Beth Schenck – alto sax, compositions
Kasey Knudsen – alto sax
Phillip Greenlief – tenor sax
Cory Wright – tenor and baritone saxes

Social Stutter, a saxophone quartet led by composer/altoist Beth Schenck, blurs the line between strictly written chamber music and soaring free jazz. Solos emerge from the natural order of intricately written lines that, although begin simply in structure, twist and distort themselves into surprisingly complex shapes and forms. Unlike traditional saxophone quartets, some of the pieces are composed for two altos and two tenors, which leads itself to denser harmonic territory and a uniquely homogenous sound. Masters of texture and nuance, the quartet has a keen awareness of how to support and push one another’s creative boundaries. Social Stutter is comprised of some of the Bay Area’s most unique voices: Kasey Knudsen, Phillip Greenlief, Cory Wright and Beth Schenck.

Beth Schenck is a San Francisco based saxophonist, composer and educator. Moving to the Bay Area from Brooklyn in 2013, Beth has become an active performer in the jazz and improvised music scenes. Her compositional projects include Social Stutter, SIFTER (with Lisa Mezzacappa, Rob Ewing and Jordan Glenn), House of Faern (Jenny Scheinman, Matthew Wrobel and John Wood) and The Guthrie Project (Matt Wrobel). Beth’s music has been described by critics as “frank and beautiful” (Greg Burk), “reliably enthralling” and “transporting” (Andrew Gilbert). Beth holds an MFA in Jazz Studies from CalArts and a BFA in orchestral performance from ASU.

Kasey Knudsen is a San Francisco based saxophonist, composer and educator. She earned her BA in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music in 2002. Since relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, Knudsen has been commissioned by the Jazzschool’s Emerging Artist Series as well as Intersection for the Arts and the De Young Museum to write and perform new work. She leads her own trio and sextet and co leads The Schimscheimer Family Trio along with bay area drummer Jon Arkin & pianist Michael Coleman as well as The Holly Martins with vocalist Lorin Benedict and guitarist Eric Vogler.

Since his emergence on the west coast in the late 1970s, Evander Music founder and saxophonist Phillip Greenlief has achieved international critical acclaim for his recordings and performances with musicians and composers in the post-jazz continuum as well as new music innovators and virtuosic improvisers. He has performed and recorded with Fred Frith, Meredith Monk, Nels Cline, and They Might Be Giants; albums include THAT OVERT DESIRE OF OBJECT with Joelle Leandre, and ALL AT ONCE with FPR (Frank Gratkowski, Jon Raskin, Phillip Greenlief). Recent residencies have included Headlands Center for the Arts and from 2012 to 2014 he was the curator at Berkeley Arts, a home for progressive music. He is the recipient of a San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award.

Reeds player Cory Wright, educated at Oberlin College and the University of Southern California, has been involved in both the jazz and creative music worlds for the past 20 years, including time spent in New York, Los Angeles and his current home in the San Francisco bay area. His recent projects reflect his interest in blurring the distinction between composed and improvised material and in combining the harmonious with the atonal, and groove with the arrhythmic. Cory has played in ensembles lead by Anthony Braxton, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gale, Adam Rudolph and Yusef Lateef. He is currently a member of bay area groups Bristle, Wiener Kids, the Nathan Clevenger Group and the Oakland Active Orchestra, and leads his own projects Green Mitchell and the Cory Wright Outfit.