Left Coast Improv Group

Bio:

..San Francisco Bay Area free improv group formed by Jim Ryan in 2001. We have been active for eight years. Two CDs out . . . the 1st LCIG on jimzeen recordings is out of print . . . 'LCIG April/May 2002' on Edgetone Records (EDT 4014) www.edgetonerecords.com is available, look under 'Artists: Jim Ryan.' The group will be performing at the Outsound New Music Summit on July 25, 2009 at the Community Music Center in San Francisco. The philosophy of LCIG is all improv . . . no scores, no conductors, no composers (except all of us in REAL time) . . . no music stands . . . NO BOSSES . . . NO HIERARCHICAL TOP-DOWN, DO-AS-WE-SAY, SO-CALLED NON-PROFIT CORPORATE FUNDING . . . WE DO NOT CREATE PRODUCT WE MAKE ART FOR LOVE, ENJOYMMENT AND THE CONTINUANCE OF LIFE . . . We are a Deluzian rhizomatic music ensemble.

Member Since:

May 05, 2009

Members:

DOUG CARROLL cello - Strong academic background in music and the cello, attended Morton Feldman seminars in Germany. Doug is a seasoned bay area improvisor . . . • MICHAEL COOKE bassoon/sheng - music degree from the University of North Texas,. performing in many north Texas area symphonies. After relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, he has been exploring paths in improvised and composed music. He currently plays with, and is on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra . . . • EPONINE CUERVO-MOLL dance body movement spoken word - A native of Columbia, South America, Eponine spent many years in Oakland, CA writing, acting, dancing, and creating original performance art. She was the prime mover behind "Studio For" in East Oakland's 'Tinsel Town' where she curated monthly art shows in conjunction with short performances by local writers, musicians, actors, and all sorts of doers of strange presentations. She is currently living in Berlin, Germany. . . • RON HEGLIN trombone - Native of S.F., many years on the bay area improv scene and as a graphic artist. Currently lives in Berkeley and plays in trio with Doug Carroll and Tom Nunn . . . • JEFF HOBBS multi-instrumentalist reeds, brass, strings - constantly in demand for gigs. He spends his daytime hours as an instrument repair technician . . . • DARREN JOHNSON trumpet - Migrated to San Francisco from his native Canada in 1997 and has built a web of alliances, from avant-guard excursions with Myra Melford, and the ROVA saxophone quartet, to straight-ahead jazz outings with the bassist Marcus Shelby. . . • SCOTT R. LOONEY piano/electronics/sound engineering - BA from Coe College, IA, MFA in music from Cal Arts, he's been a Bay Area fixture since the mid-90s with enormous piano and electronic performance chops. He teaches sound design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco . . . • BOB MARSH cello (plus most other instruments) - From Detroit to Chicago to the East Bay in many groups, great experimental experience and fantastic cello chops. . . • TOM NUNN hand-built percussion instruments - Noted S.F. area instrument builder, player, and writer on improvisational music. He wrote 'The Wisdom of the Impulse' 1998 book on musical Free Improvisation: one can google this title and download the book free . . .• JIM RYAN flute French horn & small percussion - from jazz background to free jazz/improv, long term workshops with Steve Lacy and Eddie Gale. Jim is the LCIG founder and has fronted his 'Forward Energy' groups and several trios for many years. His CDs can be found on Edgetone Records. See his myspace.com/forwardenergy site . . . • LEIF SHACKLEFORD viola - graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in 2001 with a focus in viola performance. He received a degree in Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) at the Oberlin Conservatory. He has worked with a wide variety of artists including engineering for hip-hop legend Wyclef Jean and programming for experimental media artists Troika Ranch. He is an instructor at the Expression Center in Emeryville, CA and has developed a sound studio and performance space in West Oakland with Scott R. Looney . . . • KAREN STACKPOLE gongs percussion - She is sponsored by Paiste cymbols, is an educator at the Expression Center, Emeryville, a writer on music equipment for Electronic Musician, a recording engineer, and a master of percussion and gongs . . . • ANDREW VOIGT winds - studied with John Adams and John Handy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with Roscoe Mitchell of the Art Ensemble of Chicago at Roscoe's farm in Lansing Michigan and with the Japanese Imperial Gagaku Ensemble in Tokyo, Japan. He was the 'V' in the ROVA saxophone quartet for about 10 years . . . •

Influences:

Everybody and everything musical and natural and supernatural and magical and just plain ordinary.

Sounds Like:

The world on a string and a wing and a prayer

Record Label:

Edgetone Records