Solstice sounds stretch your senses

Who?  The Anna Webber Trio with drummer John Hollenbeck and Pianist Matt Mitchell.  MANZAP featuring Andrew Wedman and Stanley Zappa will open.

What?  A evening of compositions and improvisation featuring top artists from Montreal and the Okanagan.

Where?  The Frank Venables Atrium, Oliver, BC.

When?  Wednesday, June 21st.  Doors at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm.

How Much?  Entrance is by donation.  Suggested donation of $15, $5 for students, free for visiting seasonal agricultural workers.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Originally from Kelowna, saxophonist / flautist and composer Anna Webber comes home with a case of New York Avant-Garde! With drummer John Hollenbeck on drums and pianist Matt Mitchell!

Ms. Webber plays flute and the saxophone.  She has studied at the Jazz Institute Berlin, the Manhattan School of Music and at McGill University.  She maintains a busy performing schedule both in Canada and the United States.

Drummer John Hollenbeck is currently a professor at McGill University Schulich School of Music, a former professor at The Jazz Institut Berlin and studied Jazz and Composition at the Eastman School of Music.  Mr. Hollenbeck is perhaps best known for his work with the Claudia Quintet, for which he has earned 3 Grammy nominations.

Pianist Matt Mitchell, a recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, has performed with Tim Berne’s Snakeoil band, Dave Douglas, Michael Attias, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble and the Claudia Quintet.

The work of the Anna Webber trio features both notated composition and improvisation.  The trio draws deeply from the history of “Jazz” and deftly employs poly-rhythms and complex harmonies for sophisticated yet accessible medium and long form pieces.

MANZAP is the duo of Andrew Wedman and Stanley Zappa (of OLIVER, BC).  Like Ms. Webber, Mr. Wedman also studied at McGill (Music Theory).  Wedman is, with Zappa, the creator of the Bass Piano and co-creator of UFDA or the Untempered Festival of Dissonant Arts.

Mr. Zappa studied music with Bill Dixon and Milford Graves.  Since then he has been pursuing single reed instruments and improvisation.  A fan of Microtonalist/Single Reed Player/Improviser Joe Maneri, he found the untempered sound of Wedman’s Bass Piano and his approach to it an inspiring partner for improvisation.