9:30 Machado Mijiga / Noah Simpson

8:45 Shao Way Wu / Andrew Jones

8pm Aurora Jepherson / Dana Reason

Noah Simpson

Energetic, dynamic, and attentive describe Noah Simpson’s approach to trumpet playing. Simpson is a celebrated performer, educator, composer, and forward-thinking improviser who has worked with artists such as Bernard Purdie, George Benson, and Ron Artis II.

Machado Mijiga

Multi-instrumentalist and Portland native Machado Mijiga wears many hats, both literally and metaphorically. Classically-trained, jazz-weathered, and eclectically inclined, Mijiga left the proverbial creative “box” at a very early age, with access to many instruments and a diverse musical background brought about by an intercultural heritage. Mijiga is a musical polymath; composer, producer, bandleader, educator, gear fanatic, and audio engineer, to name a few. Authenticity and uniquity assume the locus of Mijiga’s artistic identity. Self-expression is the prime directive, and the medium of choice changes like the weather.”

https://machadomijiga.bandcamp.com/

Dana Reason

Dana Reason is a Canadian-born composer, performing and recording artist, music supervisor, educator, and musicologist. She was part of The Space Between trio with American electronic arts pioneer, Pauline Oliveros (Guggenheim recipient); and is documented on 17 commercially released recordings. Reason is part of the ReSoundings trio with Dr. Catherine Lee and Dr. John Savage. They performed the 2020 NEA Jazz Master, Roscoe Mitchell’s seminal work: Nonaah Trio at the Park Avenue Armory (curated by Jason Moran) in NYC, 2019. Their recording of Nonaah Trio (Widehive Records, 2020), has received high praise. Reason was one of the four artists commissioned by the Oregon Cultural Foundation for the award winning Exhibition at the High Desert Museum series: “Desert Reflections: Water Shapes the West (2019). As a film composer, and performer, Reason arranged Dr. Henry Louis Gates’ 4 part PBS series: “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War” (2019), (which received the duPont Award, Columbia, 2020), and served as both lead composer and music supervisor for the Alice Guy Blachet Vol.2 (Kino Lorber, 2020) film collection, which was nominated as one of the top 20 blu ray collections of 2020 by the British Film Institute (BFI). ”Additionally, Reason composed the feature-length film score for Nell Shipman’s: “Back to God’s Country” (released by Kino-Lorber), which premiered with a live performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in 2018. Reason is currently the Vice-President of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM); and is a 2021-2022 OSU Humanities Research Fellow. She is an Assistant Professor of Contemporary Music at Oregon State University.

This Is Dana Reason

Aurora Josephson

Aurora Josephson is a musician and visual artist who currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Building on the foundation of operatic training and a BA and an MFA in Music Performance from Mills College, she has forged a bold vocal style that is uniquely her own. To unleash the limitless range of sonic possibilities in the voice, Josephson employs a variety of extended and unconventional techniques drawn from the worlds of contemporary composition, improvisation, and rock. She has performed and recorded with Alvin Curran, Gianni Gebbia, Henry Kaiser, Joelle Leandre and William Winant, and musical groups Big City Orchestrae, Flying Luttenbachers, The Molecules, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, T.D. Skatchitband and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

Http://www.aurorajosephson.com

Shao Way Wu

Portland bassist.

https://salting.bandcamp.com/

Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones is an improviser, composer, and bassist in Portland. Since arriving in 2009, he’s been involved with the music community in a myriad of contexts: contributing compositions to jazz releases on the PJCE label, performing with rock, hip hop and folk groups and working with countless singer-songwriters. He’s also formed a long association with Portland’s experimental music community and Creative Music Guild, making multiple appearances at the Improvisation Summit of Portland and TBA performing with visiting musicians, collaborating with local dancers, accompanying theatre and presenting his own music. His main creative vehicle, The Crenshaw, is based on Andrew’s poetry, which he sets to electronic music. Those beat-pieces are then recreated with his warped synth samples, upright bass and a collaborator on drum set framing Jones’ voice. In 2019 he finished a fourteen-month international touring stint with acclaimed Los Angeles songwriter/composer Julia Holter. During the pandemic, Jones has turned to more session and audio production work; writing arrangements, contributing bass tracks, and mixing various new releases. In the coming year he plans to record The Crenshaw’s second full length album.

https://thecrenshaw.bandcamp.com/

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13 Doors: | 8pm // Show: | 9pm $15 Holocene

 PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of our customers, we will be requiring proof of full COVID vaccination to enter the venue, until further notice. More details at holocene.org/vaccine

Holocene is excited to partner with Creative Music Guild (as part of their annual festival, the Improvisation Summit of Portland) to present a line up of three visionary local artists: Methods Body, MSHR, and Patricia Wolf.

METHODS BODY (Portland, OR, USA) creates original sound art and music using custom tuning systems, involuted polyrhythms, and the cadences of language. John Niekrasz (Ecstatic Peace, ESP-Disk’) and Luke Wyland (The Leaf Label, Hometapes, Crammed Records) use bespoke live-sampling technologies and meta-cognitive compositions to inhabit waves of subliminal melody and deep, uncanny grooves.

Methods Body builds on the non-traditional tunings of Terry Riley, the experimental energy of Éliane Radigue and Silver Apples, and the refracted electronics of Aphex Twin to create a sonic language completely their own. Together, Wyland and Niekrasz have been pushing the bounds of rhythm and melody for more than a dozen years. Their duos, AU and Why I Must Be Careful, were lauded as groundbreaking and breathtaking. Both Niekrasz and Wyland are idiosyncratic innovators on their instruments and use performance as an arena for legitimate connection and energetic exchange. Methods Body’s first full-length album (released in 2020) is born from long-term composing and recording sessions held in old-growth forests and remote deserts. 

