Fri Sept 21, 8pm — Fay Victor & Myra Melford w/ Marika Hughes
Fay Victor, vocals; Myra Melford, piano; Marika Hughes, cello
Vocalist Fay Victor, a Sound It Out favorite, returns to Greenwich House to kick off the new season of the series with an evening of duo performances alongside the great pianist Myra Melford, who makes her belated return to Greenwich House from the West Coast. Esteemed flutist-composer Nicole Mitchell has said about Fay that “the whole legacy of jazz is in her voice,” while All About Jazz has praised Myra as having an “intrepid virtuosity that’s consistently breathtaking.” The night’s special guest will be the excellent cellist Marika Hughes, who will join Fay and Myra to make it a trio for several pieces.
Tickets: $20 ($15 for students/seniors)
Sat Sept 22, 8pm — Marilyn Crispell & Angelica Sanchez
Marilyn Crispell and Angelica Sanchez, duo pianos
The great Marilyn Crispell returns to the Sound It Out stage to team with series favorite Angelica Sanchez team for a rare night of piano duets on the beautiful matched pair of Steinways at Greenwich House Music School. The Chicago Reader has said: “Marilyn Crispell has been one of the most deliciously unpredictable and distinctive piano improvisers in jazz for more than four decades,” while JazzTimes has lauded Angelica for music-making that’s both “provocative… and evocative.”
Tickets: $20 ($15 for students/seniors)
Wed Sept 26, 8pm — Angelica Sanchez Nonet
Angelica Sanchez (composer/piano), Thomas Heberer (trumpet), Kenny Warren (cornet), Chris Speed (tenor saxophone), Michael Attias (alto saxophone), Ben Goldberg (clarinets), Omar Tamez (guitar), John Hebert (bass), Sam Ospovat (drums)
The fantastic Angelica Sanchez Nonet returns to the Sound It Out series, with the ensemble featuring some of the creative music scene’s finest players giving voice to this composer-pianist’s most textured writing. The New York Times says: “In her piano playing as well as her compositions, Angelica Sanchez seeks out the lyrical heartbeat within any avant-garde storm.”
Tickets: $25 ($20 for students/seniors)
Fri Oct 5, 7:30pm — Sean Moran’s Sun Tiger + the trio of Vinnie Sperrazza, Sam Newsome & Angelica Sanchez
Double-bill — Sean Moran’s Sun Tiger: Sean Moran, guitar; Hank Roberts, cello; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums + Vinnie Sperrazza, drums; Sam Newsome, soprano sax; Angelica Sanchez, piano
This show presents the ever-vivacious drummer Vinnie Sperrazza’s return to Sound It Out as the linchpin of a double-bill. The first half has guitarist Sean Moran – whom All Music Guide lauded for blending “a rock sensibility with a free aesthetic” – making his series debut, leading his Sun Tiger trio with Vinnie and cellist Hank Roberts. Their set will celebrate the release of the band’s eponymous debut album on Skirl Records. The night’s second half features a trio of Vinnie – described aptly as “insanely versatile” by All About Jazz – with the starry partners of soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome and pianist Angie Sanchez.
Tickets: $20 ($15 for students/seniors)
Thu Oct 25, 8pm — Michael Formanek’s Very Practical Trio w/ Tim Berne & Mary Halvorson
Michael Formanek, double-bass; Tim Berne, alto saxophone; Mary Halvorson, electric guitar
Great new band! Bassist-composer Michael Formanek returns to the Sound It Out series to present his Very Practical Trio featuring iconic alto saxophonist Tim Berne and the very electric guitarist Mary Halvorson. Mike’s past three ECM albums have garnered five-star reviews in DownBeat, and The New York Times has described his music as “graceful in its subversions, even sumptuous.” Jazzwise has praised Tim’s art as being “suffused with genuine humanity and more than a little wisdom,” while the Wall Street Journal called Mary “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz – or otherwise.”
Tickets: $20 ($18 for students/seniors)
Sat Oct 27, 8pm — Amanda Monaco & Friends
Amanda Monaco, guitar; Joe Fiedler, trombone; Sean Conly, double-bass; Jeff Davis, drums
The wonderful guitarist Amanda Monaco makes her Sound It Out debut, teaming with some close musical friends – trombonist Joe Fiedler, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Jeff Davis – to celebrate her birthday! Amanda’s guitar playing is “well within the modernist canon, but quite distinctive,” according to the New York City Jazz Record. “Her phrasing is often made up of tartly dissonant chords and insistent yet off-kilter repetitions that remind one of Grant Green by way of Andrew Hill… Her playing is utterly unique, a breath of fresh air in the cookie-cutter climes of both mainstream and free jazz.”
