The Bleeding Edge: 9/10/2024

This week promises to be busier than the last. Only two venues have events that have already been reported as follows:

1. There will be two performances at the Center for New Music: a pair of single sets by Theresa Wong (cello and voice) and Austin Larkin (violin) on Thursday, September 12, and pianist Thomas Schultz’ “musical tour” of works by Hyo-shin No on Saturday, September 14.
2. Audium will continue its performances of ouroboros on Thursday, September 12, Friday, September 13, and Saturday, September 14.

There will also be two other venues, each of which will host two performances as follows:

1. Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club, which is located at 39 Fell Street, on the south side of the street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street, provides the Civic Center with a diverse share of jazz performances. This week the venue will host two particularly adventurous quintet gigs. Beth Schenk, who plays alto saxophone, led a quintet there this past March 15. This time she will lead a quartet, whose other members had appeared with her in March: Matt Wrobel on guitar, drummer Jordan Glenn, and Lisa Mezzacappa on bass. This time they will perform on Wednesday, September 11, with sets at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
2. This week will also see the annual Flower Piano event at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. The event consistently involves an abundance of piano music performed over a wide variety of spatial venues. Two of those events deserve “Bleeding Edge” attention. The first of these has the title World Music and Sun Ra Music and it will be performed by Kash Killion & Killion’s Trillions beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 14. The second will be the annual four-hand piano performance by Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers, which will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 15. The selections for this program have not yet been finalized. [added 9/10, 4:20 p.m.: The program information has now been announced: “Double Portrait” by David Borden, “My First Homage” by Gavin Bryars, “VAN” by Hanna Kulenty, and Colin McPhee’s arrangement of Balinese ceremonial music.]
   

The remaining events of the week will involve both familiar and unfamiliar venues as follows:

Keys of the original Chromelodeon created by Harry Partch, with each key specifying its pitch as an integer ratio (photograph by Seth Tisue, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)

Thursday September 12, 8 p.m., Peacock Lounge: This will be the usual three-hour show consisting of four sets. There will be two parts for the set by Blevin Blectum, beginning with an album release party for her latest solo release, Anti-Venom. This will be followed by a duo performance with Kristin Erickson. Chris Brown will present the San Francisco premiere of “rhythmiChrome,” an electronic composition based on the Chromelodeon, a reed-organ with 43 tones to the octave invented by Harry Partch. Lori Goldston will play a processed cello in a duo performance with guitarist Zachary James Watkins. The remaining set will be Earth Jerks, which involves an emo-surf-drone performance by Christian Dixon, unfolding at a “glacial” tempo.

The Peacock Lounge is located in the Lower Haight at 552 Haight Street. Doors will open at 7:45 p.m. to enable the first set to begin at 8 p.m. sharp. Admission will be between $5 and $15, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Nevertheless, for the sake of health, all are encouraged to rapid-test for COVID on the day of the show!

Friday, September 13, Catharine Clark Gallery, 6 p.m.: Prior to Flower Piano, Sarah Cahill will perform a program of music prepared in response to Listening Chamber, a solo exhibition of works by Amy Trachtenberg. As is the case for Flower Piano, the selections have not yet been finalized. The venue is located at 248 Utah Street, which is one block east of Potrero Avenue. That block of Utah Street is between 15th Street and 16th Street. [added 9/10, 4:15 p.m.: I have been informed that this event is now sold out.]

Friday, September 13, Medicine for Nightmares, 7 p.m.: Once again reed player David Boyce will host his semi-regular Friday evening series entitled Other Dimensions in Sound. This week the performance will be a solo performance by saxophonist Francis Wong. As always, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Friday, September 13, and Saturday, September 14, 9 p.m., Gray Area Art and Technology: These are the second and third days of Gray Area Festival 10, and the first day seems not to have “made the cut!” What I do know is that the space allows for “immersive audiovisual performances.” The Friday sets will be taken by Portrait XO, MSHR, and Douglas McCausland. On Saturday there will be four sets, each of which will involve a pairing, described on the Web page for this performance as follows:  DJ_Dave and Char Stiles, Meuko! Meuko! and NONEYE, Rick Farin with Actual Objects, and haute.rod + Idea Unsound from AV Club. Both that Web page and the Web page for Friday have hyperlinks for purchasing tickets. For those unfamiliar with the venue, it is located at 2665 Mission Street, between 22nd Street and 23rd Street.

Saturday, September 14, Bird & Beckett Books and Records, 7:30 p.m.: This will be the more familiar two-hour evening of two sets of adventurous jazz. Reed player Matt Renzi will lead his quartet, whose other members are Dahveed Behroozi on piano, drummer Tim Bulkley, and Josh Thurston-Milgrom on bass. (Some readers may recall that Thurston-Milgrom played with trumpeter Darren Johnson this past Saturday.)

As regular readers probably know by now, Bird & Beckett is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station that serves both BART and Muni. Admission will be the usual $20 cover charge, payable by Venmo or in cash. Teens and students will be admitted for between $5 and $10, and anyone younger allowed late at night will be admitted for free. Given the limited space of the venue, reservations are necessary and can be made by calling 415-586-3733. The phone will be answered during regular store hours, which are between noon and 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday.