Monday, March 5, 2018

The Bleeding Edge: 3/5/2018

This week the only event previously reported is the performance by the Elevate Ensemble at the Center for New Music on Saturday, March 10. That leaves six new events for the week, one of which, at The Lab, will be omitted since all tickets have been sold. Here are the specifics for the remaining five:

Monday, March 5, 8:30 p.m., Make Out Room: Regular readers know the drill: This is the first Monday of the month, so it is time for the next Monday Make-Out. The evening will follow the usual three-set format, opening with a chamber jazz/improvisation quartet called Bristle. What makes this group interesting is that it has only one rhythm performer, Lisa Mezzacappa on bass. The front line is, to say the least, diverse. Both Randy McKean and Cory Wright play clarinets of different sizes. McKean also plays alto saxophone; and Wright plays tenor, as well as flute and piccolo. The remaining member of the group, Murray Campbell, alternates between violin and oboe.

Bristle will be followed by a spontaneous improvisation group led by Alan Ernst on piano. He calls his combo the Maximum Ernst 4tet. (Whether this is a reflection on the surrealist work of Max Ernst is left for the reader to decide.) Tony Passarell plays saxophone on the front line, and the rhythm section is filled out by Heath Proskin on bass and Jenn Schaaf on drums. The final set will be a duo performance by Karl Evangelista on guitar and Tim DeCillis on percussion.

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! Doors will open at 8 p.m.

Thursday, March 8, 8:15 p.m., Luggage Store Gallery (LSG): This week’s installment of the LSG Creative Music Series will consist of three sets of free improvisation. The opening set will be taken by Pitta of the Mind, the duo of Amanda Chaudhary providing electronic music accompaniment to poetry recitation by Maw Shein Win. They will be followed by a solo project by Kip Kipperman called Buster. The final set will be taken by the Usufruct duo of computer musician Tim Walters joining forces with vocalist Polly Moller Springhorn, who also plays flute. LSG is located at 1007 Market Street, across from the corner of Golden Gate Avenue and Taylor Street; and admission is on a sliding scale between $8 and $15.

Friday, March 9, 8 p.m., Old First Presbyterian Church: This will be the first of two performances in the Old First Concerts (O1C) series to be given over the weekend. Flutist Robert Stallman will make his O1C debut accompanied by pianist Dmitriy Cogan. Stallman’s tastes tend to prefer the Romantic period; but his approach to repertoire is still adventurous, turning up flute compositions that tend to be unfamiliar to most of his audiences. The composers to be represented at this concert will be Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Antonín Dvořák, Paul Jeanjean, and Otar Taktakishvili.

The Old First Presbyterian Church is located at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southeast corner of Van Ness Avenue. If purchased in advance online from an O1C event page, general admission will be $23 with a discounted rate of $18 for seniors aged 65 or older. Tickets for full-time students showing valid identification will be $5; and children aged twelve and under will be admitted for free. There is also a discount available for those parking at the Old First Parking Garage at 1725 Sacramento Street, just up the street from the church.

Saturday, March 10, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., SFJAZZ Center: The next listener-oriented offering at the Joe Henderson Lab will feature songwriter Natalie Cressman, who performs as both vocalist and trombonist. The program will be based on her new project for an EP album entitled The Traces. She will lead a combo whose other members are her Brooklyn colleagues Mike Bono (guitar) and Michael Mitchell (drums), along with Bay Area bass player Scott Thompson.

As can be seen above, Cressman has been scheduled for two performances. Both are currently listed as “Almost Sold Out;” but there are separate event pages for the online purchase of tickets to the 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. shows. Considering the demand, this is probably the best way to try to get a ticket. All tickets are $25. The SFJAZZ Center is located at 201 Franklin Street, on the northwest corner of Fell Street.

Sunday, March 11, 4 p.m., Old First Presbyterian Church: The second O1C concert of the weekend will present a woodwind trio that calls itself Trois Bois. The performers are Laura Reynolds on oboe, Patricia Shands on clarinet, and David Granger on bassoon. The name of the group may be its most accurate description in French; but all four composers on the program, entitled Creativity in Times of Insecurity, are American. The trios written by Kirke Mechem and Donald Waxman were written at the height of the Cold War. They will be followed by two trios, by Sean Osborn and Damian Montano, respectively, composed during the first decade of the current century. Venue and ticketing information is as described above for the Friday concert with a separate event page for online ticket purchases.

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