Concerts this for July 2010:

Saturday July 10: Neume, a new improvising clarinet trio with me, Paul Hoskin (contrabass clarinet), and Jenny Ziefel (clarinet & bass clarinet). It's great fun improvising with these two -- clarinet madness! This gig will be at the Collins Pub, 526 2nd Ave., in Seattle. Music starts at 8-ish.

Friday July 16: I'll be joining composer Christian Aspund and poet Lara Candland at the Good Shepherd Center. Lara reads & sings her poetry (here is a sample) while Christian samples, manipulates, and recombines pieces of the vocals to create musical materials. I'm really excited to join forces for a few moments with these two. Stellar percussionist Greg Campbell and the legendary Stuart Dempster will also be a part of this concert.

Saturday July 17: Andrew Boscardin's Zubatto Syndicate will be playing at the Sounds Outside Festival in Cal Andersen Park on Capitol Hill. Check out the schedule for the full lineup -- should be a fun day! Zubatto plays jazz/funk/rock with a unique instrumentation. Closest thing to a big-band I've ever been involved with, and great fun.

Other news:

I was awarded a Jack Straw Productions Artist Support Program grant to make an album with Vertigo. We recorded some great material in May, and I'm about 1/3 through the rest of the process. I'm hoping to have it all done by mid-September.

Tom Varner's album Heaven and Hell is out on Omnitone. Great material, and some rave reviews are coming in!

The new album from the Tom Baker Quartet, Save, has been out since May 2009, and sounds great. You can check it out here. Here's part of a review from Peter Walton at Earshot Jazz:

"With SAVE the Tom Baker Quartet presents its complex vocabulary and musical logic while offering what is at times a transcendent musical experience. This release is a reminder of the enormous creativity and skill of these (to me) under-appreciated Seattle artists."

My album with William O. Smith (more info / buy it) is available on iTunes! And check out the great review in The Clarinet:

"In all of the works contained on collage/décollage, extended techniques are part of a broader musical language and vision that transcends the unusual nature of the clarinet sounds. It is a CD that should be considered a must for any collection."