MSHR is an art collective that builds and explores sculptural electronic systems. Their practice is a self-transforming entity with its outputs patched into its inputs, expressing its form through interactive installations, immersive performances and audiovisual compositions. MSHR was established in 2011 by Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper. Their name is a modular acronym, designed to hold varied ideas over time.

Patricia Wolf is a musician, sound designer, and curator residing in Portland, Oregon. Wolf uses electronics, voice, and field recordings to produce non-linear compositions that draw listeners to a hypnotic inner world. Her use of melody and repetition manipulate the listeners’ perception of time, conjuring vivid textures, and atmospheres. 
Tonight’s set from Patricia Wolf will feature animation by Jeremy Rotsztain.

10:15pm Crystal Quartez

9:30pm Jan Julius and Blue McCall

8:45pm Saroon

8pm Amenta Abioto, Darian Patrick, and Mike Gamble

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FACEBOOK EVENT

https://www.facebook.com/events/235207188560967?active_tab=about

Darian Anthony Patrick

Darian Anthony Patrick is a multi-instrumentalist based in Portland focusing on percussion, with training in classical and jazz voice as well as electric and bass guitar. Darian performs a broad range of musical styles with specialization in African diasporic traditions, including Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian styles.

https://darianpatrickmusic.com/

Amenta Abioto

Amenta Abioto is a singer, songwriter, producer, performance artist from Memphis, TN. In her one-woman show, she builds vocal and instrumental loops from kalimba, synthesizer, drum machine, and guitar creating atmospheric textures. Weaved into syncopated rhythms and dichotomies of comedic proportions, Amenta surprises and tantalizes audiences with mind bending ideas while skipping vocally from soul-shaking gospel to smooth jazz. Boldly mystical and soul-fired, and her raw live performances invoke elements of both theatrical surprise and magic through ancient African diasporic sounds and stories. Amenta studied drama and was familiarized with the stage. Amenta moved to Portland, OR in 2010 with her family (mother & 4 sisters). There she began her musical chapter. After many jams and the forming of band, dopebeds, Her solo project made debut in at house show in Spring of 2012. Since then, Amenta has released three projects and toured with The Blow, Secret Drum Band, Typhoon, and The Ghost Ease. In 2020 she plans to release her third record. Amenta is involved with projects KILEO and NOMADR. 

https://amentavera.bandcamp.com/

Mike Gamble

Mike Gamble is an adventurous guitarist and multi-instrumentalist whose work with electronic modes of composition are integrated endlessly into his setup. Gamble has spent the last 15 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 in Portland OR, where he currently lives

https://mikegamble.bandcamp.com/

Saroon

With a belief that genuine expression of vulnerability has the power to resonate others towards actualization, Saroon’s intimate and existential approach to sharing music has transformed into deeply personal performances, albums, and tours around the world. Varying between albums, Saroon’s sound transcends through acoustic compositions and illustrious harmonies and blooms into a hypnotic and energizing electronic psychedelia.

https://saroon.bandcamp.com/

Jan Julius and Blue McCall

Jan Julius and Blue McCall are Portland-based nonbinary artists whose is work concerned with power play, queer fantasy, and life under/against capitalism. Blue McCall’s interdisciplinary practice includes work in textile, soft sculpture, poetry, and choreography, and Jan Julius is a hyperpop singer and producer. Their collaborative relationship began with a radio broadcast for International Workers Day, a reading of McCall’s in-progress novella Factory Erotica with sound design by Julius. Following that, McCall choreographed and danced with Julius in a livestream to accompany the release of their debut album, Meat Shot Idyllic. They are very excited to present their ongoing collaboration at the CMG Improvisation Summit.

https://noumenalloom.bandcamp.com/album/meat-shot-idyllic

www.slipwip.com

Crystal Quartez 

Crystal Quartez is a sound, installation artist & creative technologist based out of Portland Oregon. She is also a professor of Creative Coding & Sonic Arts at Portland Community College. As someone who never saw herself represented in computer music or creative tech her work focuses on the empowerment of underserved populations gaining access and knowledge around technology. In 2019 she co founded whateverSpace, a maker space offering free and sliding scale workshops and technology rentals with priority going to the BIPOC community. Under her performance moniker Crystal Quartez, she transforms field recordings, uses synthesis, audio programming, data sonification, and 3D sound spatialization to produce sonic realms for reflection and release. Her practice has recently involved the development of interactive sculptural interfaces and wearable technology that monitor movement and other corporeal methods to liberate the performer from their interfaces. Her art has been shown at NIME, PNCA, Disjecta, PICA, Navel (LA) and more

https://crystalcortez.com/

https://crystalquartez.bandcamp.com/

Improvisation Summit of Portland 2017

Featuring: Bobby Previte, Andrea Kleine, Lori Goldston, Sarah Hennies, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Wobbly, and many, many more…..

Full Schedule and Bios on ISP 2017 site

 

 

 

 

Featuring Performances By:

 

Roscoe Mitchell

Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Jonathan Sielaff

Gordon Ashworth

ALTO!

