Wednesday, October 29th
Skyline Tavern
Portland, OR 97229
$15-30
8pm
Left Of Center
Yucky Jazz
Left Of Center is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Alex Meltzer and musical polymath Machado Mijiga, seamlessly blending free improvisation, loops, and step sequencing to create a sonic multiverse that exists in the pocket dimension between jazz, electronica, and avant-garde.
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. Mijiga can be seen touring with GRAMMY-winning band, Portugal. The Man throughout the year, among the many Portland-based groups he leads and supports when back home. 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.
YUCKY JAZZ
Yuck is a Portland based musician who can often be found supporting other artists in the city.
They have a deep love for many styles of music and attempt to blend those influences together
to form a cohesive sound that is their own. From folk to gospel to jazz, you’re liable to hear it all
at any given Yuck concert.
Their solo electric project Yucky Jazz often features dear friends and combines raw virtuosic
instrumentalists with elements of hip-hop production and covers of unconventional songs that
ensures a fun evening whenever they step out.
SKERIK
“Hardening of the categories leads to Art Disease.” – John Medeski
Decade upon decade, Skerik remains the tireless steward for one of modern music’s most diverse, adventurous & passionate bodies of work.
Skerik’s world is one where dialogue flows freely between wildly disparate strains of musical thought… where no borders exist between jazz & sludge metal, where elements of Congolese soukous dialect might find their way onto the million-selling records of an alternative rock band, where an avant-garde electronic translation of Ornette Coleman’s deepest & darkest fantasies (shared with a select few listeners in a small club) easily attains the same level of satisfaction & meaning as an exuberant explosion of jazz/funk catharsis (shared with hordes of sweaty festival crowds all over the world).
It is a world where all sounds may communicate freely with each other, so long as they all originate from true inspiration & good faith. They may encounter friction & chaos along the way, eventually emerging in a shared harmonious understanding… or perhaps they might remain in friction & chaos, screaming in musical hellfire until the next chapter begins. Safety is never guaranteed in these woods, but boredom will never rear its head. That’s a promise.
It all began in Seattle when a precocious young man took his first few steps on tenor & baritone saxophone, inspired in equal measure by his love for jazz (as inherited from his father), the grittier side of funk/r&b and the experimental corners of rock. An apprenticeship spent working in a wide variety of bands in London, Paris & the South Pacific further expanded his ears & ambitions, and he returned home in the late 1980s armed with a full set of 10,000 hours and an insatiable work ethic that continues unabated to this day.
Back in Seattle, Skerik “accidentally” found himself joining the amazing rock duo SadHappy in 1990 (recording two studio albums & embarking on countless live adventures with the band), and the following year saw the first of many such honors when he won “Best Horns” from the Northwest Music Awards in 1991.
Ever restless, Skerik teamed up with Matt Chamberlain in 1993 to form the singular Critters Buggin, alongside luminaries such as Brad Houser & John Bush (later to be joined by Mike Dillon). Critters’ blend of rock, funk, jazz, industrial & African influences established an utterly unique presence in the explosion of improvisation-focused music that emerged in the 90s, and Skerik’s pioneering incorporation of harsh & abrasive electronic elements ensured that the band’s output was distinguished by a confrontational edge that wasn’t often encountered among the mellow hippie friendliness of the day.
By way of Critters’ rapidly expanding notoriety (along with the flurry of attention resulting from his appearances with Seattle supergroup Mad Season, with whom he featured on both their sole album “Above” and their legendary “Live At The Moore” video release), Skerik’s workload soon grew to include a plethora of new projects that were as stupefying in terms of diversity as they were in sheer numbers. A very short list would include Garage A Trois (alongside Stanton Moore & Charlie Hunter, later to be joined by Mike Dillon & Marco Benevento), Stanton Moore’s solo work, Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade & Fancy Band, Tuatara (alongside Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, Steve Berlin, Justin Harwood & a rotating cast of Seattle’s most renowned rock & jazz musicians), Ponga, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet, Crack Sabbath, Omaha Diner & The Dead Kenny Gs.
Over the years, it has been Skerik’s enormous honor to tour with Roger Waters, Fred Wesley, Les Claypool, Critters Buggin, Sadhappy, Beta Popes, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet, Garage a Trois, Stanton Moore, Mike Clark, Headhunters, Robert Walter, Ponga, Wayne Horvitz 4+1 ensemble, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Bobby Previte’s Coalition of the Willing, New York Composer’s Orchestra, Galactic, Tuatara, Mark Eitzel, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, The Dead Kenny G’s, Black Frames, Maelstrom Trio, Illuminasti Trio, Master Musicians of Bukkake, True Loves, McTuff, Master Musicians of Jajouka & so many more.
