Racer Session #339 | Zae Tinaza & Burning Spirits | August 28, 2016
Hello Racer folks!
This Sunday at the Racer Sessions we're joined by Zae Tinaza and the band Burning Spirits from Olympia, WA. Zae has contributed to the session for the number of years from now, and this Sunday marks his first presentation at the series. He's a multi-instrumentalist in the truest sense, playing a wide array of instruments with a stylized, personal sound. Read below for a few thoughts about Burning Spirits, and their presentation this Sunday, August 28th at the Racer Sessions. 8pm as usual!
"Burning Spirits' music has evolved out of the improvisational process, allowing the instruments and individual improvisations to determine the musical content and forms. With a strong emphasis on lyricism, their music is indicative of and celebrates the work of A.A.C.M., Sonny Simmons, and ECM sound. Zae often combines so-called disparate elements in his music, reaching back to antiquity, and to the Asiatic, middle eastern, and native American cultures for source material and musical inspiration.
Burning Spirits will be featuring Zae Tinaza; saxophone, recorder, and percussion. Ariel Calabria; drums. Ryan Donnelly; double bass. Zae studied for a handful of years with Bert Wilson, the maestro David Kyle in Seattle, and he studied Hindustani music with the bansuri master G.S. Sachdev and as a student at the Ali Akbar College of music. In addition to his life long interest in experimental and avant garde music, zae spent many years playing blues and soul music with members of Sly and the Family Stone and Prince's group, and members of John Lee Hooker and Elvin Bishop's groups. He also performed for a couple of years with the Marin Opera in California.
Ariel Calabria, besides being a drummer, is an exceptional multi-instrumentalist who spent 5 years playing in Bert Wilson's group and began studying with Bert at the age of 13. Ariel was recently a featured artist at The Washington Center for the Arts and the Spite House. Ryan Donnelly is a young and talented bassist who is a graduate of Central Washington University. He recently landed a position playing with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra. Ariel and Zae can be heard performing as members of the band "The Mailhot Jazz Unit."
For the group improv portion we recommend you focus on lyricism and using simple melodic ideas that tell a story and can be developed in the improvisations. Try to keep your ideas in your mind so that you can return to your themes creating a kind of cohesiveness. Also think about using nature sounds such as bird calls in your improvisations."