SFEMF Announces Plans for 25th Season

Poster design for the coming SFEMF

Once again, the 25th Annual San Francisco Electronic Music Festival will involve a change in venue, as well as performances taking place a little over a month earlier. As was the case last year, there will be three concerts; and this year they will all take place at The Lab, a venue that will probably be familiar to most readers. All performances will begin at 8 p.m. on three consecutive dates with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. The performers on each of those dates will be as follows:

1. Thursday, September 24: Rrose, IDHAZ & Emily Bouton, Blevin Blectum
2. Friday, September 25: Paul DeMarinis, The Gleaners (Laetitia Sonami and Matt Robidoux), Albert Yeh, Stefano Pilia
3. Saturday, September 26: Moor Mother, Seth Cluett, Thomas Carnacki (Gregory Scharpen, Cheryl Leonard, and Gregory Hagan)

The price of the pass for the entire festival will be $60. Single tickets will be sold for $23. A processing fee will be added. Single tickets may be purchased online through the hyperlinks on the above dates. The venue is located in the Mission at 2948 16th Street.

SFCO: 2026–2027 MainStage Season

It has been almost exactly one year since the programs for the MainStage Concerts of the 2025–26 season of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (SFCO) were announced. Plans for the coming season showed up in my Inbox yesterday evening at 7 PM. Once again, there will be four programs; and it appears that content has already been finalized. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m., taking place at three different venues. Tickets may be reserved through the individual Web pages for the concerts using the attached hyperlinks below. Specifics are as follows:

Friday, October 16, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Beethoven’s Eroica, A Hero’s Journey: As the title suggests, the second half of the program will be devoted entirely to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 62 (third) symphony in E-flat major. Beethoven was originally inspired by Napoleon until he realized the threat of tyranny, providing a title that would reflect the composer’s own defiant and life-affirming spirit. This will be complemented at the beginning of the program with the performance of Beethoven’s Opus 62 (“Coriolan”) overture, inspired by a five-act play of the same title by Heinrich Joseph von Collin about a Roman general known for defeating the invading Volscians. The first half of the program will conclude with Grace Williams’ “Sea Sketches,” inspired by the Welsh coastline. The performance will take place in the Conservatory building at 50 Oak Street.

Wednesday, December 30, Herbst Theatre, Rising Stars: This program will see the debut of fourteen-year-old pianist Isabel Feng, who will be the soloist in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 25, his first piano concerto, composed in the key of G minor. The “overture” for the program will be “D’un matin de printemps,” a musical portrait of a spring morning composed by Lili Boulanger. The second half of the program will be devoted entirely to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last symphony, K. 551 (“Jupiter”) in C major. For those that do not yet know, the venue is located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street.

Friday, February 26, Taube Atrium Theatre, Emerging Voices: The “voices” are the current members of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows.The second half of the program will be devoted entirely to opera arias, whose selections have not yet been finalized. The program will begin with the seventh (D minor) of the thirteen string symphonies composed by Felix Mendelssohn between the ages of twelve and fourteen. This will be followed by one of the more familiar compositions by Caroline Shaw, “Entr’acte.” The venue is located in the same building as Herbst but on the top floor.

Starla Breshears, concerto soloist for the final MainStage Concert of the season (from the Web page for this performance)

Friday, May 7, Taube Atrium Theatre, Sounds of the City: The title refers to a new multi-media commissioned work by Xavier Muzik entitled “i like my coffee, black,” which was inspired by a series of recent photographs of San Francisco. (I am not sure about the significance of the comma!) This will be preceded by two excerpts from Richard Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos, the overture and the dance scene. The second half of the program will see the winner of the Irving Klein International Competition, cellist Starla Breshears, who is now the youngest member in the San Francisco Symphony. She will be the soloist in a performance of Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken VIIb/1 cello concerto (his first).

Take Opera Productions on Their Own Terms!

Dashon Burton as Araspe standing over the sleeping Seleuce (Lauren Snouffer) while her husband Tolomeo (Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen) looks on (photograph by Kristen Loken, from the SF Classical Voice article about the Philharmonia Baroque performance of Handel’s opera Tolomeo)

This morning I read Michael Zwiebach’s account for SF Classical Voice of the production of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 25 opera Tolomeo, re d’Egitto performed by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale. (I had written my own account this past Friday.) The title he chose was: “Can a Smaller Bay Area Orchestra Outshine SF Opera? This Tolomeo Says Yes.” Personally, I do my best to avoid using one production as a cudgel to beat another. However, it left me wondering just how much Zwiebach knew about productions of Handel by the San Francisco Opera (SFO).

To be fair, it has been a while since SFO last staged a Handel opera; but that “while” is shorter than Zwiebach might have realized. It was only a little over two years ago that the company revived its production of Partenope (Handel’s HWV 27), given a staging by Christopher Alden that can only be described as “slapstick.” Since that revival was as engaging as the first time around, I would challenge anyone to claim that it could be “outshined!”

Reading Zwiebach’s article reminded me that it is important to take every performance on its own terms, rather than deciding on whether or not it rates “top ten” ranking. To be fair, when I encounter a revival, I usually try to provide some sort of then-and-now account; but I also do my best to present the “now” on its own terms. Productions should not be “ranked” as if they were contestants in a beauty pageant. This definitely applies to ensembles performing full-length operas!

Communism?

Donald Trump reacting to a protestor (from the Al Jazeera Web page for the event)

Last night President Donald Trump delivered a speech at an auto event in Michigan. A protester decided to try interrupting him, and Trump’s response was to call him a “communist.” The Al Jazeera account of this event cited the speech as a “criticism of what he described as the threat of communism facing the country.”

I take this as a sign that Trump is still living in the last century. He might benefit from one of his aides consulting Wikipedia (since he probably would not do it himself). As might be expected, “Communism” has its own Web page; and it is definitely up-to-date! Here are the sentences that put Trump’s reaction into question:

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, many governments abolished Communist rule. Only a few nominally Communist governments remain, such as China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Except for North Korea, these have allowed more economic competition while maintaining one-party rule. Communism's decline has been attributed to economic inefficiency and to authoritarianism and bureaucracy within Communist governments.

