The Back Room
1984 Bonita Avenue Berkeley 94704
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Jazz in the Neighborhood presents an experimental/free jazz concert and jam with the Lisa Mezzacappa Group Led by bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, the band will be Cory Wright, reeds; John Finkbeiner, guitar, and Jason Levis, drums.

The evening will be a workshop for musicians who want to learn more about free improvisation and how to structure free improvisation as a group. Anyone who is competent on their instrument, whether in a jazz context or even in classical music or other genres like rock or folk music, is welcome to join in.

After a short set by her ensemble, Lisa Mezzacappa will lead a free improv training session with members of her band. Then those who have signed in for the jam will be invited to sit in for the session part of the evening. Some ad hoc ensembles will also be formed to play short improv pieces. A few simple tunes will be on hand that people can read and arrange on the spot together.

If you're competent on your instrument and open to exploring new sounds and ways of interacting, this will be a great opportunity to learn from and play with some of the best improvisers in the Bay Area.

This is event is part the Neighborhood Sessions series, a collaboration between Jazz in the Neighborhood and the California Jazz Conservatory with partial funding from the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Lisa Mezzacappa is a San Francisco Bay Area composer, improviser, bassist and bandleader. Called “one of the most imaginative figures on the Bay Area creative jazz scene” by the San Jose Mercury News and “a Bay Area treasure” by KQED national public radio, she has been an active part of California’s vibrant experimental music community for 15 years. Mezzacappa’s activities as a composer and bandleader include ethereal chamber music, electro-acoustic works, avant-garde jazz, music for groups from duo to large ensemble, and collaborations with film, dance, sculpture and installation art. She performs regularly as an improviser with musicians throughout the Bay Area, on the East Coast, and in Europe. Recent projects include works inspired by noir crime fiction; scientific processes on micro and cosmic scales; Victorian lady adventurers; and vintage Italian science fiction comic books. www.lisamezzacappa.com

Cost: $10

Audio samples in which musicians at this event play:

Videos featuring musicians playing at this event