FAXES

Either Neither

Get Smashing Love Power

The Tenses

Arrington de Diyonsio

The Crenshaw

Matt Carlson

Carson / Rich Halley & Dan Raphael

Secret Drum Band

CATFISH

Brumes

Luke Wyland

Mike Barber

Linda Austin

Jin Camou

Taka Yamamoto

Dawn Stoppiello

Kat Macmillan + Matt Hannafin

Dana Reason

Lee Elderton

Clark Spencer

John Savage

Catherine Lee

John Gross

Andre St. James

Tim Duroche

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.

 

Schedule:

 

Thursday, June 4
Doors at 7:00

 

 

Improvisation Summit of Portland 2015 Performers:

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.

 

He was a member of Muhal Richard Abrams’s Experimental Band and a founding member of the AACM in 1965. Mitchell’s monumental Sound album (1966) introduced a new way of freely improvising, utilizing silence as well as high energy and “little instruments” as well as conventional horns. Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors were on that date and Mitchell’s 1967 follow-up Old/Quartet.

 

With the addition of Joseph Jarman and Philip Wilson (who was later succeeded by Famoudou Don Moye), the Art Ensemble of Chicago was born. The colorful unit was one of the most popular groups in the jazz avant-garde and Mitchell was an integral part of the band. Roscoe Mitchell (who, in addition to his main horns, plays clarinet, flute, piccolo, oboe, baritone and bass saxophones) also was involved in individual projects through the years and has recorded as a leader for Delmark, Nessa, Sackville, Moers Music, 1750 Arch, Black Saint, Cecma and Silkheart in settings ranging from large ensembles to unaccompanied solo concerts. — Scott Yanow, All-Music Guide (http://www.artensembleofchicago.com/roscoe.html)

 

Jonah Parzen-Johnson

 

“A folk music for a new tribe of people, one that has access to new technologies and uses them as opposed to being used by them.”

– All About Jazz

 

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.

 

A Chicago native, Jonah’s circular breathing, multi-phonics and impossibly nimble vocalization owes a debt to the Chicago saxophone legacy, but his devotion to a quirky almost vocal style places him in new territory for the solo saxophone. He has meticulously constructed a world of warm memories remembered in a cold present, as he melds the evocative nature of folk music with the chilling power of experimentalism. In addition to relentlessly touring as a solo saxophonist, Jonah is a co-leader of the nationally touring afrobeat ensemble, Zongo Junction, and an active part of Brooklyn’s ever-expanding independent music community.  His latest recording, Remember When Things Were Better Tomorrow, will be released on June 2, 2015 by Primary Records. (http://jonahpj.com)

 

Jonathan Sielaff

 

Jonathan Sielaff resides in Portland, OR and plays the bass clarinet. Because he likes to play with drummers and electronic instruments, he often amplifies the bass clarinet and processes it with guitar pedals (he is also, conveniently, a guitarist).

He cut his musical teeth in rock bands, new music ensembles and various schools of improvisation but most enjoys exploring the territory that exists between genres. His primary musical project is the duo Golden Retriever, with Matt Carlson on synth. They have a bunch of tapes and CDs out there as well as albums with Root Strata and Thrill Jockey. (http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Golden-Retriever)

 

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.

 

Ashworth’s current live performance focuses on tense sound collages of field recordings made during his job as a night-shift taxi driver, tempered with acoustic drones recorded in private bedrooms. His use of multiple speakers and live tape manipulation is intended to disrupt the listener’s sense of location and expectation, while the use of nocturnal conversations and street sounds accentuates the paradox of working a dangerous job in order to survive as an artist. The result is the creation of a surreal environment that instills a feeling of being in several locations at once, and exists somewhere between privacy and publicity, high art and base exploitation, and musical beauty and human ugliness. He will be carrying himself and his equipment between performances and cities by public transportation throughout Europe in Autumn 2015.

 

His brother is the musician Owen Ashworth (Advance Base, ex-Casiotone for the Painfully Alone), who runs the label Orindal Records. Gordon is the head of the cassette label Iatrogenesis, the archival vinyl label Olvido, is a member of the extreme metal band Knelt Rote, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon, USA. (http://www.gordonashworth.com/)

 

FAXES

 

FAXES is a Portland-based duo featuring members of harsh dance outfit Consumer. and punk-noise project Warm Trash.

 

ALTO!

 

ALTO! is a Portland-based band consisting of Kyle Emory (drums, electronics), Steven T. Stone (drums, electronics) and Derek Monypeny (guitar). ALTO! is a strongly rhythm-oriented band; dual drummers vary between synched-up pounding and subtly shifiting polyrhythms, while the guitar often functions as another percussion instrument. ALTO! draws strong inspiration from Congotronics bands such as Konono #1, the psychedelic explorations of later-period Boredoms, and avant-garde rock bands such as Sun City Girls. (http://altoexclamationpoint.bandcamp.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.

 

Wayne Horvitz is a composer, pianist and electronic musician who has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He has performed and collaborated with Bill Frisell, Butch Morris, John Zorn, George Lewis, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith, Julian Priester, Michael Shrieve and Carla Bley, among others. Commissioners include the NEA,Meet the Composer, Kronos String Quartet, Seattle Chamber Players, BAM, and Earshot Jazz. Collaborators include Paul Taylor, Liz Lerman, Bill Irwin and Gus Van Sant. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including two MAP grants and the NEA American Masterpiece award.

 

Douglas Detrick is a Portland, Oregon-based composer and cornet player whose work is distinguished by its quiet thoughtfulness and its embrace of good ideas from unconventional sources. He was awarded the 2011 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works and Presenting Jazz grants for his work with his chamber-jazz quintet Douglas Detrick’s AnyWhen Ensemble, and the commissioned work “The Bright and Rushing World” was premiered at New York’s Jazz Gallery in 2012 and performed throughout the United States. He is currently the Executive Director of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, and performs in Oregon as well as touring nationally.

