Improvisation Summit Archive of Events
Friday October 17th at 1905
Early Set
Jones and I
Ticket Link
Late night
NEIGHBORS
Ticket link
Creative Music Guild’s Improvisation’s Summit of Portland Featuring Andrew Jones & “Jones and I”
Join us for an exciting evening of spontaneous musical exploration at the 1905, as part of the Creative Music Guild’s Improvisation Summit of Portland. Leading the charge is Andrew Jones, bassist and composer, along with his ensemble, “Jones and I”. Known for their adventurous, improvisation-driven performances, the group blends elements of jazz, experimental sound, and raw creative energy to craft unique and captivating soundscapes all spawned from the compositional mind of Andrew Jones.
The band features an outstanding lineup of musicians: Noah Simpson on trumpet, Noah Bernstein on alto saxophone, Mike Gamble on guitar and FX, and Mike Lockwood on drums. Their latest album, Borb, available here, is a perfect reflection of their genre-defying approach—creating rich textures and spontaneous, free-flowing music that evolves in real time.As part of the Improvisation Summit, this performance will showcase the heart of Portland’s creative music scene—where the unexpected is always on the horizon. Whether you’re a longtime fan of improvisational music or just looking for an electrifying, immersive experience, this is an event you won’t want to miss!
Neighbors is a “garage band,” whose garage happens to be The Center For Sound, Light, and Color AKA Color Therapy Studios in the historic Alberta Arts District of Portland, OR. Guitarist Mike Gamble, bassist Garrett Baxter, and drummer Machado Mijiga formed the band because, well, they’re neighbors.
Neighbors explores indie rock, pop, and folk through the lense of jazz improvisation, playing everything from through-composed compositions, to simple riffs, to co-written songs that span multiple genres and aesthetics.
Neighbors writes and records new music every month—one month, the band performed 32 freshly written songs at a show in the span of two hours.
Neighbors seems to bring neighborly music to neighborhoods around the world, one song at a time.
THURS Oct 16th
Turn Turn Turn
$15-30
8pm
DinnerWitJesus
Alphabet
Dammann-Lane-Niekrasz-Llinás
Isabel Dammann is a violinist, fiddler, and vocalist who moves between classical music, traditional fiddle styles, free improvisation, rock, and singer-songwriter settings. Based in Portland, Oregon, she performs and records with musicians across the Pacific Northwest and Midwest and tours nationally with her chamber-folk trio Sprig of That. The group released its debut album bloom in 2023, produced by Wes Corbett and engineered by Grammy winner Dave Sinko. Dammann has appeared at venues including The Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis and Rockwood Music Hall in New York and has collaborated with artists such as David Torn, Michael Cleveland, Charlie Parr, Darol Anger, Zach Brock, and Phoebe Hunt. She served as an animation reference violinist for Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s film Pinocchio (2022). A dedicated educator, she teaches at Portland’s Community Music Center and Metropolitan Youth Symphony and holds music and geology degrees from Lawrence University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2017.
Kara Marie Lane (they/them) is a bassoon teacher and performer based in Portland, Oregon. They began playing bassoon in 2009 while growing up in Flower Mound, Texas, and have studied with Anna May Ghaly, Laura Bennett Cameron, Tina Carpenter, and Steve Vacchi. Lane earned a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of Oregon in 2022, receiving the Outstanding Graduate Performance award in the woodwind area. They also hold a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with an All-Level Teaching Certification from West Texas A&M University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2020. In addition to private teaching, Lane is active as a freelance performer and enjoys working with students of all ages and skill levels. Their background reflects a commitment to both pedagogy and performance, drawing on a wide range of experiences to support and inspire the next generation of bassoonists.
John Niekrasz is an American artist working in sound, language, performance, and movement. Originally from Chicago, he received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has pursued lifelong studies in music, including improvisation with Milford Graves, percussion and dance in Havana, and classical Hindustani tabla with Pandit Lacchu Maharaj. His last name rhymes with “Free Jazz.” Niekrasz approaches improvisation as both performance and composition, using text-based scores and syllabic notation to explore relationships between poverty and ornament, rigor and ease, justice and resistance. He composes for and performs with Methods Body, Orchestra Becomes Radicalized, Ixnay, LTD Time, and other projects, and creates sound for film and theater. He has held residencies at Lewis and Clark College’s EAR Forest, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, ACRE, Résidence Point Dom, Lazuli Residency, and the Oregon Artists’ Biennial. His recordings appear on Ecstatic Peace, New Amsterdam, ESP-Disk, Beacon Sound, Tender Loving Empire, and more.