Tickets: $15 ($12 for students/seniors)
Sat Nov 10, 7:30pm — Josh Sinton’s Predicate Trio + the trio of Avram Fefer, Sean Conly & Michael Wimberly
Double-bill — Josh Sinton’s Predicate Trio: Josh Sinton, baritone saxophone & bass clarinet; Chris Hoffman, cello; Tom Rainey, drums + the trio of Avram Fefer, alto/tenor saxophones & bass clarinet; Sean Conly, double-bass; Michael Wimberly, drums
This double-bill features two versatile New York reed players as leaders, each fronting a trio sans harmony instrument: baritone saxophonist & bass clarinetist Josh Sinton leads his Predicate Trio with cellist Chris Hoffman and drummer Tom Rainey, the band celebrating the release of its first album, making bones, taking draughts, bearing unstable millstones pridefully, idiotically, prosaically. About Josh, Grammy-nominated composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue says: “Josh Sinton is equal parts intellectual and sensualist. His playing is built from the sound up, with the eye of an architect and the wit of a raconteur.” The other half of the bill features alto/tenor saxophonist & bass clarinetist Avram Fefer, who leads a trio with bassist Sean Conly and drummer Michael Wimberly. All About Jazz has praised Avram for how “his coiled phrasing lends propulsive excursions an infectious, groove-oriented focus.”
Tickets: $15 ($12 for students/seniors)
Thu Nov 29, 7:30pm — Nick Millevoi’s Desertion Trio + the duo of Anders Nilsson & Aaron Dugan
Double-bill — Nick Millevoi’s Desertion Trio: Nick Millevoi, electric guitar; Johnny DeBlase, bass guitar; Kevin Shea, drums + the duo of Anders Nilsson, guitar & Aaron Dugan, guitar
Rockin’ guitar night! This double-bill features the return to Sound It Out of avant-rock guitarist Nick Millevoi’s mighty Desertion Trio, with bassist Johnny DeBlase and drummer Kevin Shea. Opening the show will be the guitar duo of Anders Nilsson & Aaron Dugan. Millevoi’s Desertion Trio albums Desertion and Midtown Tilt have been two of the most thrilling guitar records of recent years. NPR described Desertion aptly as “the sweet spot from Neil Young’s exploratory Crazy Horse jams and a Spaghetti Western soundtrack,” going on to say: “When Nick Millevoi plays the guitar, it’s like a rocket darting skyward between clouds.” Hot & Cold, the textured 2012 duo album by Anders & Aaron, earned enthusiasm from Downtown Music Gallery maven Bruce Gallanter, who said: “This should be called Hot & Hotter,” a record to “listen to again and again.”
Tickets: $18 ($15 for students/seniors)
Sat Dec 1, 8pm — Devin Gray’s Dirigo Rataplan
Devin Gray, drums; Dave Ballou, trumpet; Ellery Eskelin, tenor saxophone; Michael Formanek, double-bass
Ever-evolving drummer-composer Devin Gray – who played the second show in the Sound It Out series back in 2012 and has returned many times since as a leader and sideman – will be celebrating the release of the sophomore album by his all-star quartet Dirigo Rataplan, featuring trumpeter Dave Ballou, saxophonist Ellery Eskelin & bassist Michael Formanek. Writing about Devin’s first album with Dirigo Rataplan, Jazzwise magazine said: “A musician-drummer rather than a drummer-drummer, Gray is interested in making music that is deeply evocative… shaped by a fizzing, often restless push-pull energy.”
Tickets: $18 ($15 for students/seniors)
Thu Dec 6, 7:30pm — “The Afro-Cubism of Aruán Ortiz, from Avant-Jazz to Contemporary Chamber Music”
Aruán Ortiz, piano/composer
This special evening presents two sides of the exciting, Cuban-bred Aruán Ortiz, as improving pianist and as composer of chamber music. The night’s first half features Aruán solo, plus alongside a special guest to be announced. About Cub(an)ism, Aruán’s recent Intakt album of solo piano, The Guardian said: “Aruán Ortiz is a rising piano star with a sweeping contemporary technique – and the imagination and keyboard-power, fueled by deep awareness of Cuba’s traditions, to be an enthralling one-man band, too… Ortiz fuses hard-driving hooks, free jazz, harp-like effects, thudding drum sounds and lyrical reflections on dissonance and intervals, uniting all of it with a creativity of pacing that constantly grips the attention.” The concert’s second half will consist of two chamber pieces: Living in the Midst of a Twisted Globe, to be performed by the trio of violinist Mary Rowell, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler & pianist Geoffrey Burleson; and Ogguere (when the soul of the earth, dances around spectral motions), to be played by the brass quintet of Daniel Blankinship and Nate Wooley (trumpets), Ryan Keberle (trombone), Vincent Chancey (French horn) & José Dávila (tuba). About Aruán’s ambitions as a composer, JazzTimes said: “He well aware of his roots but has no intention of being confined by them.”
Tickets: $25 ($20)
1 Dixon Ln,
Artist: THE RICHARD SHULMAN GROUP
Mike Freeman ZonaVibe 