In addition, his good fortune has included performances and/or recordings alongside Mad Season, Medeski Martin & Wood, Primus, REM, Bonnie Raitt, Pearl Jam, Ween, Ani DiFranco, Stewart Copeland, Screaming Trees, Charlie Hunter, Larry Coryell, John Scofield, Warren Haynes, Nels Cline, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Shock G, The Coup, PBS, G. Calvin Weston, Josh Roseman, Shazhad Ismaily, Clyde Stubblefield, Kenny Drew Jr, Melvin Gibbs, Sex Mob, Crack Sabbath, Blotallika, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Johnny Vidocovich, George Porter Jr, Funky Meters, Kenny Wolleson, Benevento/Russo Duo, Leo Nocentelli, Earl Harvin Trio, Jon Brion, My Name, Kirk Joseph, Big Sam, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, The Word, North Mississippi Allstars, James Singleton, Somo-Somo, Remy Ongala, Freestyle Candela, Bheki Mseleku, Aubrey Oaki, Mino Cinelu, Bob Stewart, Bill Ware, Brain, Ralph Carney, M.I.R.V., Stone Gossard, Lonnie Marshall, DJ Logic, Jeff Parker, Get It Gurl, Ruth Brown, Howard Tate, Maxi Priest, Steve Berlin, David Hidalgo, Cory Henry, MonoNeon, Steve Kimock, Corrosion of Conformity, Hella, DJ Olive, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Ozomatli, Wolves in the Throne Room, Kayo Dot, SUNN O)))), Master Musicians of Bukkake, DJ Riz, Todd Sickafoose, Scott Amendola, Doze Green, Ernest Ranglin, Dave Ellis, Yoshida Brothers, Gene Ween, Peter Apfelbaum, Jennifer Hartswick, Zigaboo Modeliste, Soulive, DRKWAV, Worship My Organ, Lettuce, Allen Stone, Algiers, Wil Blades, Scott Amendola, Sound Cipher, Lorbo & so many more.
Skerik was inducted into the “Seattle Jazz Hall Of Fame” by Earshot Jazz in 2017, and he is the recipient of numerous awards including “Best Horns” (1991 Northwest Music Awards), “Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist Of The Year” (2003 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards) and “Northwest Alternative Jazz Group Of The Year” (2012 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards, as bestowed upon his group Bandalabra).
All totaled, Skerik has contributed to more than 200 records as a saxophonist and/or keyboardist, and his music has seen worldwide placement in feature films, independent films, TV shows, theater & dance pieces. He continues to make Seattle his primary home (now owning & operating his own studio in the city), and regularly embarks on tours around the world with his ever-expanding cast of collaborators & new things to do.
Boredom remains absent, categories remain useless.
George Colligan is not only one of the great jazz pianists of his generation, but he has earned an international reputation as a multi-instrumentalist (drums, trumpet, organ, keyboards), composer, accompanist, teacher, and bandleader, as well as popular blogger(jazztruth.blogspot.com). Winner of the 2015 DownBeat magazine Critics Poll (Keyboard), he has had a long association with living jazz legend Jack DeJohnette; recent touring took Colligan around the U.S. with “An Evening with Jack DeJohnette and Savion Glover.” He has also recently toured the U.S. and Canada as a leader with his trio featuring legends Buster Williams and Lenny White. With over 130 albums to date as an accompanist, Colligan has worked with a long list of jazz greats, including John Scofield, Buster Williams, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Botti, and many others. His latest album, “King’s Dream” (PJCE Records 2022) is his 36th as a bandleader, and features PSU faculty and alumni. Colligan, a New York resident for 15 years, now resides in Portland, Oregon where he is a Full Professor at Portland State University. He has recently won two Region Arts and Culture Council grants, A South Arts Jazz Road grant, and a PSU Faculty Development grant. Colligan recently won the PSU College of The Arts Dean’s Council Award for Research, Scholarship and Creativity(2020), and also won the Researcher of the Year Award from the PSU College Of The Arts(2021).
George Colligan has toured, recorded ,and/or performed as a sideman with Lonnie Plaxico, Gary Bartz, Benny Golson, Gary Thomas, Miguel Zenon, Tom Harrell, Steve Coleman, Eddie Henderson, Ralph Peterson, Vanessa Rubin, Steve Wilson, Dave Weckl, Richard Bona, Jane Monheit, Ravi Coltrane, Lenny White, Michael Brecker, Mike Clark, Nicholas Payton, Sheila Jordan, Janis Siegel, Christian McBride, Billy Hart, Charles Fambrough, Mingus Big Band, Al Foster, Mark Turner, Don Braden, Lew Soloff, Gunther Schuller, Larry Coryell, Victor Bailey, Carl Allen, Rodney Whitaker, Lee Konitz, Jamie Baum, Michal Urbaniak, Ron McClure,DJ Logic, Randy Brecker and Stefon Harris, among others.
