The Monday Make-Out: November, 2017

Last month readers may recall that I provided a heads-up regarding the Monday Make-Out at the Make Out Room prior to the usual announcement of such events in a Bleeding Edge column. Such astute readers may have noticed the absence of such a Bleeding Edge column today. This was due to the fact that everything in San Francisco listed by BayImproviser this morning had already been accounted for in previous articles. Furthermore, next week’s Monday Make-Out was not yet listed; so, once again, this series gets an article of its own.

Not all the details have been provided, but next week’s gig will follow the usual three-set format. For those who follow Bleeding Edge activity closely, there will be a lot of familiar faces next Monday. The opening set will be taken by Instagon, an adventurous group that is now based in Sacramento, having moved there from Orange County in 2005. By its own description, the group takes free jazz improvisation as an approach to playing garage rock. Because the ensemble itself never uses the same combination of players twice, the scope of free improvisation has been very broad. As of the summer of 2016, the group had given over 715 shows with over 700 different players. Next Monday’s performance will be Session #740. Two of the members will be founder LOB on bass and Mark Pino on drums.

The second set will be taken by a more stable organization, the ROVA saxophone quartet of Larry Ochs, Jon Raskin, Bruce Ackley, and Steve Adams. They will be followed by the free jazz improvisations of Rent Romus’ Life’s Blood Ensemble. They will preview tracks from their upcoming album Rogue Star. Saxophonist Romus leads the group, whose other members will be Timothy Orr (percussion), Safa Shokrai (bass), Max Judelson (bass), Heikki Koskinen (electronically enhanced trumpet and recorder), and Mark Clifford (vibraphone).

Doors will open at 8 p.m. this coming Monday, November 6; and the music starts half an hour later. The Make Out Room is located at 3225 22nd Street in the Mission, near the southwest corner of Mission Street. The Make Out Room is a bar. That means that tickets are not sold, nor is there a cover charge. Nevertheless, a metaphorical hat is passed between sets; and all donations are accepted, not to mention welcome!