Westside Theater welcomes visiting composer, saxophonist and artivist Caroline Davis w/ special guests Michelle Boule (dancer) and electro-acoustic trio Naomi Siegel, Michael Musick and Billy Kautz.
Caroline Davis
Mobile since her birth in Singapore, composer, saxophonist, and vocalist Caroline Davis’s expression covers a wide range of styles, owed to her shifting environment as a child. From angular, melody-present instrumental outfits to soulful, quirky song writing, Caroline’s persona is recognizably present. As an improviser and saxophonist, she has released six albums under her name and has won Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll Rising Star. Through the years, her work continues to garner praise in domestic and international publications.
Davis has shared musical moments with Lee Konitz, John Zorn, Angelica Sanchez, The Femme Jam, Matt Mitchell, Terry Riley, Miles Okazaki, Geoffrey Keezer, and Billy Kaye, among many others. She regularly sings and writes songs with the experimental R&B band, My Tree. Her composition work has led her to be a resident fellow at MacDowell, The Jazz Gallery, The Rockefeller Estate, and ICE Ensemble Evolution; and she has been awarded Jerome Hill, CMA, and NYFA fellowships. Her compositions often integrate science and music, influenced by her Ph.D in Music Cognition. Caroline is an advocate for gender equity (This Is A Movement, The New School) and abolition (Justice for Keith Lamar).Mobile since her birth in Singapore, composer, saxophonist, and vocalist Caroline Davis’s expression covers a wide range of styles, owed to her shifting environment as a child. From angular, melody-present instrumental outfits to soulful, quirky song writing, Caroline’s persona is recognizably present. As an improviser and saxophonist, she has released six albums under her name and has won Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll Rising Star. Through the years, her work continues to garner praise in domestic and international publications.
Davis has shared musical moments with Lee Konitz, John Zorn, Angelica Sanchez, The Femme Jam, Matt Mitchell, Terry Riley, Miles Okazaki, Geoffrey Keezer, and Billy Kaye, among many others. She regularly sings and writes songs with the experimental R&B band, My Tree. Her composition work has led her to be a resident fellow at MacDowell, The Jazz Gallery, The Rockefeller Estate, and ICE Ensemble Evolution; and she has been awarded Jerome Hill, CMA, and NYFA fellowships. Her compositions often integrate science and music, influenced by her Ph.D in Music Cognition. Caroline is an advocate for gender equity (This Is A Movement, The New School) and abolition (Justice for Keith Lamar).
Michelle Boulé
Michelle Boulé is a local dance artist with a deep love for personal transformation, mindset, energy healing, nature, and art. Previously based in New York City for 21 years, she is a “Bessie” Award winning performer, having collaborated with Miguel Gutierrez, Bebe Miller, John Jasperse, Deborah Hay, and Aine Stapleton, amongst others. Michelle has received commissions and presentations from The Chocolate Factory, Danspace Project, Triple Canopy, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Summer Stages Dance @ICA Boston, River to River Festival, The Met Breuer (with Okkyung Lee), and ISSUE Project Room, and is the recipient of the Distinguished Legacy Award from the University of IL, NY Foundation for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, Boekelheide Creativity Award, Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grant, and residencies from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, MacDowell, Yaddo, Bemis Center, Movement Research, and Dance Ireland. She has taught, performed, and choreographed in over 25 countries, and her dance work has been featured in Dance Magazine, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. She’s also passionate about helping creatives live prosperous, fulfilling lives through her coaching practice, and has spoken on dozens of podcasts, Thrive Global, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Today Show, amongst others. michelleboule.com @michelle.boule
Photo by Chance Jackson
Billy Kautz (cornet), Michael Musick (live electronics), and Naomi Siegel (trombone), all active contributors to Missoula’s creative music environment, come together to form this improvising, electro-acoustic trio. Michael Musick uses custom developed software to process and synthesize the trio’s musical material. The most significant of these systems takes live microphone signals from Billy and Naomi and the space they are in, and tries to understand the sound using machine learning. This then affects the sound before sending it back out into the space.
Naomi Siegel is an improvising trombonist, composer and educator. As a bandleader, she has released two critically acclaimed albums of original music that employ fantastical soundscapes, creative interplay, soaring melodies, and unrestrained improvisation. As a collaborator, she plays with Wayne Horvitz's ensembles and many other groups in the Northwest region. She is a recipient of the Chamber Music America Performance Plus Grant, Montana Arts Council Innovation Award, and Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award.
Billy Kautz is a composer, educator and bandleader based in Missoula. He leads and composes for his ensemble crosstalk, a free music ensemble drawing from the great jazz continuum as well as composing in his role as Music Coordinator at UCC Missoula. He has hosted Something Else, a weekly radio show on KBGA 89.9FM since 2017 featuring creative music and artist interviews. He is also a co-founder of the monthly improvisation sessions, The FreeSessions, along with Naomi Siegel.
Michael Musick is a sonic artist, interactive artist, composer, performer and improviser; he is also a faculty member in and director for the School of Visual & Media Arts at the University of Montana. His current practice and research explores interactive music systems, creative improvisation, installation art, soundscape / acoustic-ecology, and interactive theory. Much of Michael’s work is part of his larger Sonic Spaces Project, which explores the creation of ecosystems of sound and music. This work, including performances, installations, recordings, and lectures, has been presented throughout the US and internationally.
