Newsbits: Jodie Christian / Zappa / Montgomery / Sharp


Jodie Christian is profiled and will be laid to rest this Saturday in Chicago.

A DVD focusing on Frank Zappa‘s Bizarre and Straight label is reviewed.

The American Composers Orchestra presents Jessie Montgomery: Composers Out Front! on Saturday February 25, 2012 at 8pm at University Settlement in New York. This concert is dedicated to the composer/violinist’s most recent works including a world premiere of Scherzo for Winds performed by Eric Lamb, flute; Katie Sheele, oboe; Joshua Rubin, clarinet; and Rebekah Heller, bassoon as well as music for string quartet, theater and live music to film performed by a 13-piece chamber orchestra. Performers include Montgomery’s own PUBLIQuartet, members from ICE, Threeds and Catalyst Quartet.

Elliott Sharp plays in Miami Saturday.

Witxes has a new darkish-ambient free recording out, Winter Light Burns.

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New Releases on Bridge Records


Harry Partch (c. 1969), from the cover of The ...

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From Bridge Records:

Poul Ruders, Vol. 7
Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet (1985)
Music of Chinary Ung, Vol. 3
Harry Partch: Bitter Music (Music of Harry Partch Vol. 1)

Dave Douglas, Greenleaf Music Update


Dave Douglas at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2007.

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New releases and activity coming to Greenleaf Music:

This Spring will bring new albums from two remarkable young musicians: the Malaysia-born, Perth, Australia-raised and now New York-based powerhouse bassist and composer Linda Oh (May 22nd) and the Chicago-based chamber-jazz composer and bassist Matt Ulery (June 12).

Dave Douglas Arabesque Reissues

Also in June, Greenleaf will reissue two out-of-print CDs originally issued on the Arabesque label in the mid-1990s. The CDs, Leap of Faith and Magic Triangle both feature Douglas’ working quartet from that period with Chris Potter, James Genus and Ben Perowsky. The CDs will be presented in one beautiful 8-panel digipak with original artwork and new liner notes by Douglas.

Donny McCaslin Releases New Studio Album Fall 2012

Saxophonist and GLM stalwart Donny McCaslin is creating a new recording for Greenleaf release in Fall 2012. The new album is a further extension of Donny’s move into electric, groove-based original music featuring intense dynamic interplay between the musicians. Featuring Beat Music drummer Mark Guiliana; Tim Lefebvre on electric bass and effects; Jason Lindner on electric keyboards; and Donny McCaslin on saxophone. The new release is being produced by David Binney, resulting in another key piece in the boundary defying saxophonist’s discography. The new release makes another key step into the area between jazz, electronica, drum and bass, and sound exploration, along with McCaslin’s signature virtuosity and melodic drive.

Dave Douglas Forms Brand New Quintet & Releases First Studio Album Since 2009

Dave Douglas will form a new edition of his acclaimed quintet with all new players and will release his first studio album since 2009′s Spirit Moves by Brass Ecstacy. This album will be released September 2012.

Upcoming Portland Shows


From Portland Eye and Ear Control:

3/7/12: Demolition Duo & Daniel Menche
The Outset Series at Revival Drum Shop with Daniel Menche & Demolition Duo
1465 NE Prescott
8pm -10pm (the show ends by 10pm so don’t be late)
$5 – 100%of the door goes to the musicians

3/2/12: Tim Berne‘s Snakeoil & Blue Cranes
Tim Berne / Snakeoil
Blue Cranes
Friday, March 2
Alberta Rose Theater (3000 NE Alberta St., Portland)
$12 advance here, $15 day of show

2/28/12: The Rich Halley 4
The Rich Halley 4, with Rich on tenor sax, Los Angeles trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, Canadian bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley will perform on Saturday, February 25 at 9:00 PM at The Camellia Lounge, 510
NW 11th Ave. Cover is $5.

2/27/12: Portland Eye and Ear
Recess Gallery
1127 SE 10th ave
8:30-11:30pm

Join us for the second installment of Portland Eye and Ear, a monthly experiment presenting a series of abbreviated small group improvisations.