If Trump can show any evidence that communism is still a threat, I would be happy to examine and comment on it!

The Bleeding Edge: 7/27/2026

David Boyce with his soprano saxophone (from this week’s BayImproviser Web page)

After the abundance of Bleeding Edge events that took place last week, this week the pendulum will swing back to the other extreme. I cannot remember the last time (if any) that only a single event was announced; but that will be the case. As might be expected, that lone event will be the weekly Other Dimensions in Sound offering, curated and hosted by Boohaabian reed player David Boyce. Once again, Boyce will deploy his diversity of winds, this time in a duo with guitarist Scott Foster. As usual, the venue will be the Medicine for Nightmares bookstore, located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street; and the performance will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 31. Also “as usual,” there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Priorities?

Apparently, posting an online article about today’s marathon was more important to the San Francisco Chronicle than delivering the Sunday edition, which, as of 9 AM this morning, has yet to find its way to our doorstep!

Trump News: Britain Sides with Al Jazeera

Some readers may recall yesterday’s admiration for the way in which Al Jazeera covered the behavior of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. This morning it was Britain’s turn to “follow suit” with a moderately lengthy article in The Guardian, which deserves attention from start to finish. The author was George Chidi, whose Web page describes him as “a politics and democracy reporter;” and he clearly knows how to write in a manner that does justice to both of those nouns.

The title of this particular article is “How Trump could undermine the midterms;” and I must confess that I was a bit worried about Trump reading it and coming way with previously unconsidered ideas! The good news is that he will probably not read the piece in its entirety. Indeed, it would not surprise me to learn that Trump does not pay very much attention to how other countries write about news in the United States. (For that matter, he may well limit his attention to little more than sources from Fox News!)

A polling station in Arlington, Virginia, not much different from the site where my wife and I have voted in the past (photograph by Agence France-Presse, provided by Getty Images)

Here in California, my wife and I take elections very seriously at all levels: country, state, and city. For every ballot, we receive a moderately thick booklet providing background material for the candidates running for office and propositions related to state and city laws. We discuss every choice we need to make. Most of the time we agree on our decisions, but we do not argue at length when we disagree! We have never seen any reason to alter, let alone disrupt, this process; and the last thing either of us would wish to see would be interference from any “higher power,” self-proclaimed or otherwise!

A Warped Sense of Humor?

Watching the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on television was not the most engaging experience of the evening. Nevertheless, it was at least mildly amusing to observe how little attention President Donald Trump paid to any of the journalists receiving their awards. Clearly, all he had in mind was what he would say when the podium was finally his.

Was Donald Trump’s cap a joke or a threat? (from the Al Jazeera Web page about last night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner)

The video of his speech, which is now available for viewing on an Al Jazeera Web page, may go down in history as the perfect definition of a warped sense of humor. Rather than extolling the virtues of press freedom, Trump turned his speech into an extended joke about running for a fourth term. (I really hope he thought this was a joke, given that he has not yet finished his second term!) I fear that, if there was any logic at all behind the speech, it involved making sure that any journalist recognized that any threat from the President’s mouth should at least be considered as possibly serious.

Personally, I was impressed by Al Jazeera’s boldness, even if it puts any future attempts to cover news about our current President in jeopardy.

A Forgotten Jerusalem?

Lella Warah reporting from Jerusalem (from an Al Jazeera Web page)

Having already raised discomfort over the fact that, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, relations between Israel and its neighbors have not been as open as they were when I was teaching computer science in Haifa, I realize that Jerusalem itself may become of major flash point over those relations. Indeed, another Al Jazeera Web page suggests that the flash has already been ignited. That Web page has a video on which Leila Warah reports that “thousands of Israelis stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under Israeli police protection, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.” Sadly, I would guess that the White House pays little (if any) attention to Al Jazeera, and Warah’s report will be quickly forgotten (if it was even viewed)!

There He Goes Again!

I am beginning to think that questioning the behavior of President Donald Trump feels a bit like eating potato chips: Once you get started, it’s hard to stop! In my case, I “got started” when John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, took the President to task for threatening judges for doing their jobs in upholding the legal system. This was followed by Massachusetts Democratic congressman Jim McGovern reflecting on Trump’s arguments about rigged elections with a counter-argument that could not have been more informative: “You have to be a special kind of stupid to believe this bullshit.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (photograph by Tierney L. Cross for Getty Images, from an article in The Jerusalem Post)

In that context, Trump’s speech last night reminded me of the only quote from Ronald Regan that I can relish: “There you go again!” Al Jazeera now has a Web page for the perfect reinforcement of McGovern’s position. Trump decided to fire all his guns at Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, accusing him of being sympathetic to Palestinians. To the best of my knowledge, Schumer is Jewish and probably appreciates the founding of Israel as a “Jewish state” about 80 years ago. However, I suspect that he also appreciates the virtue of a country trying to be on good terms with its immediate neighbors.

As some readers probably already know, my first full-time job after I received my doctoral degree involved teaching computer science at the Technion, often referred to as the “Israel Institute of Technology.” I taught there for two years; and, in spite of political and religious differences, Israel managed to stay on reasonable (if not good) terms with its immediate neighbors. So I have a pretty good idea of where Schumer stands. On the other hand, I am also troubled by the fact that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may not be as open-minded about Israel’s neighbors as Schumer has been.

Indeed, when Netanyahu visits the White House this coming Tuesday, a Reuters article in today’s Jerusalem Post suggests that Trump may use the occasion as a stick for beating on Schumer! All this reminds me of the lengths to which the Constitution made it a point to distinguish the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in terms of what they could and could not do. Apparently, the preamble never explicitly made the point that all members of all three branches should familiarize themselves with those terms; and now we may be facing the consequences of such negligence.