Daniel Reyes Llinás is a guitarist and composer from Bogotá, Colombia, now based in Portland, Oregon. He began playing guitarat age nine, later training at the Universidad de los Andes with Jaime Arias Obregón and Carlos Rocca Lynn. In 2002, he receivedthe Young Artists Series award at the Luis Ángel Arango Hall. He has since trained with artists such as Leo Brouwer and Robert Fripp, and studied composition with Fernando Otero, Ion Marmarinos and Julian Malaussena.
Llinás has performed across Europe and the Americas. From 2008 to 2017, he co-led New York’s Parias Ensemble and touredwith The League of Crafty Guitarists. His work spans chamber music, theater, film, and dance.Recent releases on 7D Media include String Schemas with Elliott Sharp and Harvey Valdes, and Códices, co-produced by Trey Gunn. His upcoming project, Lugares (2026), features commissioned works for electric guitar. With guitarist Cesar Quevedo, he also formed Selva Espiral, a duo exploring Colombian “paleo-futurismo.”
Cameron is a dynamic creator of sound and drummer whose artistic journey reflects a deep
commitment to pushing musical boundaries and honoring ancestral roots. Growing up in a
family with a rich legacy of music in the South Side of Chicago, their path took shape through a
key, transformative conversation with a percussionist ancestor, igniting their passion for
drumming and inspiring their journey of self-discovery through rhythm. Through their work, they
have become known as the “Sound Smith” based on their birth surname.
With a degree in Film and Media Arts, Cameron’s unique perspective blends their experience in
the film and media industry with their love for sound, shaping their performances with an eye for
cinematic impact. Their solo work and collaborations with “The Collective,” “Singularity Trio,”
and numerous other artist groups have focused on creating reverent, energy-aligned art,
exemplifying their dedication to making meaningful, transformative art.
As a Black, non-binary, queer artist, Cameron brings a unique voice to music, challenging norms
in jazz, funk, and other genres with innovative techniques that incorporate both traditional
African rhythms and modern electronic synths/ soundscapes.
For Cameron, drumming and “soundsmithing” are not just an art form—they are a sacred act of
communication, connecting people with one another and with ancestral energies. Driven by a
vision to elevate the curation of sound as a holistic practice that nurtures the soul, Cameron’s
mission is to inspire the next evolution in music, creating spaces for others to explore rhythm as
a path to both physical and spiritual well-being.
Alphabet is an experimental jazz group based in the Pacific Northwest. Every one of their performances is completely improvised. Calling on the inspiration of the moment, every device of sonic exploration is utilized. From sheets of sound to minimal ambience to Lo-fi groove. Alphabet uses the language of music to pull up the images of a new direction.
Cameron Landers is a Pacific Northwest native. A self-taught guitarist, Landers has made it his mission to develop his own sound and language on the instrument. With early influences ranging from classical to funk and eventually jazz, improvisation has become the environment to fuse the elements. For Landers, improvisation is a spiritual endeavor, exploring the territories of sound through the medium of the guitar. Landers has played in a wide range of groups from surf rock to alternative to a solo project involving improvisation as well as composed material while telling a story that connected the songs. Alphabet his the first strong attempt at a purely improvisational group.
Brandon Warren comes from a musical family with his dad a teacher of music. Moving from Florida, Brandon has made his mark in Portland playing alongside notable musicians such as Alex Callenberger, Mind Parade, and the group The Fourth wall. Warren is a teacher when not performing, working mainly with children and young adults. Warren studies birdcalls and the sounds of running water to explore rhythm, incorporating the dynamics into his work.
Brent Carmer moved to Oregon from Nebraska with a PHD in computer science. Formally a jazz pianist, Carmer has made the bass his primary instrument over the last couple years. Playing in trios or alongside solo performers, Carmer can shift effortlessly from composed material to improvisation. Using pedals and techniques not common for a bass player, Carmer expands what is possible not only in a band setting, but in a solo setting as well.
Ben Congo is currently a student at Tualatin Highschool. Congo is steadily making creating his own language on the saxophone, playing both tenor and soprano. Whether Congo is performing at all-state concerts or joining jams around town or completely improvising with Alphabet, Congo shows just how much of a rising star je really is. A torch barrier of the Coltrane school, Congo is just beginning his musical carrier in the world.
