Mouth of Gravity with dancer Alia Swersky

8:00 pm: $5 - $15 sliding scale suggested donation at the door (cash/checks only)

 Mouth of Gravity consists of multi-instrumentalist and music educator Denney Goodhew playing piano in this configuration, globe trotting multi-faceted guitarist Mark Oi, and dimensional drum ace Adam Kessler. Movement artist Alia Swersky is a performer and teacher engaged deeply in the vital act of dance improvisation. Together they delve into vacillating kaleidoscopes of color, shape and velocities one moment, a piercing whisper the next, the bull’s rush of a butterfly’s breath. This collaboration should prove to be of magical proportions. Please come and be part of it.

Lori Goldston

8:00 PM; $5 - $15 sliding scale suggested donation at the door (cash/checks only)

Cellist and composer Lori Goldston performs composed and improvised works, a warmup for her first solo tour of Europe. She will also be joined by violinist Julie Baldridge and percussionist Greg Campbell.

Tom Varner Quintet: Improvisations, New Works & Works from the 90s

The Tom Varner Quintet (Varner, French horn/composer; Mark Taylor, alto saxophone; Eric Barber, tenor saxophone; Phil Sparks, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums) present a mix of improvisations, new works for quintet and selected works from Tom's three acclaimed 1990s quintet CD's, The Mystery of Compassion, Martian Heartache, and Swimming. Also, a couple of new pieces adapted from Tom's newest recording project, Nine Surprises, a new work for nonet, to be released this Fall.

Setzer/Ziefel Duo: Music for Two Bass Clarinets

Don't miss the truly amazing rumbly sounds of brand new bass clarinet duets by local composers as played by Jenny Ziefel and Beverly Setzer. Come hear the world premieres of Jazz Set for two bass clarinets by William O. Smith, Three Dances by Jim Knodle, and Cobweb by Daniel Barry, along with Colombian Dances by Mauricio Murcia Bedoya and Dark Embers by Theresa Martin.

Any Ensemble: Flexible Music

The Any Ensemble performs a hybrid of composed and improvised music, written to be interpreted by any group of instruments. The ensemble for this show includes Taina Karr, oboe; Kate Olson, clarinets; Emma Ashbrook, bassoon; Alex Guy, viola; Natalie Mai Hall, cello; John Teske, double bass; Paul Kikuchi, percussion. They will perform new music composed by Paul Kikuchi, John Teske, and other Seattle composers.

Spontaneous Conduction: Butch Morris Tribute

Presented by Nonsequitur. This tribute to the brilliant Butch Morris, who passed away earlier this year, features two of his close friends and colleagues – Wayne Horvitz (Seattle) and JA Deane (New Mexico) – using the conduction techniques developed and pioneered by Morris with the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble, featuring some of Seattle’s finest improvisers: Ivan Arteaga, Sam Boshnack, Ryan Burns, Chris Credit, Eric Eagle, Beth Fleenor, Craig Flory, Geoff Harper, Jacob Herring, Al Keith, Steve O'Brien, Christian Pincock, Naomi Siegel, and Jacob Zimmerman.

Neal Meyer & Keith Eisenbrey

Two long-time collaborators share a piano concert of epic stillness.

Neal Meyer continues his exploratory celebration of the silence of John Cage with a performance of the seminal graphic-score Solo for Piano from Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1958).

Keith Eisenbrey presents his recent contemplative pitch stereoscope: Welcome to my planet. I come in peace. Two frameworks, joined at the source, phased (in specious increments), cogs and gears, mutually warped and warping, rounding space.

Seattle Composers' Salon

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: Brad Anderson, Phillip Arnautoff, Keith Eisenbrey, David M. Shere.

Christian Pincock Quartet/Live Composition Ensemble

Valve trombonist Christian Pincock presents new compositions for two groups: a quartet with saxophonist Greg Sinibaldi, tubist Jon Hansen and drummer Max Wood; and a live composition ensemble of saxophonists Evan Smith, Ivan Arteaga, Adrian Noteboom and Levi Gillis, trombonist David Marriott and percussionists Chris Icasiano, Evan Woodle and Greg Campbell. The quartet features jazz compositions influenced by Latin American rhythms and free improvisation. The live composition ensemble explores the combination of gestures used to organize improvisation combined with pre-conceived structures and compositions.

Seattle Modern Orchestra Benefit w/ pianist Stephen Drury

For our first benefit concert,  Seattle Modern Orchestra welcomes pianist Stephen Drury for an exciting and virtuosic solo recital. Drury's program features three works rarely heard in Seattle:

Serynade by German composer Helmut Lachenmann focuses on the inevitable natural law that the sound of the piano is always fading out, and explores how the piano sound can be kept alive, worked and shaped to stop its death and therefore, time.

