- Kevin Cheli/Seth Andrew Davis/Vinny Golia: Vinny Golia, Kevin Cheli, Seth Andrew Davis
- Kate Olson: Analog KO Solo
- CRAG Quartet (V. Golia, C. Asplund, S. Ricks, and R. Coulter): Tabletop Iguana (let it rip)
Vinny Golia, Kevin Cheli, Seth Andrew Davis
Electro-acoustic free improvised set between Kevin Cheli on percussion/electronics, Seth Andrew Davis on guitar and laptop/electronics, and Vinny Golia on various woodwinds.
Seth Andrew Davis is an improviser and composer based in Kansas City, MO. Davis is involved in the improvised music/free improvisation, experimental, and electronic music scenes in Kansas City. Davis is a co-founder of Mother Brain Records with saxophonist & composer Michael Eaton. Mother Brain Records is a Midwest based label focused on releasing the works of artists in the experimental & improvised music scenes. Davis is also a co-founder of EMAS (Extemporaneous Music & Arts Society). EMAS is an improvised music & arts collective based in Kansas City that is dedicated to advancing creative work in Kansas City. Davis holds a BM in Music Composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is currently pursuing a Masters in Music from the University of Central-Missouri.
Kevin Cheli is a percussionist, improvisor, and composer based in Ithaca, NY. Current projects include solo work, Cheli/Gabbert Duo, Cheli/Law Duo, and various other ensembles. Kevin holds a BM from Webster University and an MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Kate Olson – Analog KO Solo
KO SOLO is an improvised solo performance by Kate Olson. This year, Kate is exploring the interaction of digital and analog media, playing a slowly degrading tape loop and improvising with the loop as it changes and morphs over time. Kate’s mission is to explore the ways in which aleatoric elements (the degradation of the loop), and the fixed nature of the media (repetition and looping) can create new soundscapes. Kate challenges herself to improvise within a newly developed aesthetic that she’s been working on over the past few years. How does one create interest, balance, beauty, and narrative with a fixed, repetitive analog technology? How do modern effects complement the hiss, hum, and intonation issues inherent in tape work? Is there an imperative of compassion inherent in improvisation that occurs with an inanimate creator of sound (computer, tape player, field recording, etc)?
Kate Olson is an improvising saxophonist and music educator based in Seattle, WA. Since moving to Seattle in 2010, she has done her best to infiltrate the local, regional and international improvised music scenes. She can be heard performing with her own projects KO SOLO and KO ELECTRIC, and as a collaborator with the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble and Electric Circus (led by Wayne Horvitz), Birch Pereira and the Gin Joints, Battlestar Kalakala (formerly West Seattle Soul/the Pulsations) and with such Seattle staples as the Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses and cabaret producers Can Can Presents and Verlaine & McCann. Kate has a BA in Music (Jazz Emphasis) from the University of Wyoming and an MM in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, and is currently on the jazz faculty at Pacific Lutheran University.
Kate’s international resume continues to grow, including performances in Russia, Latvia, Turkey, Switzerland, South Korea, Cuba, and Slovakia. She has appeared on stage with Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Patricia Barber, Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, Sir Mix-a-lot, Seattle Repertory Theater, Cafe Nordo, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Pops, among others. Kate was nominated in 2011 and 2013 for the Earshot Golden Ear Award in the Emerging Artist category, and in 2014 and 2016, she was nominated for the Best NW Instrumentalist Category, and in 2016 her band KO Ensemble was also nominated as best NW Alternative Group. In 2020 the KO Ensemble won the Golden Ear Award for best NW Instrumental Group and in 2022, KO Electric was nominated for Best Alternative Group.
CRAG Quartet (V. Golia, C. Asplund, S. Ricks, and R. Coulter)- Tabletop Iguana (let it rip)
CRAG jumps in and creates engaging, dense textures by building up layers of acoustic and electronic sound, with rapid flurries often created by Golia’s woodwinds. The predominantly aggressive and driving nature of their music is frequently contrasted with quieter, lyrical passages that reveal the groups ability to listen to each other and live in the moment. Tonight’s performance will ebb and flow…we hope you enjoy it and find something to
CRAG consists of veteran improviser/multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia, violist/keyboardist Christian Asplund, trombonist/laptop-ist Steven Ricks, and percussionist/lo-fi electronics performer Ron Coulter. The quartet met in 2019 to record and perform at BYU and Casper College (Wyoming), and has since played together in various subsets and as a full quartet at other venues and festivals, including Bunker Center for the Arts in Kansas City, and O’Connell’s Pub in St. Louis. Their aggressive brand of free improvisation also includes moments of surprising lyricism, with close listening and interaction always being a key component.