$20 Cover @ the Door / Start 5:30pm / Doors 5pm
DownBeat Magazine clarinet rising star, clarinetist/saxophonist Mike McGinnis brings jazz giants Art Lande and Steve Swallow together for a performance celebrating the release of their second album on Sunnyside Records.
Mike McGinnis, Clarinet & Saxophone
Multi-reedist and composer Mike McGinnis is a musical explorer unbound by stylistic barriers, unwaveringly individual, curious, and open-minded. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, McGinnis can swing in the straight ahead tradition, improvise on the most distant edge of the avant-garde, or navigate the meticulous turns of a contemporary classical composition. With every new release, he further reveals his passion for traversing musical genres. As a composer, McGinnis skillfully blurs these boundaries, working from a deeply imaginative space that has led DownBeat magazine to hail him as “a bold musician who… follows the road less traveled.”
McGinnis’ penchant for experimentation has led him to work with a dizzyingly impressive array of artists – from jazz innovators like Anthony Braxton, Alice and Ravi Coltrane, Hank Roberts, Ben Goldberg, Steve Coleman, and Lonnie Plaxico, to indie rock mainstays Yo La Tengo, to the Afro-Baroque Stew & the Negro Problem and choreographer/dance Davalois Fearon.
Art Lande, Piano
Grammy-nominated is considered one of the premiere improvisational jazz pianists today. He began piano at age 4, studied at Williams College & moved to San Francisco in 1969. He has mostly carved out his own singular path throughout his career, taking the innovations of Bill Evans several steps further. In 1973 he recorded with Jan Garbarek and Ted Curson and in the mid-1970's had started his own jazz school. In 1976 he formed the quartet Rubisa Patrol which recorded for ECM and lasted until 1983. After teaching for three years in Switzerland, Lande in 1987 moved to Boulder, Colorado. Lande has written many compositions, but is also known for his unusual and distinctive interpretations of popular and jazz standards. He has made several solo piano recordings devoted to such material, including The Eccentricities of Earl Dant (another anagram) in 1977, Art Lande: Hardball! (1987), Art Lande: Melissa Spins Away (1987), Friday the Thirteenth (1996), featuring 13 Thelonious Monk compositions, and While She Sleeps (2005).
Steve Swallow, Bass
Steve Swallow has long been many jazz critics' favorite electric bassist: rather than playing his instrument in a rock-oriented manner, Swallow emphasizes the high notes and, to an extent, approaches the electric bass as if it were a guitar. He originally started on piano and trumpet before settling on the acoustic bass as a teenager. Swallow joined the Paul Bley trio in 1960 and with Bley was part of an avant-garde version of the Jimmy Giuffre 3 during 1960-1962. Swallow recorded with George Russell and was a member of Art Farmer's quartet (1962-1965), Stan Getz's band (1965-1967), and an important edition of Gary Burton's quartet (1967-1970). The latter group (starting with the addition of guitarist Larry Coryell) was actually one of the first fusion groups, and it was during that time that Swallow began playing electric bass; within a few years, he stopped playing acoustic altogether. Swallow spent a few years in the early '70s living in northern California, during which time he mostly played locally. After the late '70s, he was closely associated with Carla Bley's groups, although he occasionally worked on other projects (including a reunion of the Jimmy Giuffre 3). Swallow has also proved to be a talented composer with "Eiderdown," "Falling Grace," "General Mojo's Well Laid Plan," and "Hotel Hello" among his better-known pieces. The 21st century saw the release of several Swallow sets, including Damaged in Transit (2003), Histoire Du Clochard: The Bum's Tale (2004), and an intriguing set with poet Robert Creeley, So There (2006). Swallow formed We3 along with Adam Nussbaum and David Leibman; they recorded Amazing in 2011. In 2012, he and drummer Joey Barron played in Steve Kuhn's trio for the recording of Wisteria on ECM. He led his own quintet for Into the Woodwork, which was issued on Xtra WATT, in June of 2013, and shared triple-billing with Carla Bley and Andy Sheppard on Trios, which was released in September of that year. In 2016, Swallow once again joined Bley and Sheppard for Andando el Tiempo.
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