“Colligan is an equally deserving torch-carrier of the piano trio tradition….” John Kelman , All About Jazz
“One of the best kept secrets in jazz….” Chris Hoven, All About Jazz
“As a creative artist, he’s really up there…. In terms of technique, knowledge of music and improvisational creativity, there aren’t a whole lot of cats from his generation that are any better than him. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of any.”– Don Braden in a blindfold test for Jazz Times
“Pianist George Colligan stole the set with a display of technique that inspired a standing ovation.”-Harvey Siders, Jazz Times, in a review of a Ravi Coltrane concert.
Tuesday, October 28th
No fun
$15-30
8pm
Ozkat Ozkat
Duolant & Chris Rorrer
Electric Palace Ensemble
Okzat-Ozkat is a new collaborative project from Andre Burgos (Brown Calculus, Be Present Art Group), Chris Frank (Frank Irwin Quintet), Alex Meltzer (Korgy and Bass), Jessie Smith (Jessie Smith Big Band, Frank Irwin Quintet), Alexander Thomas (Frank Irwin Quintet, Isabeau Waia’u Walker), and Reed Wallsmith (Blue Cranes, Battle Hymns and Gardens).
The driving force behind Okzat-Ozkat is conversation — finding common ground through listening. It is about empathizing and being open to changing your point of view. It is about rhythmic, melodic, and textural diversity. It’s tension and release. It’s music to write or sketch to. Music to nod your head to. Okzat-Ozkat’s improvised pieces are for the creative and curious listener.
Duolant is the electronic music project of Portland-based producer, Jeff Mettlewsky. Introduced to the synthesizer at an early age, and eventually leading to years of taking piano lessons, the instrument remains a fixture and unifying element in both his composition and recordings. As an artist, Mettlewsky takes inspiration from the natural surroundings found in the Pacific Northwest, following an impulse that drives creativity and curiosity with sound and his music-making in its entirety. His works often explore the combination of traditional instruments with the more experimental elements of the studio. He has designed his own hardware effects that he regularly employs in his music. In 2023, Duolant released a pair of albums on two niche-paving English labels: Waxing Crescent and Woodford Halse.
Cellist Chris Rorrer is a session musician and educator, dividing his time between Southern California and Oregon. When asked to collaborate with other musicians in unfamiliar contexts, he is excited to offer a diverse skill set that complements any musical project in a very immediate way. Chris transitioned from violin to cello at age ten, being fascinated by its characteristic resonance and versatility. His work features an unmistakable attention to nuance that can be heard through unique phrasing and melodic choices. Rorrer seeks to build community, promote peace, and foster healing through his performances and recordings, contributing music that tells a shared human experience to a diverse audience. Chris earned his Master’s degree in cello performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, in 2020.
In 2020, the historic Skyline Tavern closed its doors to the public and quietly re-opened them to nature & improvisation. Amid wildfires and racial justice protests, Skyline Tavern Project obscured the western saloon facade of the Tavern by covering it in black fabric and forming The Electric ⚡️Palace Ensemble. (E⚡️P E)
Inspired by the spiritual music of John Coltrane’s 1965 “A Love Supreme”, the Electric ⚡️Palace Ensemble composed their 4-part “Transfiguration Suite” in tender response to Coltrane’s original prayer; crafted with love, played with hellfire.
In 2022, E⚡️PE filmed their first performance of the Suite during sunset to a rapt audience of Northern Red Legged Frogs, Great Horned Owls & Lichen.
Today that performance is projected onto the exterior windows of the Skyline Tavern Project every Wednesday evening for the public. And the forest.
“The Transfiguration of the Electric Palace”
Composed by Tate Peterson, Kris Stuart & Matt Cadenelli. Commissioned by Skyline Tavern Project. Creative Commons License 2022.
Performed for Improvisation Summit by Tate Peterson, Chelsea Luker, Jeffrey Langston, Edwin Coleman, Scott ray Becker.
Tate Peterson-Guitar, Effects
Resolectrics, Big E & the Stomp, Asher Fulero, Black Dogs of Skyline
Chelsea Luker-Saxophone, Flute.
The Quadraphonnes, Scott Law Band, Moon Music, Asher Fulero Band
Jeffrey Langston-Electric Bass
Antony & the Johnsons, Kivett Bednar Band
Edwin Coleman -Drums
Three Kings Trio, Lloyd Jones Trio, Kivett Bednar Band
Scott ray Becker- Percussion
Garbage Gurus, Black Dogs of Skyline
Sun 26th
Strum Guitar
$15-30
3pm
Lori Goldston + Mike Gamble
Lori Goldston plays written, traditional and spontaneous work on cello, and works as a composer, teacher, bandleader, and prolific, widely varied collaborator. Classically trained and rigorously de-trained, her voice as a cellist is singular, deeply textured and original, investigating thresholds, instability, and connections between far-flung modes of thought.
