Creative Music Guild’s Improvisation Summit of Portland Night 1: Ches Smith’s Clone Row, Cosmos Dark, and Noah Simpson.

On indigenous peoples day 2025, October 13, Holocene and the Creative Music Guild co-host the first night of the Improvisation Summit Of Portland, featuring Ches Smith’s Clone Row, Cosmos Dark, and Noah Simpson.

The Improvisation Summit is a sonic laboratory—where seasoned improvisers and bold local musicians convene to explore the fluid boundary between composition and spontaneity. From large-scale ensemble experiments to intimate duets and trio performances, the Summit reflects the dynamic, intergenerational, and community-driven spirit of Portland’s avant-garde music scene and merges it with globally recognized improvisers.

Noah Simpson opens the evening, blending trumpet improvisation with electronic beats. His performance weaves melody and groove into radiant, with forward-leaning sonic textures, creating grooves that are at once playful, intricate, and immersive.

Next, Cosmos Dark (Vaughn Kimmons) takes the stage, weaving electronic atmospheres with voice and experimental textures. Her set moves between intimate, soulful passages and expansive, otherworldly soundscapes, guiding the audience through a journey of transformation and abstraction.

Closing the night is Ches Smith’s Clone Row, featuring Mary Halvorson and Liberty Ellman on guitars, Nick Dunston on bass, and Ches Smith on drums, vibraphone, and electronics. The ensemble thrives on tension and interplay, combining intricate compositions with spontaneous improvisation. Halvorson and Ellman’s guitar interplay is particularly noteworthy, offering a dynamic range from dissonant textures to melodic harmonies. Critics have praised the ensemble’s innovative approach, with one reviewer noting, “The delightful and gifted weirdness of Mary Halvorson’s playing is counterpointed, contrasted, unisoned with, played off, juxtaposed… with Liberty Ellman’s equally amazing sound palette, chops, and imagination.” Jazztrail.net