It's been quite some time since we've had a free jazz blow-out at 611 (excluding the phenomenal solo Sabir Mateen set at the Free Folk Phantasmagory), so come out if you want to see a rare night of intimate avant-jazz in DC. This one promises to be special, considering the collaborations of all the performers involved. I've seen Toshi Makihara about six or seven times, and he always finds new ways to approach percussion. Miss at your own risk.
Sunday, December 5
611 Florida Ave NW
8pm, $5 suggested donation
call 202-360-9739 for more info
Clavius Productions BYOB!
Dierker-Cherry-Makihara (DCM) is a Baltimore-based avant-garde jazz trio which has been active since the late 1990s. The trio features two of Baltimore's best jazz artists, John Dierker (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet) and Vattel Cherry (bass), along with Philadelphia's Toshi Makihara on drums. The trio performs dynamic improvised music influenced by both Traditional Free Jazz and European Free Improvised Music. DCM truly pushes the boundary of traditional jazz forms by incorporating dynamic sonic integration, extended technique, and passionate spirit. The result is truly powerful and a remarkably beautiful experience.
*
John Dierker (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet)
Baltimore's "Most Valuable Player," John Dierker's ongoing inspiration covers a huge range of music, from rock 'n' roll and surf music to arcane forms of jazz and free improvisation. Unpretentious and extremely passionate, the evocatively high integrity screech and warble of Dierker's horn can be heard most nights of the week at venues throughout the city with groups like The Swingin' Swamis, New Volcanoes, il culo, and The Can Openers. He has a highly distinctive sound and is increasingly known outside of Baltimore in free jazz circles and through collaborations with musicians like Jeff Arnal, Sean Meehan, and Lafayette Gilcrhist.
*
F. Vattel Cherry (bass)
F. Vattel Cherry has studied with bassists Linda McKnight, Keter Betts, and Fred Hopkins. He has worked with many brilliant musicians, including
Charles Gayle, Brother Ah (Robert Northern), John Tchicai, William Parker, David Murray's Big Band, Cecil Taylor's PTHONGOS, and Charli Persip's
Superband. He has two CDs as a leader, "is it because i'm black" and "For Those Who Heal," both on Commercial Free Jazz. Cherry earned a BA from the Manhattan School of Music. He is the bass instructor at Morgan State University and the Development Assistant at the Children's Chorus of
Maryland.
*
Toshi Makihara Toshi Makihara is one of the major voices in Philadelphia's New Music scene today. As an aspiring youth, Makihara studied drums, percussion, and improvisation with Sabu Toyozumi, a prominent percussionist in Tokyo. Since
arriving in the United States in the late 1970s, he has worked with various new music ensembles as well as with numerous dance and theater companies
internationally. Makihara has provided original music to Arden Theater Company, Diversions Dance Company (Wales), Pennsylvania Ballet, ZeroMoving
Dance Company, and Leah Stein Dance Company among others, and has worked with musicians including Steve Beresford, Peter Brotzmann, John Butcher,
Nels Cline, Eugene Chadbourne, Tom Cora, Amy Denio, Thurston Moore, William Parker, and John Zorn. He has also collaborated with poets, visual artists, filmmakers, and performance artists widely.
*
DCIC Mysticism abounds when the DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC) holds a musical séance. The performers delve into remote realms, conjuring up inventive music with sorcerous cunning. This searching association of experimental artists affords its members the opportunity for open-ended exploration in various-sized group scenarios.
On this recording, the DCIC features four free spirits. Mike Sebastian awakens the ghosts of music present and future through his fierce woodwind flights; Jon Ozment offers weighty acoustic and electric piano brews; Mark Merella executes jarring percussive resonance; and Jonathan Matis adds bracing stimuli through his guitar. Electronics play an important role as well, with Ozment, Merella, and Matis each negotiating the amplified terrain for special effects.
The program, as could be expected from the bandâ??s name, is fully improvised. These instant composers thrive on the spontaneity of the moment, allowing their innate sense of adventure to dictate the direction the music takes. It goes off in multiple streams of consciousness that slide into hallucinatory states, often through alternating pairings that fold into full quartet activity. (All About Jazz)
Upcoming 611 Florida events: 12/19: Ortho (from Brooklyn, members of Lo-Vid)/Kohoutek/one more TBA
1/8: Birchville Cat Motel (solo noise from New Zealand, on Ecstatic Peace)/Mikroknytes/Howard Stelzer/Donna Parker
4/17: David Gross Quartet (free jazz from Boston)
