Filipino-American guitarist Karl Evangelista debuts the new album “Bukas” from his group Apura, featuring saxophonists Lewis Jordan on alto and Francis Wong on tenor, Rei Scampavia on keys and electronics, Lisa Mezzacappa on bass and the legendary drummer Donald Robinson sitting in for the master Andrew Cyrille, the recording’s featured guest artist.

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Per the releasing record label 577, “This thought-provoking avant-garde piece doesn’t only recognize the need for a better world.  It also creates a mesmerizing platform for discovering what that could look like. The new release’s namesake is tied to Evangelista’s roots (“Bukas” means “tomorrow” in the Filipino language Tagalog).  A slightly different pronunciation of the word translates to “open”, setting expressive freedom as the theme for the whole album.  It explores the life of experimentalism, from its origins to its purpose and function and a wondrous destiny currently being shaped by pioneers like Karl Evangelista’s Apura.”

Evangelista states that, “Our project argues that Free Music is aspirational in character. It liberates the performer, and in doing so, it envisions a tomorrow where all individuals are guaranteed freedom and equality. Free music may sound dissonant, intense, and overwhelming, but it is also filled with passion, complexity, and love.”

Apura defies traditional free music and moves improvisation into the modern age with 21st-century sounds and techniques without sacrificing imagination.

Bukas, recorded May 27-28, 2023 at The Lab (San Francisco), Oaktown Jazz Workshops (Oakland), mixed by Karl Evangelista and mastered by Thomas Dimuzio at Gench Studios, San Francisco, dropped on August 22nd.

300 first-edition CD copies were produced, of which only 50 remain available as of 8/28/25; the album is also available on digital download. Both can be found on Bandcamp at this link: Bukas