Legendary american improviser Jack Wright, ripping on sax, accompanied by Ron Stabinsky on keys, this is sure to be a strange night of strong performances.
Jack Wright is a saxophonist in the Philadelphia area, one of the originals of American free improvisation. Now 81, he has lived some diverse lives, as activist and academic, until settling into music full-time in 1979--free playing is all he's done since then. He tours Europe (April 2023) and the US, where he acquired the moniker the "Johnny Appleseed of Free Improvisation" in the 80s. He started out in the free jazz direction, but by the late 90's found that boring and conventional; shifting gears a few times he is now playing sounds that few have heard before--distorted pitches, precise timing, intrusive multiphonics, sudden changes of direction, obscene animalistic sounds, and occasional "real" notes. He partners mostly with Zach Darrup, Ben Bennett, Evan Lipson, and Ron Stabinsky. He published a book in 2017, The Free Musics, sold to most of the free players in the US and many in Europe. He also released a book of mostly political critique, drawing on his background, Shaky Ground. For info on books, sounds, and more bio go to Spring Garden Music.
Of all the wide-ranging music groups in which Ron Stabinsky has participated, probably best known are the notorious band Mostly Other People Do The Killing (now a trio with Moppa Elliott and Kevin Shea) and the reunited rock band Meat Puppets, which he joined in 2018. In 2016 Ron released his first solo album, "Free for One," which received four stars in DownBeat Magazine and tied for number one debut of the year in the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. His appetite for playing diverse forms of music has led him to perform extensively as a classical pianist, a straight-ahead jazz musician, occasionally a rock musician, and as an accomplished free improviser. He is a "born musician," having received his first musical lessons at the age of five from his grandfather, played concerts as a prodigy, and became a professional musician at an early age. His mentors in the art of free improvisation have included Bill Dixon, Joel Futterman, and Jack Wright. In the past few years "keyboard" includes the Nord Lead 4 Synthesizer, and free improvisation extends his range to trumpet, various objects inside the piano, including dental floss and a load of objects that seem to serve no purpose..video of Ron solo with Mostly Other People and with Meat Puppets.
Jayve Mongtomery is a Nashville sound artist and multi-instrumentalist of the Chicago school of Free, Creative, and Improvised musics, Sonic Healing Ministries sector.
Since moving to Nashville, he has become an integral member of the improvised and experimental music scene of the city and region; gaining local recognition for Nashville Scene solo performance of the year 2019; and becoming alum of Pitchfork Music Festival (Standing on the Corner), High Zero Festival of Improvised and Experimental Music, and True/False Film and Music Festival. 2021 has taken Montgomery on two tours of France with The Bridge.
This time Montgomery will appear with drummer Tommy C, another local known for his involvement with acts like Kyle Hamlett, Blind Trace, and Supermelt. Together, the duo bring an exciting force of sound and energy with the use of woodwinds, percussion, and free improvisation.