From Portland’s Creative Music Guild:
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, June 4, 5 & 6, 2015
Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave.Exclusive Presentations:
Roscoe Mitchell’s “Nonaah” performed by Catherine Lee, John Savage and Dana Reason.
Mitchell’s “9-09-09” performed by Clark Spencer.
An ensemble conducted by Roscoe Mitchell including John Gross, Lee Elderton, Andre St. James, Tim Duroche, more.
Mitchell will present a lecture entitled “Nonaah: From Solo to Full Orchestra”
Round Robin Improvised Duets (in collaboration with Search & Restore NYC): Twelve performers, many of whom have never played together, play a round robin series of five minute improvised duets.The 4th annual Improvisational Summit of Portland brings together the best musicians, dancers and experimental performers in the city and combines them with a small group of visiting musicians, creating a unique event. This year we feature a number of unbelievable artists at the beautiful Disjecta contemporary art center in North Portland with contributions from all corners of Portland’s vibrant performing scene. Sponsored by KBOO 90.7 FM, KMHD 89.1 FM, Disjecta and Regional Arts And Culture Council. Supported by Revival Drum Shop, Mississippi Records, Control Voltage, Beech Street Parlor, Map Room, Type Foundry, Penofin, Beacon Sound, North, Stereophonic Mastering, Por Que No?, PoShines, OLO, SDMPDX, Trade Up Music, Museum of Contemporary Craft and The Waypost.
Selected Improvisation Summit of Portland 2015 Performer Bios:
Roscoe Mitchell
One of the top saxophonists to come out of Chicago’s AACM movement of the mid-’60s, Roscoe Mitchell is a particularly strong and consistently adventurous improviser long associated with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. After getting out of the military, Mitchell led a hard bop sextet in Chicago (1961) which gradually became much freer (http://www.artensembleofchicago.com/roscoe.html)
Jonah Parzen-Johnson
Jonah Parzen-Johnson is a saxophonist from Chicago, IL living in Brooklyn, NY. He writes lofi music for solo saxophone and analog synthesizer. Imagine the raw energy of an Appalachian Folk choir, tempered by a lofi, minimal aesthetic inspired by the music of Bill Callahan. His carefully assembled analog synthesizer breathes with his saxophone, building independent melodic layers to support his sound, or soaring above his extended technique driven saxophone playing. All performed live, without any looping or recorded samples. His latest recording, Remember When Things Were Better Tomorrow, will be released on June 2, 2015 by Primary Records. (http://jonahpj.com)
Gordon Ashworth
Gordon Ashworth is an American musician and sound artist, whose primary field is experimental composition for string instruments, magnetic tape and social environments. He has released dozens of drone, noise and musique concrete recordings under the names Concern, Oscillating Innards, CAEN, Riverbed Mausoleum and Gordon Ashworth since 2001, and has performed in over 25 countries. (http://www.gordonashworth.com/)
Either Neither
Whispers, Hymns, and a Murmur: Either Neither performs music for improviser and string quartet by Wayne Horvitz. This unique collection of mysterious and brooding yet triumphant music by the iconic Seattle composer Wayne Horvitz, brings together traditional string quartet music with a improvisation. This will be the first performance by Either Neither, a collaborative project of improvising cornet player Douglas Detrick and violinist Casey Bozell, who share an interest in building bridges between normally-separate artistic disciplines.
Get Smashing Love Power
GET SMASHING LOVE POWER is Noah Bernstein (Grammies, Shy Girls) & Reed Wallsmith (Blue Cranes, Battle Hymns & Gardens) on alto saxophones, André St. James (Pebble Trio, The Kin Trio) on contrabass and Tim DuRoche (Battle Hymns & Gardens, Pebble Trio) on drums. GSLP digs into the pulse-oriented, rough-around-the-edges, free-bop continuum of mid-1960s playing music of Jackie McLean, Sun Ra, Grachan Moncur III, Ornette Coleman as well as original compositions. Keywords: joy, momentum, deliverance. Free Jazz party music!
Arrington de Dionyso
Arrington de Dionyso (b. 1975) has explored the liminal spaces between free improvisation, punk rock, and shamanic seance for the better part of twenty years. Founder of the legendary post punk groups Old Time Relijun and Malaikat dan Singa, his solo performances utilize throatsinging, low woodwinds, and mouth harps to talk to spirits with guttural voicings. (https://arrington.bandcamp.com/)
Linda Austin
Linda Austin, co-founder & director of Performance Works NorthWest in Portland, Oregon, has been making dance and performance since 1983, often with a strong visual element and a commitment to commissioning original music. Austin’s was one of two artists selected in 2014 to receive a $20,000 Fellowship in Performing Arts from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. In addition, she has received Fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission, and her work has been supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Movement Research, as well as residencies at Djerassi and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center. Her writing has appeared in The Movement Research Performance Journal, Tierra Adentro (Mexico), the literary journal FO A RM and a 2003 collection from MIT Press, Women, Art & Technology. (http://pwnw-pdx.org)
Clark Spencer
Violist and Violinist Clark Spencer is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral perfomer living in Wilmington, NC. He is currently assistant principal viola of the Oregon Mozart Players and a founding member of the Blue Box Ensemble. Clark has performed with the Fayetteville Symphony (NC), Long Bay Symphony Orchestra (SC), Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Opera, the Corvallis Symphony, Newport Symphony, and the Oregon Bach Festival.
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