Bad Luck: CD Release Concert

8:00pm; $5-15 sliding scale, cash at the door. Free CD with $15 donation!

Co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch, Bad Luck is about sound art, slowly developed loops and pedals used to propel the music into new aural fields. Tight-knit original compositions meet sonic mosaics in a musical relationship cultivated by years on the bandstand.

Opening the show will be Operation I.D., a Seattle collective of like minded musicians performing modern, original compositions and fierce improvisations. Not to be missed!

bst.cr: improvised music, organized mutiny, free association

8:00 PM; $5 - $15 sliding scale donation at the door. Gallery 1412 Presents is a series of performances and workshops in fall and winter 2009/2010 conceived and orchestrated by the Gallery 1412 collective with funding from 4Culture and the King County Lodging Tax.

Formed initially in the summer of 2009, this heretofore unnamed vessel (pronounced Bee Ess Tee See Arrrrgh) comprises a core trio of Ben Bennett (drumheads, Columbus, OH), Ryan Jewell (snare drum, Columbus, OH), and Wilson Shook (alto saxophone, Seattle), as well as any foolhardy stowaways who happen to seek passage under these ragged sails.

Whether careening through uncharted seas or reposing under familiar stars, bst.cr follow a map of their own creation, where X marks not a terminus of promised riches, but a signpost along the way of perpetual becoming. Fellow travelers are advised to set aside their customary defenses and take up the banner of an alter-subjectivity.

Joining bst.cr for this voyage will be Seattle-based mercenaries: Paul Hoskin (reeds), Mara Sedlins (viola), Tyler Wilcox (reeds, synthesizer), Mark Collins (bass) and, from Portland, Kelvin Pittman (tenor saxophone).

Earshot: Hans Koch + Paul Kikuchi's Portable Sanctuary

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival.

Swiss reedman Hans Koch, one of the most fearless improvisers in music, performs solo on bass clarinet. Koch left his career as a classical clarinetist and has worked since with Fred Frith, Cecil Taylor, and Andrew Cyrille. Seattle-based percussionist and composer Paul Kikuchi follows with his quartet – trombone maestro Stuart Dempster and fellow percussionist-instrument makers Alexander Vittum and Jesse Olsen.

Seattle Composers' Salon

The Seattle Composers’ Salon fosters the development, performance and appreciation of new music by regional composers and performers. At bi-monthly, informal presentations, the Salon features finished works, previews, and works in progress. Composers, performers, and audience members gather in a casual setting that allows for experimentation and discussion. This month's composers: Keith Eisenbrey, Emily Doolittle, Cole Bratcher, Tom Baker

Nu:BC Collective

Presented by WA Composers Forum as part of their Transport Series.

The Nu:BC Collective, ensemble-in-residence at the University of British Columbia, presents a program of works by Canadian, French and American composers, written for chamber ensemble and tape: Christopher Sivak: A Perfect Focus (2008); Dorothy Chang: Miniatures (1998); Kamran Ince: MKG Variations for solo cello (1998) Chris Paul Harman: Doubling (2007); Jacob TerVeldhuis: The Body of Your Dreams (2004) Phillipe Leroux: ppp (1993); Marc Mellits: Fruity Pebbles (1997)

Earshot: Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival & Polestar.

The astounding trio of Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (alto saxophone & clarinets), and Wilbert de Joode (bass) incorporates aspects of contemporary classical music, free improvisation, and the jazz tradition with enormous sympathy, dexterity, and power. The ensemble can create sparse, tense music from the bristling details of quiet interaction, while later firing through heated group improvisations as fast as the ear can follow.

Earshot: Tom Varner Tentet + Sjenka

Presented by Earshot Jazz Festival.

The French horn has a rather short list of jazz masters, usually led by Julius Watkins. One of Watkins’s foremost proponents, Tom Varner presents his tentet performing their new CD, Heaven and Hell. The new work showcases the orchestration of Varner’s elastic harmonics, his use of the ensemble as an instrument, and his Ellingtonian ability to animate against the instruments’ limitations.

Sjenka is young trombonist Andy Clausen’s ambient electronic trio, which synthesizes diverse musical styles into dynamic layered soundscapes filled with striking juxtapositions.