Arts Listings

The Jazz House, formerly on Adeline, will present a bi-weekly “Free-Jazz” series on the first and third Fridays of the month, starting at 8 p. m. tonight (Friday), at 1510 Eighth St. in Oakland, a block from the West Oakland BART station. 

The series features bassist Damon Smith, the founder of record label Balance Point Acoustics, leading a trio with East Bay drummer Spirit, and saxophonist Jon Raskin, the ‘R’ in Rova Saxophone Quartet. Admission is on a sliding scale, $5-15. 

The performance space was created by East Bay pianist Scott Looney, “an experimentalist, but not so much jazz,” said Jazz House founder Rob Woodworth. “He called me and asked, ‘any ideas?’ I chose free-jazz because I like it, it’s an emotional music—and there’s nothing much for it in the Bay Area right now.” 

The coming shows demonstrate its considerable width and breadth as an improvisational art taking off from traditional jazz: Oct. 20 features saxophonist Howard Wiley, familiar to Berkeley jazz listeners, in a collaboration with dancer Laurie Buenafe Krsmanovich, recently returned to the Bay Area, followed by a show by Nathan Clevenger Quintet on Nov. 3, and V-Neck, a duo of Sacramento guitarist Ross Hammond with drummer Tom Monson on Nov. 17. 

Clevenger, from New York, debuted at The Jazz House late last year, when it was still on Adeline Street near MLK. Shortly after, Woodworth lost his lease for the nonprofit’s home, and has been producing single shows and short-lived series in Berkeley and around the bay ever since. 

FREE-JAZZ 

Every third Friday at the Jazz House, 1510 Eighth St., Oakland. (415) 846-9432. www.thejazzhouse.com.