Berkeley Arts
2133 University Avenue Berkeley
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GAMBITS
Gambits

Steve Adams - Baritone Saxophone
Alisa Rose - Violin
Theo Padouvas - Cornet
Vijay Anderson - Drums

Gambits is a Bay Area music collective consisting of Steve Adams (Rova Saxophone Quartet, Bill Horvitz Band), Alisa Rose (Real Vocal String Quartet, Village Road Trio), Theo Padouvas (Naytronix, Oakland Active Orchestra), and Vijay Anderson (Adam Lane Trio, Graham Connah Big Band). The collective's interest and experience covers a wide spectrum of music ranging from Jazz, Classical, New Music, Improvisation, Folk, Bluegrass, Blues, Balkan Music, and Rock. Gambits uses creative ideas found in all these genres without being restricted to any particular style. The group's unique instrumentation consisting of violin, baritone saxophone, cornet, and drums, creates a singular sound that has scarcely been pursued in the past.

Jang, Wong, Trammell

Jon Jang - Piano
Francis Wong - Saxophones
Marshall Trammell - Drums

Jon Jang, Francis Wong & Marshall Trammell will be taking the stage for a first-ever performance of compositions and Improvisations for Berkeley Arts Festival Mr. Jang is masterful San Francisco-based pianist, composer and Improvisor with a long list of collaborators including Max Roach, James Newton, the Kronos Quartet, as well as being expert on the Beijing Opera and most recently presented his quintet performing "Can't Stop Cryin' for America: Black Lives Matter!" Also based San Francisco, Francis Wong is a powerful composer, saxophonist and community organizer. He co-founded Asian Improv Arts and has collaborated with the likes of Genny Lim, William Roper, Bobby Bradford, John Tchicai, James Newton, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye and the late Glenn Horiuchi. Mr. Jang and Mr. Wong express a strong sense of their Asian lineages, their Asian American roots and utilize the vehicle of Jazz to redefine Jazz itself as a cultural and political catalyst for democratic and just social change.

Accompanying them is Oakland-based, Creative Music percussionist Marshall Trammell, founder of Music Research Strategies and "Decolonizing the Imagination: Arts Practicum. He performs regularly with the electro-acoustic duo Black Spirituals. Mr. Trammell has received a cultural transmission from Messrs. Jang and Wong and is honored to share the bandstand with these ardent and strident dignitaries of Jazz, political relevancy and community engagement.

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Videos featuring musicians playing at this event