Author: soundwavesnewmusic

Grammy-nominated bassist Tom Peters performed and discussed three solo pieces by Tom Johnson. 

Santa Monica-raised saxophonist Sean Sonderegger visited from Brooklyn to lead a west coast edition of his quintet Magically Inclined, with Areni Agbabian (voice), Alexander Noice (guitar), Jeff Schwartz (bass), and Peter Valsamis (drums), performing music from his Skirl Records album.

The Southland Ensemble performed text scores by Pauline Oliveros.

John Schneider, Grammy-winning guitarist, hosted an evening dedicated to the music of Harry Partch including videos of Partch at work, demonstrations of the Adapted Guitar and Diamond Marimba, and some short pieces performed solo and in duo with Erin Barnes.

Vocalist Barnett was joined by Dan Clucas (trumpet), Richard Wood (woodwinds), Hal Onserud (bass), and Garth Powell (drums) for an evening of improvised music.

Her performance incorporated texts by Los Angeles poet Dorothea Grossman and Dadaists Hans Arp, Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, and Richard Huelsenbeck.

The video of this show was low quality, so guitarist/video editor Scott Heustis used it as the foundation for a found-footage collage. Thanks to Scott, Bonnie, and her band for their contributions!

Barnett also co-hosts “Trilogy” on KXLU 88.9 Wednesday nights at 9pm, which is the perfect thing to listen to on your way home from Soundwaves.

Soundwaves welcomed the influential composer/guitarist Michael Pisaro to perform and discuss his “Transparent City (2)” for field recordings, sinewaves, and electric guitar.

The West Coast Chamber Jazz Trio is composer/percussionist Andrea Centazzo‘s tribute to the cool jazz which inspired him as a youth. Joined by LA’s own Ellen Burr on flutes and Soundwaves co-curator Jeff Schwartz on bass, he reinterprets compositions from across his over forty year career. Their debut album LA Strictly Confidential was released in September 2016 on Ictus Records.

Showtime is 7:30pm. Admission is free.

Our second year opened with the improvising duo of Emily Hay on flute, voice, and effects, and Steuart Liebig on contrabass guitars and electronics. Their work ranges from virtuosic to noisy, silly to chilling.

Soundwaves presented its first public participation event: a holiday performance of Terry Riley’s “In C,” a landmark work which influenced minimalist, ambient, and psychedelic music. All interested musicians were invited to download the score and arrive at 6PM to rehearse. Audience members were admitted at 7:30 as usual.

The Soundwaves Ensemble:

Oliver Marcus – violin
Jacqueline Suzuki – violin
Amy Martin – viola
Michael Intriere – cello
Caroline Coward – cello
Carolyn Park – cello
Sienna George – bass
John Graves – bass
Jeff Schwartz – bass and music director
Haskel Joseph – guitar
Jonathon Grasse – guitar
Marcos Mena – guitar
Bruce Friedman – trumpet
Danielle McCullough – recorder
Ken Luey – bass clarinet
Alexander Vogel – soprano saxophone
Charles Sharp – alto saxophone
Sean Sonderegger – tenor saxophone
Robert McCarthy – English horn
Timm Boatman – glockenspiel

In November, Soundwaves presented pianist Vicki Ray. Ray has appeared with the LA Philharmonic, on the Monday Evening Concerts and Piano Spheres series, and was part of the California EAR Unit. She performed a program of short modern and contemporary solo pieces:

John Cage – The Perilous Night

Joseph Pereira – Five Baroque Settings from the Norton Simon

Gyorgy Kurtág – Játékok (selections)

Chinary Ung – Seven Mirrors

Bunita Marcus – Merry Christmas, Mrs. Whiting