2/23/12: Wally Shoup & John Niekrasz
Wally Shoup
John Niekrasz
8:30-11:30
Laughing Horse Books – 12 NE 10th AVe
Shoup will read from his new book and play a duo with Niekrasz

JazzWrap Reviews


English: Tony Levin playing the Chapman Stick ...

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From JazzWrap:

Baloni – Fremdenzimmer (Clean Feed; 2011)
Tony Levin, David Torn & Alan White – Levin Torn White (Papa Bear Records; 2011)

Igloo Magazine Reviews


From igloomag.com:

V/A :: Air Texture Volume I (Air Texture)
Bruno Sanfilippo & Max Corbacho :: Bioma (ad21)
Kemek :: Ultimately Always Remixes (Architects + Heroes)

San Francisco Bay Area Scene


English: Tim Berne, jazz saxophonist; Picture ...

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From Bay Improviser:

Thursday, February 23, 8pm
OutSound presents the Luggage Store New Music Series, with an evening of works by Daniel Steffey (composer, percussionist), Pete Rat Martin (composer, multi-instrumentalist), and Benjamin Ethan Tinker (multidisciplinary artist and electronic musician). Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market St. (@ 6th St.), San Francisco | $6-10

Thursday, February 23, 9:30pm
The Totally Intense Fractal Mindgaze Hut hosts an evening of improvisational music with local musicians in different configurations, welcoming Joe Straub (acoustic guitar, electronics) back to the San Francisco Bay Area from Berlin, Germany. The performance also features Jason Hoopes (double bass), Karl Evangelista (electric guitar), David Leikam (moog rogue, electric bass-cello), Jordan Glenn (drums), and Sarah Howe (electronics, video). Totally Intense Fractal Mindgaze Hut, 671 24th St., Oakland | donations encouraged

From CCRMA Stanford

Friday, February 24, 8pm
The Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford presents CCRMA Winter Concert, a showcase of electronic music made at CCRMA, and some special guests. On this program (not in concert order) will be Fernando Lopez-Lezcano and Kurt Werner (analog synth + multichannel electronics), Jessica Aszodi and Bruno Ruvaro (voice + electronics), and Chris Carlson (live-electronics + video). Stanford University, CCRMA Stage, Stanford | Free

From Bay Improviser:

Friday, February 24, 8pm
Open Sound West presents: Lewis Jordan and Music at Large, plus Addleds (Bruckmann, Dryer, Heule, Nishi). Music at Large is a performance series dedicated to interdisciplinary and multicultural productions. Lewis Jordan has collaborated with musicians, poets, dancers and actors for over 30 years, focusing on creative structures for improvisation. Music at Large features Lewis Jordan (saxophone, poetry), India Cooke (violin), Karl Evangelista (electric guitar) and Marshall Trammell (drums). Addleds is the quartet of Kyle Bruckmann (oboe/English horn), Tony Dryer (double bass), Jacob Felix Heule (percussion) and Kanoko Nishi (koto) who explore timbral and textural extremes of distended instrumental technique via improvisation and open-ended compositional strategies. Their music tends towards a brutalist minimalism as informed by the noise underground as by recent developments in the field of free improvisation. University of California Berkeley, CNMAT, 1750 Arch St., Berkeley | $5-15

From Heavy Discipline:

Saturday, February 25, 5:30pm
Heavy Discipline presents the David ALt Birthday Celebration: two sets with Alt Tal – David Alt (saxophone), Kenny Annis (bass), and Andrew Ryan (drums). Good Bellies Cafe, 4659 Telegraph Ave., Oakland | donations encouraged

From Bay Improviser:

Saturday, February 25, 9pm
The Swarm Gallery presents two sets of creative music with the Ross Hammond Quartet and the debut performance of Swarm Intelligence. Ross Hammond (guitar) will perform with Vinny Golia (reeds), Steuart Liebig (bass), and Alex Cline (drums). Swarm Intelligence features Karl Evangelista (guitar) with Phillip Greenlief (reeds), Cory Wright (reeds), Dan Seamans (bass), and Jordan Glenn (drums). Swarm Gallery, 560 2nd St., Oakland | $5