She lives in Seattle and performs in venues large and small throughout North America, Europe and Australia as a soloist and collaborator with composers, film makers, writers, theater directors, choreographers, visual artists, orchestras and bands including Earth, Nirvana, the BBC Scottish Symphony, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Helms Alee, Mirah, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jem Finer, Jessika Kenney, Lonnie Holley, Trimpin, Stuart Dempster, Shelley Hirsch, Chloe Thompson, Mike Gamble, Rankin Renwick, Greg Kelley, Ghedalia Tezartes, Senga Nengudi, Ellen Fullman, Lynn Shelton, and many, many others.
Her work has been released on Mississippi Records, Sub Rosa, Nyahh, Relative Pitch, Beacon Sounds, Dasa, K Records, Broken Clover, Sofaburn, Obscure & Terrible, and Full Spectrum.
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
Sun 26th
Swan Dive
$15-30
8pm
Annual Round Robin hosted by Marcus Rudolph
Marcus Rudolph is an exceptionally creative musician spanning swing, groove and a wide range of dynamics! He will joined by:
Xylyn Hathaway, AJ Stillabower, Alexis Mahler, Jack Maiolo, Rudolfo Lopez, Joshua Phillips
Bug Farm is a new group led by Dillon Nadler on guitar and compositions, featuring Portland heavyweights Machado Mijiga on drums and Eden Holland on upright bass and modular synthesizers. Making full use of the power trio format, the band explores the intersection of free jazz, experimental electronic music, minimalism, and heavy metal.
https://www.instagram.com/dillon.nadler
James Staub is a composer and programmer based in Portland, Oregon, focused on interactive composition systems, real-time performance software, and algorithmic improvisation. His improvisational work for cello incorporates custom-made software which models the timbral and temporal qualities of the acoustic instrument into data which controls an accompaniment of electronic voices. With this approach the cello is itself is the controller of the electronics, removing the need for keyboards or other digital interfaces. The system is composed of several modules which analyze pitch, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, and timbre over short, medium and long time windows. The synthesis engine, built in MaxMSP, uses a combination of concatenative synthesis, physical modeling, and other techniques to process and manipulate the live sound. The goal of this approach is to extend and accentuate the timbral language of cello, while maintaining the nuanced, tactile relationship between the performer and the instrument. jamesstaub.com muddywires.bandcamp.com/ instagram.com/j_a_m_e_s__a__s_t_a_u_b/
The kgmr band is a Portland-based duo made up of kgmr (keyboards, samples, field recordings, noise, vocals) and Bobby Read (guitar, bass, drums, violin, samples, field recordings, noise, vocals). Together, they write and record music for solo, duo, trio, and larger ensemble performance. They invite collaborators on projects locally, nationally, and internationally.
kgmr started writing and recording music in elementary school using a Casio keyboard, a Magnus organ, and a tape recorder. Her first compositions were imagined as soundtracks for horror films. Early sampling projects using prank phone calls and the tape recorder were unfortunately stopped by the police. Her music has been used in films, theater, and radio. She appears elsewhere as a guest keyboardist.
Bobby Read loves playing heavy guitar and making noise on a variety of instruments.
warm canopy
Former Brooklynite turned Portlander, Freddi Wyss (they/them) is a time-based artist who uses a variety of media to examine the spaces of communication development and breakdown. As a gap artist, they utilize experimental music, performance, and hybrid poetry to explore depths of emotional processing, highlighting the spaces in between moments, words, and melodies.
Freddi currently works under the moniker warm canopy and collaborates with a wide variety of movers and performers. Recent projects include: live soundscapes and score development for the embodied movement collective Tiny Vessels for the New Expressive Works Residency, 17th Cohort, resident at the Campbient 44-hour Sound Art Residency, mover in Jared Maurice Dancler’s work “Poppy People: Act II – Down River” at Shaking The Tree Theater, and will be composing a new piece entitled “The Plateau” for Friends After Good Sound’s winter 2025 performance. Additionally, they play in several Portland based bands including Fog Cutter and Karen Caskets.
Skerik
“Hardening of the categories leads to Art Disease.” – John Medeski
Decade upon decade, Skerik remains the tireless steward for one of modern music’s most diverse, adventurous & passionate bodies of work.
