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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.