Free Jazz

VINNY GOLIA has presented his music to concert audiences in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in ensembles varying dramatically in size and instrumentation; in 1982 he created the ongoing 50-piece Vinny Golia Large Ensemble to perform his compositions for chamber orchestra and jazz ensembles.

A multi-woodwind performer, Vinny’s recordings have been consistently picked by critics and readers of music publications for their yearly “ten best” lists. In 1990 he was the winner of the Jazz Times TDWR award for Bass Saxophone. In 1998 he ranked first in the Cadence Magazine Writers & Readers Poll and has continually placed in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll for Baritone & Soprano Saxophone. In 1999 Vinny won the LA Weekly’s Award for “Best Jazz Musician”. Jazziz Magazine has also named him as one of the 100 people who have influenced the course of Jazz in our Century. In 2006 The Jazz Journalists Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2013 Vinny won the Downbeat Critic’s Poll in the “New Star” category for Baritone Saxophone.

Vinny has been a featured performer with Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Tim Berne, Henry Grimes, John Carter, Bobby Bradford, Joelle Leandre, Leo Smith, Horace Tapscott, Bertram Turetzky, George Lewis, Barre Phillips, The Rova Saxophone Quartet, Eugene Chadburne, Kevin Ayers, Peter Kowald, Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennick, Harry Sparrney and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.

Vinny has won numerous awards as a composer, including grants from The National Endowment of the Arts, The Lila Wallace Commissioning Program, The California Arts Council, Meet the Composer, Clausen Foundation of the Arts, and the American Composer’s Forum.

MATT SMILEY is a bassist, composer, and educator from Staunton, VA, now residing in Denver, CO. He completed his DMA in Jazz Studies at UC Boulder in 2022. As a performer–composer, he focuses on developing systems and modes of playing at the nexus of composition and improvisation that reference elements of established American and European vernacular and experimental music traditions, while simultaneously and idiosyncratically deviating from them. Smiley has worked with a number of diverse and prominent performers and composers including Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff, Stephen Drury, Jean-Claude Risset, Terrell Stafford, and Greg Osby. In addition to his rigorous performance schedule, he teaches at both UC–Boulder and The Gift of Jazz, a non-profit focusing on enriching the community through the art of jazz in the Rocky Mountain Region.

RON COULTER is a percussionist, composer, and improviser. He has presented at 100+ universities and has toured internationally appearing in all 50 U.S. states, Europe, Canada, and Japan with artists such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, David Murray, Sam Newsome, Linux Laptop Orchestra, Matthew Shipp, Nate Wooley, Sandy Duncan, Bolokada Condé, Music from China, Youngstown Symphony, Gino Robair, Michael Zerang, Eric Mandat, Chris Corsano, and Tone Road Ramblers, et. al. Ron has presented at numerous conferences, including: ISIM, PASIC, NIME, BMC3, JEN, CMS, a.pe.ri.od.ic, Futurisms, Soundlines, RadiaLx, and the JVC and Montreal Jazz Festivals. He is co-founder of the Percussion Art Ensemble, duende entendre, Marble Hammer, Drm&Gtr, and founder of the Southern Illinois Improvisation Series and Creative Music Series. Additional interests include noise, intermedia, interdisciplinary collaboration, and organizing Fluxconcerts. Ron has created 430+ compositions for various media. KreatingSound.bandcamp.com