Whelan Gets an Early Start for his PBO Tenure

Last night in Herbst Theatre, Peter Whelan began his first season as Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) with an earlier-than-usual start. This was the first of six concerts, which will continue through a conclusion in April of next year. To “fit in” with past PBO repertoires, Whelan chose to begin his tenure with an opera composed by George Frideric Handel; and his selection was one that was probably unfamiliar to most of last night’s audience.

An autograph page from the score of Handel’s HWV 25 (public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

Tolomeo, re d'Egitto (Ptolemy, King of Egypt), HWV 25, was described in the advance material I received as  a “historically informed performance with theatrical elements to heighten the drama.” The cast consisted of five vocalists and no chorus. The title character was sung by countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. He is the eldest son of Cleopatra, exiled to Cyprus where he has disguised himself as a shepherd. Bass-baritone Dashon Burton sang the role of Araspe, the King of Cyprus; and the role of his sister Elisa was taken by soprano Nicole Heaston. The other characters are Seleuce, Tolomeo’s wife, sung by soprano Lauren Snouffer, and Tolomeo’s brother Alessandro, countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim.

The program book required two full pages to account for the narrative that twists and turns these five characters. Nevertheless, the music mattered more than the details; and all six of the vocalists had solo opportunities to display their respective skills. Staging was provided by James Darrah Black, who had the wisdom let the music and the solo vocal work prevail over the narrative details. The music was receptive to anyone familiar with the Handel repertoire, and Whelan’s leadership kept the plot moving to avoid getting bogged down in any lurking confusions.

It is interesting to note that Whelan conducted from the left rear corner of the stage. This allowed the full ensemble to group in a way that afforded generous space for the vocalists. This provided Black with more space than has been afforded in past PBO opera performances, and he definitely knew how to make good use of it!

Those craving more Handel will have to wait until the five-concert subscription series begins in the first half of November, but the occasion is definitely worth anticipating!

The Coltrane-Garland Connection

A two-CD “distillation” of performances by John Coltrane and Red Garland (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This morning as I was perusing my electronic mail, I found that Pandora was trying to persuade me to follow their John Coltrane Radio connection. Ironically, the link was not particularly successful, particularly since it was trying (without success) to direct me to a Sonny Rollins album! Fortunately, I already have a generous supply of Coltrane CDs, including the sixteen of them collected in the box set of Prestige recordings. The good news is that there is still an Amazon.com Web page for this collection; but the bad news is that the price is $235, accounting for sixteen CDs.

I have to confess that I have a particular fondness for those CDs that bring Coltrane together with pianist Red Garland. I suppose that is because I had an opportunity to listen to Garland leading a piano trio on one of my business trips to New York. This was relatively late in his life. At one point, he apologized for a lengthy verbal introduction, confessing that he was trying to remember what he would next be playing!

Sadly, Pandora does not seem to be have as much concern for Garland as it has for other sources. Perhaps it thinks that only names like Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, and Charlie Parker will attract attention. Nevertheless, an Amazon search for Garland yields a generous number of hits. So maybe it is just a matter of enough writers coming up with articles about Garland to give him a level of attention that parallels Coltrane!

SFO Plans for Opening Weekend of 104th Season

Design for the SFO Web page for Simon Boccanegra

This week began with the announcement of the opening weekend festivities for the 104th season of the San Francisco Opera (SFO). As was reported last month, the season will begin, once again, with an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Simon Boccanegra. The conductor will be Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, and this will mark the latest stage in the journey she has planned to account of the works of both Verdi and Richard Wagner.

From a personal point of view, I believe that my first encounter with the opera came from the soundtrack album of the film Carnegie Hall. Bass Ezio Pinza played a major role in that film, which included his singing “Il lacerato spirito” (the tortured soul) from the Prologue for Giuseppe Verdi’s score. Unless I am mistaken, SFO last presented the opera in the fall of 2008 with the title role taken by the Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, performing with soprano Barbara Frittoli in the role of Boccanegra’s daughter Amelia. About a decade later, I visited the opera again through a Delos recording with those roles taken by Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nadine Sierra.

The original staging for this opera at SFO was conceived by Claus Guth, and Katherine M. Carter will be the Revival Director. The title role will be sung by Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, and soprano Eleonora Buratto will take the role of Amelia. Following the opening festivities on Saturday, September 12, there will be five more performances at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, Tuesday, September 22, and Friday, September 25, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 27.

As has been the case for some time, the first performance will be both preceded and followed by the annual Opera Ball. This will take place in City Hall, which is on the other side of Van Ness from the Opera House. Festivities will begin with a cocktail reception at 5 p.m., followed by a buffet soiree at 6 p.m. After the conclusion of Simon Boccanegra, City Hall will host an After-Party beginning at 11 p.m. As usual, a Web page has been created for attending all of the opening night festivities (including the opera performance).

Finally, the weekend will conclude with the 51st anniversary celebration of Opera in the Park. The SFO orchestra will again be led by Kim. The “usual plan” is that the program will begin with an opera overture, after which it will accompany vocalists that will be performing during the fall season. The “Park” is, of course, Golden Gate Park. This is a vast expanse, and the venue for the concert will be the bandshell in Robin Williams Meadow. The performance will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 13. As always, no tickets will be required.

Another “Special Relationship” Bites the Dust!

When I was studying American history in high school, I learned about how the transatlantic conflicts that led to the American Revolution and the War of 1812 eventually gave way to a “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom. However, that epithet has had to endure any number of strains, most of which tend to originate on our side of the pond. For example, about ten years ago, Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote an article for The New York Review of Books that worked very hard at avoiding the phrase “unholy alliance” in the relationship between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

This phrase also comes to mind when I think about how our country deals with the state of Israel. I had not given this country much thought (regardless of my Jewish upbringing) until I found that the only job I could get after receiving my doctoral degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was at the Technion (which was also known at the “Israel Institute of Technology”). The good news was that this provided an excellent “proving ground” for honing the skills for teaching computer science for undergraduates, graduate students, and thesis candidates.

