An evening of music for solo viola and spatialized aleatoric acousmatic sound. The evening will be divided into two sections with a short prelude and postlude. There will be a moment of silence in between these two sections.

prelude

(opening and invitation)

section one

> ( light everbloom in respite or despite the latter failings I cannot recount to ten  )

– tacet

section two

>( forever love ring[ing] for {h} – in velvet afterglow (blues/ violent/ yellow)) 

postlude

(closing and adieu)

Noel Kennon is a composer and artist living and working in Seattle. This work often is in reference to the physical qualities of sound such as the mathematical (or theoretical) forms of pitch space in relation to the harmonic series, difference tones, and the sonority of volume or rather the sonority of space both enclosed and open (on any scale) as well as nominating the socio/environmental effects and phenomenon of sounding in space such as the purpose and politics in engaging strangers along with other unhelpful pursuits. All the while stumbling toward an expression of the sound of that which is not struck in the search of a way to reach compassion to address our collective unending suffering.

From Alaska to Amazonas: Indigenous Music, Culture, and Resistance

Join us for a richly layered evening of music, spoken word poetry, visual art, and resistance drawn from two Native cultures—the Tlingit people of southern Alaska and the Indigenous Brazilian people of the Amazon. Co-created by Nahaan, Tlingit artist of multiple genres and Indigenous activist, and by Adriana Giordano, Seattle’s premier Brazilian vocalist, and concert producer, this event will emphasize experience over concept, leading you on an exploration of the paths of Native peoples as they navigate, and resist, the challenges of colonization and climate change.

Expect powerful storytelling and visuals from Nahaan, who lives and creates art in both traditional Tlingit culture and resistance culture—from ceremonial tattooing to carving and formline art—and allies himself with the Land Back movement.

Adriana, accompanied by stellar Seattle musicians from different genres, will provide an immersive music and sound experience that evokes the Amazon and Indigenous tribal culture, drawing on recordings of tribal songs, as well as other Brazilian musical genres. This musical mosaic will provide the sensory grounding for the evening and will highlight transitions in the shifts between Indigenous Brazilian and Tlingit culture.

The band:

Nahaan – vocals, spoken word
Adriana Giordano – vocals, triangle and other percussion instruments
Gabe Hall-Rodrigues – piano and accordion
Julian Weisman – double bass
Jeff Busch – percussion

Curated by Marina Albero for Nonsequitur’s NonSeq series.

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival. Welcomed by KBCS.

The genre-defying ensemble of four tenor saxophonists performs the music of Travis Laplante who is joined by Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Viner, and Patrick Breiner, all pushing their instrument to the limit, circular breathing hypnotic waves of sound and blistering runs to create intricate textures. With unorthodox articulations and unusual fingerings, they create a vast sonic vocabulary and yet create music that speaks directly to the heart.

*Earshot Jazz COVID-19 Policy: Earshot recommends that all ticket holders be vaccinated. Masks are strongly encouraged indoors unless actively eating or drinking. Policy subject to change. Full policy here.

(photo: Big Fish)

In celebration of their 60th anniversary this year, Jack Straw Cultural Center presents a special evening of performance featuring members of the Composers & Improvisers Workshop. Workshop alumni Lynette Westendorf, Sumiko Sato, Jim Knodle, Kenny Mandell, Don Berman, Steve Griggs, Charles Hiestand, Casey James, Elizabeth Strauss, poet Pamela Moore Dionne, and others will perform newly composed works and improvisations in a variety of combinations.

In the mid 1990s, a group of Seattle musicians began a series of workshops as a way for musicians to bring their compositions and ideas for improvisation to a collaborative session, not with the goal of performing or recording, but rather to talk over the music, the creative process, and to gain feedback from one another. Some people focused exclusively on scored music, while others led improvised “conductions” or open structured improv. The group eventually developed into the Composers & Improvisers Workshop, and was open to participation to anyone interested in developing their skills and collaborating with other musicians. CIW presented regularly at Jack Straw in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Just being Stephen Fandrich, at the piano, erasing time and expectation – a rare glimpse of this otherworldly musical genius in solo concert form.

