Go Left Fest 2 with Dream On (Frith/Custer/Fajt) U.S. DEBUT!, Andy Milne & Dapp Theory, Lisa Mezzacappa's Bait & Switch, and more! June 28, 2010

Go Left Fest 2 with Dream On (Frith/Custer/Fajt) U.S. DEBUT!, Andy Milne & Dapp Theory, Lisa Mezzacappa's Bait & Switch, and more!
June 28, 2010

8pm show $22
(One Long Show!)



Dream On (Frith/Custer/Fajt) U.S. DEBUT!

is a new improv ensemble comprised of world-renowned guitarist

Fred Frith, local gem clarinetist/vocalist Beth Custer, and the amazing Czech drummer Pavel Fajt. Their premiere engagement in Prague sold out to a very enthusiastic crowd and Yoshi’s will be their premiere engagement stateside. Fred Frith is a songwriter, composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist best known for the reinvention of the electric guitar that began with Guitar Solos in 1974. He learned his craft as both improviser and composer playing in rock bands, notably Henry Cow, and creating music in the recording studio. Much of his compositional output has been commissioned by choreographers and filmmakers, but his work has also been performed by Ensemble Modern, Hieronymus Firebrain, Arditti Quartet, Ground Zero, Robert Wyatt, Bang on a Can All Stars, Concerto Köln, and Rova Sax Quartet, among many others. He continues to perform internationally, most recently with Lotte Anker, Chris Cutler, John Zorn, Eye to Ear (a septet performing selections from his film music) and his latest band, Cosa Brava, whose first CD—Ragged Atlas—was recently released on the Intakt label. Fred is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzels’ award-winning documentary film Step Across the Border.

Beth Custer is a San Francisco based composer, performer, improviser, bandleader, and the proprietor of BC Records. She has recorded and performed around the globe with the ensembles The Beth Custer Ensemble, Clarinet Thing, Eighty Mile Beach, Trance Mission, and Club Foot Orchestra. She has worked with Will Bernard, Kronos Quartet, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Campo Santo Theatre, among many others. Her numerous awards include an Aaron Copland Recording Fund award for her silent film score My Grandmother; several artist residencies including one at Civitella Ranieri Center, an Italian castle outside of Rome; a Meet The Composer New Residency award; and several American Composer’s Forum grants.

Pavel Fajt has performed extensively in Europe and the US with Dunaj, Iva Bittova, Jim Meneses, Gathering of Drummers, Pluto, Autopilote, Mikolas Chadima, among many others. He has also worked extensively in theatre in the Czech Republic.

Andy Milne & Dapp Theory

Andy Milne - piano / keyboards
Aaron Kruziki - saxphones
John Moon - percussive poetry
Chris Tordini - bass
Kenny Grohowski - drums

Dapp Theory is a quintet that blends “contemporary funk, groove and hip-hop into jazz with such seamless, casual precision it’s almost freaky.” (LA Weekly)
Recipient of Chamber Music America’s New Works commission, French-America Jazz Exchange award, and voted “Rising Star Keyboardist” by Down Beat Magazine, leader, pianist/composer, Andy Milne is one of the most important and respected voices in jazz today. With Dapp Theory, Milne combines the talents of percussive poet John Moon, saxophonist John Beaty, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Kenny Grohowski, collectively helping to re-draw and extend the boundaries of jazz. Jazz Times Magazine describes the band’s “remarkable chemistry . . . as] . . .so impeccable, it’s practically a musical Unified Field Theory”. Milne formed the band in 1998 as a vehicle to “tell passionate stories, promote peace and inspire collective responsibility towards uplifting the human spiritual condition.” Since then, the band has evolved and built a loyal following, in large part due to their commitment to grass-roots touring, an ideology more often associated with indie rock bands. Dapp Theory’s style is indefinable yet highly recognizable, blending influences ranging from Joni Mitchell and KRS One to Thelonious Monk and Van Halen. Their first major label CD, Y’all Just Don’t Know [Concord Records], released in 2003 included an ambitious collaboration with folk-rock icon Bruce Cockburn. Their current release, Layers of Chance [ObliqSound/Contrology], released in 2008, features fresh compositions by Milne that blend various instrumental textures, infectious grooves, layered with lush harmonies and poignant lyrics.

Web site: www.dapptheory.com

LISA MEZZACAPPA'S BAIT & SWITCH

Aaron Bennett, tenor saxophone
John Finkbeiner, electric guitar
Lisa Mezzacappa, acoustic bass & compositions
Vijay Anderson, drums

Bait & Switch is San Francisco bassist Lisa Mezzacappa's rollicking garage jazz quartet, playing original music inspired by adventurous jazz masters like Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Eric Dolphy. The music funnels free jazz energy and collectivity into finely honed minimalist compositions that exploit the group's amazing chemistry and fierce sense of groove.

"Mezzacappa has become a ubiquitous figure on the Bay Area's creative music scene, and her presence on the bandstand is a reliable sign that something extraordinary is going down."
- Contra Costa Times

"The work of San Francisco bassist-composer Lisa Mezzacappa demonstrates an admirable balance of grit and whimsy ... "
- Time Out New York

Official Website: http://www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco/jazzclub/artist/show/1317