Wednesday October 15th
Swan Dive
$15
8pm
Maria Chavez
Trigger Object
Xylyn Hathaway
Born in Lima, Peru and based in NYC, Maria Chávez is best known as an abstract turntablist, sound artist and DJ. Coincidence, chance and failures are themes that unite her work across mediums, including improvised performance, sound and marble sculpture, visual art, book objects and an extensive history with multi-channel installation. Her approach is rooted in Deep Listening, a form of embodied listening developed by her late mentor Pauline Oliveros. Maria’s relationship with Oliveros was recently covered in a BBC3 radio episode of Afterwords, chronicling the late composers impact on a new generation of artists. She also graced the cover of The Wire in April 2023 with The Turntable Trio.
Maria is the only abstract turntablist in the world who performs with a rare needle known as the RAKE Double Needle. This special device contains two needles on one head, allowing it to read two different segments of a single record at the same time. Paired with her inimitable ability to create unforgettable sonic experiences from shards of broken records, each performance is truly unique.
Maria’s practice is profoundly expansive, responsive and curious. Her work has been featured and supported by a myriad of institutions over the past decades including Rewire Festival, Counterflows Festival, Donau Festival, MoMA PS1, The Getty, DOCUMENTA 14, the JUDD Foundation, Cambridge University Press and many, many more. Chavez’s 2012 book, Of Technique: Chance Procedures on Turntable has garnered a reputation as both an academic resource on turntablism and a foundational text for a new generation of turntablists.
Vern Avola is a composer, multimedia artist, instructor, and champion of friendship, based in Portland, Oregon. Known for their solo project Trigger Object, as well as performances under the monikers EMS, Avola, and Dirty Centaur, Avola’s work thrives in the unpredictable, messy corners of life, weaving together deep electronic soundscapes, raw energy, and a wry sense of humor. Their music geomaps the hidden layers of the present moment—from the guttural subterranean and the hallways of punk and DIY culture to themes of consensual abduction and flight. Avola’s compositions hold space for the physical and emotional stretches that emerge as emblems of safety in a world grappling with political predestination and societal truths. Through their work, Avola invites listeners to think and exist beyond the confines of man’s algorithm, offering a sonic refuge that is both disorienting and illuminating.
As the founder of EMS Records, Avola has created a platform primarily dedicated to their own releases, crafting limited-run LPs, cassettes, and CDs that feel like treasures for the weirdos and wanderers. Their music has also found a home on respected labels such as Sige Recordings, An Out Recordings, Accident Prone Records, and Nadine Records. Avola’s sound has been described as “wonderfully crunchy and kinetic,” with a “delirious, Amanita Muscaria-soaked sense of dynamics”—raw, unfiltered, and shaped by the randomness of life: a stray conversation, an unexpected noise, or a fleeting moment in nature.
Avola’s collaborative work includes projects with artists like Daniel Menche (as Bear Spray), Ian Gorman Weiland (as Elrond), and Vo Vo (An Out Recordings), . They’ve also been a member of bands like Prizehog (2006–2015) and Shrew Florist (2005–2012). Live performances are where Avola truly shines, using the energy of the room as an instrument to create communal, alive moments that blur the line between artist and audience.
Xylyn Hathaway has become a conduit of vulgar-beauty-jazz music that sinks teeth into the space it fills. She paints canvas into composition and wield an upright bass like bazookas, exploding hearts open peeled backwards into one bouquet of manic laughter from the pit of your chest.
Xylyn is a cherished figure and friend in our jazz community; born on Earth, one stones throw west from the palpitating heart of downtown Portland, Oregon.
A forager for chanterelles, she was raised on the farm in Newberg with Grandma. When Grandma died they lost the old farmhouse, red and white and alive in the decaying cherry walnut orchards. Grandma lives in Noble Pioneer Cemetery now, Xylyn in Southwest Portland.
As a band leader, Xylyn’s musical visions unfold and sprout behemoth architecture dimly lit, oozing spirits from the gills as it gasps for it’s first breath beneath thumps quantized in fractals. She propels a soloist or a broken poet off cliffs into jupiter’s hurricane eye.
She plays with cats like George Colligan, like Ron Steen, like anybody making big nasty music to be hurt and healed by in this wet crow city.
