SIMM Series
Musicians Union Hall 116 9th St @ Mission SF
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7:30 Forward Energy CD release set of The Awakening
Jim Ryan saxophones, Rent Romus saxophones, CJ Borosque trumpet,
Scott R. Loney piano, Eric Marshall bass, Timothy Orr drums
8:30 Emily Hay voice/flutes, Motoko Honda piano, Valerie Kuehne cello

Listen to The Opening from Forward Energy




Forward Energy was founded in 1998 and had it’s first gig at Radio Valencia in San Francisco that year. The group has gone through several incarnations with top Bay Area musicians including: Eddie Gale of Cecil Taylor’s Unit Structures fame, Alicia Mangan an extraordinarily advanced tenor player, Donald Robinson a seasoned drummer who alternates between Oakland and Europe, and Scott R. Looney. Forward Energy has played up and down the West Coast as well as in the Midwest and New York City. The current formation includes founder Jim Ryan (who played on Steve Lacy’s weekly jam sessions in Paris during the early 70’s) on flute, saxes, and trumpet, and original member Scott R. Looney on piano. Scott received his BA in music from Coe College, Iowa and an MFA from Cal Arts. He has been a pillar of the experimental music community since the late 90’s. The group presently includes Rent Romus (who studied with Stan Getz and is a power both on his horn and as an organizer and promoter of the Bay Area experimental music community) on Saxophones; Eric Marshall is a regular bassist with Eddie Gale’s groups and he works in all genres of the jazz idiom. Percussionist Timothy Orr studied with Ed Blackwell and plays all styles from zydeco to free jazz. After a year together, the group has become very strong, and we have added C. J. Borosque on trumpet whose grounding in music extends back through several generations. C. J. is also a poet and painter: a new breath of creativity for Forward Energy in 2012. Edgetone Records has issued over a half dozen Forward Energy recordings over the years; and in January 2012 they released the first recording of the 2011 group: The Awakening which is available on the Edgetone site (release date 1/24/12), at concerts, and online with various providers, including Amazon & iTunes, in CD and mp3 format.

Emily Hay is a flutist, vocalist and pianist who extends the traditional roles and capabilities of her instruments by incorporating the complexity of contemporary classical technique with the spontaneity and experimentation of free improvisation. The result is startling interpretations of sound and intense ensemble interaction. Her explorations on the flute and alto flute embody unusual tone colors and soaring rhythmic structures, augmented by electronically generated effects and often overlapped by unusual vocalizations ranging from primal to operatic with lyrics and sounds from the stream of consciousness.

Hay is an active member of the Los Angeles and "left coast" music communities, and has performed in avant garde, art rock, free improvisation, electro-acoustical and contemporary classical ensembles such as U Totem, The Motor Totemist Guild, The 5 UU's , Otherparts, I Am Umbrella, Adam Rudolph's Go Organic Orchestra, The Emily Hay Collective, The Rich West Ensemble, The Jeff Kaiser Okodektet and The Vinny Golia Large Ensemble. Recordings of her work have been released on Cuneiform Records, Recommended Records, Nine Winds, Meta, pfMentum, Public Eyesore and Dragnet Records. She has toured and performed throughout Europe, Canada and the U.S. with concert highlights at the Bimhuis/Amsterdam, the Ottomat/Italy, New Music America Festival/Montreal, Art Rock Festival/Frankfurt, Kulturni Dom/Yugoslavia, Staion de Art Sankt Peter/Cologne and the Reithalle/Switzerland.

Motoko Honda, a native of Japan, is a concert pianist, composer, and sound artist who has created a distinctive sound through her holistic approach to music, and her exceptional sensitivity in relating to other art forms and technologies.  Employing a "virtuoso technique paired with her intensely imaginative mind" (Susan Dirende, L.A. Splash Magazine), and with stylistic influences ranging from jazz to Indonesian music to contemporary prepared piano, Motoko's structured improvisations are intended to affect the skin, organs and minds of the listener rather than simple recitations of rhythmic and harmonic themes.  Called both a "keyboard alchemist" (Chris Barton, L.A. Times), and the "embodiment of a muse" (Greg Burk, Metaljazz), Motoko's performances transport audiences on sonic adventures that transcend the boundaries and conventions of contemporary music.  Equally at home in classical, jazz, or electronic music, Motoko is a musical force of nature, bringing a unique creative sound to her wide-ranging collaborations.

Valerie Kuehne is an electrically charged virtuoso of all purpose cello. Dynamic performer, fearless improviser, songwriter, vocalist, and classically trained connoisseur of Bach and Britten, Valerie can be found playing incessant shows in NYC, where she devotes formidable heart, intellect, creativity, and time to cross-pollinating sundry genres. Armed with finesse, Valerie is impressively present on stage, rendering poignant punctuations of changeable emotional weather. In any setting, her instrument aches with human implications and fiendish alien fuel. -Lizzy McDaniel (poet, phrenologist)





Cost: $8/10

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