Paul Hoskin’s annual eighty-minute contrabass clarinet solo improvisation. Hoskin is currently working with language form as he extends his approach. He fully recognizes the vocal elements of a solo. Besides, he is currently listening to Archie Shepp’s Blase. Extended technique is a given, simply develop form in the moment. Spontaneous composition rather than improvisation.

Monktail Creative Music Concern presents an evening of new music for percussion and ensemble, featuring compositions and improvisations from Sam Yoder (Midday Veil), Nick Gonzalez (Curious Mystery), Mark Ostrowski, Stephen Fandrich and others.

Big Crinkly Trio was formed in 2010 by Jim Knodle, Doug Lilla, and Pete Turner, three musicians who have a long history, but hadn’t played together for some time. The trio consists of the slightly unusual instrumentation of trumpet, bass, and drums with each member trying to maintain balance with the other two. The material they present consists of originals by all three members plus pieces by Monk, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Bill Frisell, Dave Holland and others.

The Seattle Composers’ Salon fosters the development, performance and appreciation of new music by regional composers and performers. At bi-monthly, informal presentations, the Salon features finished works, previews, and works in progress. Composers, performers, and audience members gather in a casual setting that allows for experimentation and discussion. Everyone is welcome! Composers for this month: Matthew James Briggs, Keith Eisenbrey, John Teske, John Cage.

Pacific Rims Percussion Quartet performs two works written 49 years apart on this tribute to composer John Cage on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Credo in Us (1942) is a prime example of Cage’s early percussion work, strictly and conventionally notated, but innovative in form and content. The instrumentation uses not only piano, gongs and tom-toms, but employs found instruments such as tin cans, an electric buzzer, and a phonograph. Four4 (1991), is one of a large group of numbered pieces he wrote during his last years, this one for percussion quartet.

Presented by Earshot Jazz. Splashgirl is three creative young Norwegian musicians – Andreas Stensland Løwe (piano/lofi electronics), Jo Berger Myhre (double bass/ zither/tone generator) and Andreas Lønmo Knudsrød (drums/percussion/sounds) – playing their own music inspired by any number of musical genres.

Presented by Nonsequitur. Composer/performers Cat Lamb and Bryan Eubanks present solo compositions as part of a North American tour. Lamb will perform Shade/Gradations (2012) for viola and filtered oscillators and Eubanks will perform (test)Spectral Pattern (2012) for soprano saxophone, feedback, and digital synthesis.

St. Annie is the debut album of Nick Nihil. Featuring Chris Icasiano and Neil Welch (who comprise the acclaimed experimental jazz behemoth Bad Luck) and Tim Mendonsa (with whom Nihil plays in alt-rock up and comers Sad Face), the album unfolds a dreamscape narrative about the destructive nature of ego. The band weaves modern jazz, spoken word, noise, lounge crooner, and rock into an alternately terrifying and beautiful whole. Pianist Cameron Sharif has been an active participant in Seattle’s improvised music scene for the past five years. Blending an angular compositional approach with sonorous piano textures, Sharif will be performing an original piece that uses both composed and improvised material as a template for expression.

The Westerlies are a NYC-based brass quartet comprised of four friends from Seattle. They stretch the limits of conventional chamber music by emphasizing original composition and improvisation, to create music that resides in the ever-narrowing gap between contemporary classical composition, jazz influenced improvisation, and North American folk music.

Jonah Parzen-Johnson is a baritone saxophonist living in Brooklyn. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, he was surrounded and inspired by the AACM and South Side music community. Before graduating from high school Jonah had studied under former AACM chairman Mwata Bowden and AACM member Matana Roberts. Under their tutelage he developed a dedicated focus on the essential role of composition in the life of a musician. Parzen-Johnson moved to New York in 2006.

Saxophonist Ivan Arteaga presents Bark for solo saxophone and electronics and Kromer, his trio with Evan Woodle (drums) and Cameron Sharif (piano). Albuquerque-based composer and trombonist Christian Pincock performs his energetic original compositions with trumpeter Chad McCullough, keyboardist Aaron Otheim, bassist Luke Bergman and drummer Chris Icasiano.