Stepping Off brings together accordionist-pianist-composer Simone Baron and clarinetist-penny whistle player-composer James Falzone in musical conversation built from shared instincts, deep listening, and a delight in discovery.
Baron and Falzone share a musical language shaped by chamber music, jazz, folk traditions, and experimental improvisation. Their chemistry comes in part from hearing many of the same things beneath the surface: Stravinsky, Bartók, Messiaen, and the particular possibilities and peculiarities of their instruments.
Drawing inspiration from the Wendell Berry poem of the same name, the duo moves freely between original compositions, arrangements, improvised music, gestures, and fragments of melody living between their collective memory, waiting to surface. Music emerges, dissolves, returns transformed, or collides in ways neither musician expected.
Stepping Off is music made with one foot in what the musicians know and the other somewhere just beyond.
simone baron is an accordionist, pianist and composer whose playing is known for its “gestural joie de vivre,” marked by “living, breathing vitality and exquisite nuance” (Washington Post). Joyfully de-educated through festivals, residencies, and performances across Europe and the Americas, simone has received grants, fellowships, and residencies from organizations including South Arts, Chamber Music America, Conserere Milan, Sacatar Foundation (Brazil), the Banff Centre, Strathmore, Hambidge, ArtOMI, Avaloch Farm, Marble House, Bloedel Reserve, and Spectrum Toronto. Upcoming engagements include tours with their chamber jazz ensemble Arco Belo, DeCollage trio, a transatlantic duo with Italian clarinetist-composer Federico Calcagno, and a new immersive, multimedia solo project, élégie.
Clarinetist, penny whistle player, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer who has been commissioned by chamber ensembles, dance companies, choirs, and symphony orchestras around the globe. He leads his own ensembles Allos Musica, Elaía Ensemble, Renga Ensemble, and the duo Wayfaring with Chicago bassist/vocalist Katie Ernst, and is a member of the Tapestry Ensemble and many projects connected to composer/pianist Wayne Horvitz. James has released a series of critically acclaimed recordings on Allos Documents, the label he founded in 2000, and appears on numerous recordings as a sideman. James performs throughout North America and Europe, appears regularly on Downbeat magazine’s Critics’ and Readers’ Polls, and was nominated as the Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association. He has been profiled in the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, New Music Box, and Point of Departure, among many other publications. Educated at Northern Illinois University and New England Conservatory, James is also a respected educator and scholar and has been on the faculty of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Deep Springs College, North Central College, Columbia College Chicago, and was a fellow at The Center for Black Music Research. His scholarship on improvisation has been presented at numerous academic conferences and to diverse audiences including admirals at the US Naval War College and executives at Google’s creative retreats. At present, James is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Department at Seattle University. James is a Backun clarinet artist and plays penny whistles made for him by Chris Abell.