I then returned to the United States to teach computer science at the University of Pennsylvania; and that was probably where I first encountered the “special relationship” epithet about the relationship between Israel and America. I have to confess that none of this had much to do with any Jewish background. Indeed, the more I read the news, the more I found myself calling Israelis “God’s Chosen People consistently trying to convince God that he made the wrong choice!” This was an insight that took root and gradually grew over the course of the last quarter of the last century.

Now the first quarter of the new century has elapsed, and the “special relationship” seems to have lost its “speciality.” This was affirmed in the headline of an Opinion article for Al Jazeera by journalist Said Arikat, “America’s decades-old bipartisan consensus on Israel has been shattered.” The opening paragraph deserves to be quoted in full:

Last week, more than 100 House Democrats voted to cut off military aid to Israel. Though the amendment failed because some Democrats and almost all Republicans voted against it, it exposed something far more significant than the legislative outcome: The bipartisan consensus that shielded Israel from meaningful congressional scrutiny for generations is beginning to fracture.

I suppose that there are cynics that would argue that, where international diplomacy is concerned, nothing is “special” any more. Personally, I think it is more a matter of trying to take a “global view” without interference from “self interest.” To be fair, this is no easy matter, particularly when it would be fair to say that there is considerable dissatisfaction over the state of governance in our own country.

That said, I wonder if we should just focus on matters other than governance. Voltaire understood this in his “punch line” for Candide. All that matters is that we should “cultivate our own gardens.” Hopefully, we can manage that task without interference from “higher powers,” governmental or otherwise!

SFCS to Bring World Premiere to Davies

Banner for this summer’s SFCS performance (from the City Box Office Web page)

Once again, the San Francisco Choral Society will return to Davies Symphony Hall as part of this year’s Summer Festival Chorus. This will be the fifth annual performance of the event, which, as in the past, will be led by Artistic Director Robert Geary. This year will feature the world premiere of Three Portraits: Voices of Chinese American Women from Early California, a composition by Bay Area composer Eric Tuan by virtue of a recent commission. This will fill the first half of the program, which will be followed, after the intermission, by the (much) more familiar cantata by Carl Orff, Carmina Burana. Vocal soloists will be soprano Chelsea Hollow, tenor Sam Faustine, and baritone Eugene Brancoveanu. In addition, Rotimi Agbabiaka will direct a semi-staged performance of Carmina Burana.

There will be only one performance, which will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, in Davies, located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street. Tickets prices are $55, $70, and $85; and they may be purchased through a City Box Office Web page. As usual, that Web page includes a “map” showing which tickets are available in which sections. $20 Rush Tickets will be available at the door for those with a college student ID.

The Bleeding Edge: 7/20/2026

The good news is that this will be a very busy week on the Bleeding Edge. There will be seven events, only two of which will overlap. The only bad news is that both of them will be a familiar site! Once again, the venues will be familiar to regular readers; and, as is usually the case, the options are impressively diverse. Details are as follows:

Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m., Make-Out Room: Jazz at the Make-Out Room used to take place on Mondays. However, last month’s gig took place on a Tuesday, and this month’s offering will do the same. Once again, the program will consist of three sets. The program will open with the Ai-Ai combo led by guitarist Karl Evangelista. The second set will be performed by a trio of vocalists: Saki Minamimoto, Lorin Benedict, and David Israel Katz. The final set will see keyboardist Marc Capelle playing with William Winant on percussion. They will be joined by “guest artists” yet to be announced. For those that do not yet know, the Make-Out Room is located in the Mission at 3225 22nd Street. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

Thursday, July 23, and Sunday, July 26, 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., and Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Black Cat Jazz Supper Club: This week will see the return of drummer and composer Anthony Fung to the Black Cat. He will lead a quartet with alto saxophonist Alex Hahn on the front line. Rhythm will be provided by pianist Michael Ragonese and Luca Alemanno on bass. Selections will be drawn from Hahn’s latest album, Common Language, which he describes as “a bold, rhythm-driven statement of identity and sound.”

Friday, July 24, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: The next Other Dimensions in Sound offering, curated and hosted by Boohaabian reed player David Boyce, will be a trio program. He will be joined by percussionist Kevin Carnes and Kirk Peterson on bass. The venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Kasey Knudsen with her saxophone (from the Web page for her performance this week)

Friday, July 24, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: This week Friday will require making a hard choice. Bird & Beckett will host a quartet performance led by Kasey Knudsen on saxophone. She will be joined by fellow reed player Harvey Wainapel. Rhythm will be provided by John Witala on bass and Jon Arkin on drums. There will no charge for this event. Bird & Beckett is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station for both Muni and BART.

Saturday, July 25, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Bird & Beckett will host a second performance at the same time on Saturday. The performance will be led by percussionist Avotcja, who will also recite poetry. “Backup” will be provided by the Modupue quartet with a front line shared by Sandi Poindexcer on violin and saxophonist Francis Wong. Rhythm will be shared by bassist Heshima Mark Williams and Baba Ken Okulolo on talking drum.

Sunday, July 26, 6 p.m., Gray Area Art and Technology: This will be a generous evening of five sets:

1. Albert.DATA
2. Entangled Others
3. Esen K. Tütüncü
4. Kyle McDonald
5. Kalie Hofstadter and Memo Akten

Sadly, as of this writing, no details have been provided for any of these performances.The program will take place in the Grand Theatre, located in the Mission at 2665 Mission Street.

Monday, July 27, 7:30 p.m, Artists Television Access: Rewards Program is an improvisational music project. The performers will be Miles Lassi, Zekarias Thompson, and Skyway Man. Visuals will be provided by Ellie Vanderlip. These will include “expanded cinema” as well as projections of both 16 mm and 32 mm slides.

Pamela Z to Visit Project Artaud This Afternoon

Pamela Z performing with her own invented electronic gear (from her Bandcamp Web page)

“This just in,” as they say! Pamela Z will be giving her next performance here in San Francisco this afternoon. She will be hosted by Project Artaud for “an afternoon with a Solo Performance and Art Talk.” That title also serves as an outline for the program, which will begin with performances of a few of her compositions. She will then discuss her approaches to composition by presenting examples of her work in both video and audio. Through those examples, the audience will learn about her different approaches to vocalization, processing of both audio and video sources, gesture-based MIDI controllers, and found text. This introduction will begin at 3:15 p.m. this afternoon, July 18. Following the discussion, there will be a short break before a solo performance that will last for about one hour. The performance will take place in The Sculpture Studio of Project Artaud, which is located in the Mission at 401 Alabama Street. Those attending are encouraged “to bring friends, a bottle to share, and cash for tips.”

