18th SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL

Peggy Lee & Ron Samworth

Friday, February 21 · Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA)
1420 11th Avenue (Directions) · 8 PM · $5-15 sliding scale suggested donation

Peggy Lee

Since moving to Vancouver in 1989, Peggy Lee has staked a reputation as a cellist of the highest order in such projects as Talking Pictures, the Tony Wilson Sextet, Standing Wave (which performs new-music works by Canadian composers), and the NOW Orchestra, an all-star lineup that has collaborated with Barry Guy; Rene Lussier; Koch, Shutz & Studer; Butch Morris; and George Lewis. She has also worked with electo-acoustic composer Paul Dolden, trumpeter Dave Douglas, and pianist Paul Plimley. She has recorded with drummer Dylan van der Schyff (These Are Our Shoes), the Peggy Lee Band (Sounds from the Big House), Talking Pictures (Bradshaw Pack / Alogos), Vinny Golia, the NOW Orchestra (including "Wowow" with Barry Guy and "Shadowgraph: Compositions for Creative Orchestra" with George Lewis), and with Rene Lussier, Carlos Zingaro, and François Houle's John Carter Project, which features Dylan van der Schyff, Mark Dresser, and Dave Douglas.

Ron Samworth

Guitarist Ron Samworth is a leading player in Vancouver’s active improvised/contemporary music world. He leads the quartet Talking Pictures, co-leads (with Coat Cooke) the all-star avant-jazz ensemble NOW Orchestra, and has worked with a who’s who of modern jazz and improvising musicians, including­ Barry Guy, Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, Bobby Previte, Jorrit Dykstra, Marilyn Crispell, and George Lewis, among many others. He is active as a composer, performer, and sound designer for theatre, spoken word, film, and dance, most notably as a longtime collaborator with EDAM Dance. In Cadence Magazine, Andrew Bartlett praised Samworth’s “wily guitar sound manipulation and penchant for very solid rhythmic propulsion. He digs in at unconventionally conventional moments.” In Georgia Straight, Alex Varty noted that “Samworth’s electric guitar has an unusually versatile voice. Sometimes it shouts with bluesy passion; elsewhere it can take on a hyper-articulate sheen of intellectual vigour... [his guitar] seems to address all of the things that can’t be said in more conventional terms.”

18th Seattle Improvised Music Festival