Racer Sessions: James Falzone with guests Greg Campbell & Neil Welch
Free
A collectively organized composition and improvisation series for new and experimental music.
About Racer Sessions
Seattle record label Table & Chairs organizes weekly sessions that explore composition and improvisation. The Racer Sessions takes place promptly at 8:00 and lasts until 10:00 every Sunday evening.
Our mission is to give musicians of all backgrounds and ages the opportunity to interact with and inspire one another, while establishing a community-accessible home for this music, which might otherwise only exist in classrooms, basements, outer space, etc.
What Happens
Every Sunday at Cafe Racer, we feature a different artist or group who perform original music and provide a short explanation of their creative process. Afterwards, a jam session takes place, often based on the concepts and approaches outlined in the opening presentation.
The Racer Sessions’ musical focus is primarily centered on improvisation—particularly free or collective improv—and frequently incorporates the aesthetic and techniques of avant-gard jazz and classical music. However, we firmly believe that, as the name suggests, free improvisation should not be limited to any particular style, creed or approach, and we warmly welcome musicians of any persuasion to share their voice.
How to Participate
During the jam session, groups spontaneously form in the room to the side of the stage. There is no sign-up process, though on occasion, the featured artist may take a more active role in organizing groups. If you’d like to play, please make yourself known to a group or to the featured artist (or anyone who looks like they know what’s going on).
To prepare for each session, we recommend that everyone reads our weekly blog, which features a post from the upcoming session’s featured artist on the process of creating his or her piece, as well as recommended listening, approaches or meditations to prepare you for the jam session.
Every featured artist’s presentation and jam session is recorded and documented on the Racer Sessions website.
If you are interested in being a featured artist at the Racer Sessions, please contact racersessions@gmail.com.
Come on By!
We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes in advance to get a good seat, grab a drink or some food, and to say “howdy!” to folks. Also, be sure to check out the Table & Chairs’ merch table, which contains physical copies of albums by our growing roster of artists.
About James Falzone
Clarinetist, penny whistle player, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer who has been commissioned by chamber ensembles, dance companies, choirs, and symphony orchestras around the globe. He leads his own ensembles Allos Musica, Elaía Ensemble, Renga Ensemble, and the duo Wayfaring with Chicago bassist/vocalist Katie Ernst, and has released a series of critically acclaimed recordings on Allos Documents, the label he founded in 2000. James performs throughout North America and Europe, appears regularly on Downbeat magazine's Critics' and Readers’ Polls, and was nominated as the Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association. He has been profiled in the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, New Music Box, and Point of Departure, among many other publications. Also a respected educator and scholar, James is the Dean of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. He is a Backun clarinet artist and plays penny whistles made by Chris Abell.
http://allosmusica.org/about-james/