Donald Robinson, drums
Karl Evangelista, guitar
Larry Ochs, tenor and sopranino saxophones
$20 cash cover charge at the door; reservations: (415) 586-3733

Don Robinson, drums
     Donald Robinson honed his physical technique and musical concept in the 1970’s in Paris, studying with bebop pioneer Kenny Clarke and various notable avant-garde players.  A long-time student of Chuck Brown, Robinson added to his mental acuity performing with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Glenn Spearman, Lisle Ellis, and Rova Sax Quartet. He is a stalwart of the San Francisco Bay Area avant-garde jazz scene, playing and recording with many of the Bay Area’s improvisational players, from saxophonists John Tchicai, Marco Eneidi and Larry Ochs to koto player Miya Masaoka and pianist Matthew Goodheart. He has also been Bay Area drummer of choice for prominent visitors like Wadada Leo Smith, Cecil Taylor, Joe McPhee, George Lewis, Raphe Malik, Dave Douglas, Biggi Vinkeloe and Paul Plimley.
Much of Robinson’s work has seen him featured in the stellar rhythm section of Robinson and bassist Lisle Ellis, especially including the band “What We Live” with Larry Ochs on saxophones, a trio that toured in Europe and North America from 1994 – 2002, sometimes with special guests such as Dave Douglas, Wadada Leo Smith or Kazakh vocalist Saadet Turkoz. Recordings with all three of these artists were made in that period as well as three trio recordings.

Karl Evangelista, guitar:
     Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista (b.1986) ranks among a new wave of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz and experimental music into the 21st century. Synthesizing the heavy legacy of contemporary improvised music with popular song and 20th century composition, Evangelista explores multicultural concepts with sonic intensity and political fervor. Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as “one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation.”
Evangelista has explored new realms in sound and intercultural collaboration across a vast spectrum of musical situations. He has worked with or under the direction of, among others, Bobby Bradford, Andrew Cyrille, Fred Frith, Eddie Gale, Oliver Lake, Myra Melford, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Zeena Parkins, Trevor Watts, Michael Zerang, Scott Amendola, Steve Berlin, Jordan Glenn, Ben Goldberg, Alexander Hawkins, Lewis Jordan, Lisa Mezzacappa, John-Carlos Perea, Gino Robair, Marcus Shelby, Aram Shelton, Damon Smith, members of ROVA, and Asian Improv aRts masters Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Hafez Modirzadeh, and Tatsu Aoki, and has performed in new arrangements of works by Moe Staiano, AACM co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams, and Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Roscoe Mitchell. Evangelista has presented work at the Guelph Jazz Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, Myra Melford’s New Frequencies Festival, the Switchboard Festival, the Sonic Circuits Festival, and the Outsound New Music Summit, and he has been awarded multiple Zellerbach Grants for his work in Filipino American jazz and experimental music.

Larry Ochs, saxophones:
     In his forty-plus years in Rova Saxophone Quartet, Larry Ochs has created roughly two dozen compositions for saxophone quartet as well as other pieces for Rova in extended ensembles, many of which are recorded, and some of which were commissioned by Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation and Meet the Composer. He has been acting executive director of Rova:Arts since 1987.
In addition Ochs currently composes for and leads The Fictive Five (with Nate Wooley, Harris Eisenstadt, Ken Filiano and Pascal Niggenkemper) and Kihnoua  with vocalist Dohee Lee, Scott Amendola and special guests [the Sybil’s Whisper,  2012 CD]). He is performing in collective bands: Jones Jones (with Mark Dresser and Vladimir Tarasov), Every Winter Trio (with Nels Cline and Gerald Cleaver), Spectral (with Darren Johnston and Dave Rempis), Larry Ochs-Aram Shelton Quartet (with Aram Shelton, Kjell Nordeson and Scott Walton) and Maybe Monday (with Miya Masaoka and Fred Frith).