Ton Trio II

Ton Trio II with Aram Shelton, alto saxophone; Scott Brown, bass; Alex Vittum, drums.
An avant/modern jazz trio focused on the group dynamic utilizing folksy melodies and wide open structures. The written parts serve as entry points for spacious improvisations, with all three members playing almost continuously, keeping the voices of melody, harmony and rhythm on an even level. Shelton’s angular but forward moving lines are supported by Brown’s earthy bass and Vittum’s focused rhythms.
The Oakland based Ton Trio II was formed by Shelton in late 2012 as the newest vehicle for his small ensemble avant jazz writing, heard before in groups including Arrive (482 Music and CleanFeed) with Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke and Tim Daisy; Cylinder (CleanFeed) with Darren Johnston, Lisa Mezzacappa and Kjell Nordeson; and the Fast Citizens (Delmark) with Fred Lonberg-Holm, Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, and Frank Rosaly. Ton Trio II has developed a body of work in the past year through shows in Oakland hosted by the Oakland Freedom Jazz Society at the Layover and Duende.
A recent midwestern transplant to Oakland, originally from Chicago, Scott Brown studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with Robert Hurst, Geri Allen, Donald Walden, and Marianne Hayden, and composition Andrew Mead & Andrew Bishop. He crossed paths with Jon Irabagon and Jameson Ross at the Steans Institute. He currently performs throughout the bay area with Astronauts Etc, the Lawlands, and Idea the Artist.
Alex Vittum is a percussionist and composer based in the San Francisco Bay Area who combines the disciplines of percussion, electronic music and instrument building. He is a member of several groups including Stratic, For Now, Ton Trio II, and performs solo electro-acoustic works as Prism. Alex has collaborated with a diverse group of musicians, composers and choreographers including Roswell Rudd, Kitty Brazleton, Ben Goldberg, Daniel Carter, Stuart Dempster, and Gina Gibney Dance. He has a BA from Bennington College, an MFA from Mills College and has studied percussion with Milford Graves and William Winant. For more information, please visit his site.