Join us for an evening of adventurous improvised music featuring three distinctive voices from across the creative music spectrum.

Locally acclaimed artist, Christian San Nicolas, roots their sonic exploration of the saxophone in their CHamoru lineage. Having studied the lineage of American-westernized music at a collegiate level(both classical and jazz), Christian pulls from a philosophical approach derived from free jazz pioneers – to derive a sense of autonomy of self through sound, free of socially inhibiting structures; the colonizer. Their demonstration of the sonic is responsive to their environment – each performance is a unique stamp in time, reflective of the mental, emotional and physical state of their complex human experience. 

Christian feels a sense of duty to represent the CHamoru people’s voice in the states. Through the medium of music and sound, Christian performs sonic excerpts that are reflective of the beauty of Guahan’s land, history, stories and language, while offering narratives around the ongoing atrocities felt by victims of state-sanctioned violence to the indigenous peoples of the Pasifika. Christian roots their craft in “demonstrating truth”, choosing to sit on and perform with a racing heart, over a racing mind.

Christian is closely associated with the following musical groups:

CMLGSN (Portland, OR)

Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group (Portland, OR)

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Christian Ramirez currently resides in New York  City pursuing his degree in Jazz Studies at Manhattan School of Music. Christian first  began his path in music on the piano and guitar before his passion developed for the  bass at the age of 13. After moving to Vancouver, Washington he was a part of the  

American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra and received an Outstanding  Soloist Award at the Charles Mingus High School Competition in 2018. Other  accolades include the NAfME All-Northwest Jazz Ensemble and a YoungArts National  Merit and Honorable Mention Winner from years 2018-2021. After graduating high  school in 2020, Christian has played with artists such as: Gary Bartz, Taylor Eigsti,  David Chesky, Dayna Stephens, Leona Mitchell, and many more.

Patrick Palomo & The Tradewinds (Guahan)

Colectivo Cenizas (Portland, OR)

A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Gamble developed a formidable technical command of guitar and acoustic instruments before expanding his practice to include MIDI systems, audio-reactive software, and interactive technologies. For over two decades, he has been a vital presence in the creative jazz, experimental rock, and improvised music scenes across North America and Europe. He has performed and toured extensively at festivals including Saalfelden Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, NYC Winter Jazzfest, and SXSW, and has collaborated with artists such as Shahzad Ismaily, Bobby Previte, Todd Sickafoose, Nels Cline, Wayne Horvitz, Matt Chamberlain, Laura Veirs, Dana Reason, Lori Goldston, and Gabriel Kahane’s Oregon Symphony Open Music Orchestra.

Gamble has recorded on more than 50 albums spanning a wide range of genres. His critically acclaimed guitar trio The Inbetweens, with bassist Noah Jarrett and drummer Conor Elmes, has released five albums. After earning an MA in Interdisciplinary Art from Oregon State University, he further expanded his work to include immersive live sound and video performance, and co-founded They Gamble, an experimental new-media collaboration with filmmaker Devin Jane Febbroriello. He also performs regularly in Portland with his groups 2uo, Neighbors, TWANS and GAMSIM that feature Machado Mijiga, Garret Baxter, Noah SImpson, Mike Lockwood, and Andrew Jones

Mike Gamble is the Artistic Director of Portland’s long-standing experimental music organization, the Creative Music Guild. He also serves as a Contemporary Music Industry instructor at Oregon State University and teaches guitar at Reed College.

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Quotes

“He has a brain that seems to work faster than other human brains — maybe more like a hummingbird or a spider. Music comes flying out. You just sit and listen to what he thinks of next.”
— Todd Sickafoose

“Mike Gamble is dangerous in the best way.”
— Nels Cline

“Mr. Gamble knows his way around a drone, but he also brings shifting harmony and texture to his one-man sketches, some of which — like ‘I’m on Your Side,’ with its abstracted trip-hop beat — come across as thoughtfully developed compositions.”
— Nate Chinen, The New York Times