 

Casey Bozell, violinist, is a diverse and energetic performer based in Portland, Oregon. She is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral player, holding positions with the Portland Opera Orchestra, Oregon Ballet Theater, Linfield Chamber Orchestra, and Eugene Symphony. Her orchestral experiences have led her to collaborations with many outstanding musical figures, such as Marin Alsop, Marvin Hamlisch, Libby Larsen, and Yo-Yo Ma. A champion of new music, Casey is a core member of the Oregon-based chamber group, the Blue Box Ensemble, and is a frequent performer with Cascadia Composers as well as commissioning new works for solo violin.

 

Get Smashing Love Power

 

“This is an elite ensemble, a rarefied combination of intellectual heft, wild passion, deep emotion and the confidence to tackle tough tunes with glee…They are unique in Portland. They deserve your attention…It was positively mind-bending…highly evolved stuff.””—Oregon Music News

 

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!

 

The Tenses

 

The Tenses is a title of a story in the book The Dream World of Dion McGregor from 1964. It is a unique book in that the stories are not written but transcribed from stories told while asleep!

 

In 2008 we began a new live act using musical concepts developed with Smegma. The Tenses are a more intimate live experiment that is greatly influenced by the room/audience feel.  Moving images that reflect our influences and creative patterns are projected on or behind us. Our creative intent is only one aspect.  We attempt to collaborate in the moment. The Tenses have performed successfully in Portland, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Cork, London, Brighton, Helsinki, Brussels, Paris , Geneva and elsewhere. Ju Suk Reet Meate- Founding Smegma and core LAFMS member since 1973 . Lap Steel Guitar, Pocket Trumpet , Electronics, Toys, etc. Oblivia  ( Rock and Roll Jackie) Smegma Member Since 1981. Record Player, Electronics, Toys, etc.

 

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/)

 

The Crenshaw

Expanded from a solo performance project in 2014,The Crenshaw is Andrew Jones on upright bass, vocals and electronics and Christopher Johnedis on drums and triggers.  They play Jones’ original songs – which draw from such disparate musical worlds as Chicago footwork, “free jazz”, contemporary classical, and pop music – marrying improvisation and textural explorations with tight rhythmic loops, haunting harmony and often self-effacing abstract lyrical content.  They plan to release their first recording in 2015. (https://soundcloud.com/thecrenshaw)

 

Matt Carlson

 

Rich Halley

 

Rich Halley is a saxophonist/composer based in Portland, Oregon. He has released seventeen critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and recorded over a hundred original compositions. Rich has performed with Tony Malaby, Julius Hemphill, Vinny Golia, Bobby Bradford, Nels Cline, Michael Bisio, Obo Addy, Andrew Hill and Oliver Lake.

 

Carson Halley

 

Carson Halley is a drummer based in Oregon who has played with Bobby Bradford and Vinny Golia as well as in indie rock bands. All About Jazz said “Drummer Carson Halley is a responsive percussionist… proving himself throughout to be a catalyst and instigator in the evolving artistry of the Rich Halley 4.”

 

Dan Raphael

 

Dan Raphael is a prolific Portland poet whose work has appeared in over 300 publications. An energetic and intense performer, Dan has published nearly 20 books and given over 250 readings. He was the editor of NRG magazine for 18 years. Dan has organized many poetry events over the past 30 years.

 

The Secret Drum Band

 

The Secret Drum Band is a percussion & noise ensemble. Lisa Schonberg composes pieces that are interpreted into some magic by a changing cast of percussionists. SDB first performed as a 4-person ensemble at Ladyfest Olympia in 2005. More recent iterations have included up to 7 performers & noise elements in addition to percussion. The ensemble often wears clothing by Portland designer Heather Treadway. (http://www.lisaschonberg.com/secret-drum-band)

 

CATFISH

 

Melancholy instrumental trio CATFISH formed in Portland, Oregon in 2013, led by saxophonist Joe Cunningham (Blue Cranes, Battle Hymns & Gardens).  After enlisting Portland veterans, guitarist Dan Duval (The Ocular Concern, PJCE Sextet, Gunga Galunga) and drummer Ken Ollis (Ken Ollis Group, The Demolition Duo, Paxselin Quartet), Cunningham formed CATFISH, a vehicle for open improvisations in the vein of Dirty Three, Paul Motian Trio, and early Cat Power.

 

Brumes

 

Brumes is an experimental trio with rotating contributors formed in 2012. Originally as a solo looped based ambient project, Brumes has evolved into orchestrated atmospheric sounds including keys, guitar, drums, harp and vocals. Brumes will be playing a special solo set just for the Improvisation Summit of Portland.

 

Luke Wyland

 

Luke Wyland is an interdisciplinary artist and composer working in the fields of music, performance and dance. He is known primarily for his work behind the art-pop band AU.

 

Mike Barber

 

Mike Barber has been involved in the Northwest performance scene since 1985, most recently dancing in works by Minh Tran, Mary Oslund, and Randee Paufve (Oakland). From 1996-2000 he was co-director of aero/betty aerial dance theater in Portland. As well as in aero/betty, his choreography has been seen at Performance Works Northwest, in Randee Paufve’s 2001 concert Rend, and in evenings of his own work: Red Hat and Other Dances and DOA/Dancing on the Atlantic. He also produces and appears in the performance party series Ten Tiny Dances, recently presented at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)’s TBA Festival.

