For composer/pianist Larry Karush, improvisation is integral to the music he creates out of his roots in Jazz, Indian classical, Afro-Caribbean, western classical and 20th century music. This solo concert of his “comprovisations” will feature the northwest premiere of The Wheel, a large-scale piano work commissioned by the City of Los Angeles, and revised in 2009 during an artist-in-residency at the MacDowell Colony for the Arts (NH). Also on the program will be works by contemporary performer/composers (Bloom, Hammer), an unstandard treatment of a jazz standard, and a little 9/8 boogie-woogie.

Microdecibel (Lucio Menegon/Sabrina Siegel), Bill Horist, Moe! Staiano!, and Paul Pinto/Jeff Young will set up in different areas of the space, each playing short sets and handing the music off to the next artist, creating a continuous flow of sound. The butoh dance collective, DAIPAN-ha will provide a meditation/commemoration on the anniversary week of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Performed in memory of John Cage on the 19th anniversary of his passing, Gradus: for Fux, Tesla, and Milo the Wrestler is Neal Meyer’s piano composition in perennial progress, his systematic attempt to learn to play the piano one piano key at a time. It is also, among other things, a grappling with many core musical ideas either originating or strongly associated with John Cage. Silence, unintended ambient sound, severe compositional constraints, “letting sounds be themselves,” and a militant and purposeful devotion — all these key elements of Gradus derive from Neal Meyer’s long engagement with Cage’s thought and music.

Paper Kingdom is the fourth in a series of experimental small press and mixed media events organized by Sharon Alexander. Come see handsome self-published and crafted things; live music in bursts and moments; aural textures; classic, obscure and reputed reads and other nebulous surprises. James Yeary, Portland poet and visual/performance artist will be featured reader, along with David Hrivnak, Traci Eggleston and Andrew Bleeker. Independent publishing projects and zines from Jason T. Miles and Profanity Hill, Nate Orton, James Yeary, Garek Druss, Martine Workman, Sam Lohmann and others. Sound installation by Hart Boyd accompanied by Jacques Shaver and David Hrivnak. Music performances by John Teske and multimedia artist Garek Druss. Visual art and sculpture by Nate Orton, Martine Workman, Kelly Bjork, Karl Seng, Arrington de Dionyso and others.

Four solo sound performances by West Coast artists: Jessika Kenney (Seattle), John Krausbauer (Portland), Ryan Gregory Tallman (Fresno), and Zachary James Watkins (Santa Cruz). Their works are intimate, textures unfold patiently, resonance is holy, and improvisation is unavoidable.

Unit Trio (Christian Asplund, electric viola; Greg Campbell, drums; Jesse Canterbury, bass clarinet + sound by Mell Dettmer) perform Asplund’s Unit Series, a compendious epic of over 100 micro-movements in rock, funk, jazz, contemporary classical, minimalist, etc. textures that utilize quarter tones, irrational meters, canons of all sorts, polyrhythm, etc.

Bassist Paul Kemmish, aka PK, offers four or five new pieces of music performed with Beth Fleenor on clarinet and Olli Klomp on drums, and four more compositions with special guest pianist Dara Quinn.

Presented by Earshot Jazz. Earshot’s “Jazz: The Second Century” new music series concludes with Operation ID, featuring Jared Borkowski on guitar, David Balatero on bass, Rob Hanlon on keyboards, Ivan Arteaga on reeds, and Evan Woodle on drums. Opening: ManKinSon is Matt Norman on piano, Paul Hoskin on contrabass clarinet, and Dave Abramson on drums.

Screaming silence in a whirling pool of stillness, BLING! formed in 2004 to bring together mentor and student in a performance dynamic that investigates and activates new levels of awareness. The duo, featuring Denney Goodhew on piano and Beth Fleenor on clarinet, explores mostly spontaneously composed chamber music, occasionally throwing in a composed work by Goodhew, with a commitment to ensemble intention and focused energy.

Presented by Earshot Jazz. Earshot’s “Jazz: The Second Century” new music series continues into its fifth season, and this year presents eight resident ensembles over four evenings during the month of July. Tonight’s concert will feature Zubatto Syndicate. Zubatto Syndicate is a 12-piece big band that incorporates sounds and grooves from hip-hop, rock, funk, soul, and more, as performed by some of Seattle’s finest improvising musicians. The band is led by composer and guitarist Andrew Boscardin. Opening: TRIPTET is Tom Baker on electric fretless guitar and electronics; Michael Monhart on saxophone, percussion, and Tibetan horn; and Greg Campbell on drums, percussion, and french horn.