Zebulon's Lounge
21 Fourth Street Petaluma
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The Dana Reason (piano) duo, trio, & 4tet • w/Dominic Duval bass, Peter Valsamis drums, & Jim Ryan saxophone • (Dana Reason and Dominic Duval appear courtesy of Drimala Records ).
Canadian born pianist and composer Dana Reason is breaking down walls and rapidly establishing herself as one of the most exciting versatile musicians of the new generation. Equally at home on the jazz and classical concert stage, Dana is surprising audiences with her breathtaking performances. For the past decade Dana has fearlessly ventured on stage and into the unknown as she earned her reputation with many of today's leading jazz improvisers including George E. Lewis, Cecil Taylor, Barre Philips, Joe McPhee, Lisle Ellis, and Alex Cline. International jazz critic Frank Rubolino wrote, "She speaks in a broken tongue of rarified beauty that is demanding but fully rewarding."
Dana Reason's major performances have included critically acclaimed concerts at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Guelph Jazz Festival in Guelph, New York City's Knitting Factory, the Banff Arts Festival in Alberta, Los Angeles' Festival in Pink, Frau Musica Nova in Cologne, and Place Gabriel in Paris. She has appeared on National Pubic Radio, Radio Canada, and The CBC.
The Dana Reason Trio brings together two generations in one of the most exciting new piano trios to come along in many years. The trio is anchored by the veteran rhythm section of Montreal based drummer John Heward (Peter Valsamis will be the drummer on the Bay Area gigs) and New York bassist Dominic Duval. The trio burst on to the scene at the 2004 Suoni per il Popolo Festival in Montreal and is actively performing on both the East and West coast as well as throughout Canada. The Trio’s CD is forthcoming from Drimala Records in Early 2005.

New Yorker Dominic Duval is one of the finest and most prolific bassists on the contemporary scene, having played and recorded with some of the greatest names in jazz and new music. Duval's continuing tenure with pianist Cecil Taylor's trio has cemented his reputation as one of contemporary music's more important figures. Duval is comfortable and can be seen performing in any number of genres, including modern classical, jazz or music which defies classification .The bassist has performed and recorded with such notables as saxophonists Joe McPhee, Ivo Perelman, Glen Spearman, and Mark Whitecage, composer Pauline Oliveros, trombonist Steve Swell, pianists Joseph Scianni and Michael Stevens, trumpeter Herb Robertson, and drummer Paul Lytton, David S. Ware among many others. Duval leads and co-leads a number of ensembles himself, including the critically-acclaimed C.T. String Quartet, Trio X, "The Wedding Band", and the Dominic Duval String Ensemble.

Born in Montreal, Peter Valsamis began playing the piano at the age of six, but soon moved to the drums. Concurrently, he developed a sensitivity to sound that drew him to record and manipulate sound on tape. Now based in Oakland, California, Valsamis continues to nurture a wide range of interests. As a drummer, he has presented his music to concert audiences in Europe, Asia and North America, performing with Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Malcolm Goldstein and Don Preston. He has been Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts and has recent CD releases with piano virtuoso Dana Reason and the influential Trance Mission. Valsamis' electroacoustic compositions include a full length soundtrack for the award winning experimental film re:Cycle by Ken Doolittle. Valsamis received his M.F.A. in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College. While at Mills Peter studied with Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Curran, William Winant, and Leo Smith and received the prestigious Hellman Scholarship in Performance.

Jim Ryan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Nearing his mid-30's and living in Paris, France, he picked up the flute in about '68 and shortly thereafter began playing saxophone. In the early 70's he participated in a year-long workshop organized and led by Steve Lacy. Jim formed the "Free Music Formation" which played in Paris and other European cities. Returning to the States in 1975 he founded “The Art Performance Group” in Washington, D.C. He moved to Oakland, CA in 1993 and in ’97 created his current group "Forward Engergy, which has recently released its 5th CD Where Are They? on the Edgetone label. His work is described as, ". . . Forceful, immediate, inventive." Signal to Noise . . .

Cost: $6-10

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