$14.50 advance / $16.50 at door. 644-2020. www.thefreight.org
8pm, Freightg and Salvage Coffee House, 2020 Addison
8 pm
Randy McKean - reeds
John Finkbeiner - guitar
Jordan Glenn - drums
Inspired by the asymmetric intricacies of Tyft, the brainy freebop of Rob Brown, and the herky jerk of XTC and the Minutemen, saxophonist Randy McKean enters the electric realm with his latest project Mock Mach I. He has assembled the crack team of guitarist John Finkbeiner and percussionist Jordan Glenn to aid him in this first attempt to break the sound barrier. They'll be testing new and borrowed originals from the McKean tool kit, with an occasional cover and improvisational fuel added to the mix.
When not testing the laws of physics, McKean leads or co-leads several bands, including the chamber jazz quartet Bristle (w/Cory Wright, Lisa Mezzacappa & Murray Campbell), the improv trio Pluck Vim Vigour (w/Ross Hammond), avant-folk duo Sawbones (w/Maxima Kahn), and the acoustic-electronics duos Wild Horsey Ride (w/Wes Steed), Zap! (w/David Dvorin) and The Gargantius Effect (w/Campbell). He has composed works for string quartet and symphony orchestra. McKean's releases include the CDs Wild Horsey Ride, Bristle's Bulletproof (Edgetone), So Dig This Big Crux (Rastascan), the Great Circle Saxophone Quartet's Child King Dictator Fool (New World), and the electronic release Gargantius Effect +1+2+3 (w/Han-earl Park, Gino Robair & Scott Looney). He studied with trumpeter Paul Smoker and composers Anthony Braxton, David Rosenboom, and Maggi Payne. He currently lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Grass Valley, CA.
9 pm
Karl Evangelista - guitar
Eli Wallace - piano
Jon Arkin - drums
Arkin, Evangelista, and Wallace recently began playing music together at the beginning of 2013. Through their musical interactions they found a common desire to explore the boundaries of improvisation while still adhering to the jazz idiom. Form and an orthodox sense of rhythm come and go, a constant push and pull that creates unpredictable and impelling musical dialogue. For this concert we will play originals and tunes written by Carla Bley.
8pm to 10pm, Berkeley Arts - 2133 University Avenue, between Shattuck & Oxford