Short clip from a recent duo with Thollem McDonas at Dagny’s in Bakersfield, 9/2/2014. Video by Angela C Villa.

Kris Tiner / Motoko Honda / Beth Schenck at Luna’s Cafe, Sacramento, 6/30/2014. Video by Charles Smith.

The trio of pianist Motoko Honda, saxophonist Beth Schenck, and trumpeter Kris Tiner performs original compositions and improvisations that explore subtle sonic textures, deeply nuanced lyricism, and a unique take on the idea of “chamber jazz.” Frequent collaborators over the past decade, these three musicians have established wide ranging associations in the jazz and improvised music communities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

Kris Tiner is a California-based trumpet player, composer, and improviser. His playing has been described as “extraordinarily inventive” in Signal to Noise Magazine, and the LA Weekly claims “Trumpeter Kris Tiner can turn barbed wire to beauty.” His music has been performed on five continents, his 50+ recordings have been enthusiastically reviewed in the international jazz press, and he has been recognized with awards from ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, the International Association for Jazz Education, Montalvo Arts Center, and the Kennedy Center. He is a member of the acclaimed Empty Cage Quartet, and he collaborates with New York guitarist Mike Baggetta in the duo Tin/Bag. Tiner performs with the Industrial Jazz Group, Chris Schlarb’s Psychic Temple, the Los Angeles Trumpet Quartet and the Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet, and has collaborated with Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, Kraig Grady, Tatsuya Nakatani, Donald Robinson, Nels Cline, Lukas Ligeti, Phillip Greenlief, and Cathlene Pineda. He directs the Jazz Program at Bakersfield College, and is the Trumpet Studio Instructor at CSU, Bakersfield. He is the founder of Epigraph Records, an independent label dedicated to the documentation of new creative music recorded live in Bakersfield.

Beth Schenck is a SF based saxophonist, composer and educator who has worked throughout the United States and abroad. A recent NYC transplant, Beth has performed frequently in the New York downtown scene as a leader and a sidewoman. She has been featured in Andrew D’Angelo’s Big Band and Saxophone Quartet, Vinny Golia’s Large Ensemble, and Andrew Durkin’s “Industrial Jazz Group.” She has also had the opportunity to perform with Greg Osby, Henry Threadgill, Ben Street, Jim Black, Larry Koonse, Gerald Cleaver, Becca Stevens, Trevor Dunn, Cory Smythe and many others. As a composer, Beth has been commissioned to write for Saint Ignatius Loyola School in New York City, Oakwood High School in Los Angeles, the Sunset Jazz Festival in Nagasaki, Japan, and the Women’s Work Festival in New York City. In 2010, Beth released her debut record, “What Shock Heard,” which has been described by critics as “frank and beautiful”, with “solos full of artful logic”. It features Bill McHenry, Matt Wrobel, Eivind Opsivk and Jeff Davis.

Motoko Honda is a concert pianist, composer, and sound artist who has created a distinctive sound through her holistic approach to music, and her exceptional sensitivity in relating to other art forms and technologies. Employing a “virtuoso technique paired with her intensely imaginative mind” (Susan Dirende, L.A. Splash Magazine), and with stylistic influences ranging from jazz to Indonesian music to contemporary prepared piano with electronics, Motoko’s compositions and structured improvisations are intended to affect the skin, organs and minds of the listener rather than simple recitations of rhythmic and harmonic themes. Called both a “keyboard alchemist” (Chris Barton, L.A. Times), and the “embodiment of a muse” (Greg Burk, Metaljazz), Motoko’s performances transport audiences on sonic adventures that transcend the boundaries and conventions of contemporary music.

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Don’t miss this special performance at the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop celebrating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Sun Ra, featuring two hours of interplanetary music ranging from his very first recording session in 1956 to the postmodern Arkestra of the 1980s. The 14-piece orchestra will be led by local trumpeter and Bakersfield College Jazz Program director Kris Tiner, and will include current and former members of the BC Jazz Ensemble along with notable local musicians and special guests from Los Angeles. Multi-woodwind virtuoso Brian Walsh, who recently performed at Carnegie Hall with the contemporary music ensemble Gnarwhallaby, will be featured on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet. Master electric bassist Steuart Liebig, who has worked with everyone from Les McCann to Nels Cline, will complete the rhythm section along with the phenomenal percussionist Ted Byrnes, an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music who collaborates with improvising artists from around the world.

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The composer-pianist-bandleader Herman “Sonny” Blount, widely known as Sun Ra (1914-1993), was recognized for his pioneering musical experimentation, outer-space philosophy (he claimed to be from the planet Saturn), outrageous costumes and the earliest incorporation of electronic instruments in jazz. His music both encapsulated and transformed the popular and art music of the twentieth century, from swing-era big band roots through bebop, avant-garde jazz, and on into funk and disco. Artists ranging from John Coltrane to MC5 to George Clinton all professed a deep connection with Ra’s music.