Bamboo Skin 4-tet-Luggage Store Gallery, SF CA; 9/6/18

Bamboo Skin 4-tet came together almost as a lark. John Vaughn mentioned to me in passing last July that he'd booked an evening at the Luggage Store and was interested in setting something up with me and possibly others. I immediately got Brandon Evans and Tim Orr on board; pretty awesome the way that those two responded so enthusiastically! Brandon and I were really stoked on our recent recording, on which I'd focused on small percussion and "little sounds", a la Art Ensemble and other AACM greats. Tim and John were equally enthused about this approach, so we went with it. Tim brought a floor tom, a snare, and several small cymbals, gongs, shakers and so forth. I brought a timbale set, a few gongs, some shakers, and other small stuff. John and Brandon brought alto, sopranino, and tenor saxes.
For our roughly forty minute set, we did three numbers from charts that John has written and one free improvisation. Right off the bat, I was a bit disconcerted with a pretty unfamiliar percussion set up. This feeling pretty much stayed with me throughout. Playing in the boom-ey upstairs portion of the Luggage Store added a bit of trepidation, as the sounds just careen around that big room. Tim and I's clattering, busy percussion seemed to lay down a busy bed upon which Brandon and John wailed in tandem and solo. Those guys sounded great, and I was just happy to be sharing the space with them. Brandon really shined on the free piece, getting into his extensive bag of extended technique. He loves playing his Chinese made tenor sax, and one can hear that clearly. John's really brave writing technique gave us all lots of room in which to play. These days, I'm quite enamored of it. A very cool mixture of simplicity and complex thought. The last tune, L.I.S. (Long Island Sucks) is his Punk Rock/Free Improvisation mix! Tough to play Punk without a bass drum, but, hey, I tried!
A fun, funky, musically challenging evening at a favorite haunt. If only the parking were easier at 6th St. and Market!

Below: stripped down kits; three of Bamboo Skin 4-tet get ready