Wednesday September 30th at Rhizome DC at 6950 Maple Street NW, DC. Doors at 6:30, music at 7:00. Admission: $20-$30, sliding scale. Advance tickets.
An evening of improvisation featuring two NYC-based musicians, Gían Pérez (guitar) and Selendis S. A. Johnson (vibraphone, trombone), in duo and solo performance with (from the DMV) the duo of Nelson Dougherty (guitar) and Zach Dixon (tenor saxophone) opening.
GÍAN PÉREZ is a multi-disciplinary artist, improviser, and composer from Puerto Rico, based in Brooklyn, NY, whose work focuses on the elucidation, fermentation, and subversion of form. Recently, Pérez has worked with artists like Brandon Lopez, gabby fluke-mogul, Elliott Sharp, Brandon Seabrook, Marc Edwards, among others. He’s performed at venues like The Stone, Downtown Music Gallery, and Joe’s Pub. By extending the guitar to its extremes as a physical material, Pérez denatures the electric guitar beyond its ascribed historical identity, envisioning a language that was never conquered and had been left to govern itself. His debut solo guitar record, bambú, was released on zOaR Records. Ñ, his most recent solo record, is available everywhere now.
SELENDIS SEBASTIAN ALEXANDER JOHNSON is a vibraphonist and trombonist. She has been living in New York City since 2018, where she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in jazz and contemporary music at The New School. Johnson works with a variety of musical styles, and plays and organizes performances of Black-American improvisation based music. She leads projects and large ensembles, alternating between trombone, vibraphone and megaphone. Her latest album is The Vanguard Exists to End Itself in the Arriven Crowd, over and over: Live at Roulette.
NELSON DOUGHERTY is a Washington, DC-based jazz guitarist, composer, and educator with a career spanning over 20 years. Known for his unique ability to blend diverse musical genres, Nelson often uses guitar pedals to create expansive soundscapes. He co-leads the innovative jazz group ¡FIASCO!, which has released three acclaimed albums: "Arson" (2020), "Post-Truth" (2021), and "Anger Artist" (2024). The first two albums topped Capitol Bop’s Best D.C. Jazz Albums list in their respective years, while the third was released on the renowned Swiss label Unit Records. https://www.nelsondougherty.com/
ZACH DIXON is a saxophonist, composer, improviser, and aspiring wizard. Drawing inspiration from musical storytellers like Sun Ra and Ryuichi Sakamoto, they create musical spaces that invite the mind to wander. To date, Zach has released two collections of music, "The Monster Manual Suite" (2022) an album inspired by creatures from Dungeons and Dragons, and "Exodus" (2023) several experimental pieces of spoken word and improvised music about rural flight. Zach invites you to close your eyes and visualize the story hidden within the music...or fall asleep, they're bound to do something that'll wake you up at some point.