Xylyn Hathaway’s heart and music exude peace and play and oozing spirits, dancing between us, around us, below the violent ocean dismembered by big old stones.”
- David Barber
Tuesday October 14th
No Fun
$15-30
8pm
Ches Smith Mike Gamble Todd Sickafoose
Blak Lively
Christopher/Bee/Nolan
*******************
Ches Smith (drums), Mike Gamble (guitar), and Todd Sickafoose (bass) tear through genre lines with raw energy and fearless improvisation. In the tight quarters of No Fun, expect explosive drumming, jagged guitar textures, and deep, driving bass that blurs the line between free jazz, noise, and avant-rock. These are three heavyweights from the experimental scene—veterans of underground clubs and international stages alike—bringing wild dynamics and spontaneous chemistry to a space built for intensity. No setlist, no safety net—just three minds colliding in real time
Ches Smith (drums)
Originally from Sacramento, California, Ches Smith is a drummer, percussionist, and composer based in New York. He has collaborated with a host of artists on many scenes since the early 2000s, including Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, John Zorn, Darius Jones, David Torn, John Tchicai, Nels Cline, Mary Halvorson, Trevor Dunn, Terry Riley, Kris Davis, Dave Holland, Secret Chiefs 3, Xiu Xiu, Good for Cows, Theory of Ruin, and Mr. Bungle, among others.
He has nine records to his name as a bandleader that feature his writing and ensemble curation, and is a devout student of Haitian Vodou drums, performing in religious and folkloric contexts in New York and Haiti for the last decade.
Mike Gamble (guitar)
Mike Gamble is an adventurous guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work with improvisation and new technology predominantly inform his practice. Gamble has spent the last 20 years immersed in the creative jazz, experimental rock and improvised music scene primarily in NYC, with close ties to New Orleans, Burlington, Boston, San Francisco and now the Pacific Northwest. He has had the pleasure of recording over 50 albums and has been touring the states, Canada, and Europe with his critically-acclaimed guitar trio The Inbetweens, Mike Gamble Solo, and alongside doom-metal originators Earth. His more recent collaborators include Bobby Previte, Todd Sickafoose, Nels Cline, Wayne Horvitz, Matt Chamberlain and Lori Goldston.
Since relocating to Portland, Mike Gamble has dived into the jazz and experimental, Pop, Indie Rock, and electronic/modular scene and gigs in several groups including Neighbors, TWANS, 2uo, and GAMSIM. He currently holds a position as a Contemporary Music Industry instructor at Oregon State University, and as a guitar teacher at Reed College. He has been the Artistic Director of Portland’s long standing experimental music organization, The Creative Music Guild since 2016.
Todd Sickafoose is a Tony and Grammy award-winning composer, producer, arranger, orchestrator, bandleader and double bassist. He makes richly moving, imaginative music which has been called “thoroughly original, endlessly creative” by Jazz Times and “stunningly brilliant” by Bassplayer. He has performed on hundreds of recordings, toured internationally, appeared at music venues and festivals from Carnegie Hall to New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Known as a musical cross-breeder who stretches across genres, Sickafoose has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a captivating improviser, imaginative composer, and master of collaboration”. In 2004, Sickafoose began performing and recording in a duo format with folk poet, activist and cultural icon Ani DiFranco. Their relationship has developed for two decades – together they have made 10 albums, two concert DVDs, and performed thousands of shows. In 2007, Sickafoose began working on Anaïs Mitchell’s folk opera, Hadestown, wearing many hats including arranger/orchestrator and music producer. After years of development and regional productions, the show opened at the Walter Kerr Theater on Broadway in 2019 and won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Orchestrations for Sickafoose and collaborator Michael Chorney. Sickafoose produced the Hadestown Original Broadway Cast Recording which won a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Recording. Hadestown recently celebrated 5 years on Broadway while also continuing to perform as a North American Tour and an open-ended run at the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. Straddling the worlds of folk, indie rock, jazz and chamber music, Sickafoose’s own band Tiny Resistors has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Stern Grove Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival and been featured on many “Best-Of” lists including the Village Voice, DownBeat, and JazzTimes. Writing for Tiny Resistors, he recently composed and released BEAR PROOF, a long-form chamber jazz hybrid commissioned by the Doris Duke Foundation.
Blak Lively is the solo project/moniker of composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist Nick Dunston. Using mics, contact mics, transducers, battery powered amps, and various resonant objects, through Blak Lively, Dunston explores the moments of where sound, physicality, and performativity coalesce.
