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Jim Ryan's Groups

The COMPOUND Printmakers

7 members
Music at The COMPOUND

4 members

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Experimental Improv Musician = flute, sax, horn (French), kalimba, electronics, keys

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Relationship Status:

Single

About Me:

I'm a musician, painter, writer/poet . . . I play flute, alto/tenor sax, kalimba, electronis/keys, and small percussion. I work with 3, 4, 5 experimental music groups 1) Forward Energy (shifting personnel total improv free style jazz). 2) The Left Coast Improv Group (9 piece improv chamber ensemble), 3) Subjects of Desire (4-5 piece group with reading of my texts), 4) Son of Mary (experimental voice, electronic, & instrumental sound duo), 5) Spirit and Jim percussion and wind duo (jazz foundation). Recordings of some of these groups can be found on with more info at www.myspace.com/forwardenergy. I have also published a magazine about experimental music in the bay area called OUTSIDE, and I have curated avant garde music series at the Luggage Store Gallery, S.F., The Starry Plough, Berkeley, Gallery 2310, Oakland, and Studio 1510 Art Perfornace Lab in West Oakland.

Website:

http://www.myspace.com/forwardenergy

Media:

Various reviews for various groups . . . here's one about the Left Coast Improv Group recording: \
\
Francois Couture
Writer/journalist specialized in demanding music
Writer for the All-Music Guide
Producer of Delire Actuel, CFLX.
Personal webpage / Page personnelle: http://fcouture.multimania.com
Visitez / Visit the All-Music Guide at http://www.allmusic.com

Left Coast Improv Group
Apr/May 2002 Edgetone EDT 4014

Apr/May 2002 was released a little over a year after the Left Coast Improv Group's debut -- and rushed out the door three weeks after its completion, in time for the 2002 San Francisco Alt-Music Festival. It shows enormous growth as an ensemble and offers a delightful set of free improv, West Coast
style. Of the first quintet remains cellist {Bob Marsh}, flutist {Jim Ryan}, computer whiz {Scott R. Looney}, and the ubiquitous {Ernesto Diaz-Infante on prepared guitar. But the group has expanded to a seven-piece affair with Jeff Hobbs (violin and cornet), Ron Heglin (trombone and vocalizing), and Karen Stackpole (percussion). The music presents a communal approach to free improv derivative from the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, with extra Eastern overtones in the flute, Diaz-Infante's prepared guitar (often sounding like a koto), and a general Zen atmosphere that permeates throughout. Half of the twelve tracks consist of purely free improvisations. The others follow simple rules. These details are not obvious on first listen, except for "Bob's Bios" in which the players were instructed to reminisce out loud about childhood memories. Pointing out highlights would lead us nowhere: each track has its strengths and the album works beautifully as a whole. It absorbs the listener gently, never imposing its views. The group gels together marvelously -- it turned into a first-rate improv unit in the course of a year. Apr/May 2002 gathers the best elements of a thriving music scene; it is a shame it had to be released as a CD-R on a microscopic local label. It simply deserves better. Highly recommended.
François Couture