Stephen Fandrich has been a resident performing artist of Seattle for 35 years. His piano improvisations exude a rare and rich combination of Russian late Romantic composers, Javanese Karawitan, and late 20th century piano improvisers. Classical piano, jazz piano, prepared piano, gamelan, bi-tonal singing, just-intonation, tuning, instrument building, sound-based installation, composition and improvisation are all current passions. Vessel, a new album produced by Gamelan Pacifica (2022), features three new works by Fandrich, including a composition combining gamelan and the Del Sol String Quartet.

Fandrich will perform long-form improvisations for solo piano and for the piano prepared with sticks of wood, to transform the piano into a custom-tuned percussion orchestra. 

An evening of dark improvised experimental music and spoken word just before the Veil begins to Thin for all Hallows Eve.

Vanessa Skantze is a Butoh artist, yoga practitioner, and writer who has performed and taught in the US and Europe for over twenty years. For this evening’s performance she will have a focus on her Spoken Word works. Skantze is a co-founder of Teatro de la Psychomachia, a DIY space which has hosted national and international performing artists and musicians for more than a decade. She also co-directed Butoh ensemble Danse Perdue. She has toured with Tatsuya Nakatani, Lydia Lunch, and shared the stage with Jarboe, and has choreographed to the music of Kris Force (Amber Asylum). Locally, she creates frequent collaborations with Noisepoetnobody and To End It All.

Ricksplund is an improvising duo from Salt Lake City consisting of Steven Ricks (trombone, electronics) and Christian Asplund (viola, piano/keyboards, electronics). The most recent manifestations of their duo work involve one improvising on a particular acoustic instrument (trombone or viola, respectively), while the other improvises adding effects, samples, and loops created from the live instrument’s sound. In some cases prerecorded/composed audio elements are incorporated. In other cases, both set the acoustic instruments aside and improvise together using our respective electronic setups. Steven Ricks creates work that is bold, innovative, ambitious, and diverse, and that often includes strong narrative and theatrical influences. He is a professor of music theory and composition in the BYU School of Music. Christian Asplund is a Canadian-American composer-performer based in Utah where he teaches at Brigham Young University.  His interests have included the intersections of text/music, improvisation/composition, and modular textures/forms. 

Among the Pacific Northwest’s hidden societies, Geist & the Sacred Ensemble forges a doom-inflected folk ritualism; dirges tinged with Eastern psychedelia and meandering meditative trances. For the last several years, the group has shown the regional underground a clear vision for their sound and lyrics, creating a shamanistic space for the listener, placing them into a trance, then building up the excitement. The overarching theme of their lyrical work is that of an idealist, a yearning for an end to the modern human condition, for destruction of the constructs and constraints of oppression. Their tunes exist as an ever-changing pilgrimage, transforming their abstract drifts into apocalyptic folk hymns or private confessionals. Geist & the Sacred Ensemble has shared the stage with acts as diverse as Oranssi Pazuzui, Insect Ark, Soriah, Six Organs Of Admittance, Pedestrian Deposit, Yonatan Gat, Father Murphy, and Jackie-O-Motherfucker. Their live shows are hypnotic and emotionally charged, often taking place at unique locations like a metal forge and foundry, forests and meadows, old schools, churches and more. Tonight at the Chapel they will be leaning into their DIG IN SESSIONS improvised experimental drone style.

The inspired trombonist Christian Pincock spins jazz, classical music, folk music, and sound effects through a conducted improv sign language called Soundpainting. His ensemble of fine Seattle improvisers helps him to create distinctive works which have included reinterpretations of The Nutcracker Suite and ’80s pop love songs. His relatable collages are imbued with unexpected juxtapositions. Joining Christian Pincock are: Brian Bermudez (saxophone, clarinet, flute), Neil Welch (saxophone), Jeremy Shaskus (saxophone), Evan Woodle (drums), Steve Meyer, Peter Tracy (cello), Jenny Ziefel (saxophone, clarinet), Steve Treseler (saxophone), Greg Campbell (drums), Peter Nelson-King (trumpet, piano), Rocky Martin (drums), Carol Levin (harp), and Haley Freedlund (trombone).

