"High Tide Bulb Chorale"
Saturday, august 14 2021 • 5:30
"High Tide Bulb Chorale," Alternating Currents' is an experimental jazz concert directed by Musician | Composer Randy Porter with colleagues Christopher Lowell Clarke, Ben Green and Dan Plonsey.
Randy notes: "There is always music at the Albany Bulb. It is not a quiet place. The wind, the bay, the birds, the chatter and the dogs make up the natural sonic landscape. The quartet will perform during high tide on both instruments found at the ocean (bull kelp) and traditional wind instruments using the natural landscape as a catalyst for both compositions and improvisations."
Tickets for the Saturday, August 14, 5:30 pm event are free. Attendees are enthusiastically invited to make a donation to help support the series and participating artists and musicians. To make a donation, go to the home page and click on the donate button on the upper right-hand side of the page.
Ticket holders are encouraged to visit the Alternating Currents website for information on the Bulb and event series. We will also be sending updates with useful tips for first time visitors to the Bulb. You can also contact us at albanybulbeventseries@gmail.com.
Alternating Currents is a project of Love the Bulb.
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Ben Green, bull kelp, tenor saxophone
Christopher Clarke, bull kelp, trumpet
Dan Plonsey, bull kelp, baritone saxophone other reeds
Randy Porter, bull kelp, trombone
"High Tide Bulb Chorale"
RANDY PORTER
Randy Porter has been creating music as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser for a long time. He has written for a variety of ensembles from solo to symphony orchestras. He has collaborated with many musicians over the years to make music with his students including Terry Riley, The Sun Ra Arkestra, Kronos, Quartet, Cypress Quartet, Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, Vijay Iyer, Sean Jones, Dan Plonsey, Julian Lage, and many more.
Porter has been a mainstay at the annual Summer Solstice Chapel of the Chimes Garden of Memory concert in Oakland playing a variety of prepared instruments. It was at this event he began incorporating Bull Kelp into his compositions.
MORE: KRON TV Aug 22, 2017 story by Vince Cestone: “Teacher of the Week: Oakland music teacher and composer Randy Porter.”
ChrisTopher Clarke
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio Christopher Lowell Clarke began playing trumpet in elementary school.
In 1992 Clarke was awarded the Fish Middleton Rising Young Jazz Artist Scholarship and attended The College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Majoring in Jazz and Studio Music, Clarke played with many guest artists including Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Bobby Shew, Byron Stripling.
Since coming to the Bay Area, following four years playing with Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Cruise Lines MS Fantasy’s Universe Orchestra Clarke has performed at numerous jazz festivals including Monterey, Stanford, Mt. Hood and the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival, sharing the stage with many Bay Area and national legends including Eddie Marshal, George Coleman, Sonny Simmons and Bishop Norman Williams and most recently Sean Jones, performing at an array of local jazz establishments including Rasselas, Rose Pistola, Brunos, the Black Cat, Enrico's, and Butterfly.
As a member of the Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble he toured Japan.
beN GREEN
Benjamin Green, 23, is a passionate and dedicated saxophonist. His musical career started at the age of ten, under the tutelage of Randy Porter. Ben works hard to be his absolute best and is driven by a desire to continually perfect his craft.
He completed his B.A. in Music Composition at the University of California Davis. Today, he spends his time working on compositions. He has a strong commitment to giving back to the community through teaching and performing.
Dan Plonsey
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Cleveland Heights, Dan has lived in California for 24 years, and in El Cerrito for 14.
Since 1978, Plonsey has written hundreds of works for large and small ensembles. He has received commissions from: The Jewish Music Festival (Berkeley), Dandelion DanceTheater (Oakland), Real Time Operai (New Hampshire), the Bang on a Can People's Commissioning Fund (New York), Theatre of Yugen (San Francisco), the Museum of Children's Art (Oakland), Milkbar International Film Festival (Oakland), the Berkeley Symphony Children's Concert Series, and New Music Works (Santa Cruz).
Most of Plonsey's work has been written without commission, deadline, or any significant outside influence for Daniel Popsicle, his 10-20 person ensemble of unfixed instrumentation.