(Fred Frith's) Cosa Brava/Grex/Jack O' the Clock on August 14

[ep1str0phy]

Hi, all-

Since Frith's music has been discussed here on several occasions, I thought some folks would be interested... my duo Grex (grex.bandcamp.com) will be playing on a bill with Bay Area chamber folk band Jack O' the Clock (www.jackotheclock.com) and Fred Frith's Cosa Brava this Sunday, August 14, 7:00pm (doors) at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.

Cosa Brava doesn't play out very much, but it has a fairly unique, hybridized 20th century chamber/avant rock sort of sound. It may sound closer to Henry Cow than any of Fred's other band projects under his name in recent years. In the band: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum members Matthias Bossi (dms) and Carla Kihlstedt (vln), bassist Shahzad Ismaily, harpist/keyboardist Zeena Parkins, electronics maestro the Norman Conquest, and Frith himself. This is, I think, their only WC date in 2011, and they really never play out.

Cosa Brava live

We're treating this as an opportunity to alert folks to the extraordinarily diverse and often intensely strange Bay Area experimental song scene. It's a movement that originated at Mills College and has close ties to the local free jazz, noise, folk rock, prog rock, and contemporary classical scenes. Hailing from this milieu is Jack O' the Clock, whose crazy Canterbury-esque hybridism is on full display here:

Jack O' the Clock: Novaya Zemlya

And my duo Grex, which is what happens when you grow up on a steady diet of free jazz, EFI, grunge rock, and chamber pop. Here's one (untypically vocal-less) sample:

Grex: Small Sad Creature

Anyway, if you're interested, tickets/further info available here:

Tickets/Info

Looking for a way to blow minds... E

Edited August 8, 2011 by ep1str0phy

[clifford_thornton]

[7/4]

sounds like a great show!

but I'm on the wrong coast.

[ep1str0phy]

CB does have a NY show at Roulette coming up. (Checks Fred's website...) September 18.

[7/4]

I should go to that. I like this band.

[blajay]

I'm unfortunately on the East Coast now, so I'll miss this show (but maybe see you at the NY concert, 7/4!). If you're in the Bay Area, I highly recommend for anyone to go to this show, if not for Frith's band, for our friend ep1str0phy (Karl Evangelista). If you think his contributions to this forum have been thoughtful and well-informed, his guitar playing is likewise and very exciting live! I've seen him perform a number of times over the past couple of years ever since he generously gave me a ride to a Roscoe Mitchell/Muhal Richard Abrams concert at Mills College without having ever met in person; we got in touch through this board. It is always a thrill to go to one of his shows. I encourage everyone to check it out, and look out for that name: Karl Evangelista (sometimes in a trio) and Grex! Hope you don't mind the side spam, Karl.

[ep1str0phy]

No, Jay, side spam is awesome--thanks for the kind words! Seats are filling up, so it's good to get the word out before it's too late (at all). Also, this interview just happened:

Fred Frith's Manifesto

...which I'm very happy about. Pre-concert press is often mangled and weird, but Memory Select is pretty straight with its use of interview materials... this one is a good summary of what we're "aiming for" on Sunday.