Outsound Presents: November, 2022

Now that we seem to be back to the stability of “business as usual,” I would like to try to restore Outsound Presents to the list of organizations for which I try to give monthly previews. (The last such article I wrote was for March of 2020.) Readers probably know by now that Outsound manages two concert series:

1. The LSG (Luggage Store Gallery) Creative Music Series events take place on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m.; and the venue is located at 1007 Market Street, just off the corner of Sixth Street and across from the corner of Golden Gate Avenue and Taylor Street. Admission is on a sliding scale between $10 and $20. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
2. The SIMM (Static Illusion Methodical Madness) Series of concerts is a monthly event taking place on Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. The venue is the Musicians Union Hall, located at 116 9th Street, near the corner of Mission Street. General admission will be $20 with a $15 senior rate for those age 62 or older.

Outsound Presents has its own Web site on Eventbrite, and Web pages are posted prior to each event to process advance payment. Specific details for next month will be given in chronological order as follows:

Wednesday, November 2: This will follow the usual format of a two-set program with sets beginning at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., respectively. The first set will be a solo performance by Tom Djll, who continues to explore the use of analog electronics to supplement his trumpet work. The second set will be the premiere performance of Melody Duo. The two members are both vocalists: Josephine Torio and Kattt Atchley. Their genre is one of a sustained drone above which both of them spin out melodic developments.

Sunday, November 13: The SIMM Series concert of the month will also offer two sets, this time beginning at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively. The first set will see the post-pandemic return of the improvising trio whose members are pianist Scott Looney (also working with electronics), Lisa Mezzacappa on bass, and percussionist Kjell Nordeson. The three of them connected regularly for remote online improvisation sessions over the last two years, and now they are ready to share the same physical space. Looney has integrated electronic processing into his performances on both acoustic and prepared pianos. The second set will be a duo performance by Karen Stackpole on gongs and Bill Noertker on bass. This will be an album-release set, drawing upon content from their new album, Talking Frog. They have described their album as “a soundscape of trills, chirps, screams, barks, grunts, clucks, croaks, bellows, and hoots.”

Wednesday, November 16: The final LSG event of the month will feature a solo performance by Stash Wyslouch. He describes himself as a “solo avant-garde Bluegrass guitarist, singer and songwriter.” He has explored a variety of genres; but his current focus is on Bluegrass, subjected to both composition and improvisation. He also supplements his instrumental performances with storytelling. He describes his most recent album, Plays and Sings Bluegrass Vol. II, which was released in April of 2021, as “a collection of zanily deconstructed Bluegrass classics.” He will present the second set of the evening, and plans have not yet been finalized for the first set. [added 11/10, 11:30 a.m.: The first set will be performed by the Bleeding Vector duo. Improvising vocalist Lorin Benedict will perform with guitarist Eric Vogler. Both of them are also members of the trio called The Holly Martins.]