In Concert-Alex Coke Carl Michael Sextet
Performing compelling music with origins in jazz, classical, folk,
extended technique, and improvisation, the Alex Coke Carl Michel
Sextet features musician/composers Alex Coke on woodwinds
and Carl Michel on guitars. Together with Austin Symphony’s
principal harpist Elaine Barber, Liminal Sound Series producer
Bob Hoffnar on pedal steel, first call jazz bassist Dr. James Suter,
and specialty percussionist Carolyn Trowbridge on
vibes, the sextet will perform at KMFA’s Draylen Mason Studio
on Tuesday November 30, 2022 at 7:30pm.
This unique ensemble is an outgrowth of Coke and Barber’s
popular weekly Driveway Concert Series that ran from April 2020
through June 2021 in response to music gigs and gatherings
curtailed as a result of the pandemic. The duo performed
outdoors, socially distanced, in trio with future members of the sextet
and many others as special guests. Playing music as a
gift to their local neighbourhood at first, the project took shape as the
possibilities for meetings indoors returned.
The Monday night concerts made way for rehearsals, new
composition, and the formation of an unusual and very accomplished
performing and recording ensemble. They released their first CD,
The Emissary, in October 2021 to excellent reviews with
a second CD now in the works.
As a founding member of the Creative Opportunity Orchestra with
many projects and recordings to his credit, Emmy Award winning
composer Carl Michel said :
“The 6tet is a welcomed opportunity to work again with my friend
Alex Coke. The ‘driveway concerts’ that were presented by Elaine
Barber and Alex to their neighborhood, provided a way to collaborate
with other musicians over the course of the pandemic shutdown. That
process initiated the formation of the 6tet, a unique collaboration of
instruments with some great musicians. This collaboration has
opened up my palette in composition and arranging for these
individuals.”
For the upcoming performance and live recording, works will include
new arrangements of music by Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane,
Ukranian composer Valentyn Silvestrov, and Paul Motian with
composition by Coke, Michel, and Hoffnar in the mix.
One of the first jazz ensembles to perform at KMFA’s Draylen Mason
Studio in 2021, the upcoming concert is for an all ages audience.
Presale Tickets go on sale in September
and will also be available at the door.
For more info and sound samples please visit:
https://alexcokecarlmichelsextet.bandcamp.com/releases