Guitarist Seth Davis and percussionist Kevin Cheli form an intriguing duet, covering a wide array of textures and sounds tonal and otherwise. Together they create an explosive, propulsive and adventurously dense landscape, with wild constant shifts in timbre.
They’ve been on tour promoting their latest release, Alignment, and recently recorded with pianist and electronics wizard Scott R. Looney.
For this performance we’ve gathered together some amazing local talent to join in the fun with various Company style groupings, with Aaron Bennett on sax, Darren Johnston on trumpet, Kjell Nordeson on drums and percussion, and Scott Looney on piano and electronics as well.
Player Bios:
Seth Andrew Davis is a performer, composer, improviser, & electronic musician from the Kansas City area. Davis has studied with Jim Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Mara Gibson and Michael Miller. He also holds an MA in Music with an emphasis in Music Technology from the University of Central Missouri where he studied with Jeff Kaiser.
He has performed and has had his music performed in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, and Indonesia, at various conferences and festivals including the New York City Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, Kansas City Performing Media Festival, Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival, NASA Regional IV Conference, and has either performed, recorded and/or collaborated with Tim Daisy, Michael Eaton, Douglas Ewart, Sandy Ewen, Jeff Kaiser, Reid Karris, Krista Kopper, Tom Law, Scott R. Looney, Thollem McDonas, Adam Minkoff, Damon Smith, Jason Stein, Mike Stover, Eli Wallace, Weasel Walter, Alex Williams, Drew Williams, David James Witter, and many others.
Davis is also an active concert organizer in the Kansas City music scene as the Vice President of KcEMA (Kansas City Electronic Music Alliance). He is also a co-founder of Second Nature, a free jazz/new music/math-rock ensemble, and is a founding member of EMAS: Extemporaneous Music & Arts Society, an improvised music & arts collective based in Kansas City that is dedicated to advancing creative work. In 2020, Davis co-founded Mother Brain Records with saxophonist & composer Michael Eaton, a label focused on releasing the works of artists in the experimental & improvised music scenes.
Kevin:
Kevin Cheli is an improvising percussionist and electronic musician currently based in St. Louis, MO. He has performed and recorded improvised music across the Midwest and East Coast in a wide variety of ensembles with artists such as Damon Smith, Jessica Ackerley, Gahlord Dewald, Sandy Ewen, Scott Looney, Seth Andrew Davis, Jeff Kaiser, Bob Bucko Jr., Alexander Adams, Reid Karris, Tom Law, Álvaro Domene, Lucas Brode, Michael Eaton, Al Margolis, Kyle Quass, Federico Musso, Errant Space, Adam Gabbert, and Luc Mosley. Since 2018 he has contributed sounds, engineering, and artwork to more than a dozen releases of improvised music.
Kevin holds a BM from Webster University and an MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Links:
https://kevincheli.bandcamp.com/album/alignment
https://www.kevincheli.com
https://motherbrainrecordskc.bandcamp.com