The Jazz Gallery Presents: Jazz Composers' Showcase, vol. 11

This Friday, August 3, The Jazz Gallery is proud to present the latest edition of our Jazz Composers' Showcase. Curated by composer and conductor Miho Hazama, the Showcase gives up-and-coming composers the increasingly rare opportunity to have their work for large ensemble performed by a top-notch group. The two sets on Friday will feature music by Anna Webber, Matt Holman, and Brian Krock.Whether working with her flexible Simple Trio—featuring pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer John Hollenbeck—or writing more precisely detailed music for larger ensembles, multi-instrumentalist Anna Webber makes music that has been described as "bracing and argumentative" by critic Ben Ratliff. Webber's most recent project features music for a septet inspired by 20th century works for percussion by the likes of Varese and Cage. To get a sense of how her musical ideas scale up for large ensemble, check out her composition "Parallelissimo," performed by the Jazz-Institut Berlin Big Band.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUYIKDeDqkIn addition to holding down one of the trumpet chairs in Darcy James Argue's Secret Society for a decade, Matt Holman has released two albums of delicate and exploratory chamber jazz, including last year's The Tenth Muse (New Focus Recordings) inspired by the poetry of Sappho.Holman is also an accomplished large ensemble composer—his piece "What Are You Thinking" won the BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition prize in 2012.Brian Krock's interests as a composer are about as wide as his range of a woodwind doubler. As a musician in Broadway and touring musical pits, Krock has played ten different woodwind instruments. As a composer, he counts both Elliot Carter and Meshuggah as major influences. Krock has been leading his own big band—Big Heart Machine—for the past few years, and the group is set to release their debut record on August 24 (with a release party at the Gallery on August 16). Check out two advance tracks, "Don't Analyze" and "Stinson Beach" below.The Jazz Gallery presents The Jazz Composers' Showcase, vol. 11 on Friday, August 3, 2018. The ensemble features Ben Kono, Brian Krock, Jeremy Powell, Anna Webber, and Andrew Gutauskas on woodwinds; Matthew McDonald, Joe Fiedler, and Isaac Kaplan on trombones; John Lake, Jonathan Powell, Matt Holman, and Dave Smith on trumpets; Olli Hirvonen on guitar, Martha Kato on piano, Marty Kenney on bass, Nathan Ellman-Bell on drums, and will perform compositions by Matt Holman, Brian Krock, and Anna Webber. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members) for each set. FREE for SummerPass holders. Purchase tickets here.