From Ross Hammond:

Sunday, February 26, 3pm
Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters will host Ross Hammond Quartet with Randy McKean/Ludi Henrichs. Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters, 671 Maltman Dr., Grass Valley |

From Bay Improviser:

Sunday, February 26, 9pm
The Subterranean Arthouse presents a triple-bill evening of dreamy song, ambient meditations and improvisations, and delicious, like candy, art-pop featuring, from Florida, Jane Jane Pollock, the Bay Area’s own Aloonaluna, and The Andrew Weathers Ensemble. Subterranean Arthouse, 2179 Bancroft Way, Berkeley | $10-15

From kuumbwa jazz:

Monday, February 27, 7pm
kuumbwa jazz is proud to bring the Tim Berne Snake Oil project to our stage. Saxophonist Tim Berne leads an uncompromising new ensemble featuring Oscar Noriega (clarinet, bass clarinet), Matt Mitchell (piano), and Ches Smith (drums, percussion). kuumbwa jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz | $20 adv / $23 door, with 1/2 price students with valid I.D.

From Nebraska Mondays:

Monday, February 27, 7pm
Nebraska Mondays at Luna’s Cafe will host the CD release by the Ross Hammond Quartet. Also scheduled to perform is the Josh Fernandez/Shawn Hale Duo. Luna’s Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento | $5-20 sliding

From Bay Improviser:

Monday, February 27, 7:30pm
Mills College hosts an evening with Jozef van Wissem, the sublime Dutch master of the baroque lute, in a lecture entitled The Liberation of the Lute. He will demonstrate a “swan neck” baroque lute which was especially built for him. Van Wissem is renowned for his ability to appropriate the Renaissance and Baroque lute in the context of contemporary experimental music. By cutting and pasting classical pieces, reversing melodies, and adding electronics and processed field recordings, he is able to bridge the language of 17th century music with that of the 21st century without compromising the timbre and resonance of traditional lute playing techniques. Mills College, Ensemble Room, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland | Free

Tuesday, February 28, 7:30pm
Tuesdays at Tom’s Place presents a double bill, with Jozef van Wissem (lute, electronics) and Suit (Tony Dryer, Jacob Felix Heule, and guests). Tuesdays at Tom’s Place, 3111 Deakin St., Berkeley | Free, donation requested

From Yoshi’s Oakland:

Tuesday, February 28, 8pm
Yoshi’s Oakland is proud to present Tim Berne: Snakeoil. Saxophonist Tim Berne leads an uncompromising new ensemble, featuring Oscar Noriega (clarinet, bass clarinet), Matt Mitchell (piano), and Ches Smith (drums, percussion). Yoshi’s Oakland, 510 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, Oakland | $12

From Bay Improviser:

Wednesday, February 29, 8pm
The Berkeley Arts Festival presents an evening of improvised environments and sound, featuring Per Ahlund (electronics) from Sweden, with Phillip Greenlief (tenor saxophone), Steuart Liebig (electric bass, effects, processing), and Gino Robair (electronics, energized surfaces). Berkeley Arts Festival, 3122 University Ave., Berkeley | $10

Wednesday, February 29, 8:30pm
The Subterranean Arthouse presents a Brooklyn-Bay Area creative jazz double header, with Harris Eisenstadt and Canada Day (from Brooklyn, NY) and Lisa Mezzacappa’s Bait and Switch. Harris Eisenstadt and Canada Day features Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Bauder (tenor saxophone), Chris Dingman (vibraphone), Garth Stevenson (bass), and Harris Eisenstadt (drums, compositions). Lisa Mezzacappa’s Bait & Switch features Aaron Bennett (tenor saxophone), John Finkbeiner (electric guitar), Vijay Anderson (drums), and Lisa Mezzacappa (acoustic bass). Subterranean Arthouse, 2179 Bancroft Way, Berkeley | $10

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