 

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. Her working process exploits and explores the body’s powers and limits, bringing each performer’s vulnerabilities and strengths, accidental awkwardness and elegance, into a web of relationships—intimate, playful, confrontational—with other bodies, objects, environment, sound and media. The resultant improvisational and/or highly choreographed works are non-linear, poetic, often laced with humor, deploying movement that often disrupts what is generally considered “dancerly.”

 

In 1998, Austin moved to Portland, Oregon, bought a small church which became her studio and, with lighting designer Jeff Forbes, founded the performing arts non-profit Performance Works Northwest. PWNW serves as parent organization for Linda Austin Dance. Since her move back to the west coast, Austin’s performance has been presented at PWNW, Conduit, On the Boards’ Northwest New Works, Velocity, and PICA’s TBA Festival, while making occasional forays back to NYC. 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)

 

Taka Yamamoto

 

Originally from Shizuoka Japan, Takahiro Yamamoto is an artist and a performer based in Portland, Oregon. As a recent graduate from MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art, his sculptural and photographic works have been exhibited at Rowan Gallery (Los Angeles), 937 Gallery (Portland), PLACE gallery, and Disjecta (Portland.) Theatre and dance practitioners and companies he has performed and studied with include Xavier Le Roy (Montpellier), Opiyo Okach (Kenya), Keith Hennessy (San Francisco), Linda k. Johnson (Portland), Jmy James (Los Angeles), Mary Overlie (New York), Anne Bogart and SITI Company (New York), Goat Island Performance Company (Chicago), Perseverance Theatre Company(Alaska) and Independent Shakespeare Company (Los Angeles). Yamamoto is also a co-founder of an interdisciplinary performance company, madhause. (http://www.takahiroyamamoto.com)

 

Dawn Stoppiello

 

Trained as a choreographer and dancer, Stoppiello has focused on choreography for bodies interfaced to computers through sensory systems and dancing in synchrony with projected images. She began her career in Portland, Oregon at the Jefferson High School for the Performing Arts. She received a BFA in dance from California Institute of the Arts in 1989. Stoppiello has received multiple honors from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA over the years including a 1987 Dance Scholarship, two Special Project grants in 2004/2009 and the foundation’s highest honor, the Statue Award in 2004 for her continued excellence in her field. Her first professional performance, while still a student at CalArts, was with Jazz Tap Ensemble in 1986. After Graduation she became a member of the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company where she remained until1992. Stoppiello has taught on the dance faculty of Loyola Marymount University, Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County as well as teaching numerous master classes at institutions in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. She relocated from New York back to Portland, Oregon in 2009.

 

Kat Macmillan

 

Kavita Kat Macmillan came to dance Butoh through her work in experimental theater in New York. She was one of the founding members of The Vangeline Theater, a New York dance company and continues to study with choreographer/dancer Vangeline.  She has also trained extensively with renowned Mexican dancer/teacher/choreographer Diego Pinon as well as other teachers of this form. Kat brings to this practice deep roots in physical theater, yoga, exploration of the energetic body through healing and Qi Gong and her personal vocal practice, rooted in Indian Classical music and moving sound in the body to connect with Source.

 

Matt Hannafin

 

Matt Hannafin is a New York–born, Portland-based percussionist active in Iranian classical and traditional music, free improvisation, and contemporary solo percussion. He studied Persian tombak with master Kavous Shirzadian; frame drums with Jamey Haddad, Glen Velez, and Layne Redmond; African and Afro-Caribbean percussion with John Amira and Magette Fall; and voice with composer La Monte Young and the legendary Pandit Pran Nath. He’s performed with a wide range of collaborators in both traditional and avant settings, including Sun Ra altoist Marshall Allen, trumpeter Nate Wooley, Turkish multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Borbetomagus guitarist Donald Miller, electronics players Brian Moran and Doug Theriault, pianist Dan DeChellis, and turntablist Maria Chavez, as well as with traditional Persian, Sephardic, and Ukrainian ensembles, percussion ensembles, modern dancers, and Zen flower arrangers. He has appeared at venues and festivals around the United States, including the United Nations General Assembly Hall, the New England Conservatory (Boston, MA), the Miami Iranian Cultural Festival (Florida), the Salem World Beat Festival (Oregon), and New York venues Symphony Space, St. Marks Church, the Issue Project Room, Roulette, and the late, lamented CBGB’s. He has released more than twenty recordings, including Eight Songs Between Morning and Dark, a suite of duo improvisations with shakuhachi master Jeffrey Lependorf (available at iTunes, Amazon, etc.). (www.matthannafin.com)

 

Dana Reason

 

Dana Reason is a Canadian-born pianist, composer/improviser and musicologist. Reason was part of The Space Between trio with Pauline Oliveros and is documented on over 14 commercial recordings. Her research is available on Wesleyan University Press and Columbia Jazz-Studies On-line. Reason holds a B.Mus (McGill University); MA in Composition (Mills College); and Ph.D in Critical Studies/Experimental Practices, UC San Diego.  Her main teachers include: George E. Lewis, Pauline Oliveros, Alcides Lanza, Alvin Curran, Aleck Karis and Anthony Davis. She teaches courses on music composition and is currently the director Popular Music Studies at Oregon State University. (www.danareason.com)

 

Lee Elderton

 

Lee Elderton is a classically trained saxophonist, jazz performer and avid improvisationalist. Originally from Southern California, Elderton has performed with the Pacific Crest Wind Symphony, Millennium Concert Band, the Pete Petersen Big Band, Pete Petersen’s Pork Pie Septet, Shanghai Woolies, Border Patrol Big Band, Solomon Douglas Swingtet, Kansas City Rhythm Kings, Lily Wilde Orchestra, the Dan Duval Sextet and the PDX Saxophone Quartet. He currently lives,  performs and teaches in Portland, OR. (www.leesax.com)

 

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. He has had the privilege of performing under the battons of Antrew Linton, Marin Alsop, Jeffrey Kahane, Helmut Rilling, and Gunther Schuller.