Skerik’s world is one where dialogue flows freely between wildly disparate strains of musical thought… where no borders exist between jazz & sludge metal, where elements of Congolese soukous dialect might find their way onto the million-selling records of an alternative rock band, where an avant-garde electronic translation of Ornette Coleman’s deepest & darkest fantasies (shared with a select few listeners in a small club) easily attains the same level of satisfaction & meaning as an exuberant explosion of jazz/funk catharsis (shared with hordes of sweaty festival crowds all over the world).
It is a world where all sounds may communicate freely with each other, so long as they all originate from true inspiration & good faith. They may encounter friction & chaos along the way, eventually emerging in a shared harmonious understanding… or perhaps they might remain in friction & chaos, screaming in musical hellfire until the next chapter begins. Safety is never guaranteed in these woods, but boredom will never rear its head. That’s a promise.
It all began in Seattle when a precocious young man took his first few steps on tenor & baritone saxophone, inspired in equal measure by his love for jazz (as inherited from his father), the grittier side of funk/r&b and the experimental corners of rock. An apprenticeship spent working in a wide variety of bands in London, Paris & the South Pacific further expanded his ears & ambitions, and he returned home in the late 1980s armed with a full set of 10,000 hours and an insatiable work ethic that continues unabated to this day.
Back in Seattle, Skerik “accidentally” found himself joining the amazing rock duo SadHappy in 1990 (recording two studio albums & embarking on countless live adventures with the band), and the following year saw the first of many such honors when he won “Best Horns” from the Northwest Music Awards in 1991.
Ever restless, Skerik teamed up with Matt Chamberlain in 1993 to form the singular Critters Buggin, alongside luminaries such as Brad Houser & John Bush (later to be joined by Mike Dillon). Critters’ blend of rock, funk, jazz, industrial & African influences established an utterly unique presence in the explosion of improvisation-focused music that emerged in the 90s, and Skerik’s pioneering incorporation of harsh & abrasive electronic elements ensured that the band’s output was distinguished by a confrontational edge that wasn’t often encountered among the mellow hippie friendliness of the day.
By way of Critters’ rapidly expanding notoriety (along with the flurry of attention resulting from his appearances with Seattle supergroup Mad Season, with whom he featured on both their sole album “Above” and their legendary “Live At The Moore” video release), Skerik’s workload soon grew to include a plethora of new projects that were as stupefying in terms of diversity as they were in sheer numbers. A very short list would include Garage A Trois (alongside Stanton Moore & Charlie Hunter, later to be joined by Mike Dillon & Marco Benevento), Stanton Moore’s solo work, Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade & Fancy Band, Tuatara (alongside Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, Steve Berlin, Justin Harwood & a rotating cast of Seattle’s most renowned rock & jazz musicians), Ponga, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet, Crack Sabbath, Omaha Diner & The Dead Kenny Gs.
Over the years, it has been Skerik’s enormous honor to tour with Roger Waters, Fred Wesley, Les Claypool, Critters Buggin, Sadhappy, Beta Popes, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet, Garage a Trois, Stanton Moore, Mike Clark, Headhunters, Robert Walter, Ponga, Wayne Horvitz 4+1 ensemble, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Bobby Previte’s Coalition of the Willing, New York Composer’s Orchestra, Galactic, Tuatara, Mark Eitzel, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, The Dead Kenny G’s, Black Frames, Maelstrom Trio, Illuminasti Trio, Master Musicians of Bukkake, True Loves, McTuff, Master Musicians of Jajouka & so many more.
In addition, his good fortune has included performances and/or recordings alongside Mad Season, Medeski Martin & Wood, Primus, REM, Bonnie Raitt, Pearl Jam, Ween, Ani DiFranco, Stewart Copeland, Screaming Trees, Charlie Hunter, Larry Coryell, John Scofield, Warren Haynes, Nels Cline, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Shock G, The Coup, PBS, G. Calvin Weston, Josh Roseman, Shazhad Ismaily, Clyde Stubblefield, Kenny Drew Jr, Melvin Gibbs, Sex Mob, Crack Sabbath, Blotallika, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Johnny Vidocovich, George Porter Jr, Funky Meters, Kenny Wolleson, Benevento/Russo Duo, Leo Nocentelli, Earl Harvin Trio, Jon Brion, My Name, Kirk Joseph, Big Sam, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, The Word, North Mississippi Allstars, James Singleton, Somo-Somo, Remy Ongala, Freestyle Candela, Bheki Mseleku, Aubrey Oaki, Mino Cinelu, Bob Stewart, Bill Ware, Brain, Ralph Carney, M.I.R.V., Stone Gossard, Lonnie Marshall, DJ Logic, Jeff Parker, Get It Gurl, Ruth Brown, Howard Tate, Maxi Priest, Steve Berlin, David Hidalgo, Cory Henry, MonoNeon, Steve Kimock, Corrosion of Conformity, Hella, DJ Olive, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Ozomatli, Wolves in the Throne Room, Kayo Dot, SUNN O)))), Master Musicians of Bukkake, DJ Riz, Todd Sickafoose, Scott Amendola, Doze Green, Ernest Ranglin, Dave Ellis, Yoshida Brothers, Gene Ween, Peter Apfelbaum, Jennifer Hartswick, Zigaboo Modeliste, Soulive, DRKWAV, Worship My Organ, Lettuce, Allen Stone, Algiers, Wil Blades, Scott Amendola, Sound Cipher, Lorbo & so many more.
