Tenor and soprano saxophonist, improviser and composer Catherine Sikora was first electrified by the sound of air vibrating in a metal tube when, as a child, she heard the wind playing tones and overtones in a metal gate. She has devoted her life to researching the magic of that sound with her saxophones, particularly in her solo work, which forms the main backbone of her creative output.

Catherine’s first solo album ‘Jersey’ was released on Relative Pitch Records in July 2016. She followed this with ‘Warrior‘, an all-soprano saxophone solo recording in 2019. Her next solo tenor recording, ‘Sanctuary‘, recorded live in Paris in summer of 2020, was released in fall 2020.In addition to her solo work, Sikora works frequently in duo and larger settings, with Eric Mingus, Brian Chase, Ursel Schlicht, Ethan Winogrand, Ross Hammond, Christopher Culpo and Matteo Liberatore. She is proud to be one third of the joyful rowdiness that is Eris 136199.

David Menestres is a bassist, composer, and writer currently living in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. David is the founder/leader of the Polyorchard ensemble and is the host/producer of Tone Science, a weekly two-hour radio show on taintradio.org since 2010.

Dan DeChellis & Toshi Makihara:

Pianist, Dan DeChellis has been immersed in music from listening, improvising, playing classical, rock and jazz and collecting records for as long as he can remember. His first job was a paperboy, his second was in a record store where his collection and interests grew. He focused on Classical Music in college for knowledge and technique and continued to improvise and discover Jazz, which he loved. He studied Jazz Piano with Laurie Altman and was in jazz bands during his undergraduate and graduate college years. Dan also attended The New England Conservatory in Boston for a period to study with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in the Contemporary Improvisation Department.

He formed his label Sachimay Records in Boston in 1997 and released his first two records, “Shapes” and “Real Time” with the DeChellis / Tomasic / Nakatani Trio to great acclaim by the press. The trio performed at Scullers Jazz Club and the Autumn Uprising Festival. In New York City, DeChellis performed regularly with Daniel Carter, Reuben Radding and Dee Pop at CBGB’s, founded the Improvised & Otherwise Festival, and shared the Main Stage with Gerry Hemingway at The Knitting Factory.

For the past 15 years, DeChellis has taught Improvisation and Piano at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. He also has released 5 albums of original music for his piano trio and a number of Improvised Music, Rock and Ambient records with Anita DeChellis, Gary Hassay, Beholder, The Appropriation Committee, Four The Day, Acoustic Kitty Project and The Dana Gaynor Band.

Dan’s varied projects have brought him to many well-known stages such as, Chris’s Jazz Café (Phil), The Stone Pony (NJ), The Knitting Factory (NYC), New Langton Arts (CA), Tonic (NYC), World Café Live (Phil), Wonderbar (NJ), Musikfest (PA).

Toshi Makihara’s performance utilizes traditional percussion with a variety of discovered sound media, everyday objects and toys. Through a rigorous, systematic, and practiced process of experimentation, Makihara seeks out sounds that have never been heard before, experimenting with touch, force, and speed, and always remaining aware of sound’s relationship to the body. Makihara studied drums and percussion with Sabu Toyozumi, a renowned improvising percussionist in Tokyo. He has also studied butoh with dance master Kazuo Ohno and others.

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