Blood Wedding/Chuck Johnson @ Berkeley Arts Festival (Berkeley), Fri. Dec. 16, 8:00 p.m.
….. It says: Come if you dig: just intonation, noise, heterodyning, doom, hyperobjects, duende, difference tone synthesis. OK, then. Two solo acts: Blood Wedding involves vocals with digital processing; Johnson plays steel guitar and modular synth. I’m guessing loudness is involved here, but that’s a blind guess.
Aram Shelton, Corey Wright, Mark Clifford, Jordan Glenn & Anton Hatwich @ Berkeley Arts Festival (Berkeley), Sat. Dec. 17, 8:00 p.m.
….. Free jazz convened by Shelton (sax, clarinet) and featuring Chicago compatriot Hatwich (bass). Wright adds a second reeds voice, and Clifford and Glenn provide the percussion.
Maya Kronfeld Group/The Holly Martins @ Actual Cafe (Oakland), Sun. Dec. 18, 5:00 p.m.
….. The Actual Jazz Series is curated by saxophonist Kasey Knudsen this month. Kronfeld is a keyboardist who works frequently with vocalists; The Holly Martins are a trio with a strong jazz sound and an improvisational bent, featuring sax, guitar, and Lorin Benedict’s wordless vocals.
* About the Actual Cafe/Series
* About The Holly Martins’ CD
Tri-Cornered Tent Show & Libertas @ Musicians Union Hall (San Francisco), Sun. Dec. 18, 7:30 p.m.
….. A “skronk solstice special.”
* Tri-Cornered, previous mention
* Libertas, blogged in August
Jack o’ the Clock @ Subterranean Art House (Berkeley), Sun. Dec. 18, 9:00 p.m.
….. Really cool proggy/folky band with jazzy/chamber-music elements and an overall pop feel. They’ve played a few shows this year, which is nice to see. Oakland-based composer Andrew Weathers is on the bill, and Aymeric Hainaux, who sounds like a human beatbox performer with eclectic and glitchy variety, is headlining.
* My writeup about the band
* Jack o the Clock’s Web site
* Aymeric Hainaux in action (video)
Music in Motion @ Luggage Store Gallery (San Francisco), Thur. Dec. 22, 8:00 p.m.
….. Three acts with solo musical voices: Laurie Amat (voice); Rent Romus and Vitali Kononov (sax and movement); and The X Factor, consisting solely of Bob Marsh (accordion, voice, tap shoes). As the program’s title says, the idea is to combine music and motion.
* Video interview with Marsh about music, motion, and other stuff.
As always, you can find listings of upcoming shows at bayimproviser.com or transbaycalendar.org.