Skerik was inducted into the “Seattle Jazz Hall Of Fame” by Earshot Jazz in 2017, and he is the recipient of numerous awards including “Best Horns” (1991 Northwest Music Awards), “Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist Of The Year” (2003 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards) and “Northwest Alternative Jazz Group Of The Year” (2012 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards, as bestowed upon his group Bandalabra).
All totaled, Skerik has contributed to more than 200 records as a saxophonist and/or keyboardist, and his music has seen worldwide placement in feature films, independent films, TV shows, theater & dance pieces. He continues to make Seattle his primary home (now owning & operating his own studio in the city), and regularly embarks on tours around the world with his ever-expanding cast of collaborators & new things to do.
Boredom remains absent, categories remain useless.
Lori Goldston
“Goldston is a hugely important character in contemporary music history.” – The Quietus
“Cello music sounded from fathoms deep.” – NPR.
Lori Goldston plays written, traditional and spontaneous work on cello, and works as a composer, teacher, bandleader, and prolific, widely varied collaborator. Classically trained and rigorously de-trained, her voice as a cellist is singular, deeply textured and original, investigating thresholds, instability, and connections between far-flung modes of thought.
She lives in Seattle and performs in venues large and small throughout North America, Europe and Australia as a soloist and collaborator with composers, film makers, writers, theater directors, choreographers, visual artists, orchestras and bands including Earth, Nirvana, the BBC Scottish Symphony, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Helms Alee, Mirah, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jem Finer, Jessika Kenney, Lonnie Holley, Trimpin, Stuart Dempster, Shelley Hirsch, Chloe Thompson, Mike Gamble, Rankin Renwick, Greg Kelley, Ghedalia Tezartes, Senga Nengudi, Ellen Fullman, Lynn Shelton, and many, many others.
Her work has been released on Mississippi Records, Sub Rosa, Nyahh, Relative Pitch, Beacon Sounds, Dasa, K Records, Broken Clover, Sofaburn, Obscure & Terrible, and Full Spectrum.
Pacific Lumber & Wire
open source string improvisation
Hosted by bassist Andrew Jones, Pacific Lumber & Wire is an ad hoc gathering of local string players working with open source structured improvisation/conceptual composition. The intention is to create a zero risk environment to explore sound and community cooperation, with a healthy dose of play and catharsis achieved. Prompts, graphic notation, games, process pieces- any and all ideas are entertained, adapted and integrated as they’re offered and molded by the group.
10.25 w/ Lori Goldston features:
Timmy Barnett, violin
Jacob Mitas, violin/viola
Chibia Ulinwa, viola
Alexis Mahler, viola
James Staub, cello
Rodolfo Lopez, bass
Andrew Jones, bass
122 NW Couch St, Portland
Friday October 24th
Desert Island Studios
1316 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
$15-30
8pm
Lori Goldston + Chloe Alexandra Thompson
Ilyas Ahmed
Craig Burk
Classically trained and rigorously de-trained, possessor of a restless, semi-feral spirit, Lori Goldston is a cellist, composer, improvisor, producer, writer and teacher from Seattle. Her voice as a cellist, amplified or acoustic, is full, textured, committed and original. A relentless inquirer, her work drifts freely across borders that separate genre, discipline, time and geography.
Current and former collaborators and/or bosses include Earth, Nirvana, Mirah, Jessika Kenney, Ilan Volkov, Eyvind Kang, Stuart Dempster, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jherek Bischoff, Malcom Goldstein, Steve Von Till, Lonnie Holley, Cat Power, Ellen Fullman, Maya Dunietz, Mik Quantius, Embryo, O Paon, Tara Jane O’Neil, Natacha Atlas, Broken Water, Ed Pias, Christian Rizzo and Sophie Laly, Threnody Ensemble, Cynthia Hopkins, 33 Fainting Spells, Vanessa Renwick, Mark Mitchell, Lynn Shelton, and many more.
