“One of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation.”
— Signal to Noise
Versatile guitarist and composer Karl Evangelista presents an evening of mixed ensembles showcasing his wide-ranging compositional voice and eclectic musical inclinations, influenced by the jazz avant-garde as well as experimental rock, alt-blues and contemporary chamber music. The concert includes a brief solo guitar set, a chamber set by his avant-jazz-rock band Grex, and a newly re-formed version of the two-guitar group Host Family, all featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest young improvisers and instrumentalists. Evangelista, originally from Southern California, has studied and performed with many of the Bay Area’s heroes of improvised music, at Mills College (Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith), UC Berkeley (Myra Melford) and on the bandstand (Francis Wong, Phillip Greenlief).
Grex Chamber Ensemble
Karl Evangelista, electric guitar
Rei Scampavia, keyboard and voice
Robert Lopez, drums
plus special guests
Host Family
Karl Evangelista, electric guitar
Nathan Clevenger, electric guitar
Jason Hoopes, bass
Jordan Glenn, drums
Biography
Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista ranks among a new wave of creative musicians grounded in jazz, 20th-Century experimentalism, and popular song, exploring the place of multiculturalism and ethnic co-existence in an increasingly post-cultural, trans-idiomatic cultural space. As the creative force behind boundary breaking group Grex, Evangelista has been called “essential current-and-future listening,” his music “a near-seamless blend of modern jazz, contemporary structuralist composition, indie rock, and blues rock” (Tiny Mix Tapes). Via Asian Improv aRts, Evangelista was awarded a 2011 Zellerbach Grant for the composition of Taglish, a suite centered on Filipino-American culture. Evangelista holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley (’06) and an MFA in Improvised Music from Mills College (’09).
karlevangelista.com
The Best Coast Jazz Composers Series at the Center for New Music showcases the extraordinary and singular talents of some of the Bay Area’s most creative and prolific jazz artists. The series features emerging and established composers from the Bay Area, Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, in evening-length profile concerts that explore several aspects of their diverse musical personalities, and celebrates the emergence of an eclectic, innovative and wildly creative New West Coast Sound in jazz. Curated by Bay Area bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa.
Upcoming dates:
Saturday April 19: Dan Plonsey
Saturday May 24: Jacob Zimmerman
Grex quintet , Trinity chapel Berkeley , 01/22/11 from residue35 on Vimeo.