Monday, June 21, 2021

The Bleeding Edge: 6/21/2021

Things continue to ramp up this week. Once again, there will be two performances at the Center for New Music, a release concert for A Civil Right, the duo album of saxophonist Larry Ochs and drummer Don Robinson at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 25, and the Creation & Change program of new works by Bay Area composers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 26. However, there are an additional four events involving live and/or streamed performance, suggesting that action on the bleeding edge is beginning to get sharper. Specifics are as follows:

Thursday, June 24, 9 p.m.: John the Baptist Day will be celebrated by a streamed performance of experimental music. The performers will be vocalist Winston Tong, drummer Andre Custodio, and Lx Rudis, who works with both analog and digital gear. Tong will give a reading of his interpretation of poems that Charles Baudelaire collected under the title Les Fleurs du mal (the flowers of evil). Custodio and Rudis will give a duo performance, most likely improvised. The streaming connection will be uploaded by Rudis to his YouTube channel.

Friday, June 25, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Drummer Tony Johnson will lead his quartet in a program of bop, hard bop, and post-bop. The other performers will be Bob Kenmotsu on tenor saxophone, Keith Saunders on piano, and Eric Markowitz on bass. Bird & Beckett is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station for both Muni and BART. Admission will be $20 in cash at the door, which will open at 7:20 p.m. A live stream will be available for $10. Bird & Beckett has not yet released the specifics for making this connection, but readers will probably benefit their YouTube channel.

Saturday, June 26, 7 p.m., Canessa Gallery: Located at 708 Montgomery Street on the “border” between the Financial District and North Beach, this venue is apparently returning to hosting performances. There will be three sets, two of which will be solos. Erin Demastes works with “hacked and intentionally non-user-friendly electronics” in her performances. S. Glass is described as “abuser of instruments, ignorer of proper technique, [and] found sound gourmand.” There will also be a performance by the Pay Dirt duo of Bryan Day and Victoria Shen. Shen’s experimental performances involve analog modular synthesizers, amplified objects, and invented instruments, while Day works with “scavenged electronics, repurposed mechanical components and amplified materials that you might find in your garage or your great uncle's office,” from which he creates sound sculptures. Admission will be on a sliding scale between $5 and $20.

Saturday, June 26, 7:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: The title of the second program at this venue for the week will be Lost Shapes. It will present “avant garde explorations” by the trio of Safa Shokrai on bass, Mark Clifford on vibraphone, and Kjell Nordeson on drums. As was the case on Friday, admission will be $20 in cash at the door, which will open at 7:20 p.m. A live stream will be available for $10. Again the specifics for making this connection have not yet been released, and checking the YouTube channel will probably be the best way to learn about streaming.

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