18th SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Tom Djll, Bhob Rainey & Jack Wright
Saturday, February 22 · Polestar Music Gallery
1412 18th Ave. at E Union · 8 PM · $5-15 sliding scale suggested donation
Seriously high-level (though not exclusively highbrow) music from three master musicians. They play saxophones and trumpet, but listeners will hear seemingly electric sounds and disembodied tones from a trio that pays extraordinary attention to detail and possesses a sometimes sinister sense of humor, as heard on their surreal, acclaimed CD, Signs of Life (2000).
Specializing in rarely used split-tone multiphonic techniques, Tom Djll (b. 1957) is one of the few players to have mastered extended trumpet techniques. His language is post-jazz, incorporating noises into melodic gestures and gritty textures from electronica. Djll, said The Improvisor, is "among the most innovative brass players alive. He has amassed a series of techniques which continually astound in terms of their variety and force, building watchposts from which to see possibilities which have eluded so many others." During a lifelong study of improvised music, he has performed since 1980 with Eugene Chadbourne, the Splatter Trio, George Lewis, William Winant, nmperign, Jack Wright, and Miya Masaoka. He has toured Europe, the Southwest, and, in 2001, the Pacific Northwest. His current projects include Trio Aurizon with Chris Brown and Gino Robair; John Zorn's Cobra, led by William Winant; Brassiosaurus, with Toyoji Tomita and Ron Heglin; Squiggle with Phillip Greenlief and Tim Perkis; and John Shiurba's 5X5. He studied at Berklee School of Music, the Colorado College, the Creative Music Studio, and Mills College with Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Leo Smith, George Lewis, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Curran, Frederick Rzewski, and many others. He has an M.F.A. from Mills College in electronic music and a Deeploma from the Deep Listening Organization, and was awarded the Paul Merrit Henry Prize for Composition while at Mills. "At times," said Ear Magazine, "the purely acoustic horn transmogrifies into electronic pandemonium in a way so natural and inevitable as to give a glimpse into a mind that thinks purely in terms of sound, regardless of the means of production at hand."
Soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey (b. 1972), working solo, with Greg Kelley in nmperign, and recently with the BSC (an improvising large ensemble), has had a significant impact on the way saxophone functions within improvised music. He has performed all over the world, appearing with the likes of Axel Dörner, Kevin Drumm, Le Quan Ninh, Gunter Müller, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Mat Maneri, Eddie Prevost, Gino Robair, John Zorn, and many others. He holds a master's degree in music from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Joe Maneri and Paul Bley, among others. In Cadence, Michael Rosenstein called Rainer "a player of exceptional control and thoughtful expression." In The Wire, Julian Cowley wrote: "Rainey (has an) utterly distinct approach to playing the soprano saxophone, an intensely physical determination to take the instrument beyond all obvious limits. He works outside of idiom, pummeling a column of breath, eliciting refracted tones, overblowing ferociously. Closer to Antonin Artaud than Sidney Bechet."
Jack Wright (b. 1942), from Boulder, Colorado, has been playing the saxophone since a Johnny Hodges record fired up his imagination in 1952. In turn, he has inspired a new generation of free improvisors. Since 1983 he has been crisscrossing Europe and the U.S., astounding audiences with his unstoppable energy and passionate playing. He has performed with William Parker, Roger Turner, Toshi Makihara, Davey Williams, LaDonna Smith, Wally Shoup, Bob Marsh, and many more. He and Tom Djll toured the Pacific Northwest in 2001 with bassist Morgan Guberman; he and Bob Marsh toured in 2002. He has just returned from Europe, where he performed with John Butcher, John Russell, Axel Dörner, Thomas Lehn, and others. In the Washington Post, Jeff Bagato said: "In the rarefied, underground world of experimental free improvisation, saxophonist Jack Wright is king. For over 20 years as a pioneer of extended techniques like overblowing, tongue clicks, multiphonics and microtones assembled in spontaneous compositions, Wright's been an inspiration, mentor and musical partner to many players." In Cadence, Steven A. Loewy called him "a player with awesome technique and few evidently predisposed notions. Capable of passion-filled bursts that abruptly end, followed by gruff honks, slap-tongue, and a unique eclectic attack."
18th Seattle Improvised Music Festival
