Filipino-American guitarist/composer
Karl Evangelista presents Apura (Tagalog for “Very Urgent”), a project that explores the relationship between jazz-based musical improvisation and social transformation in an era of worldwide political upheaval.
Karl Evangelista's Apura celebrates the power of creative music as a weapon of struggle. Apura uses original composition and daring improvised sounds to explore the passionate, embattled culture of the Philippines - Evangelista's ancestral home. Along the way, Evangelista pays homage to the imposing legacies of American free jazz and South African improvised music.
This occasion marks Apura’s only 2022 performance, featuring Asian Improv aRts cofounder
Francis Wong (saxophone), enterprising bassist
Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), and Bay Area great
Donald Robinson (drums). The ensemble performs music from Ngayon, an upcoming record featuring master drummer Andrew Cyrille.
Videos featuring musicians playing at this event
Biggi Vinkeloe - alto saxophone, flute
Donald Robinson - drums
Joe Lasqo - piano, laptop, percussion
Teddy Rankin-Parker - cello
Lisle Ellis - contrabass, acoustic bass guitar
April 19, 2014, The Emerald Tablet, San Francisco, CA
Video by Charles Smith
avantNOIR, a suite of compositions for jazz quartet plus guests, is a musical companion to the crime novels of Dashiell Hammett and Paul Auster. All music by Lisa Mezzacappa.