The Second Summer Concert Program in Davies

Conductor Nicolas Ellis (from the Web page for last night’s performance)

Yesterday evening Davies Symphony Hall saw the second Summer Classics program performed by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) as part of the Summer with Symphony concert series. The title of the program was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Both my wife and I have fond memories of the Davies concert that presented all of the music that Felix Mendelssohn had composed for William Shakespeare’s play interleaved with a semi-staged performance of all of the texts associated with that music.

Sadly, this approach to Mendelssohn and Shakespeare did not take place last night. Instead, Midsummer was reduced to the three most familiar movements from the full score, the overture, the nocturne, and (of course) the “Wedding March.” This began the second half of the program, and Shakespeare prevailed with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Fantasy-Overture,” “Romeo and Juliet.” The first half of the program was framed by opera, beginning with the “Forest Murmurs” episode from the second act of Richard Wagner’s Siegfried and concluding with the “Carmen Fantasy” by Franz Waxman. This was originally composed for the movie Humoresque and was subsequently arranged for violin and symphony orchestra by violinist Jascha Heifetz. These two operatic offerings framed the performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending.” Violinist Geneva Lewis was the soloist in both this selection and the “Carmen Fantasy.”

Nicolas Ellis made his debut as conductor. Sadly, things got off to a shaky start with the forest more mushy than murmuring. Fortunately, Ellis managed to get his mojo working before Lewis took the stage. Their shared chemistry for “The Lark Ascending” could not have been more engaging, and their shared take on Georges Bizet’s opera could not have been more dazzling. Following the intermission, Ellis’ command of the podium was just as satisfying. Even if I have lost count of the number of times I have listened to Tchaikovsky’s take on Shakespeare, there was a freshness in Ellis’ interpretation that kept my attention from beginning to end.

Old First Concerts: September 2026

Having accounted for Old First Concerts (O1C) hosting next month’s San Francisco International Piano Festival, it is not too soon to prepare listeners for the beginning of the new season in September. This year there will be three performances, all on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. Most readers probably know by now that O1C events take place at Old First Presbyterian Church. This is located at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue. Tickets are available for purchase through the hyperlinks attached to the dates, which are also available for live stream viewing. General admission is $30. with reduced rates for seniors, students, and children age twelve and under. The season will begin with the traditional Labor Day program as follows:

September 6: Those that have followed this site for some time have probably already guessed that the season will begin with the return of jazz pianist Mike Greensill, who has made this event a Labor Day tradition. Most likely, Greensill will continue to interleave his own original compositions with a generous share of selections from the Great American Songbook. Nevertheless, the show promises to be different from previous gigs because this year Greensill will celebrate his 80th birthday!

September 13: Pianist Kevin Lee Sun will present a program entitled Look to This Day. He will present music by two living composers. The first of these, Hyo-shin Na, may be familiar to those following past events; and she will contribute two solo piano compositions. The other is Daniel De Togni, who will accompany Sun on shakuhachi for the performance of Death Poems. His Songs of Becoming cycle will receive its West Coast premiere with a performance by soprano Wallis Lucas.

Noël Wan with her harp (from the O1C Web page for her recital)

September 20: For “something completely different,” Noël Wan will conclude the month with a solo harp performance. She turned to the French poet Charles Baudelaire for the title of her program: Les Fleurs du mal (the flowers of evil). Her program will pair music from the late nineteenth century with contemporary compositions.

The Latest “Guardian” Insight

Screen shot of Donald Trump’s televised address last night (photograph by Saul Loeb provided by UPI and Shutterstock, from a Guardian Web page)

For better or worse I find that it is difficult to avoid political news with particular attention to events in the District of Columbia. It has been almost exactly 24 hours since I found myself writing about how the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court reminded President Donald Trump that the Executive branch is not “in charge of everything.” This morning at least one member of the Legislative branch has added his voice, Democratic congressman Jim McGovern from Massachusetts. While Chief Justice Roberts distilled his position to a single sentence, McGovern chose to elaborate his argument in three:

Trump says Democrats forgot to rig the election in 2016, successfully rigged it while *he* was president in 2020, then forgot how to rig it again in 2024. So the only election Democrats supposedly stole was the one he himself controlled. You have to be a special kind of stupid to believe this bullshit.

Since Trump seems to have aspired to make his tenure a special one, McGovern seems to have found just the right semantics for “special!”

Will the Judiciary Hold the Executive in Check?

About three months ago, this site added an article that raised a single question:

Has the United States Congress forgotten that the Constitution established it as a division of the government independent of both the Judiciary and (of particular importance) the Executive (as in the President of the United States)?

Poster design of Chief Justice John Roberts  explaining the Constitution to President Donald Trump

Since that time, it seems as if the Congress has been reluctant to challenge the President over the Constitutional legitimacy of his management (so to speak) of the Executive branch. Fortunately, the Judiciary has been less reluctant. Chief Justice John Roberts has now gone “on the record” in reminding the Executive that it on the same plane (so to speak) with both the Legislative and Judiciary branches. He distilled his “record” into a single sentence:

Threatening the judges for doing their job is totally unacceptable.

In other words, any judicial decision must stand unless a subsequent decision can override it at the judiciary level.

As of this writing, the President is scheduled to give his latest speech to the American public. My guess is that it will be broadcast live on several channels. My wife and I shall probably watch the event on CNN, just because it is likely to provide the most informative analysis following the event. My guess is that this will be no ordinary evening of CNN content!

