wild Fig Song, and Etude: Uncertain Descent (1981, 1986, 2001), and Lou Harrison's Reel (Homage to Henry Cowell) (1982). Gust Burns presents the premiere performance of his own itlegy neshes (2009).
read moreGust Burns & Adrienne Varner

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Earshot: 2nd Century Savage

Presented by Earshot Jazz.

2nd Century Savage is saxophonist, flutist, and composer John C. Savage with electronica artist, Vusac (aka Isaac Peachin). Together they merge contemporary jazz improvisation with electronic instruments and live production techniques. Using interactive software sampling, effect processors, and virtuosic instrumental technique, they have the potential to suspend a single note in space, or to summon the power of an orchestral wall of sound. The results are haunting, transporting, and strikingly novel.
read moreEarshot: 2nd Century Savage

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Richard Lerman + Susie Kozawa

Presented by Nonsequitur.

Pioneering audio artist Richard Lerman performs works for home-made transducers and instruments with video and film, assisted by Eric Lanzillotta and members of the Eye Music ensemble. Seattle treasure and sound collector/instrument builder Susie Kozawa opens the show with an admiring throng of local artists joining her in a sonic celebration of her 60th birthday.
read moreRichard Lerman + Susie Kozawa

Friday, July 24, 2009

Jeffrey Allport & Tyler Wilcox, et al

Presented by Seattle Improvised Music.

Jeffrey Allport (percussion, Vancouver) and Tyler Wilcox (soprano saxophone, formerly Bellingham, now Seattle) perform duo improvisations and in collaboration with Seattle improvisers Mara Sedlins (viola), Mark Collins (bass), and Gust Burns (inside piano).
read moreJeffrey Allport & Tyler Wilcox, et al

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Earshot: Seattle Phonographers Union

Presented by Earshot Jazz.

The Seattle Phonographers Union is a collective of veteran sound artists who improvise using only their extensive personal libraries of field recordings made around the world. They forego processing the raw sound materials with software or hardware, and instead strive to create compelling juxtapositions of everyday and esoteric sounds, forming surreal multi-layered soundscapes in real time. While even within the group opinions vary as to whether or not they make "music," they all agree that their unusual approach implicitly honors the core of jazz and all improvised music through its emphasis on empathic listening and spontaneous response.
read moreEarshot: Seattle Phonographers Union

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Matt Shoemaker + Jesse Paul Miller

Local electronic composer Matt Shoemaker gives this farewell performance before moving to the Bay Area. He is joined by multimedia artist Jesse Paul Miller, who will be working with field recordings made during his travels in SE Asia.
read moreMatt Shoemaker + Jesse Paul Miller

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Earshot: Andy Clausen & Sjenka

Presented by Earshot Jazz. Although still a year shy of high-school graduation, Andy Clausen has been making a big splash on the local scene. The Roosevelt High stand-out plays trombone in the school’s acclaimed jazz band, composes for his own sextet, and performs on laptop in the electro-pop band This Sporting Life. Tonight Clausen performs with Sjenka, his ambient improvising group. He performs on laptops using such devices as “musolomo,” a computer program that allows performers to sample and recombine sections of performance. His co-conspirators in provocative creation of the new and the fresh are two fellow Roosevelt students, Corey Dansereau (trumpet, vocals, electronics) and Max Williams (guitar, electronics), along with 2008 Roosevelt grad Xavier McHugh, who is Berklee bound, on percussion. Luke Bergman, who performs alongside Cuong Vu in Speak, joins them on bass.
read moreEarshot: Andy Clausen & Sjenka

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ronin

RONIN features Kenny Mandell on sax, flute, and percussion, Don Berman on drums, and Nate Omdal on bass. Original compositions, structured/free improvisation, and inspired interpretations of music by Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus.
read moreRonin

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Earshot: Jim Norton Quartet

Presented by Earshot Jazz. Jim Norton’s musical career has taken him all around the world. He plays with great skill a range of common jazz instruments – saxophones, flutes, and clarinets – as well as some less often-heard ones, such as bassoon and contra-bassoon. In Seattle for five years, Norton has nonetheless been little heard on the local jazz scene. Rather, he has been heavily involved in musical-theater productions, particularly with the Village Theater. But prior to his move north, he recorded and performed with a host of Bay Area luminaries, including Fred Ho, Jon Jang, Anthony Brown, and other members of The Asian American Orchestra. He has also performed around San Francisco and Oakland with George Lewis and ROVA, and appeared with Steve Lacy, John Lewis, James Moody, and James Newton. For the Second Century performance, he will present his Seattle quartet.
read moreEarshot: Jim Norton Quartet

Friday, July 3, 2009

Seattle Composers' Salon

8:00 PM; $5 - $15 sliding scale donation at the door.

The Seattle Composers' Salon is an informal presentation of new music by regional composers. The salon meets the last Friday of every other month, and features finished works, previews, and works-in-progress. It brings together composers, performers and audience members in a casual setting that allows for discussion and experimentation. This month's featured composers are Gavin Borchert, Dave Knott, Gordon Assadi, and Tom Baker.
read moreSeattle Composers' Salon

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Subtext: Stacey Szymaszek + Don Mee Choi

Presented by Subtext Reading Series. Stacy Szymaszek is the author of Emptied of All Ships (Litmus, 2005) as well as many chapbooks. The complete Hyperglossia will be published by Litmus Press in 2009. She is the editor of Gam and the Artistic Director of the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. Don Mee Choi was born in South Korea and came to the U.S. via Hong Kong. Her poems have recently appeared in Action Yes, Fence, La Petite Zine, and Tinfish. Her first book of poems, The Morning News Is Exciting, will be published by Action Books in the fall.
read moreSubtext: Stacey Szymaszek + Don Mee Choi

Friday, June 26, 2009

Clifford Dunn

Flutist/composer Clifford Dunn presents a performance of new music for flute and live electronics by local and international composers, including Seattle composers Clifford Dunn, Doug Niemela, and Joshua Parmenter; Canadian composer Renée Walrafen; and Belarusian composer Aliona Yurtsevich.
read moreClifford Dunn

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Novi_Sad + Colin Andrew Sheffield

Novi_sad (Thanasis Kaproulias) lives and works in Athens, Greece. Influenced by the pioneers of audio assault, his artistic output displays a high level of technical ability, as well as a sensitivity to the nuances of location. Amplified environmental recordings, drone manipulations, ambient soundscapes, microtones vs overtones, all come together in a hyper structure of iconoclastic form. Being immersed in his sonic environment offers an absolutely visceral experience.

Colin Andrew Sheffield focuses on the strict re-contextualization of commercially available recordings. Usually only very brief sections of the original works are selected. These raw components are then contracted, expanded, layered, and/or otherwise processed until something new is forged. The resultant music is an atmospheric soundscape, gradually shifting and unfolding, offering subtle nuances and quiet restraint.
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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Affinity Chamber Players

Presented by Washington Composers Forum. The Affinity Chamber Players premieres works by Northwest composers, including Sarah Bassingthwaighte's Hacia el sueno, a new piece by Chris Stover, Ryan Hare's Chamber Concerto, Clifford Dunn's A New Role for Leadership in the Dawn of a New Era (chamber ensemble and electronics), and Brad Sherman's At the Precipice.
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