(photo: Mark Chavez)

Presented by Nonsequitur in cooperation with Earshot Jazz Festival.

*Earshot Jazz COVID-19 Policy: Earshot recommends that all ticket holders be vaccinated. Masks are strongly encouraged indoors unless actively eating or drinking. Policy subject to change. Full policy here.

Seattle’s Striking Music is a hybrid percussion ensemble focused on blending lights and sounds into an immersive counterpoint, featuring percussionists Storm Benjamin, Rebekah Ko, and James Doyle, alongside sound designer Benjamin Marx and lighting designer Kevin Blanquies.

Their original music draws equally from minimalist percussion traditions and DIY mentalities, with handmade instruments and bespoke lighting sculptures. Through painstaking revision, the music and light design are developed concurrently, where one is always in service to the other. Classically trained and endlessly curious, their work is equal parts theater and concert experience.

Curated by Leanna Keith for Nonsequitur’s NonSeq series.

Benoît Pioulard, Hotel Neon, Viul and Natasha El-Sergany present a night of atmospheric music featuring guitar, voice, and electronic instrumentation.

Benoît Pioulard is the primary audiovisual project of Brooklyn-based (ex-Seattle) Thomas Meluch. With six LPs on the renowned kranky imprint, as well as a catalog of works for Universal (UK), Morr Music (DE) and others, he has constructed a unique aesthetic steeped in the textures of analog decay and pop song structure using chiefly guitar, piano and tape processing. He has also built an extensive archive of Polaroid photographs (many of which grace his album covers), the first official collection of which is the hardcover book “Sylva”, released in 2019. For live performances Meluch constructs towering loops, seamlessly weaving in gentle guitar-and-voice songs for hypnotic, unbroken sets typically backdropped by film work from like-minded visual artists.

Hotel Neon is the Philadelphia-based trio of Michael Tasselmyer, Andrew Tasselmyer, and Steven Kemner. Together they create music to get lost in: cavernous, reverberating guitars and synthesizers, matched with visual projections in an immersive audio/visual experience. Since forming in early 2013, the group has released nine full-length studio albums and several EPs. Hotel Neon has toured and collaborated with the likes of Benoit Pîoulard, The Sight Below, Simon Scott, and Marcus Fischer, filling everything from living rooms to cathedrals with their densely layered walls of sound.

Viul is a Brooklyn-based composer and ambient musician. His latest release is Konec (A Strangely Isolated Place, 2022), a collaboration with Benoît Pioulard written and recorded in the earliest days of the pandemic and imbued with the concurrent dread, stillness and strange beauty of an abruptly-halted world. Viul’s previous releases include Bright Decline (Disques d’Honoré, 2019) and Outside the Dream World (Past Inside the Present, 2019). 

Natasha El-Sergany, singer-songwriter for the kosmiche-driven band somesurprises, returns to her bedroom roots for a solo ambient guitar and voice project finding beauty in repetition, droning swells, and melodies evocative of the calm waters of quiet conversation that belie the ocean of feeling underneath.

Born and raised in Seattle, Tom Swafford left home in 1991 and lived in Seattle again from 2002-2007. During that time, Tom formed many connections in Seattle’s vibrant creative music and arts community.  He began working with Butoh artist Vanessa Skantze in the group Death Posture. In their duo work over the years, they developed a unique and powerful language connecting sound and physical gesture. He played with Jesse Canterbury in the double violin/double clarinet quartet Cipher (with Tari Nelson-Zagar and Greg Sinibalidi), and in the Tone Action Orchestra (as well as various ad hoc groups) with Jim Knodle and Greg Campbell. His experience during those Seattle years was essential to his development as a player. 

He moved to NYC in 2007 and in 2021 he relocated to Providence, RI. His new album, Rough Spaces, was recorded in Boston in the spring of 2021 and beautifully mastered by Mell Dettmer. With this album, he feels he has finally arrived at a distinct solo voice and he is excited to share it! He’ll be joined by Vanessa, Jesse, Jim, Greg, and percussionist Eveline Müller.