Biographies of Featured Performers
Photo by Kallan Nishimoto
Few musicians are as accomplished as Francis Wong, considered one of "the great saxophonists of his generation" by the late jazz critic Phil Elwood. For over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of Asian American jazz/creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe with such with such luminaries as Jon Jang, Tatsu Aoki, Genny Lim, William Roper, Bobby Bradford, John Tchicai, James Newton, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye and the late Glenn Horiuchi. Wong's career straddles roles as varied as performing artist, youth mentor, composer, artistic director, community activist, non-profit organization manager, consultant, music producer, and academic lecturer. For more information about Francis Wong, visit www.franciswong.net.
Photo by Keira Heu-lwyn Chang
Lenora Lee’s works give visibility to issues of women's health, mental health, and to a journey that is deeply rooted in unveiling experiences seemingly private in public performance. Lenora's movement language captures a speed and precision similar to that of martial arts and a detail in gesture and communication similar to sign language. The multicultural perspective and multidisciplinary approach to her work stems from a history of collaboration with artists such as saxophonist Francis Wong, Japanese (odori) dancer/taiko artist Melody Takata, American Indian vocalist/bassist John-Carlos Perea, and Cuban and Brazilian percussionist Jimmy Biala. Lenora's dance works can be seen as conversations integrating unique movement languages influenced by modern dance, ballet, Japanese drumming (taiko), martial arts, sign language, improvisation and jazz music. For more information about Lenora Lee, visit www.leewangdance.org and www.myspace.com/lenoralee.
Photo by Ken Miller
A.K. Black was born and raised in the Bayview Hunters Point community of San Francisco and began rapping in 1987, as a means of expressing his opinions on the many ills that plague inner-city communities. A.K. broke onto the Bay Area hip hop scene in 1991, when his insightful raps helped him take second place in an Environmental Rap competition. He went on to be a main spokesperson for the Eco Rap program, encouraging Bay Area rappers to help bring about awareness to the hazardous conditions that exist in many inner city neighborhoods. For the past eleven years, A.K. has performed throughout the United States and Europe, appearing with such artists as Pearl Ubungen Dancers and Musicians, Piri Thomas, Quincy Troupe, Genny Lim, Francis Wong and Midnight Voices. For more information about A.K. Black, visit www.akblack.net.
Photo by Carly Hoopes, 2008
Improviser, composer, and guitarist Karl Alfonso Evangelista was born in Van Nuys, California, USA, on April 28, 1986, the son of two Filipino immigrants. His music explores the intersection between improvisation and composition in a multicultural, transidiomatic social space. Evangelista performs in an improvising trio with saxophonist Francis Wong and bassist/vocalist/percussionist John-Carlos Perea, the quartet Host Family, and the duo Grex with partner Margaret Rei Scampavia, and has studied under many of the chief figures in modern creative music, including India Cooke, Fred Frith, Myra Melford, Roscoe Mitchell, and Zeena Parkins. He received his BA in Social Transformation and the Development of 20th Century Artforms at UC Berkeley, CA, USA, and has recently completed his Master of Fine Arts in Improvised Music at Mills College, CA, USA. For more information about Karl Alfonso Evangelista, visit www.myspace.com/karladevangelista.
Photo courtesy of John-Carlos Perea
GRAMMY® Award winning pow-wow singer and cedar flutist John-Carlos Perea (Mescalero Apache, Irish, German) was born in Dulce, New Mexico and raised in San Francisco, California. He received his BA in Music from San Francisco State University in 2000. John-Carlos received his MA in Music from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005 and is currently a doctoral candidate in Music at UC Berkeley. John-Carlos has lectured at San Francisco State, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard on the subjects of American Indian Music and American Indian Modern and Creative Performing Arts. In addition to leading his own quintet and performing with San Francisco-based ensembles such as Francis Wong’s Gathering Of Ancestors and Dr. Loco y sus Tiburones del Norte, John-Carlos co-leads the Sweetwater Singers, a Northern Plains intertribal pow-wow drum. His recent appearances include Edwardo Madril's Sun Dagger Solstice and the University of San Francisco's Indigenous People's Day Music Celebration. In addition, John-Carlos recently received a Native American Arts and Cultural Traditions Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission commissioning him to compose new music for jazz sextet with pow-wow drum and singers. For more information about John-Carlos Perea, visit www.myspace.com/johncarlosperea or www.johncarlosperea.com.
Photo courtesy of Karen Stackpole
Karen Stackpole performs and records with metals/gongs duo Euphonics, Dean Santomieri, Ron Thompson, Myles Boisen, Moe Staiano, and John Schott’s Ensemble Diglossia as well as collaborating on various other projects. Gongs and resonance are the calling. Small distinct sounds (a la insect music) and use of silence and space rank high also. She is the drummer for Cactus Motel and has played with Malcolm Mooney and The Tenth Planet, Moxie, Bolshoi Rodeo, and Rare Thing. She is the percussionist for the improvising quartet, Vorticella. Her percussive efforts include work with the Onsite Dance Company and the San Francisco Shin Taido group. Karen also operates Stray Dog Recording Services and works as a freelance writer for DRUM! and Electronic Musician magazines. For more information about Karen Stackpole, visit www.myspace.com/karenstackpole or www.bayimproviser.com/artistdetail.asp?artist_id=48.