John Cage's Etudes Australes consists of 32 indeterminate pieces written using star charts, which results in an unbound independence of the performer's hands.

Finally, Charles Ives' Concord Sonata represents his "impression of the spirit of the transcendentalism" of Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and Thoreau.

IMP Fest V: King Tears Bat Trip + Japanese Guy + How Glass Is Made

Presented by UW Department of Music. The Improvised Music Project's annual IMP Fest returns with three nights of out jazz, improvisation, and new music by UW students and master players. Tonight, King Tears Bat Trip + Japanese Guy + How Glass Is Made.

IMP Fest V: Revis/Poor/Vu/Sinibaldi + Sequoia

Presented by UW Department of Music. The Improvised Music Project's annual IMP Fest returns with three nights of out jazz, improvisation, and new music by UW students and master players. Tonight, Eric Revis with Ted Poor, Cuong Vu, Greg Sinibaldi and students. Also: Sequoia.

IMP Fest V: Bill Frisell + Insistent Caterpillars

Presented by UW Department of Music. The Improvised Music Project's annual IMP Fest returns with three nights of out jazz, improvisation, and new music by UW students and master players. Tonight, the great guitarist Bill Frisell leads a student ensemble. Also: Insistent Caterpillars!

Denise Fillion & Chris Graham

Presented by WA Composers Forum. Denise Fillion and Chris Graham are members of the Iktus Percussion collective. The New York-based percussion/piano duo perform works with electronics: John Luther Adams' Red Arc / Blue Veil (2002); Adam Haws' The Third Eye (2013 - world premiere); Bruce Hamilton's Attractors (2013 - world premiere) and Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontakte (version for tape, piano and percussion) (1960).

The Grace In Letting Go + PK, solo bass

The Grace In Letting Go is an improvising trio (vocalist Michele Khazak, percussionist Lalo Bello, drummer Adam Kessler) exercising emotional and psychological catharsis via sound in real time. The performance philosophy is simple: whether negative or positive, new or old – whatever thought or feeling comes along is immediately released, creating space for whatever comes next, which in turn is also immediately released; bring it with you, let it go. PK (Paul Kemmish) opens with a solo bass set.

John Cage: 90 stories / Empty Words, Part III

Roger Nelson and Neal Meyer present a simultaneous performance of John Cage's one-minute stories (Nelson), and Part III of Cage's epic text composition, Empty Words (Meyer). Cage's stories are alternately hilarious, poetic, and epiphanic. Empty Words, Part III is a mix of words, syllables, and letters from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau. The performance is a tribute to the classic Folkways album, Indeterminacy, in which Cage recorded his stories in one room, while David Tudor performed Cage's Solo for Piano in another.

Evan Smith: new works for saxophone

Presented by The Box Is Empty. Saxophonist Evan Smith, an avid commissioner of new saxophone works, performs a program highlighting new electro-acoustic music: on and off, off and on by Anthony Vin, Jillian Whitaker’s like quicksand, Nat Evans’s Two Old Ghosts, and Jacob ter Veldhuis’s The Garden of Love.

Sam Boshnak Quintet + Amplified Clarinet Trio

Formed in 2011 the Sam Boshnack Quintet performs all original music composed and performed by Samantha Boshnack (trumpets) with Beth Fleenor (clarinets/voice), Dawn Clement (piano), Isaac Castillo (bass), and Max Wood (drums). Boshnack creates work with intricately woven soundscapes harboring deep grooves and punctuated, explosive improvisations. Featuring Beth Fleenor, Amy Denio & Craig Flory, the Amplified Clarinet Trio performs all improvised music using clarinets and electronics.

The Water Line Is Rising

Five established improvisers involved in diverse stylistic practices converge for the first time to produce music that encompasses extended techniques, curved thoughts and emotional wanderings: Seattle natives Greg Campbell (percussion), Stuart Dempster (trombone), and Lori Goldston (cello) meet Oregon residents Kevin Patton (guitar) and Dana Reason (piano).

Canadian Invasion: Corey Hamm, piano

Presented by WA Composers Forum. Pianist Corey Hamm performs new Canadian works plus music chosen from a call for scores: Touch (2013) by Keith Hamel for piano and electronics Idee Fixe by Jordan Nobles (2012), Étude No. 5 Legatospiele by Noel Lee, Minute Etudes Book One (1998) by Emily Doolittle, Falling (2011) by Amy Williams, Five (Ephemera, Toccatina, Reverie, Echoes, Quicksilver) (2012) by Dorothy Chang.