Julian Snow improvises on toy piano, homemade zither, and his modified “magic keyboard.” His collaborators have included guitarist John Fahey and Kadi Rae of Portland’s Dekum Manor and Oro Azoro. The recent retrospective album “Insects of Fairmount Hill” documents some of his best work from the 1980s to the 2000s, mostly on analog synthesizer.

David Rafn is 1/3 of the Portland band Sustentacula – a band that blurs the lines between linear song structures, abstract beats, and loop based improvisation.
As an improviser, his mediums of choice are home made 4-track tape loops, ancient digital FX racks, and prepared string instruments. Live performances focus on off-kilter rhythms, unexpected spoken word recordings, cartoonish sound effects, and dusty, submerged harmonic fields.

Flutist and saxophonist John C. Savage has been compared to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Herbie Mann, Noah Howard, Ian Anderson, and Colin Stetson. Known as “a badass, knock-down-drag-out force to be reckoned with” (The Willamette Week), Savage has performed with, among others, Billy Fox and Mark Dresser (The Uncle Wiggly Suite), Cartridge (The Black Heron and the Spoonbill), The Brooklyn Qawwali Party (eponymous release), the Andrew Hill Big Band (A Beautiful Day), The Kitsune Ensemble (The Kaidan Suite and Amanogawa), releases with Ken Ollis on PJCE Records (Demolition Duo and Senses Sharpened), and the poetry and music duo, Thick In The Throat, Honey (Love Letters We Never Sent).

Jeff Baxter is a versatile instrumentalist, performing and satisfying his own self enrichment on piano, violin, guitar and banjo. He has studied classical piano throughout his life. He continues to involved himself in ensembles with various textures including rock, pop, modern classical, including the Triclops Organ Trio, Ray Frasier, Eagles of Freedom, Jive Talkin’ Robots, the Faints, and Curtis Salgado. He prides himself by his ability to leave space and speak a musical language that will leave listeners with a new vocabulary.

Seattle-based musicians Chris Icasiano and Carmen Rothwell take to the west coast to perform solo sets, exploring the depths and subtleties of their respective instruments: drum set and double-bass. Icasiano and Rothwell are active members and organizers of the improvised-music scene in Seattle, WA. You can find them regularly at the Racer Sessions, Seattle’s premier weekly avant-garde performance series of 7-years.