Her work has been commissioned by and/or performed at the Kennedy Center, Sydney Festival, Cineteca Nacional de México, Tectonics Festival, Frye Art Museum, Time Based Art Festival (TBA), WNYC, The New Foundation, Paris Fashion Week, Northwest Film Forum, On the Boards, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Bumbershoot, Crossing Border Festival, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Joe’s Pub, the Stone, University of Chicago, and venues large and small throughout North America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.
Chloe Alexandra Thompson is a Cree interdisciplinary artist, director and composer. Her practice explores listening as a way of knowing and relating which is shaped by Indigenous resonance, spatial perception, and embodied vulnerability. Working with psychoacoustic tones, algorithmic systems, and sculptural spatialization as materials, she composes spaces that shift awareness, inviting deep relational encounters between bodies, technologies, and the land.
Thompson’s work has been presented by CTM Berlin, MUTEK (Tokyo & Montreal), Onassis Foundation (Greece & USA), ImagineNative, Pioneer Works, PICA, Performance Space New York, among others. A current Onassis ONX Studio member, she has participated in residencies at Pioneer Works, MIT OpenDoc Lab with the Indigenous Screen Office of Canada, and HERVISIONS x Arebyte (UK).
In January 2021, Cycling ‘74, announced Thompson as one of the first Max Certified Trainers. She has also worked as a Creative Director, Technologist, Artist, and Audio Direction for immersive experiences. Her sound design has been featured in the works of artists across the fields of music, performance, TV and film.
She was a founding member of the Working Consortium in developing First Nations Performing Arts.
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 Miracle Music was released this year. New solo album forthcoming in 2026. Ilyas lives and works in Portland Oregon.
https://ilyasahmed.bandcamp.com
Craig Burk first presented his music to the public on November 28, 1979 when he and his band played at the legendary CBGB’s in New York City. Their next performance took place a few weeks later at the equally legendary Max’s Kansas City.
Craig and his colleagues would play at all the popular venues during that Golden Age of the experimental/avant-garde music scene in downtown Manhattan (early 1980s): Mudd Club, Soundscape, Public Access Synthesizer Studio, Roulette, Inroads, 8 B.C., The Pyramid, John Zorn’s clubs The Saint and The Chandelier, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
At that time, Burk described his music as a blend of punk rock, free jazz, Broadway show tunes, industrial noise, Indian movie music, and French pop, as well as classical: ranging from Mozart’s operas to Schoenberg’s art lieder to the aleatory tendencies of John Cage.
Burk went on to perform his music for audiences in Europe and then in Portland. He was a founding member of the New West Electro-Acoustic Music Association (NWEAMO) and played a central role in the organization of NWEAMO’s first two annual festivals, which took place at Lewis and Clark College in 1999 and 2000. Burk presented original works at both events.
From 2007 to 2009, he hosted a radio program on KBOO-FM devoted to music from all genres around the world. Burk has also performed Italian popular songs from the 1960s to the present in Portland clubs, bringing to each his own very individual interpretation, inspired by his past musical explorations.
In 2021, Burk retired after over 30 years in international business. He then made the Reaper Digital Audio Work Station his instrument of choice. In his most recent works, he has used this software program to create collages of sound, arranging samples from past works (dating back to 1984) and fragments of newly recorded improvisations, using electric guitar, voice, trumpet, toys, and household utensils.
Burk has employed this collage approach in Dotted Outlines in the Air (2023), Save It for Anticlimax! and surprise me! (2024) Dix-sept petits exercices d’une humeur ludique (2024), Slouching Towards the Garden of Earthly Delights (2025), Familiar Faces! Sudden Geysers of Incense! (2025), and A Whole New Way to Use Black-and-White (2025). He describes these latest works as “atmospheric late-evening sounds for the lobby of a small hotel in some exotic locale — seasoned with a small dose of unrelenting provocation.”
All his works can be heard at: https://craigburk.bandcamp.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/@craigburk
Thursday October 23
Turn Turn Turn
$15-30
8pm
Reed Wallsmith/Lisa Lipton/Kyleen King/Shao-Way Wu/Tim DuRoche
Reed Wallsmith (alto saxophone) was born and raised in Portland, OR. He composes and performs with Blue Cranes, who have released six albums and several EPs, including the recently released full length My Only Secret (Jealous Butcher/Beacon Sound). His music and worldview have been influenced by many years of playing in the Northwest’s creative music scene, as well as formative years in the late 90s and early 2000s performing with musicians in Managua, Nicaragua. Wallsmith earned a BA in Latin American Studies from Carleton College, graduating with distinction with a thesis entitled The Role of the Musician in Post-Sandinista Nicaragua: The Work of Carlos Mejia Godoy 1973–2000. He has attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, received a Caldera Arts residency in composition, and several RACC Project and Professional Development grants. As a composer, Wallsmith has been commissioned by the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, Heidi Duckler Dance (choreographer Carla Mann), Tere Mathern Dance, Golden Hornet Project (Austin, TX), and Filmusik. His compositions have been featured nationally on The Moth Radio Hour and appeared in commercials for Squarespace, Stereo Skateboards and Footjoy.