Christopher/Bee/Nolan
Christopher Adams, guitar – is a multimedia artist who has played guitar in the Phull Collums Ensemble and Amanda Berlind’s HAL The Musical band. He also makes comic books and poetry books and organizes and participates in conceptual reading events.
PCE performance https://vimeo.com/968446484?fl=pl&fe=shMother Foucault’s Poetry Festival 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLDzb__nY_Q
Bee Dunlap, percussion – (they/them) is an artist, musician, and community member from Portland, Oregon. Some of their notable recent work includes bombastic live performaces with dance group Fox Walker, as well as the April release of a folk-adjacent EP of hauntingly intimate originals under the name Benj.
https://noisebybenj.bandcamp.com/album/winter-24-25
https://www.instagram.com/foxwalkermusic?igsh=ZzNxanY0d3NmM2Zl
Nolan Plummer, percussion – is a local musician, failed magician.
links:
https://mireu.bandcamp.com/music
https://thetuners.bandcamp.com/
Monday October 13th
Holocene
$25
Ches Smith’s Clone Row w/ Mary Halvorson, Liberty Ellman and Nick Dunston
Noah Simpson
Cosmos Dark
On indigenous peoples day 2025, October 13, Holocene and the Creative Music Guild co-host the first night of the Improvisation Summit Of Portland, featuring Ches Smith’s Clone Row, Cosmos Dark, and Noah Simpson.
The Improvisation Summit is a sonic laboratory—where seasoned improvisers and bold local musicians convene to explore the fluid boundary between composition and spontaneity. From large-scale ensemble experiments to intimate duets and trio performances, the Summit reflects the dynamic, intergenerational, and community-driven spirit of Portland’s avant-garde music scene and merges it with globally recognized improvisers.
Noah Simpson opens the evening, blending trumpet improvisation with electronic beats. His performance weaves melody and groove into radiant, with forward-leaning sonic textures, creating grooves that are at once playful, intricate, and immersive.
Next, Cosmos Dark (Vaughn Kimmons) takes the stage, weaving electronic atmospheres with voice and experimental textures. Her set moves between intimate, soulful passages and expansive, otherworldly soundscapes, guiding the audience through a journey of transformation and abstraction.
Closing the night is Ches Smith’s Clone Row, featuring Mary Halvorson and Liberty Ellman on guitars, Nick Dunston on bass, and Ches Smith on drums, vibraphone, and electronics. The ensemble thrives on tension and interplay, combining intricate compositions with spontaneous improvisation. Halvorson and Ellman’s guitar interplay is particularly noteworthy, offering a dynamic range from dissonant textures to melodic harmonies. Critics have praised the ensemble’s innovative approach, with one reviewer noting, “The delightful and gifted weirdness of Mary Halvorson’s playing is counterpointed, contrasted, unisoned with, played off, juxtaposed… with Liberty Ellman’s equally amazing sound palette, chops, and imagination.” Jazztrail.net
Brandon Seabrook is a NYC-based guitarist and banjoist. His music fuses a wide range of traditions: punk rock, jazz, pop, and metal. As a guitarist his work feeds off tactile sensations; rapid tremolo picking, contorted clusters, and extreme physicality. He has released nine albums of original material and has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America.
https://brandonseabrook.bandcamp.com
Andy Clausen is a Brooklyn-based trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator. Best known as a founding member of genre-bending brass quartet The Westerlies, Andy is also a frequent collaborator with a wide range of artists including Fleet Foxes, Aoife O’Donovan, Haley Heynderickx, Conrad Tao, Nico Muhly, and Dave Douglas, and a prolific composer for visual media, audio storytelling, and concert music. 2024 marks the debut of Andy’s solo project “Few Ill Words: Solo Trombone at The TANK,” recorded in the profound reverberation of an abandoned railroad water silo in rural Colorado. More info at: andyclausen.com.
