The 15th Annual Outsound New Music SummitArtist Q&A 7:30 pm Concert 8:15 pm
Living legend, saxophonist, composer, and poet
Oliver Lake performs with renowned Bay Area drummer
Donald RobinsonEvans/Stanley/PinoMulti-instrumentalist Brandon Evans meet up with Bay Area violinist
Christina Stanley and percussionist Mark Pino for a set of spontaneous creation.
The artistic scope of renowned saxophonist, composer, painter, and poet Oliver Lake’s half century-long career is unparalleled. From collaborations with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Flux String Quartet, Bjork, Lou Reed, A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def and Me’shell Ndegeocello, to his co-founding of the Black Artist Group (BAG) and the highly acclaimed World Saxophone Quartet, creation of his non-profit Passin’ Thru organization, becoming a mainstay with Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, publishing two books of poetry and frequently having original artwork displayed in exhibitions across the country, Oliver Lake views it all as part of the same whole.
Lake has been a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and has received commissions from the Library of Congress, the Rockefeller Foundation ASCAP, the International Association for Jazz Education, Composers Forum, the McKim Foundation, the Mary Flagler Cary Trust, the Lila Wallace Arts Partners Program, and in 2006, was honored to receive the Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award at the Kennedy Center. Most notably, Oliver was recently selected to receive the prestigious 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, a multi-year grant awarded to only 19 American artists in the fields of jazz, theater and dance. As such, the coming years promise to be exciting and filled with bold new artistic endeavors.
Oliver continues to remain focused and immersed in his work with his Organ Quartet, Big Band, Trio 3 and a multitude of other performers and ensembles.
Described as a 'percussive dervish' (Coda)
Donald Robinson is a technical master of the drums. He is a stalwart of the of San Francisco bay area avant-garde jazz scene, playing and recording with many of the area's improvisational players, from saxophonists John Tchicai, Marco Eneidi and Larry Ochs to koto player Miya Masaoka and pianist Matthew Goodheart, and with prominent visitors like Cecil Taylor, Wadada Leo Smith, George Lewis, trumpeter Raphe Malik and Canadian pianist Paul Plimley. Much of this work has featured the combination of Robinson and bassist Lisle Ellis as rhythm section: 'the best bass-drums tag team on the scene' (Jazz Times). His longest musical association, dating from the 1970's, was with the late tenor saxophonist Glenn Spearman.
Born is Boston, Massachusetts in 1953, Robinson first studied classical percussion at the New England Conservatory. During the early 1970's he served his musical apprenticeship in the jazz world of Paris, studying with Kenny Clarke and playing with Alan Silva, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake and Bobby Few among many others. He first played with Spearman as a duet partner during this period in Paris, an association which continued through various configurations and many recordings until the saxophonist's death in 1998.
Robinson is currently playing in many configurations with a broad range of musicians throughout Europe and the US.
Brandon Evans is a composer / saxophonist and composer best known for his work with Anthony Braxton beginning in the mid 90’s after leaving San Francisco. Evans also recorded with saxophone legend Sonny Simmons on several albums issued on his Parallactic Records label. He produced and directed a documentary in 2003 about Simmons called The Multiple Rated X Truth.
In addition to working and performing with Anthony Braxton and Sonny Simmons he has also worked with Johnny Coles, Andre Vida, Jackson Moore, Chris Matthay, Kenny Washington, Mike Pride, Kevin Norton, Martin Van Duynhoven, Taylor Ho Bynum, and many other great contemporary jazz / creative musicians.
Christina Stanley is a Bay Area based violinist, improviser, multi instrumentalist, vocalist, electronic musician and songwriter who began piano at 5 and violin studies at the age of 8. she attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from ages 15-18 where she studied with li lin and eventually earned a full performance scholarship to San Francisco State University where she earned her Bachelors of Music and studied violin with Daniel Kobialka, Jassen Toderov and the Alexander String Quartet. After touring Europe and the US with various music groups, she attended HB studio in New York City where she studied theatre,dance and voice for two years. She then went on to earn an MFA in Music Performance and Literature from Mills College, where she studied violin with David Abel,composition and improvisation with Fred Frith and Roscoe Mitchell, and won the Margaret Lyon prize for excellence in music. She is currently an active performing musician and teacher, working as a solo artist as well as a member of various groups including the R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! With whom she appeared at the Warfield, The Fox Theater and Yoshis SF and Oakland. Her solo compositions are published on Self Help Tapes. As a studio musician, she has appeared on albums for kill Rockstars, 4AD and Beggars Banquet/rough trade. She has been a featured Solo performer for the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, a vocalist for the William Winant percussion ensemble, and has premiered works by George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell for Mutable Music under conductor Petr Kotik. Her original painted graphic scores have been featured at the Outsound New Music Summit in San Francisco, Temple Ad Hoc in Los Angeles and Rock Paper Scissors Gallery in Oakland. She is currently working on a recording project with the ROVA Saxophone Quartet and recording and writing an album with the band Silent pictures. She is passionate about working with living composers and composing new music.
Mark Pino began playing drums at the age of 13. He has performed in the SF Bay Area and other parts of the country since the early 1990’s. Mark has shared stages and playing situations with many talented individuals, and is grateful to all of them, most of all those who have shared their insights with him. He considers himself a band player, first and foremost. He also plays percussion with Cloud Shepherd, The Ruminations, and other experimental/improv groups.
Cost: $15 general $12 Student