Lauded as “on the ball, uncomplacent, fun even” by Wire magazine, multi-reedist, composer, sideman and bandleader Randy McKean is off the grid and invites you to join him. Operating from his home base in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, McKean injects the unexpected and a serious dose of absurdity into his every creation, be it the road-map mind-meld improvs of his chamber jazz quartet Bristle or the skipped-needle groove of his African-trance trio Tumble. Hailed by Option for his “fiery playing and the intriguing tapestries of his writing,” McKean’s past work with AACM stalwarts Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, trumpet pioneer Paul Smoker, electronic music maverick David Rosenboom and master percussionist Willy Winant have informed his many projects, including the organized skronk sax quartet Goggle, the perpetual motion sax-drums duos TMBR and Pac and Seep, and the sweeping reeds-electronics ensembles Gargantius Effect and Wild Horsey Ride. McKean’s current work in the vibrant Bay Area, Sacramento and Nevada County scenes includes clarinetist for the Euro Balkan group Beaucoup Chapeaux, EEb Contralto clarinet bass chair for guitarist David Dvorin’s Flounder and Pocket Quartet, and music director for the contact dance collective Shadow Cabinet. McKean has composed works for orchestra, wind quartet, and string quartet. As promoter and producer, McKean presents the Col. MaCaw’s Magical Cure-All concert series and co-leads its spin-off record label Cure-All Records with Dvorin.