“A melody from Andy Clausen is pure moonlight. It’s lovely and magical, full of warmth, and it can brighten up the room. But moonlight also is a source of mystery, with ominous overtones and an electric tension” – Bandcamp Daily
“folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” – NPR
“Chamber music with bracing melodies and, crucially, an undeniable sense of fun” – L.A. Times
“an alluring, whimsical, and just-plain-cool mix of jazz, classical, and experimental music. Challenging music that doesn’t shy away from also being pretty.” – eMusic
“sleek, dynamic large-group jazz, a whirl of dark-hued harmony and billowing rhythm…The intelligent sheen of Mr. Clausen’s writing was as striking as the composure of his peers…It was impressive, and not just by the yardstick of their age.” – The New York Times
Schoenbeck/Horvitz
The Sara Schoenbeck and Wayne Horvitz duo navigate through original tunes and improvisatory
soundscapes. With feet firmly planted in a genre-less zone, electronics and an ever-expanding textural
palate serve to deepen the feel of a shared melodic language.
Sara Schoenbeck and Wayne Horvitz first met as improvising musicians at the 4 day, “company” style
“Time Flies” festival (Vancouver B.C.) in 2000. In 2004 Horvitz formed the Gravitas Quartet with
Schoenbeck, Ron Miles (Trumpet) and Peggy Lee (Cello). This quartet recorded two CDs and
performed throughout Europe and North America. In 2015 Horvitz fused his ensemble Sweeter Than
the Day with the Gravitas Quartet to create a septet performing compositions based on the poems of
Richard Hugo. “Some Places Are Forever Afternoon” resulted in a CD, touring throughout the US,
and an episode of NPR’s “Jazz Night in America”, hosted by Christian McBride. In addition,
Schoenbeck and Horvitz had performed in numerous improvised collectives, special projects, and the
occasional duo concert.
In 2018, the duo Schoenbeck/Horvitz was created, with subsequent concerts in NY, Vancouver,
Seattle, Portland, Ann Arbor, Sacramento, Northampton, Bellingham, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, and Detroit. Their first CD, entitled “Cell Walk”, was released on the
Songlines label in May 2020. Since the pandemic the duo has presented concerts in the United States,
Canada, and Europe.
No Blood Relation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BTcHh84pIk
Link to Bandcamp:
https://battlehymnsandgardens.bandcamp.com/album/conversations-with-love-and-death
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/battle_hymns_and_gardens/
Battle Hymns & Gardens was originally formed in 2007 as a free-improvisation ensemble and
has evolved over time into one of the more compelling units on the Portland scene. Their
original compositions by Cunningham and Wallsmith are reminiscent of Don Cherry, Ornette
Coleman and Loft Jazz-era giants like Sam Rivers with spacious, lyrical landscapes, a la Paul
Motian and Roscoe Mitchell with a strong influence of folk-forms and a healthy dose of
conversational interplay and humor. Battle Hymns & Gardens have shared bills and/or
collaborated with Tim Young, Allison Miller, Lucian Ban, Mike Gamble, Elina Duni, The Tiptons,
and Elliott Sharp among others. Most recently, the group performed at the Seaside Jazz & Blues
Festival and at the 2024 Montavilla Jazz Festival. Their CMG performance will feature the
expanded sextet playing music from “Conversations with Love and Death,” their recently
recorded album, featuring trombonist James Powers and guitarist Dan Duval and exploring new
compositions by Cunningham and Wallsmith.
Lineup: Reed Wallsmith, alto saxophone and compositions; Joe Cunningham, tenor saxophone
and compositions; James Powers, trombone; Dan Duval, guitar; Jon Shaw, bass; Tim DuRoche,
drums & little instruments
Monday 10.28 Jack London Revue Peter Epstein Sam Minaie & Matt Mayhall $15 8pm
A decades-long musical relationship born in Reno, NV culminates with the music on Corduroy – drummer Matt Mayhall’s third album as a leader and his first for PJCE
Records since relocating to Portland from Los Angeles – has the urgency of a first meeting, and
indeed serves as a document of the first time Mayhall, saxophonist Peter Epstein and bassist
Sam Minaie convened in a studio as a trio.
The chemistry of the trio is evident throughout. The tunes are varied in their approach, but the
depth in the level of communication between the three master musicians remains constant.
Epstein, Minaie, and Mayhall are all adept at improvisational music that floats and flows like it
does on the opener, “Waltz” and their unique interpretation of Ellington’s classic, “Come
Sunday.” But they also display a knack for grooving as they do on numbers like the
easy-swingin’ “Petrichor” and the hypnotic “Dumb Melody.” The musicians push and pull together in such a way that it is clear the rapport and shared musical language on Corduroy
has been in the making for quite some time.