Lisa Lipton (clarinet) is the Executive Director of both 45th Parallel Universe and Opera Theater Oregon, and is a Co-founder/Co-owner of Mendelssohn’s, Portland’s first classical music-themed bar. Lisa was executive director of the Newport Symphony Orchestra for two years. A versatile instrumentalist, her appearances include performances with the Decibel festival, TBA festival, PDX Pop Now!, MusicfestNW, Astoria Music Festival, Salem Orchestra, Oregon Ballet Theater, Portland Opera, and in jazz trio Fredson the Jeffry alongside pianist and composer George Colligan and drummer Micah Hummel. A prominently featured soloist on the soundtrack for Golden Globe-nominated Sony Pictures Film French Exit featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, her discography also includes albums by Luz Elena (Y La Bamba) and Jim Brunberg.
Kyleen King (viola) is a session musician, string arranger and live performer based out of Portland, Oregon. With a keen attention to detail and an intuitive ear, she is able to find exactly what a song needs and then create the part. She is the former violist/violinist and backup singer in Grammy-winning artist Brandi Carlile’s touring band. Kyleen is the first-call violist/violinist/arranger for Portland’s top recording studios and has recorded on projects with My Morning Jacket, First Aid Kit, The Decemberists, and many more. Her desire to serve the song above all else, to be well-prepared, and to have a laugh are the defining elements of her career.
Shao Way Wu (contrabass) is a freelance jazz bassist and Portland resident who grew up in Hong Kong. He moved to the Bay Area in 1971 at the age of fifteen. For two decades Wu was a pillar of the Humboldt County, CA jazz community. His artistic spirit has been thriving in Portland, where he’s released a handful of albums and collaborated with a swath of northwest creatives. Current projects include Lie Very Still with John Savage, Mike Gamble, and Ken Ollis, Ryan Meagher’s Cowboy Jazz, Alan Cook Collective, JB Butler Trio, LTD TIME with Allie Hankins and John Niekrasz, Ike Levin Trio, WuBeDu with Noah Bernstein and Tim DuRoche, Chris Lee Duo, and regular appearances with the Extradition Series.
Tim DuRoche (drums/little instruments), originally from Minneapolis, has been based in Portland since 2000. DuRoche has worked with an array of US and European jazz and free improvisation innovators, including Burton Greene, Roscoe Mitchell, Thollem McDonas, George Sams, Lori Goldston, Rich Halley, John Gross, Gordon Lee, Eri Yamamoto, Dominic Duval, Damon Smith, Bill McHenry, Carei Thomas, Paul Plimley-Lisle Ellis, Jon Raskin, Perry Robinson, Phillip Greenlief, and Marco Eneidi, among others. Local ensembles have included Get Smashing Love Power, Battle Hymns and Gardens, The Kin Trio, and a decade-long association with the late bassist André St. James in innumerable settings. Select recordings include Conversations with Love and Death with Battle Hymns & Gardens (Bandcamp) Johnny Miss Mae from John Savage/André StJames/Tim DuRoche (Gold Lion Arts), Live in Our Time by Thollem, André StJames, Tim DuRoche (ESP-Disk), ReEmergence with Ike Levin and Shao-Way Wu and Timeless Memories from Joel Futterman and Ike Levin (Charles Lester Music), as well as three PCJE Records: Amazing Life with Ezra Weiss/Jon Shaw/Tim DuRoche; The Kin Trio’s Breathe with Sunjae Lee and André St. James, and Ryan Meagher’s Evil Twin.
Ben Woodman Trio
Ben Woodman is a guitarist, trumpet player, and composer based in Portland OR. This group, featuring Brent Carmer on bass and Sam Berrett on drums, seeks to expand the language and possibilities of the guitar trio. Embracing free improvisation, through composition, and the spaces in between – this band is a container for controlled risk, and an earnest response to creative discontent. Modern music with salt, sugar, and fat.
Jarret Tetsuo Domen
Jarret Tetsuo Domen is an adventurous guitarist and composer from Portland, OR. Jarret’s solo
music features explorations of the electric guitar which are highly manipulated by effect pedals
with an emphasis on texture, atmosphere, and improvisation. Jarret blends a variety of musical
styles to create a unique sound that channels his experience as an Asian American.
Wednesday, October 22nd
Swan Dive
$15-30
8pm
Xylyn Hathaway
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