Voices of Music Announces 2026–27 Season

I see that it is almost exactly a year ago since I wrote an article about the four concerts to be presented for the 2025–2026 Voices of Music (VoM) season. Once again there will be two venues.Three of the new season’s performances will take place at the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue, and the second of the four performances will take place at the 50 Oak Street building of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Subscriptions for the entire season are currently on sale for prices between $220 and $200. A single Web page has been created for processing both subscriptions and individual events. General admission for individual concerts will be between $63 and $10. All four events will take place at 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening. Program details have not yet been finalized; but dates and programs for the four concerts are as follows:

Gallery of the soloists for the four VoM programs: soprano Amanda Forsythe, flutist Emi Ferguson, and sopranos Andréa Walker and Danielle Reutter-Harrah

October 24: Soprano Amanda Forsythe will perform selections from her Baroque repertoire accompanied by the VoM period instruments.

December 12: The title of the program will be Virtuoso Concertos, and one of the concerto soloists will be visiting flutist Emi Ferguson.

January 23: This program has the lengthiest title: Pastime with Good Company: The Voice of the Viol. As might be guessed the program will highlight viol music from both the Elizabethan and Renaissance periods. The musical sources will be from Bohemia, England, France, and Spain. The ensemble will be joined by soprano Andréa Walker, making her VoM debut.

April 3: Soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah, on the other hand, is likely to be familiar to those that follow VoM performances. The title of the program is A Musical Banquet; and, as might be expected, the selections be inspired by food, drink, and “the art of the feast.” There will also be a “feast” of instrumental sonorities. David Tayler will alternate between lute and archlute, while Hanneke van Proosdij will have her usual assortment of recorders, which she will alternate with her harpsichord. Similarly, Cheryl Ann Fulton will alternate among different harps, and Shira Kammen will account of other instruments in the string family. As in the past, percussion will be provided by Peter Maund.

Why I Continue my Loyalty to Apple (and macOS)

What Windows users encounter (from the article being cited)

 https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-patches-570-vulnerabilities-exploited-zero-days/

Those Who Ignore Santayana

My guess is that just about any reader willing to pay attention to the texts on this site is well acquainted with the aphorism, “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.” This is one of those examples of the text being more familiar than the source, the source being the philosopher George Santayana, whom I first encountered when writing a high school term paper about Bertrand Russell. This morning my memory was triggered while I was browsing through the Al Jazeera Web site and found a NewsFeed Web page with the headline “Schumer slams Trump over Iran war.” This is a video summarized by a single sentence:

‘A recipe for utter disaster.’ Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has slammed President Donald Trump’s handling of the war on Iran, accusing him of repeating past mistakes without a clear strategy.

Mind you, expertise in history is not necessarily a prerequisite for holding any political office, particularly one selected by the electoral process; but these days, whether I am reading about the news or watching accounts on television, I keep feeling that I have already “seen the movie” and know that the ending is seldom a happy one.

The Bleeding Edge: 7/13/2026

Activity on The Bleeding Edge continues to be relatively quiet. This week the number of events will amble up to four (following last week’s three). Nothing is scheduled prior to Thursday, on which there will be two overlapping performances, the second of which will also take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Once again, the venues will be familiar to regular readers; and, as is usually the case, the options are impressively diverse. Details are as follows:

Thursday, July 16, 7 p.m., Gray Area Art And Technology: Max Cooper is currently on a tour to showcase his latest album Feeling is Structure. The content of that album will provide the basis for the immersive audio-visual performance system called 3D/AV. The narrative thread of that performance will tell “ the story of the foundations of our world, and our place in it, as a living feeling experience.” Readers familiar with this venue probably already know that it is located in the Mission at 2665 Mission Street.

Roman Goron, Ben Sherman, Isaiah Bravo, and Daniel Song, who will be performing at the Black Cat Supper Club later this week

Thursday, July 16, and Sunday, July 19, 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., and Friday, July 17, and Saturday, July 18, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Black Cat Jazz Supper Club: Tenor saxophonist Ben Sherman is based in New York City. He runs the jam session Close Up, which takes place every other Sunday. He leads a quartet, whose other members are pianist Roman Goron, Daniel Song on bass, and drummer Isaiah Bravo. Admission for all performances will be $30. The club is located in the Civic Center at 400 Eddy Street.

Friday, July 17, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: As usual, the Other Dimensions is Sound music series will be curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi-reed player David Boyce. This week he will provide reeds and special effects for a performance by the Red Fast Luck duo. The other performer will be percussionist PC Munoz, whose instruments include (among the usual) boom stick and “intergalactic hook rug.” As many (most?) readers probably know by now, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Saturday, July  18, 3 p.m., Project Artaud: Pamela Z will give her next performance of her own compositions for solo voice and electronics. The event will take place in The Sculpture Studio. She will also discuss her work, and the entire event is scheduled to last about two and one-half hours. The venue is located in Studio 123 at 401 Alabama Street.

Politics and Early Electronic Music at SFCM

Yesterday afternoon, the Ann Getty Center at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) hosted the first full-length workshop production of a new opera entitled Madame Theremin. The music was composed by Kennedy Verrett working with a libretto by George M. Kopp; and an instrumental ensemble, which included pianist Kymry Esainko, was conducted by Mary Chun. The opera was set in New York City in 1938 over the course of a single night. It had two acts, allowing the audience a ten-minute intermission.

Leon Theremin playing one of his instruments, which he called the Termenvox (photograph by Corbis Bettmann, December, 1927, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

The title refers to Lavinia Williams (Ariel Emma), a Black ballet dancer that married Leon Theremin (Eric Levintow), the inventor of an electronic musical instrument named after him. Patrick Blackwell sang the role of the Black movie star Nobel Washington, a character “loosely based” on Paul Robeson. The narrative is framed by episodes in Theremin’s apartment with much of the “action” taking place in an around the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel.

