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A little more than a week ago, I was lucky enough to attend the first annual Switchboard Music Festival live at Dance Mission Theater on March 30, 2008. It was a full day of inspired music that’s best described in their own words:

The Switchboard Music Festival is an eight-hour music festival bringing together composers and musicians who are all pushing the boundaries of their respective genres. No other Bay Area music festival or concert series is dedicated to the idea of bringing together such an eclectic, genre-crossing/-breaking/-bastardizing group of experimentalists, innovators, and musical omnivores.

Some of the finest musicians in the Bay Area played over the course of the eight-hour music marathon, including Aaron Novik, Amy X Neuburg, Christopher Adler, Dan Becker, Del Sol String Quartet, Jeff Anderle, Edmund Welles, Erik Jekabson, Gamelan X, Ian Dicke, Ian Dickenson, Inner Ear Brigade, Jonathan Russell, Robin Estrada, Ryan Brown, and Slydini.

This really turned out to be a tremendous day of live original music, so please enjoy the photographs and this audio sample of Erik Jekabson’s trumpet solo (using a delay) called Opening Fanfare, which was the appropriately-named first song played at the festival (thanks Erik!). And don’t forget to help support this very-worthy festival when it comes around next year.

 Opening Fanfare [6:03m]: Play Now | Download

Late last year, I had the distinct privilege of helping the talented Jeff Anderle and Jonathan Russell produce the first album related to their ongoing project Sqwonk. The CD features innovative compositions and arrangements for dueling bass clarinets that I recorded in the acoustically-pleasing Recital Hall of the new San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Listening to these guys play off of one another with that primal bass clarinet sound is truly something to behold, so it is with great pleasure that I present this sample of Profiteering from the album. If you like what you hear and want to support their efforts, the complete CD can be purchased for a nominal price here.

Jon and Jeff are also helping organize, and will be playing as Sqwonk, at the upcoming Switchboard Music Festival, which is an eight-hour music festival that brings together composers and musicians who are seriously pushing the boundaries of their respective genres. The festival will be held on March 30, 2008 at the Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco, so mark your calendars because that’s certainly going to be a show to remember!

Note: Photo is from Sqwonk’s CD Release at Old First Church on October 5, 2007.

 Profiteering [9:10m]: Play Now | Download

Here’s two very clean audio tracks of Inditranego and Joey Rubber Special from the amazing Mitch Marcus Quintet +13 big band who performed live on October 21, 2007 at the de Young as part of the museum’s Cultural Encounters program and done in collaboration with Jazz at Intersection.

Eight bands were commissioned to create and perform eight original compositions for what turned out to be an outstanding outdoor concert series at the museum. Although the series is now complete, the whole program will culminate in a combined performance by all eight bands playing each of their commissioned works at 6:30pm on January 18, 2008 at the museum. And best of all, the final concert is completely FREE to the general public! So, please enjoy these tracks, and I hope to see you all back at the de Young in a few weeks.

Note: the photo is actually a video frame capture from the tiny pocket cam I had with me at the show. The audio was captured with one stereo pair in the middle up in front, and two additional condensers were placed off to each side of the band.

Mitch Marcus & Sheldon Brown, Tenor Saxophones
Sylvain Carton & Marcus Stephans, Alto Saxophones
Dave Scott, Henry Hung, Erik Jekabson & Darren Johnston, Trumpets
Mike Rinta, Jeff Cressman & Joel Behrman, Trombones
Marc Bolin, Bass Trombone & Tuba
George Ban-Weiss & David Ewell, Bass
Jason Slota, Vibraphone & Percussion
Cornelius Boots, Bari Saxophone
Mike Abraham, Guitar
Jeff Marrs, Drums

 Joey Rubber Special [12:18m]: Play Now | Download
 Inditranego [16:20m]: Play Now | Download

On October 5, 2007 I recorded Crafty Apples playing in the Old First Church Concert Series. The ensemble features Sky Grealis on flute, Jason Levis on percussion, Aaron Novik on bass clarinet, and Charith Premawardhana on viola. They’ve been around for about two years and describe their work as an opportunity to “explore timbre and texture and less rigid structures mixed with improv and extended techniques” — all of which can be heard in the audio sample included below.

 Crafty Apples [16:08m]: Play Now | Download