Avant Garden Party
Sunday, June 9, 2024
2888 Sandy Lane, Santa Cruz
Violist, Composer, Kaethe Hostetter headlines our Ethiopian Mix!!
Ethiopian- inspired cuisine provided by Chef India Joze
Kaethe Hostetter’s Impressions of Ethiopia for solo violin and electronics.
This is a collection of musical vignettes by American violinist and composer Kaethe Hostetter. Sourcing from her 11 years living in Addis Ababa, she transports you to the bustling streets of the East African metropolis, evoking the crackling sounds of a saxophone blaring out of a barbershop radio, a shepherd's flute melody turned dub reggae, the fervent dancing on packed dirt floors of a rural honey-wine bar, and the funky big band psychedelic sounds of Ethiopia's "Golden Era".
Sasupake
We're called Sasupake (sah-soo-PAH-kay,) and we're a quartet based in Santa Cruz. Our members are Sarah Michael - kanun (a lap-held zither) and vocals, Susan Wagner - accordion, Patrice Wallace - bass, and Ken Mowrey - hand drums.
We play whatever we enjoy, and whatever adapts well to our instrumentation. Our repertoire has a large component of Greek and Armenian music, and pieces from the Arab tradition. We also play Sephardic songs, a bit of Bossa, a bit of Choro, and a few jazz tunes. Some of it is good for folk dancing, and some best for just listening. When we need to summarize, we call it "mostly Mediterranean."
We've been working together since winter 2021, exploring music from the various repertoires of our band members and developing our arrangements to showcase the particular strengths of the instruments and players. With varied backgrounds in Klezmer, Balkan, Rock, Jazz, Brazilian, Arabic and Early music, we bring a lot of different perspectives to each tune.
SINGING WOOD MARIMBA ENSEMBLE
Laura Mallon, Director
Singing Wood is a nine-member marimba band, based in Santa Cruz, CA. We have been together since 2003, playing music derived from the Shona culture of Zimbabwe. Our repertoire ranges from ancient traditional pieces to contemporary.
ALSO a variety of guest artists and NMW Ensemble players.