The libretto abounds with political narrative at a time where even the slightest sympathy for Soviet ideology could be taken as traitorous. Ironically, Theremin was at risk in Russia for his anti-Soviet ideology. He eventually ended up in one of Stalin’s gulags, survived, and went on to provide the Soviet authorities with sophisticated spyware. He only returned to his musical interests when Mikhail Gorbachev began to rise to power, bringing on the policy of glasnost. Towards the end of his life, he revisited the United States in 1991, where he was reunited with former pupil Clara Rockmore, who had promoted his instrument in our country.

Learning About Satoko Fujii from C4NM

I first learned about the Center for New Music (C4NM) right around the time that they established their home base at 55 Taylor Street, having signed a lease in October of 2012. This was not long after my retirement from Silicon Valley. The San Francisco Conservatory of Music had only recently made its move into the Civic Center, providing me with an abundance of listener experiences to keep me busy as a retiree. However, it was through C4NM that I first encountered pianist Satoko Fujii and her husband trumpeter Kappa Maki.

Back in my Examiner.com days, I described their work as “their own distinctive approach to free jazz improvisation,” meaning that I had never encountered such an approach to jamming in most (if not all) of my previous encounters with “free jazz.” My earliest writing about them was with Examiner.com; and, because I was unable to backup all my articles before that site folded, I do not have any record of their work prior to February 10, 2015. Fortunately, I have been able to follow their releases; and, as of this writing, I find that I have 50 CDs to account for their performances since then.

John Coltrane on the cover of his Major Works album, the performance that guided my ability to listen to Fujii and Maki

I suppose that my interest in Fujii and Maki was piqued by reminders of my first encounter with free jazz at its freest, so to speak. That goes back to the first time that I listened to John Coltrane’s Ascension album on the radio. After that experience, I did not waste any time it getting myself a copy of that record! This was before the emergence of CD technology, meaning that the music was interrupted when I had to turn over the disc! Fortunately, the content has been remastered; and, as just about anyone would probably expect, the CD now has its own Amazon.com Web page. Furthermore, it is also available in two separate “editions” (otherwise known as “takes”) on the two-CD album The Major Works of John Coltrane.

It would be fair to say that my ability to focus and guide my attention to the many tracks I have encountered by both Fujii and Maki has been guided by my “training” through listening to Coltrane at his most adventurous.

Never Enough Thelonious Monk!

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of DL Media, Inc.)

It has been a little over a year since I last invoked my favorite precept delivered by the conductor Leonard Slatkin, “You can never conduct enough Haydn or Schubert.” My own variation on that “theme” is that, where my own collection of recordings is concerned, there is no such thing as too much Thelonious Monk. As a result, I was delighted that this month began with the release of a new Monk album. The title suggests that it is the first of more to come: Monk Live in Paris, 1967, Volume One.

My only disappointment is that there are only four tracks of music amounting to a little more than half an hour. However, the album is the first “official” release from the Thelonious Monk Estate, which is curated by Monk’s granddaughter, Sierre Barbara Monk. She has contributed a paragraph to the album jacket, followed by a Q&A exchange with Monk’s son, T. S. Monk. Personally, however, I am more interested in the music, whose four tracks are “Epistrophy,” Evidence,” “Ruby My Dear,” and “We See.”

Monk, of course, is at the piano for all of those tracks. Rhythm is provided by Larry Gales with Ben Riley on drums. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse is the only other musician to contribute to all of the tracks. The other performers are Phil Woods on alto saxophone, another tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, Ray Copeland on trumpet, and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland.

From a personal perspective, 1967 is about half a decade before I first went to a Monk performance. If my memory is not too faded, I believe I saw him at the Village Vanguard, after which I made as many return visits as my schedule would allow. (That schedule was based on trips I would make from Cambridge, Massachusetts!) I listened to everything Monk did with silent respect and never had the nerve to try to speak to him. As far as I was concerned, listening to the music was all that mattered; and that is exactly the way in which I have now approached this first Live in Paris release.

Those familiar with the Monk repertoire will know that all of the tracks on this album are familiar. However, repetition seldom rears its head in the performance of jazz. While all four of the tunes themselves are familiar to me, there was still much for me to absorb in the diversity of solo takes across all of the tracks. I am sure that I shall be making several return visits to this new album while waiting for “Volume Two” to appear!

Not Much Bite from Slow Tiger

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

One week from today Endectomorph Music will release the self-titled debut album of the Slow Tiger quintet. The front line is shared between trumpeter Kenny Warren and Adam Schneit, who alternates between tenor saxophone and clarinet. Rhythm is provided by organist JP Schlegelmilch, Andrew Dow on electric bass, and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell. As is often the case, Amazon.com has already created a Web page to process pre-orders.

The nine tracks were recorded in a basement studio in Nyack, New York, recalling the “Hey, kids, let’s put on a show” spirit of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The advance material describes the selections as “earthy, rock-oriented melodies with more atmospheric explorations of song and sound” (whatever that means)! The good news is that all five of the performers have a solid command of their instruments. The bad news is that there is little in the content of the tracks that makes for engaging listening. Mind you, they have received a generous endorsement from clarinetist Ben Goldberg, whose work I have appreciated for many years; but this is one of those times when I shall have to agree to disagree with him. Perhaps the tiger needs significantly more determination in the steps it takes!

Omni: An “On Location” Duo Performance

As I had previously observed, last month was a busy one for Omni on-Location videos to be released by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. This site wrote about those videos on the first and third Tuesdays of this past June. However, these have now been followed by a new video released on the fourth Tuesday of the month, June 23.

Mario To and Kaz Hudson playing To’s “Insomniac’s Dream”

This one is a duo performance by Mario To and Kaz Hudson. To is also the composer of the music being performed, “Insomniac’s Dream,” which he completed earlier this year. Both of them were guitar pupils under Meng Su at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and To also studied composition with Sergio Assad. The filming of the performance took place in the Cha Chi Ming Recital Hall of the Conservatory (on the ground floor with a view of Van Ness Avenue outside).

The program notes on the YouTube page for this video are relatively brief; but the composition is described as “the restless, cyclical struggle of a sleepless mind: the body longs for rest, but the mind refuses to quiet.” The music seems to have been inspired by the experience of a busy nighttime in downtown San Francisco. The overall duration is roughly six minutes. This is a modest amount of time; but, as so often seems to be the case with Omni videos, it is definitely time well spent!

