Wednesday December 1
Blue Gene Tyranny

Composer/pianist Blue Gene Tyranny appears in one of his rare solo performances playing new pieces and works from his recent Lovely Music CD "Take Your Time".
"Tyranny has one of the most original styles in the modern classical world...the only pianist I can think of who rivals Cecil Taylor and Keith Jarrett in a single phrase. This is simply a ravishing disc." (Tuscon Citizen) "The overall mood is intimate, peaceful, and good-natured...Tyranny plays with great delicacy and an appreciation for the sensous appeal of a well-spaced chord."(American Record Guide).

Thursday December 2
Ursel Schlicht’s Ex Tempore

Ursel Schlicht – piano
Jamie Baum - flutes
Brandon Terzic - oud
Balla Kouyate – balafon
Ravish Momin - tabla, percussion
Thomson Kneeland - acoustic bass, electronics

Based on each members strong individual voices as composers and improvisers, Ex Tempore creates a contemporary sound by incorporating musical languages ranging from classical Indian, Middle-Eastern music to experimental electronic sounds and free improvisation.

Friday December 3
Andrew Drury
Breathe

Drummer/composer Andrew Drury's new trio features celebrated pianist Myra Melford and alto saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob) exploring sonic landscapes lying between improvisation, classical, and jazz. Drury's music interweaves extended and conventional instrumental techniques and is
animated by a drummer's sense of rhythm, phrase, and energy.

Saturday December 4
Laura Andel Electric Percussive Orchestra

In::tension:. (Premiere)
Percussive, intimate, visceral, ritual, and electrically charged, this music explores the tension points and internal pulses, glimpses and gestures in a non-narrative world. A night of all new music written by Argentinean composer Laura Andel for 10 musicians and conductor, In::tension:. will be premiered by her newly created ensemble, the Electric Percussive Orchestra.

With Kenta Nagai (Fretless Guitar)
Kyoko Kitamura (Voice / Electronics)
Taylor Ho Bynum (Cornet)
David Simons (Theremin / Percussion)
Carl Maguire (Prepared Rhodes / Accordion)
Ursel Schlicht (Piano / Prepared Piano)
Joel Harrison (Electric Guitar)
TBA (Viola)
TBA (Drums / Percussion)
TBA (Electric Bass)
Laura Andel (Composition / Conducting)

Sunday December 5 - Chris Brown

SF Bay Area composer Chris Brown performs two recent pieces for piano and interactive computer processing: "Retrospectacles" (2003) and "Shuffle" (2004). Reflections and transformation of sound, response and surprise to the performative gesture, playing the relationship between
improvisor and virtual narrative.

Wednesday December 8 - Shoko Nagai

VORTEX (Satoshi Takeishi & Shoko Nagai) explores the possibility of sound sculpting through 20th century music, free improvisation and real-time audio processing. By extracting, magnifying and modifying the past musical event, they make "passing of time" a visual experience. In Addition to their music, they work with live video manipulation by video artist, Adam Kendall to expand audio/video relationship. Web site http://home.earthlink.net/~takeishi

Thursday December 9 - Dave Burrell String Trio

featuring
Okkyung Lee, cello
plus a special guest

The debut of pianist Dave Burrell's 'String Trio' will blur the boundaries of rigorous improvisation and contemporary composition. "Encyclopedic as well as eccentric, he's is a living treasure," said the Village Voice about the former Archie Shepp, David Murray and Marion Brown collaborator..

Friday December 10 - Mary Griffin

Newman Taylor Baker, percussion
Corey Crawford, counter-tenor
Leroy Jenkins, violin
Diana Solomon-Glover, soprano
Peter Stewart, baritone
"Blue" Gene Tyranny, piano
Mary Griffin, video
Alan Johnson, Music Director and Conductor

perform the first act of Coincidents, a multi-media opera with music by Leroy Jenkins and libretto and video by Mary Griffin, based on their African American and Welsh family histories.

Saturday December 11
David Rothenberg and Marilyn Crispell

Clarinetist and alchemist of natural sounds David Rothenberg teams up with one of the greatest of all contemporary improvising pianists, Marilyn Crispell, whom the New York Times described as "an active volcano." An ECM recording artist, she has recorded nearly a hundred records under her own name and as part of groups led by Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, and Barry Guy. David Rothenberg has released six albums under his own name, and he’s played with Hamid Drake, Glen Velez, and the Karnataka College of Percussion. The Guardian in Britain called his work "genuine 21st century music." Lately he’s been jamming with lyrebirds in the Australian rainforest, and will bring some of the spirit of that work to this concert.