Originally from Lancaster, PA, Clark earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in performance from Boston University, where he studied viola with Michelle LaCourse and violin with Peter Zazofsky. He recently completed his Doctorate in Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oregon where he studied Dr. Leslie Straka. His doctoral research on the Sonata in G by Paul Ben-Haim culminated in a new edition for solo viola. Clark has also studied with Martha Strongin Katz and Jeffrey Irvine. He has performed in masterclasses with Kim Kashkashian, Arnold Steinhardt, Roger Tapping, Pamela Frank, the Ying String Quartet, the American String Quartet, the Orion String Quartet, and the Muir String Quartet.

 

John C. Savage

 

Flutist, saxophonist, composer, and improviser John C. Savage has been compared to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Herbie Mann, Noah Howard,  Ian Anderson, and Colin Stetson. Known equally as “a thoughtful and rigorous improviser,” and “a badass, knock-down-drag-out force to be reckoned with” (The Willamette Week), Savage lived in New York City for almost a decade performing with, among others, The Savage 3, Billy Fox, (The Uncle Wiggly Suite) the electroacoustic duo Cartridge (The Black Heron and the Spoonbill), The Brooklyn Qawwali Party (eponymous release), and the Andrew Hill Big Band (A Beautiful Day). Savage continues to be a sought-after soloist and collaborator on both coasts working with a wide variety of artists, including the NYC-based Kitsune Ensemble (The Kaidan Suite and Amanogawa), Point to Line (with flutist Lisa Bost-Sandberg),  the Demolition Duo, Senses Sharpened (with Ken Ollis and Dan Gaynor), and the poetry and music duo, THrum, with Claudia F. Savage. Savage has received honors and awards from New York University, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Portland-based Regional Arts and Culture Council. Savage also served on the board for Portland’s Creative Music Guild from 2010-2013 as development coordinator. Savage holds a Ph.D. from New York University in music performance and improvisation. His CD of solo flute compositions and improvisations (A Moment in Mythica) is available on Teal Creek Music. (www.johncsavage.com)

 

Catherine Lee
A diverse musician, Catherine Lee has performed extensively as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician on oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn in a wide range of artistic settings, including classical, contemporary, and free improvisation. Catherine is Principal oboe with the Salem Chamber Orchestra, and teaches oboe and chamber music at Willamette University, Western Oregon University and George Fox University.  As an interdisciplinary artist, Catherine collaborated in the creation of reeds, a site-specific work composed by Emily Doolittle (Sound Symposium, 2010); with POV dance (Ten Tiny Dances, 2008); and with Tracy Broyles (Risk/Reward Festival, 2012). In 2013, Catherine released her solo cd social sounds on Teal Creek Music. Catherine holds a Doctor of Music in Performance Studies from McGill University.

 

John Gross

 

John Gross is an internationally respected musician, has resided in Portland since 1991. Among his employers past and present; Harry James, Stan Kenton, Lionel Hampton, Shelly Manne, Don Ellis, Woody Herman and Toshiko Akiyoshi. He performs regularly with Gordon Lee Quartet, David Friesen, David Frishberg, Alan Jones Sextet and his own groups Blema Bii and the John Gross quartet. John has taught at universities in the US and Europe and is the author of “185 Multiphonics for the Saxophone, A Practical Guide” published by Advance Music.

 

Tim DuRoche
Tim DuRoche is a jazz drummer-composer and sound artist living in Portland. His work has traversed the continuum from ragtime to no time and beyone–creating performances with Beijing Opera musicians, Russian circus clowns, silent film, spoken word, auctioneers, and with installation-performance artists. DuRoche has worked extensively with an array of US and European avant-garde jazz innovators, including Dominic Duval, Matana Roberts, Paul Plimley-Lisle Ellis, Wally Shoup, Gust Burns, Bert Wilson, Urs Leimgruber, Jon Raskin,  Perry Robinson, Phillip Greenlief, Damon Smith-Scott Looney,  Jack Wright, Doug Theriault,  Marco Eneidi, Didier Petit, and Frank Gratkowski, among others. He has appeared as a soloist and featured performer at numerous festivals, including the Seattle Improvised Music Festival, The Big Sur Experimental Music Festival, Portland Experimental Jazz Festival, San Francisco’s Edgetone New Music Summit,and the Olympia Experimental Music Festivals.

 

Thursday, June 5, 2014
Reach of Resonance screening @ 7PM
Whitsell Auditorium at NWFC, 1219 SW Park Ave.

Friday & Saturday, June 6 & 7, 2014
Sandbox Studios, 420 NE 9th Ave.
Doors open Friday at 5:30PM, Saturday at 4:30PM

Purchase advance tickets to #ISP2014 today via our Indiegogo Campaign

 

Lineup & Schedule

Thursday, June 5 –

7:00  Reach of Resonance screening at Whitsell Auditorium at NWFC, 1219 SW Park Ave.