New Satoko Fujii Album Recorded a Decade Ago

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz Communications)

Tomorrow will see the release of the latest Libra Records album of a performance by Satoko Fujii. (Presumably, it will then appear on the Bandcamp Web page for her albums.) Those that have followed my articles about her probably know that I usually refer to her as a pianist (as I did this past May with the release of Under the Water, her duo album with Myra Melford, who is also a pianist). However, the full title of the new album is Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra; and, according to the details on the jacket, she performs only as conductor. Bunker Ulmenwall is a bar in Bielefeld, Germany that had been built as a bunker, presumably during one of the world wars of the last century. Now it hosts a diversity of music performances, as well as poetry slams; and the performance on this album was recorded there on November 22, 2014.

I have to confess that the use of the word “orchestra” leads me to follow Mister Spock’s lead and raise an eyebrow. (Yes, that probably dates me from the last century!) The string section of the symphony orchestra is represented only by a single cello (Willem Schulz) and a single double bass (Kevin Hemkemeier). On the other hand, there is a generous abundance of saxophones of all sizes, along with three trumpets and two trombones, one of whom doubles on tuba. There are also two drummers, along with Joel Köhn who works with electronics, both synthesized and sampled.

Fujii is also the first and last composer of the compositions on the album. “Shiki” occupies the entirety of the first of two CDs, running just shy of 47 minutes in duration. “Gen Himmel,” on the other hand, is the last track on the second CD, lasting a little more than six minutes. Three different composers account for the preceding tracks on that CD. “Yamantaka” was composed by Andres Kaling, the ensemble’s only bass saxophonist. This is followed by “Jasper” by Natsuki Tamura, who leads the trumpet section. The third track is “Antischwarm,” composed by Luise Volkmann, one of the two alto saxophonists.

Beginning-to-end listening runs slightly short of 90 minutes. That said, there is definitely a “density” to the way in which this music was composed and performed. Furthermore, I have to confess that, while there are a generous number of solos performed, I was not always able to associate what I was hearing with a specific instrument! However, once I put my obsession with details aside, I found that I could just “sit still and listen” and let the sonorities lead my imagination where they may.

Those that have followed past accounts of Fujii’s work probably know that this is not my first confrontation with an orchestral performance. At the end of last year, I wrote about Ninety-Nine Years performed by the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin. However, that turned out to be, as I put it, “a ‘small big band.’” There is nothing small about the Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra, not in numbers nor in their capacity for full-force sonorities. However, now that I have listened to their album several times, I find that they are beginning to grow on me!

SFP 2027 PIVOT Festival

Next year will begin with the annual PIVOT Festival presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP). This particular iteration will have a theme pervading the three concerts, all on successive evenings beginning at 7:30 p.m. That theme will be the celebration of the 90th birthday of composer and pianist Philip Glass. The first program will situate Glass’ music in a context spanning from the early nineteenth century to the immediate present. The other two will be devoted entirely to Glass compositions. All three of the offerings will take place in Herbst Theatre on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Specifics for each of the programs are as follows:

Wednesday, January 27: The Festival will begin with a solo recital by pianist Timo Andres. He will perform four selections from Glass’ Etudes. These will be preceded by the eleventh movement in Ann Southam’s Glass Houses collection. Andres will play his own Moving Etudes, separated from the Glass compositions by Jelly Roll Morton’s “Freakish.” The program will conclude with Franz Schubert’s D. 899 (Opus 90), the first of his two sets of four impromptus. This will be introduced by Impromptus II (after Schubert), composed by Samuel Carl Adams.

Thursday, January 28: Andres will return to accompany countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, who has established himself as a leading interpreter of Glass’ vocal music; program specifics have not yet been finalized.

Kronos Quartet members Paul Wiancko, David Harrington, Ayane Kozasa, and Gabriela Diaz (photograph by Lenny Diaz, courtesy of SFP)

Friday, January 29: The Kronos Quartet, whose members are violinists David Harrington and Gabriela Díaz, Ayane Kozasa on viola, and cellist Paul Wiancko, will devote their program entirely to the string quartets composed by Glass.

A Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for the entire series with options for the different areas in Herbst Theatre. The hyperlinks attached to the individual dates above can be used for purchasing single tickets. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545. In addition, single tickets will be available for purchase at the door with a 50% discount for student rush tickets and 20% off for seniors.

Alister Spence’s Second Solo Recording

Alister Spence at his piano (photograph by Jordan K Munns, courtesy of Braithwaite & Katz Communications)

This morning saw my fourth encounter with Australian jazz pianist and composer Alister Spence. My first was in 2018: Intelsat, a duo performance with another jazz pianist, Satoko Fujii. This was followed by his four-movement suite Imagine Meeting You Here, which was performed by the Satoko Fujii Orchestras in Kobe, Nagoya, and Tokyo. In 2020 he released his solo album Whirlpool, a suite of 23 relatively short pieces.This past April saw the release of a new solo album, Always Ever, which is currently available for MP3 download through an Amazon.com Web page.

Like Whirlpool, Always Ever is an album of improvised solo performances. There are sixteen tracks, the shortest being about two and a half minutes and the longest extending to six and a half minutes. Spence is not shy when it comes to upbeat tempos and eccentric rhythms. The attentive listener is thus likely to be satisfied with the diversity of dispositions across the individual selections.

Personally, I enjoyed the overdubbing of metal-on-metal percussion, which introduces the solo piano work in “Distant Cousins.” “Afternoon at Ranscom Street,” on the other hand, seems conceived to evoke the atonal abstractions encountered in improvisations by Cecil Taylor. It would be fair to say that Spence is never shy about adventurous improvisations, which is why I described the Whirlpool album as “a ‘laboratory notebook,’ in which Spence chose to document as wide a diversity of approaches to performance as his imagination would allow.” That documentation has now been continued and extended in Always Ever, which is as much a “journey of discovery” as Whirlpool was.