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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Paul Hoskin

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

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 *

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.

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”).

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).