 

Friday, June 6 –

6:30 Welcome Ensemble (TBA)

7:00 Scott Cutshall’s Phrasology

7:45 Suzanne Chi/ Heather Treadway, Lisa Schonberg

8:00 Tim Berne Solo

8:30 Vanessa Vogel, Tere Mathern/Brandon Conway

8:55 Rich Halley Quartet

9:40 Mike Barber, Danielle Ross/ Seth Nehil, Ryan Stuewe

10:00 Tim Berne Ensemble: STATIC with Tim Berne, John Gross, Farnell Newton, Dana Reason,  Scott Cutshall, Jon Shaw, Lars Campbell, Dan Duval, and Lee Elderton)l

11:00 Kaj-Anne Pepper/ Alyssa Reed-Stuewe, Catherine Lee

11:15 Pinkish

 

Saturday, June 7-

12:30 Informal lunch gathering at Bunk Bar

2:00 Panel Discussion moderated by Daniel Flessas, featuring Reed Wallsmith, Amenta Abioto, Michael Stirling, Gregg Bielemeier and more to be announced.

6:00 Ken Ollis and Senses Sharpened

6:45 Gregg Bielemeier, Catherine Egan / Lisa Degrace

7:10 Amenta Abioto

7:55 Lucy Yim/ Jesse Mejia

8:10 Michael Stirling, Doug Theriault, Matt Carlson

8:55 Dawn Stoppiello, Ruth Nelson, Emily Stone, John Gross, Reed Wallsmith

9:15 Bad Luck

10:00 Luke Gutsgell/ Ben Kates

10:15 Matt Hannafin & Loren Chasse

 

 

 

The 3rd annual Improvisational Summit of Portland brings together the best musicians, dancers and film organizations 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 Sandbox Studio space in NE Portland with contributions from all corners of Portland’s vibrant performing scene. Drinks courtesy of Breakside Brewery. Sponsored by KBOO 90.7 FM.

 

Featured Performers:

Tim Berne (NYC) is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.  Based in New York City since 1974, Berne has composed and performed prolifically, amassing a body of work that includes dozens of critically-acclaimed recordings. His work draws heavily on free improvisation resulting in complex, lengthy compositions. During his career, he has performed or recorded with a number of notable musicians, including Bill Frisell, John Zorn,  Mat Maneri, David Torn, Hank Roberts, Herb Robertson, the ARTE Quartett and in trio Miniature. In recent years, he has performed in several groups with Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver, Craig Taborn, Michael Formanek, Drew Gress, Marc Ducret and David Torn, and Chris Speed. (www.screwgunrecords.com)

 

Bad Luck (Seattle, WA) is a duo comprised of drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch. Called “One of the best Seattle jazz recordings in years” (Earshot Jazz) Bad Luck was awarded the “Best Outside Jazz Group” of 2009 by Earshot Magazine, and a finalist for “Best Avant Group” in the 2009 Inside Out awards. Performing all original compositions, the pair use live loops and pedals to create an astounding range of sound. Icasiano and Welch can quickly shift into fierce improvisations, sound art and carefully constructed harmonic palettes. Icasiano and Welch are both founding members of Seattle’s creative performance series: the Racer Sessions. (badluckband.net)

The Improvisation Summit of Portland 2014 is sponsored by:

The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation

Composition Through Improvisation: ISP 2013 Panel Discussion

Don’t miss this opportunity at the beginning of day two of the ISP to hear these master performers discuss their use of improvisation in composing new works.

Daniel Flessas: moderator, longtime KBOO DJ

Catherine Lee – Tardis Ensemble, oboist

John Niekrasz – Why I Must Be Careful, drums & percussion

Rich Halley – co-founder of the CMG, saxophonist

Linda Austin – founder of Performance Works NorthWest, dance

Reed Wallsmith – Blue Cranes, Battle Hymns and Gardens, saxophonist

Complete Schedule:
Friday Night: Doors at 6pm.
7pm – Cinema Project presents Thirteen Summers (This program features a multi-screen projection performance of footage from filmmaker and naturalist Timothy Treadwell. With live accompaniment by Joe Cunningham, Tim DuRoche, Dan Duval, Jon Shaw, Reed Wallsmith, Doug Theriault)
7:55 – John Grunfest/Megan Bierman Duo
8:20 – Dawn Stoppiello and Doug Theriault
8:30 – Sam Coomes & Brian Mumford Duo
8:50 – Linda K. Johnson and Tim DuRoche
9:10 – Tim DuRoche & Reconstruction of Light: :The Music of Carei Thomas, with Andrew Durkin, piano; Eugene Lee, saxophones; Jon Shaw, contrabass; Tim DuRoche on drums/little instruments.
10:05 – Richard Decker, Danielle Ross, Jordan Dykstra, and Reed Wallsmith
10:25 – Anton Hatwich / John Gross
11:30pm – Gino Robair leads a large ensemble of musicians and dancers in his opera, I, Norton

Saturday
11am at Bamboo Grove- Improvisation and Contemporary Instrumental Techniques workshop with Dr. John C. Savage (flutes, alto saxophone). Dr. Savage will discuss and demonstrate his approach to contemporary improvising. Specific topics will include: circular breathing, multiphonics, vocalizations, and ideas for group interplay. This will be a hands-on workshop, so please feel free to bring an instrument. All instruments welcome!
11am at Revival Drum Shop- Gino Robair percussion workshop
1pm at Bamboo Grove – Workshop on Improvising & Dance w/ Danielle Ross & Christi Denton
4pm at Bamboo Grove- Musician-writer Tim DuRoche moderates a discussion with dance artist Linda K. Johnson, musician Rick Stewart of Smegma, saxophonist and Creative Music Guild co-founder Rich Halley and interdisciplinary dancer-storyteller Susan Banyas about improvisation – its role in their craft, its history over the last few decades in the NW, and how they’ve deployed improvisational strategies to create across disciplines and expand on tradition.

