8:30 pm
The Jason Levis Septet
Drummer, composer, and bandleader Jason Levis returns from Berlin, Germany to his hometown bringing exciting and energetic new compositions for jazz septet. Levis' work is characterized by an intertwining of traditional and non-traditional elements from both the Jazz and Classical vernaculars. Prickly lyricism and spirited grooves underpin a shifting landscape of tone and color. On this evening he will be joined by long-time collaborators Rob Ewing, Cory Wright, Kasey Knudsen, Henry Hung, Nathan Clevenger, and Eric Perney.
9:30 pm
The Nathan Clevenger Group
The Nathan Clevenger Group has been playing sideways-but-melodic original modern jazz in the Bay Area since 2003 and tonight they are celebrate the release of their second album, Observatory. Along with the composer/bandleader, the sextet features Bay Area luminaries Kasey Knudsen, Cory Wright, Aaron Novik, Sam Bevan and Jon Arkin. The East Bay Express has called the Group's music "long-form, dreamy, sectional without being rigid, and bluesy - albeit in a non-traditional way" while Memory Select's Craig Matsumoto wrote that "Clevenger's writing takes a lot from the swing era, but it's packed with odd time signatures, twisty compositions, and passages of improvisation that go well beyond the old concept of a solo."
8pm to 10pm, Berkeley Arts - 2133 University Avenue, between Shattuck & Oxford
$18.50 advance / $20.50 at door. 644-2020. www.thefreight.org
8pm, Freight and Salvage Coffee House, 2020 Addison