Karate Mountain is "like a talented jazz band that got sick of only playing jazz...if you are a connoisseur of music who likes the subtleties, details and complexities then you will relish what Karate Mountain has to offer" (Matt Jensen, The Equal Ground, 5/8/15). One of the few instrumental indie bands with sheet music on stage, the pages are full of original yet familiar forms and melodies that are engaging in their earnestness, inspiring in their audacity, and comforting in their openness to interpretation. The players employ a fierce passion and desperate desire for connection to create the soundtrack to an imagined world within each listener. Karate Mountain is Bay Area-based Keith Penney on keyboard, Matt Roads on bass, Pete Agraan on drums and Nahum Zdybel on guitar. karatemountain.bandcamp.com
https://youtu.be/zhP6BXfn_AQ
With her group The Lily Project, Sacramento-native vocalist Megan Gage performs her ethereal yet driving original compositions and improvisations with bass, drums, accordion, piano and saxophone. In both composition and performance, Megan draws equally from her experience singing jazz and the hours spent pining in her teenage years to ’90s female singer-songwriters, and for many of her compositions, Megan uses text as a starting point; she reveres the way lyric and melody can compound each other’s effect. Megan’s first set with the group in 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of her aunt Lily’s suicide by setting to music and improvisation the poetry Lily composed over her lifetime. The Lily Project is Megan on vocals, Casey Lipka on bass, Rose Cangelosi on drums, Keith Penney on keyboard and accordion, and Bob Ratcliff on saxophone. facebook.com/thelilyproject
Farewell Typewriter is a four-piece band from Alameda, CA. The band's songs are influenced by music that spans several genres, but contains several key elements: solid melodies, interesting arrangements and memorable sounds. You'll find that these all seep through into Farewell Typewriter's music, as does a considerable amount of exuberant energy. What we're saying is: wear earplugs and prepare to sweat. Farewell Typewriter is Jason Countryman on bass and vocals, Brian Michael on guitar and keys, Grant Shellen on vocals and guitar, and Steve Slater drums. farewelltypewriter.bandcamp.com
Cost: $10