Sun 3/22 :: FRED FRITH’S FREMAKAJO / BETH SCHENCK’S SOCIAL STUTTER (plus 3/20: WENDY REID’S "AMBIENT BIRD")

[MATT INGALLS]

west oakland sound series  SUNDAY MARCH 22 2026 7:15p FREMAKAJO SOCIAL STUTTER FRED FRITH (bass/viola) has been a dauntless explorer, improviser, and collaborator in the half-century since he made that breakthrough. From leaving Henry Cow to start Art Bears, from leaving England to enlist in a hyperactive New York improvisational circuit that led him to join Naked City and launch his own Massacre, Frith has situated his extended techniques and handmade instruments in dozens of different contexts. A longtime teacher at California’s Mills College, he brings another new band, FREMAKAJO. He has tapped intertwining Bay Area circles to build this quartet, with curious and playful drummer JORDAN GLENN joining exploratory saxophonist KASEY KNUDSEN and stylistically globetrotting accordionist MARIÉ ABE.     SOCIAL STUTTER, a saxophone quartet led by composer/altoist BETH SCHENCK, blurs the line between strictly written chamber music and soaring free jazz. Solos emerge from the natural order of intricately written lines that, although begin simply in structure, twist and distort themselves into surprisingly complex shapes and forms. Unlike traditional saxophone quartets, most compositions call for two altos, tenor, and bari, which leads itself to denser harmonic territory and a uniquely homogenous sound. Masters of texture and nuance, the quartet has a keen awareness of how to support and push one another's creative boundaries. Social Stutter is comprised of some of the Bay Area's most unique voices: KASEY KNUDSEN, RAFFI GARABEDIAN, CORY WRIGHT and BETH SCHENCK. FRIDAY MARCH 20 2026 SPECIAL LOCATION: Indian Rock Park, 950 Indian Rock Ave, Berkeley  FREE! WENDY REID’S AMBIENT BIRD SFSOUND musicians join the bird ensemble in a Spring Equinox outdoor performancae of WENDY REID'S Ambient Bird-Indian Rock 2026, with BRENDA HUTCHINSON’S Dailybellat sunset.   Ambient Bird - Indian Rock 2026 is a 44-minute interspecies sonic environment that invites humans, animals, and nature to come together in a shared experience of sound, silence, and connection. The ambient landscape and experimental musicians, with traditional and invented instruments, create a collaborative and inclusive space where all are welcome to listen, engage and contribute to the evolving soundscape. Among themany species of birds at Indian Rock, there are Bewick's Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos, Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Anna's Hummingbirds, California Scrub-Jays, American Crows, and various raptors.   The structure of this work can be described as a musical process which attempts to reflect nature’s manner of operations: a spatially notated score of sonic fragments transcribed from bird-human interactions is interpreted and performed by the musicians within the ambient environment of Indian Rock. Contextual in nature, the work allows performers to act according to unpredictable conditions and variables which arise within the musical continuity. In performance, an attempt is made at a spontaneous unforced growing of sound and silence in which emphasis is placed on formation rather than pre-established form, as in the building and shaping of cell-like units in living processes. This site-specific piece, as with the first incantation, ‘Ambient Bird 433’, pays homage to JOHN CAGE’S composition 4’33” (1952).   Dailybell: immediately after the performance, at sunset, Brenda Hutchinson leads everyone in bell-ringing, celebrating the Spring Equinox: created by composer and sound artist Brenda Hutchinson in 2008, Dailybell is an ongoing aspirational project based on the premise that something as inarguable as the movement of the Earth can be used as a point of unity and awareness among groups of people who might otherwise find it impossible to agree.   About the site:  Indian Rock Park was originally the land of the Ohlone people, who consider their connection to the rocks to be sacred. It remains a place of cultural significance that people protect and recognize its history. It is the hope of many that one day it will be returned to its indigenous inhabitants.   There is no formal seating: the audience sits on the stone steps or grass, stands, or wanders.   This performance is included in ‘Ambient Bird-Berkeley’ (2025-26), a project supported in part by a Civic Arts Grant from the City of Berkeley

UPCOMING Sun March 29 - Levitator Trio (Clifford+Shokrai+Nordeson) / "Two Sisters" By Max Abner Sun April 12 - Departure Duo (Boston) / Cheryl E. Leonard + Wobbly West Oakland Sound Series Dresher Ensemble Studio 2201 Poplar Street. Oakland ample parking! (perpendicular when past the trees on Poplar) $10-$25 sliding scale Cash and Venmo accepted at door late arrivals follow instructions on door to get buzzed in Advance tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.com presented by sfSound & New Performance Traditions https://sfsound.info