2022 Schedule

Friday, July 29

ROVA Saxophone Quartet

Rova Sax Quartet’s musical goal has always been, since 1978, to instigate, to challenge, and to inspire. The group explores the synthesis of composition and collective improvisation, creating exciting, genre-bending music. Rova:Arts, formed in 1986, acts as the umbrella organization for the musicians, facilitating the goals and productions and tours, the collaborations and special projects. With a 40th anniversary on Feb 4, 2018, Rova is one of the longest-standing groups in the music movement that has its roots in post-bop, free jazz, avant-rock, and 20th century new music; Rova draws inspiration from the visual arts, contemporary poetry, contemporary dance. We listen closely and deeply appreciate both the traditional and the pop music styles of Africa and Asia. And then there is the blues; always a key.
Personnel:
Bruce Ackley (soprano and tenor saxophones), Steve Adams (alto and sopranino saxophones), Larry Ochs (tenor sax), Jon Raskin (baritone sax)

Rob Ewing’s Long Tone Sally

An all-trombone experimental mega band, Long Tone Sally is the brain child of musician, composer, and educator Rob Ewing.
Personnel:
Adam Theis, C.L. Behrens, Danny Lubin-Laden, John Gove, Jon Hatamiya, Jonathan Seiberlich, Marty Wehner, Patrick Malabuyo, Scott Larson, Spencer Sussman, Wayne Wallace, Will Shannon, and ring leader Rob Ewing

Stackpole/Bobrowski

Krys Bobrowski and Karen Stackpole have collaborated in the quartet Vorticella for over 20 years. During that time they started their duo of gongd and Gliss Glass, an instrument invented by Krys Bobrowski consisting of water-filled glass vessels mounted on telescoping stands and interconnected with tubes and valves. By varying the height of the vessels and opening valves the sound dynamically changes with the level of the water changing the pitch from the glass via friction, mallets, splashes. The sounds are captured via piezo pickups and amplified. The Gliss Glass blends extremely well with the sound of the Gongs played by Karen Stackpole using various techniques with friction mallets, bows, and other implements. Karen Stackpole and Krys Bobrowski create a deep sonic journey that unfurls into an engaging and transcendent soundtrack for the imagination.
Personnel:
Krys Bobrowski (Gliss Glass), Karen Stackpole (Gongs)

Rivero/Buschman-Román/Voisey/Lim

Alexandra Buschman-Román, David Lim, Danishta Rivero, Ven Voisey perform Scaffold. Scaffold is a compositional structure of audible cues and field recordings for four performers, four directions in four movements for improvised voice and electronics assembled by Ven Voisey. The performers of Scaffold surround the audience and, through listening and responding to recordings of various spaces, build sometimes tonal, sometimes inharmonic, and intensely dynamic spatial environments.
Personnel:
Danishta Rivero, Alexandra Buschman-Román, Ven Voisey, David Lim (electronics)

T.D. Skatchit & Company (Celebrating the memory and legacy of Tom Nunn)

T.D. Skatchit & Company will play Skatchart. A Skatchart is a kind of “painting,” using objects instead of paint to create visual images and, as such, can be hung on a wall or played on a specially designed table that holds the instrument at an angle. Each Skatchart visually reflects, in some way, its title and is played in combination with at least 2 media inspired by the Skatchart.
Personnel:
David Michalak (skatchboxes, fixed audio and film for Skatchart), Karen Stackpole (gongs), Aurora Josephson (voice), Dean Santomieri (spoken word, text for Skatchart), Bruce Ackley (soprano saxophone)

zBug

zBug is multi-instrumentalist David Leikam’s psychedelic jazz quartet. San Francisco-based composer-performer and bandleader, David Leikam Being born with cerebral palsy has affected his body and speech, giving him a distinct view into his creative arts/music process and being largely a self-taught multi-instrumentalist.
Personnel:
David Leikam (Moog Rouge synthesizer, NS Design CR6-string fretless electric bass and cello), Patrick Cress (saxophones, clarinet), Doug Ellington (trumpet), Timothy Orr (drums, percussion)

Moira Scar

Moira Scar/V.E.X. is San Francisco/Oakland Ca. based death-noise-rock post-post-punk freak-wave, formed by Lu Lucifer Gamma Ray and Roxzan "Roxy Monoxide" Zatan in 2009 after a decade of playing as The Floating Corpses. Moira Scar started as a duo and became a triad, with different third members for different albums and tours, Moira Scar/V.E.X. has released 9+ albums and toured the US multiple times, as well as parts of Europe, Mexico, and Canada. Lu and Roxy also play under the name Vortex Empath Xen aka V.E.X., which is darkwave industrial noise synthpunk.
Lu and Roxy have always pushed themselves to create their own unique sound while channeling their deep subculture roots, staying true to their non-binary femme queer-core, anti-racist anti-fascist pro-earth pro-freak art and activism, divergent and emotional, the dream within the nightmare, Moira Scar aka V.E.X. aka Vortex Empath Xen is their lunatic fringe doom romance. Moira Scar/V.E.X. has played with hundreds of bands over the years including: Psychic TV, 45 Grave, Kommunit FK, The Frozen Autumn, HIDE, Moor Mother, Hante, Mephisto Walz, Skeletal Family, SRSQ, Acid Mothers Temple to name a few.
Personnel:
Roxy Monoxide (vocals, guitars, tenor saxophone), LuLu Gamma Ray
(keyboards, vocals, synthesizers, trombone, sampler), Bil Bowman (drums)

Tri-Cornered Tent Show

“This unusual band has been together since the mid-70s… Each song is part of a concept of an avant-psych blues freak-out… The overall effect is supreme weirdness and eerie coolness, much as you would expect from a tent show.”  – Humana for KFJC Radio 2014
In the early 20th century “tent shows” created multiple stages of interest vying simultaneously for attention. They could be selling you medicine, salvation, entertainment or war. Drawing on combined influences in R&B/dance, classical, multi cultural folk, progressive rock, 20th century avant garde and free jazz, Tri-Cornered Tent Show pushes the envelope of melodic groove and arrhythmic improvisation, sometimes evoking images of 70’s Italian horror pictures and other outré forms of cinema.
Personnel:
Philip Everett (Electric Lapharp and Xlarinet), Ray Schaeffer (Electric Basses), Anthony Flores (Drums)