Kasey Knudsen: News

Well, 2011 proved to be pretty amazing! I toured the world and appeared on NBC's Jimmy Fallon Show with TuneYards. I also recorded on their new album "WhoKill" which was voted one of the 50 best albums of the year by Rolling Stone. Never done that before! I also recorded on guitarist Q Morrow's album "All Around Dude," Evan Francis' new album "Crazy Skeleton," and toured all over California and the Northwest with Aaron Novik's group "Thorny Brocky." In October, Jon Arkin, Michael Coleman & I premiered our new trio at the De Young Museum as a part of SF Chamber Music Day. I'm very much looking forward to performing with that group more this year.

Moving into 2012, I'm excited to be a recent faculty member of Sonoma State's prestigious Music Department. I'm also highly anticipating doing some playing and recording with the great Clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg. The Holly Martins also have some fun stuff coming up including a trip up north to perform at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon as a part of their "Experimental Trio" series. Lots to look forward to! 

Well, 2010 is coming to a close and what a great year it's been! The Holly Martins recorded our first album on Edgetone Records in February and we had a great time playing in New York in August. We performed much of our own music and also debuted a few pieces that were written for us, one by wonderful bay area composer Julie Barwick and the other by the great saxophonist Matt Otto. Lisa Mezzacappa and I premiered our band "The Permanent Wave Ensemble" in March and we were honored to be a part of The San Francisco Jazz Festival's Hotplate Series in October. I also had a blast teaching at the Stanford Jazz Workshop this past Summer. What a great program they have over there! So many talented students and a tremendous faculty--I was thrilled to be a part of it.

Looking forward, hello 2011! I'm excited about a few duo concerts in January with New York pianist Jarrett Cherner and it looks like I'll be doing some touring with Tune-Yards in March (aka incredible songwriter and performer Merrill Garbus). I'm also excited to be working with Mezzacappa and ATA (Artist's Television Access) on a new series pairing local filmmakers with local composers. I've composed music for dance, visual art and literature, but never film. This will be an exciting new creative challenge.

Thanks for reading and check back in soon for some new musical adventures. Happy new year!

"the events in our lives happen in a sequence of time, but in their
significance to ourselves they find their own order...It is the continuous thread of revelation. The longer you look at one object, the more of the
world you see in it."

-Flannery O'Connor