18th SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Travis Baker, Emily Hay & Sara Schoenbeck
Saturday, February 15 · Polestar Music Gallery
1412 18th Ave. at E Union · 8 PM · $5-15 sliding scale
Travis Baker has led the life of a musical chameleon. He is at home in the worlds of jazz, punk rock, and even classical music, but of special importance to him is improvisation and the emancipation of the bass from its traditional supportive role. A bassist since 1986, he has played with Wayne Horvitz, Peggy Lee, Coat Cooke, Gino Robair, Ron Samworth, and Raymond Strid, and regularly collaborates with Paul Plimley. As a composer, he has written for everything from solo instruments to large ensemble compositions. Notable groups he has played with and/or led include a duet with L.A.–based bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, Little Stitches, Meathook Ensemble, Agenbite, and the Travis Baker Trio. He has toured extensively across Canada as well as in the U.S. and parts of Europe. He has appeared as a member of Time Flies Improvised Music Series in Vancouver, on CBC Radio, and regularly at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
Emily Hay incorporates the complexities of contemporary classical technique with the spontaneity of free improvisation, resulting in startling interpretations of sound and intense ensemble interaction. On flute, alto flute, piccolo, and ethnic reeds, she produces unusual tone colors and soaring rhythmic structures augmented by electronic devices. Her vocalizations range from primal to operatic, including whimsical word play and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. She is active in Los Angeles in avant-garde, alternative art rock, free improvisation, 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. She is a featured artist on Cuneiform Records, Recommended Records, Nine Winds Records, Meta Records, pfMentum, and Dragnet Records. She has toured and performed extensively throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. In her day job, Hay is a paralegal in music contract and copyright law for the firm that represents the likes of Beck, Foo Fighters, Goo Goo Dolls, and Metallica. Previously, she produced film and television soundtracks; presented experimental music by the likes of Fred Frith, Tom Cora, John Adams, David Moss, and Barre Phillips; and curated the 1992 New Music Across America Festival in Los Angeles. She co-hosts the experimental-music program, Trilogy, on KXLU 88.9FM.
Sara Schoenbeck performs contemporary and improvised music, and has a strong interest in expanding the sound and role of the bassoon. She has premiered solo bassoon works by Steven Hoey at Zipper Auditorium in Los Angeles and by Marc Lowenstein at California Institute of the Arts. She has performed with Miya Masaoka, Gino Robair, Wayne Horvitz, Nels Cline, New Century Players (CalArts faculty ensemble), Different Trains (L.A.–based composer co-op), and many others. She is currently a member of Vinny Golia's Large Ensemble, the L.A. contemporary music group Ensemble Green, Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra, Open Gate Theater, and Adam Rudolph's GO Orchestra. She has appeared as a soloist and ensemble player at the du Maurier International Jazz Festival and the Time Flies Improvisation Series in Vancouver B.C., the Green Umbrella Series, Microfest, "Sound" Series, Ear Jam and Inner Ear Festival in Los Angeles, the American Festival of Microtonal Music in New York, the Pauline Oliveras Birthday Retrospective, and the Eddie Moore Jazz Festival in San Francisco. She appears on the recordings Yesca One (Spool), Vinny Golia's Large Ensemble (Ninewinds), Sound.soundcd no.1 (soundNet), and Go Organic Orchestra:1 (Meta records).
18th Seattle Improvised Music Festival