Mayhall and Minaie have been based on opposite coasts for most of their careers, but they
were both raised in Reno, NV and spent their formative years as a package deal rhythm team.
The two were students in music at the University Of Nevada Reno in 2001 when they took a
summer trip together to New York City to attend an intensive workshop hosted by The School
for Improvisational Music. There they met Epstein, a founding member and instructor at SIM. A
year later, Epstein found himself in Reno as the new instructor of jazz saxophone at UNR after a
whirlwind 10 years on the Brooklyn scene.
Epstein began his career in 1984 in Portland, where he apprenticed with many of the region’s
top jazz artists until relocating to Los Angeles to study at California Institute Of The Arts and
eventually landing in Brooklyn, NY. Epstein is known for his work with artists like Brad Shepik,
Ralph Alessi, Bobby Previte, James Carney, Joao Paulo, Jim Black, Scott Colley, Ravi Coltrane,
Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Peter Erskine, and many others. He has recorded eight critically
acclaimed albums as a leader/collaborator.
With Epstein as their mentor, Mayhall and Minaie were introduced to a brand of improvising and
on-the-bandstand training most would assume could only be found at an East Coast
conservatory. Inspired by Epstein and the rich musical landscape he inhabited, Mayhall and
Minaie were eventually accepted into the renowned MFA program in Jazz Studies at Cal Arts
founded by the legendary bassist Charlie Haden. Each have since gone on to play and record
with some of the most revered figures in improvised music.
Matt Mayhall has been characterized by Modern Drummer Magazine as an artist who “rolls his
diverse skills into one, untidy, rumbling package.” He has performed and/or recorded with an
eclectic range of world-renowned artists, including Jeff Parker, Chris Speed, Aimee Mann, Ethan
Iverson, Ted Leo, Fred Armisen, and Charlie Haden. He now calls Portland home after nearly 20
years of work in Los Angeles.
Sam Minaie is based in New York City. He has toured and recorded with Tigran Hamasyan,
Kneebody, Donny McCaslin, Dhafer Youssef, Jeff Ballard, Nate Wood, Mark Guiliana, Patti
Austin, Melody Gardot, Tootie Heath, Jean-Michel Pilc, Ari Hoenig, Shai Maestro, Ben Wendel
and numerous others. As a producer and post production engineer, Sam has mixed and
mastered dozens of records and is the founder of birdFood Studio in NYC.
After talking about making a record for almost twenty years, these three old friends finally came
together for two sessions over two days in New York at Minaie’s home studio, and the result is
an album each player considers among their best work to date.
Sunday 10.27 Fixin To Chris Corsano Mike Watt Joe Baiza / Ilyas Ahmed $20 8pm
A new trio to deliver a mix of free improvisation and punk, all of it wild-eyed and fierce as hell. Guitarist Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust, Universal Congress Of) and bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Stooges) both need no introduction, but if you insist: they’re defining figures of the 1980’s California hardcore/post-punk scene and did as much as anyone to expand the music into something beyond categorization, pulling things in from all over the imaginary genre-map, including free jazz’s improvisation and exploratory fervor. Drummer Chris Corsano (Rangda, Björk, Bill Orcutt) came up in a world heavily indebted to Baiza and Watt, fully embracing the ethos of “Punk is whatever we made it to be.” He’s brought that approach to free improvisation/experimental/etc. since he came on the scene in the late ’90s. Flash forward to late 2023 when the trio first met out in the Mojave Desert. They cut an album for Yucca Alta records (due out in September), followed by a pair of SoCal shows. Now they’re embarking on a West Coast tour.Or, as Watt puts it: “this is mike watt’s reckoning of what this is: late last year drummer chris corsano was put w/me for a gig in the joshua tree desert parts(by derek monypeny) and his first suggest was to get joe baiza which I was way into. we did that gig: totally improvised instrumental music. we did it sitting down: chris sitting down, me and joe baiza are sitting down. for me, it’s was a very interesting conversation to be involved in and I got big time fuckin excited.”
https://corsanobaizawatttrio.bandcamp.com/album/corsano-baiza-watt-trio
Ilyas Ahmed has been releasing records as a solo & collaborative artist for almost 20 years. His most recent solo album A Dream of Another was released in 2023. He is also a member of the experimental rock band Grails whose last record Anches En Maat was released in 2023 as well. Records forthcoming on all fronts in the next year. Ilyas lives and works in Portland Oregon.
