Outsound Presents7:30 PM
Lisa Mezzacappa's Bait & Switch
Aaron Bennett - saxophones
John Finkbeiner - guitar
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Vijay Anderson - drums
Brawny and brainy new out jazz from some of the scene's most accomplished and passionate players ... It had been a long time since I had heard anyone follow up on the sophisticated traditions of the seventies' AACM / loft jazz scene with such dedication and focus.
- Myles Boisen's "Top 10 of 2008," Transbay Creative Music Calendar
Lisa Mezzacappa is a double bassist, composer, collaborator and musical instigator. Her music lives in the intersection of improvisation and composition, and her projects often integrate improvisation-infused composition into public spaces and cross-disciplinary works. She studied bass with Michael Formanek and Peter Spaar, studied improvisation with Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman and John D'earth, and has workshopped with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Bob Moses, Art Baron, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley and David Murray, among others. Lisa has performed at countless Bay Area venues including Intersection for the Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SFMOMA, and the de Young Museum, San Francisco; as well as the Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle; and the Montreal Jazz Festival; Canada.
Lisa has been artist-in-residence at Djerassi Resident Artists Program (2008), Headlands Center for the Arts (2006), the Banff International Jazz Workshop (2000), and the Painted Bride Arts Center (2000). She holds an MA in ethnomusicology from UC Berkeley (2003), and a BA in music from the University of Virginia (1997). Lisa has been awarded grants from American Composers Forum, the City of Oakland and Meet the Composer. She currently performs in nearly a dozen original jazz, pop and chamber ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.
Able-bodied and addle-brained, right-handed engineer and multi-instrumentalist
John Finkbeiner hails from Waukegan, Illinois. John has studied engineering with Myles Boisen; guitar with Morris Acevedo, Myles Boisen, and Richard Festinger, and drinking straw with
Aaron Bennett. John plays or has played with, among others, these bands: Guerrilla Hi-Fi, Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra, The Highlander II's, Sir Dance-a-lot, Aaron Novik's Gubbish, The United Brassworkers' Front, Go-go Fightmaster, The Quiet Storm All-Stars, The Electro-Magnetic Trans-personal Orchestra, The Scenty-Gents, Optimist International, Sparklecock, etc.
Aaron Bennett graduated from Cal Arts with a masters degree in Jazz Performance in 1995. At Cal Arts he studied extensively with Ismael Wadada Leo Smith. He currently plays music in the bay area as an active member of the following bands: Marco Eneidi's American Jungle Orchestra, Ismael Wadada Leo Smiths N'da Kulture (the large ensemble), The Quiet Storm Allstars, Moe!, The Scott Looney, Full Throttle, Go-Go Fightmaster, electro-magnetic trans-personal orchestra, the Vijay Anderson Quartet.
Vijay Anderson has had the pleasure of performing/recording with Lynn Johnston, Adam Lane’s Full Throttle Orchestra, Musical Genius, Baculum,
Aaron Bennett’s Go-Go Fightmaster, The Facing East Dance Company, the Adam Lane Trio (featuring Vinny Golia), Josh Allen, Marco Eneidi , the Smith Dobson Jr. Quartet, and the Dystemic Octet. He holds a B.A. in music from San Francisco State University. At SFSU, he studied with Eddie Marshall, Francis Wong, Wayne Wallace and Hafez Modirzadeh. He continues to play in various groups throughout the bay area as well as leading his own group, The Vijay Anderson Quartet.
8:30 PM
Noertker's MoxieCD Release party for Sketches of Catalonia, vol. 3: Suite for Gaudí
Annelise Zamula - tenor sax, flute
Jim Peterson - alto sax, flute
Jenny Maybee - piano
Bill Noertker - contrabass
Dave Mihaly - drums and whatnot
Noertker’s Moxie celebrates the release of their fifth CD, Sketches of Catalonia, vol. 3: Suite for Gaudí. This is Moxie’s third CD on the Edgetone label, and marks the completion of Noertker’s triptych of suites inspired by three leading lights of Catalan art/architecture: Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Antoni Gaudí.
In the last decade,
Bill Noertker has composed over 150 original pieces of music for jazz ensemble. His compositions point to the continuity between the jazz tradition and the avant-garde. His use of group improvisation and his attention to the individual voices of each of his bandmates call forth the human element so sorely missing from much of today’s jazz.
Saxophonist Annelise Zamula has toured extensively in Europe and the United States with the Seattle-based Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet. Back in the SF Bay Area, Zamula has performed with jazz, swing, blues, rock, and classical ensembles over the last three decades, honking her sax in clubs, cafes, concert halls, churches, and on local radio and television. Currently she plays with Big Lou's Polka Casserole, the MoodSwing Orchestra, the Berkeley Saxophone Quartet, the After the End of the World Coretet, the Montclair Women's Big Band, and Noertker's Moxie.
Jim Peterson has been playing the saxophone in the Bay Area for over 20 years. An incredibly diverse reedman, Jim has played tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone saxophones with such well-known Bay Area bands as Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88's, Red Archibald and the Internationals, Steve Lucky and the Rumba Bums, Indigo Swing, Rhythm Town Jive, Motordude Zydeco, Hot Links, and many others. Feeling just at home playing modern jazz as he does rhythm and blues, Jim leads his own trio, and was a founding member of the groups Mumbo Gumbo and Giant Trio. His walking baritone lines often combine bass and melody together, weaving in and out of the harmonic intricacies of each tune, filling up so much space that the ear doesn’t miss a note. Jim plays with a fire and drive that ignite both the audience and the band to groove with terrific intensity.
Jenny Maybee is a pianist, vocalist and composer. She has performed classical, jazz and improvisational music throughout her life. Jenny is currently focused on her own compositions while recording and performing with other artists as her schedule permits.
Dave Mihaly is a student of psychology and metaphysics, as well as a music educator and composer. Mihaly earned a B.A. in Music Theory and History, and a B.A. in Psychology from Drew University, as well as studying with Andrew Cyrille and Barry Altschul in Manhattan, and Jack Van der Wyck and Zakir Hussain in the S.F. bay area. He has toured the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the South Pacific and written for jazz, rock, mixed genres, voice, and string quartets and been featured on many recordings as a performer and a composer. Music has many positive values. Enjoy.
Cost: $10 general / $8 student