Saturday Night
Doors at 6pm
7pm – Filmusik presents Un Chien Andalou w/ a live score by an ensemble curated by Nick Bindeman
7:40 – Tracy Broyles & Catherine Lee
7:50 – Blue Cranes
8:35 – Tere Mathern, Vanessa Vogel, Jen Hackworth and Marisa Anderson
9:05 – The Tenses
9:35 – Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner
9:55 – Thicket
10:10 – Grouper
10:40 – Linda Austin, Jin Camou, Ben Kates, Ryan Miller
10:50 – Gino Robair
11:20 – Carla Mann and Rich Halley
11:35pm – The Raven Big Band Buddha Mind Ensemble lead by John Grunfest and Megan Bierman w/ 30+ musicians
____

And:
A sound installation by Stephanie Simek
_____

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
This project is supported in part by Ninkasi Brewing and The Map Room Studio.

Here it is everyone: The second iteration of our festival. This is two days of experimental music, dance and film on May 31 & June 1 at Sandbox Studio. Check out the schedule below.

Improvisation Summit of Portland 2013

Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1
Sandbox Studios: 420 NE 9th ave
$12-$18 sigle day, $20-$40 both days: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/382722

All ages

Friday, May 31:
6:00 – Experimental Film Festival PDX: “Bridge” & “C.A.G.E”
“Bridge” by Kevin T. Allen 11 mins NY – A study of three similar but distinct microcultures: the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridgeand Williamsburg Bridge. Interrogated through the use of contact microphones, the physical infrastructures of these bridges become audible and reveal their inherent macroacoustics.
“C.A.G.E” by Richard Evans 20 mins NY – C.A.G.E. is a fictional documentary about ‘Variations on a Plain Index’ a 1945 sound work by an unnamed experimental composer. It is a subtle and philosophical story about an artist’s relationship to environment and how component elements of an artwork can represent subjective states of mind.
6:35 – Jen Hackworth/Heather Treadway
6:45 – John Gross Trio
7:20 – Linda Austin and Gregg Bielemeier/Ken Ollis
7:35 – Grammies
8:10 – Eet
8:30 – Daniel Menche
9:00 -Taka Yamamoto/Lisa Schonberg
9:10 – William Hooker
9:40 – Gulls
10:00 – WIMBC Big Band (with Ryan Spangler, Ben Kates, Stephanie Simek, Carson McWhirter, Russel Durham)
10:40 – Dawn Stoppiello/Thollem Mcdonas
10:55 – HITS
11:30 Elphin Elephant

Saturday June 1:
11:00 – William Hooker drum workshop (at Revival Drum Shop)
3:00 – Composition Through/With Improvisation moderated by Daniel Flessas from KBOO w/ John Niekrasz, Rich Halley, Reed Wallsmith, Linda Austin, Catherine Lee
4:30 – Wavemakers (presented by Cinema Project)
Hearing unusual interferences coming from radio vacuum tubes one night during World War I, the French musician and educator Maurice Martenot dreamed of an instrument that would turn the new material of the times, electricity, into music, but electronic music with a distinctive human touch. — Caroline Martel
From this idea came the 1928 invention, the ondes Martenot (onde meaning wave in French). While many may have heard its distinctive sound in sci-fi TV shows like The Thunderbirds, Hollywood classics such as Lawrence of Arabia, and in recent soundtracks like There Will be Blood, the instrument itself has rarely been seen. In her most recent feature length documentary, Canadian filmmaker Caroline Martel takes a slightly experimental approach to bring the history and image of this “sensual and sophisticated instrument” into view. Caroline will be in attendance to talk more about the ondes and her journey to discover it.
7:00 – Doug Theriault & Juniana Lanning
7:40 – Jim McGinn and Tere Mathern/Ben Kates, John Savage and Catherine Lee
8:00 – Battle Hymns and Gardens
8:45 – Noelle Stiles/Marisa Anderson and Rich Halley
9:00 – 1939 Ensemble
9:30 – Danielle Ross/John Niekrasz
9:45 – Like a Villain
10:15 – Tracy Broyles/Loren Chasse
10:30 – William Hooker Ensemble (with Lee Elderton, Mary Sutton, Thollem McDonas, John Niekrasz, Andrew Jones, John Gross, Kyleen King)
11:30 – Golden Retriever

Sponsored by Sandbox Studio, Beacon Sound, Stumptown Coffee and The Map Room Studio.

Thanks to: RACC & The Miller Foundation

Thanks to our Indiegogo Donators:

 

Arto LeStrange
Leah Wilmoth
Dan Bryant
Benjamin Spees
Danielle Parks
Robert Philliops
Marisa Debowsky
Shirley Rillera
Fletcher Nemeth
Heather MacKenzie
Mia Ferm

Edward Sharp

Benjamin Kates
Alyssa Reed-Stuewe
Matthew Doyle
Adam Triplett
Michelle Citrin
Ben Poliakoff
Jin Camou
Tanya Smith
Joshua Powell
Bob Priest
Adam Triplett
Helena Schniewind
Michael McManus
John Niekrasz
Anonymous

 

Buy Tickets ahead time for guaranteed entry!