Darren Johnston and The Pipes ft. Allison Lovejoy: New Chamber-Folk with a Jazz Reduction

Bay Area trumpeter/composer Darren Johnston’s newest project for showcasing his songwriting features the distinct instrumentation of two bass clarinets—played by powerhouse composers/improvisers/bandleaders Steven Lugerner and Cory Wright—along with Johnston on trumpet and vocals, as The Pipes. From short and sweet, quirky, groove-based songs to more expansive open improvisations, they’ve created a new recipe for experimental chamber-folk with a jazz reduction, telling stories of love and loss, war and peace, and how fleeting everyday moments can contain a universe of poetry and the sublime. Also on the bill is local treasure pianist Allison Lovejoy, who will be performing original works from Bay Area composers, some classics, and more.
 
FEATURING:
Darren Johnston – trumpet, vocals
Steven Lugerner – bass clarinet
Cory Wright – clarinet, bass clarinet
Allison Lovejoy – piano
 
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Since settling in San Francisco in 1997, Canada-born trumpeter, improviser, composer, and songwriter Darren Johnston has collaborated and recorded with an extremely diverse cross-section of artists. His interests rotate around composing instrumental music, writing songs, and performing all styles of jazz, chamber music, experimental and purely improvised music, as well as traditional music of the Balkans, Greece, and Macedonia. He has performed and/or recorded with luminaries such as ROVA Sax Quartet, Marcus Shelby, Fred Frith, Meklit, Hamid Drake, Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, Allison Miller, Brass Menazeri Balkan Brass Band, Matt Wilson, Mark Dresser, Marshall Allen, and many others.

Multi-instrumentalist/composer Steven Lugerner maintains musical ties between multiple music scenes including his home of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. As a bandleader, Lugerner leads both SLUGish Ensemble, an amoeba-like group dedicated to original compositions and arrangements, as well as JACKNIFE, a hard-hitting post-bop quintet dedicated to the music of late alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. The Bay Area native has collaborated with a heavyweight roster of jazz masters including Fred Hersch, Jason Moran, Myra Melford, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Matt Wilson, John Hollenbeck, Miguel Zenon, Ralph Alessi, and many others.

Reeds player Cory Wright has been involved in both the jazz and creative music worlds for the past 20 years, including time spent in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He is interested in blurring the distinction between composed and improvised material, mixing the harmonious with the atonal, and groove with the arrhythmic. He has played with Anthony Braxton, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gale, Adam Rudolph, and Yusef Lateef among others, and is a member of Bay Area groups Bristle, Wiener Kids, and the Nathan Clevenger Group. Wright leads the Green Mitchell and the Cory Wright Outfit.

 
Time: 7:00pm doors / 7:30pm show
Admission: $15-20 sliding scale. Ticket availability at the door is limited and contingent on online sales.
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