Monday, March 13, 2017

The Bleeding Edge: 3/13/2017

Readers should already know by now that this coming weekend is going to be a very busy one, and it will include a generous share of “bleeding edge” options. In addition advance notice has also been provided for the return of Satoko Fujii to the Center for New Music (C4NM) tomorrow evening and the return of Friction Quartet to the same venue the following evening. Nevertheless, there will be a generous supply of adventurous activities throughout the week, including a few for that busy weekend that have not yet been reported. Therefore, it is best just to get down to specifics:

Tuesday, March 14, 7 p.m., Cyprian’s Center: Next Now will be presenting A Conjunction of Quantium [sic] Effects and Improvised Music. This will be a two-set evening, opening with Dancin’ Baby, a trio of baritone horn players Brian Pedersen, Jeff Lievers, and Courtney Sexton. Pedersen doubles on saxophone, and Lievers doubles on drums. Kit Young will provide real-time video feedback. They will be followed by the third session in a series called Lingua Incognita. This can best be described as free improvisation for a large ensemble, drawing upon elements from Miles Davis (as in the Bitches Brew sessions) and Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time group with excursions into other sources, such as the incarnations of Sun Ra’s Arkestra.

Cyprian’s Center is the home of the Church of John Coltrane. The performance space is located downstairs at 2097 Turk Street at the corner of Lyon Street. There is no charge for admission, but all donations will be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, March 15, 7:30 p.m., Canessa Gallery: The Composers in Performance Series will continue with another three-set evening. David Graves will open with a solo electronic act. He will be followed by the vocal duo of Kattt Atchley and Ron Heglin. Finally, Kenneth Atchley will present his latest electronic effort, an untitled work from a larger project entitled an incomplete guide to pearls. This amounts to a deconstruction of the C-sharp minor fugue (BWV 849) from the Book I of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, which is based on the chords that arise as a result of Bach’s contrapuntal technique. The Canessa Gallery is located at 708 Montgomery Street, right on the “border” between the Financial District and North Beach. Admission will probably be on a sliding scale between $5 and $15, payable at the door.

Thursday, March 16, 8 p.m., Luggage Store Gallery: More electronics will be encountered at this week’s installment of the Luggage Store Creative Music Series curated by Outsound Presents. The first set will be taken by Philip Everett performing as Skull Krusher. He will be followed by the electronics provided by Andrew J Palmer for the duo PureFinder, in which he performs with percussionist Mark Pino. The Luggage Store Gallery is at 1007 Market Street, directly across from the Golden Gate Theatre at the corner of Golden Gate Avenue and Taylor Street. As always admission will be on a sliding scale between $6 and $15.

Friday, March 17, 7 p.m., Adobe Books: Ben Tinker, curator of the monthly music series, has prepared a three-set evening consisting of ‘Fraid o’ Freyja, Scy1e, and GIF Problem, which is expected to run for about two hours. Adobe Books is located at 3130 24th Street (still in the Mission). The gig is free. However, donations will go directly to the performing artists and are strongly encouraged.

Friday, March 17, 7:30 p.m., C4NM: This will be a digital album release concert for the San Francisco trio All That Bad. The members are Amelia Romano on electric harp, trumpeter Matt Ebisuzaki playing a rotary-valve instrument, and Tim Renner on bass. Their style draws on traditions from both classical and folk genres with a generous amount of improvisation.

C4NM is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. Ticket prices will be $25 for general admission and $20 for C4NM members. Tickets are also available for advance purchase online through a Vendini event page.

Saturday–Sunday, March 18–19, 6:20 p.m., San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park: Ava Roy and Shinichi Iova-Koga have created and directed a performance based on the Beowulf epic. It will be given an outdoor performance that begins at sunset. The performers will include the We Players, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, and inkBoat Physical Theatre and Dance. The performance will begin at 2905 Hyde Street, but it will move along the northern waterfront. No information has been provided about an admission charge. Presumably, anyone taking the trouble to show up will be able to follow the performance as it progresses.

Saturday, March 18, 8:45 p.m., The Peacock Lounge: This will be a record release party for Jeweled Snakes. They will share the stage with several other acts, including V.E.X. (Voltage Empath Xanaxax or Ventriloquest Ectoplasmold Xanaxax), Amphibious Gestures,  and Wobbly performing with Professor Cantaloupe. DJs Bunnywhiskers & Lucy will also contribute to the festivities. The Peacock Lounge is located at 522 Haight Street. Admission will be $5.

Monday, March 20, 7:30 p.m., ODC Theatre: Earplay will present the second of the three concerts in its 2017 season. Since the title of the entire season is Air, Wind, Water, this will be the “Wind” portion of the season. As usual, the emphasis will be on new works, two of which are the results of Earplay commissions. The first of these will be Linda Bouchard’s “Second Survival,” score for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and prepared piano. Bouchard has been working on this piece since 2009 and completed it last year. The other commissioned work will be Jason Federmeyer’s “compressions : reflections,” also written in 2016 and scored for flute, viola, and harp. The program will conclude with the winner of the 2016 Earplay Donald Aird Composer’s Competition, the 2015 “Insight II,” written by Stephen Yip.

The remainder of the program will be devoted to better-known modernists. The oldest work on the program will be Toru Takemitsu’s “And then I knew ’twas Wind,” which he wrote in 1992 and scored for flute, viola, and harp. More recent will be Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Economies of Scale,” scored for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano and written in 2002.

The ODC Theater is located in the Mission at 3153 17th Street on the southwest corner of Shotwell Street. Tickets for priority seating are $45. General admission will be $25 at the door and $10 for students. Tickets will be available at the box office before the performance. In addition, there will be a pre-concert talk that will begin at 6:45 p.m. and will be open to all ticket-holders.

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