The Piano Reimagined: Kinzie Steele Octet, Sama Dams, Luke Wyland

The Piano Reimagined is a special Northwest showcase of groundbreaking, modern piano music. Situated beyond the traditional classical and jazz piano genres, this night of music showcases the piano in solo, songwriter, and full ensemble settings as a representative of the amazing richness and variety of piano music being written today. Curated by Seth Kinzie and sponsored by Classic Pianos, this is the 2nd edition of The Piano Reimagined at Holocene. 

Kinzie Steele Octet is a contemporary-impressionist collective from the Pacific Northwest. They craft instrumental compositions of beauty and space using piano, guitar, and two percussionists on drums and gongs. For this special showcase, they’re also be joined by a string quartet. Inspired by the surreal impressions of Claude Debussy and the textured voicings of psychedelic rock, their compositions sail freely through genres and expressions to expand the piano genre into a new world. Originally a piano/drums duo of Seth Kinzie (Joseph, OR) and Andy Steele (Walla Walla, WA), Kinzie Steele’s debut record, “When I Was a Tree,” was released in 2018 on Siberian label Shum Derevyev Records, who wrote, “Utmost virtuosity with a grand piano and a drum kit.” Their sophomore album Bright Violet, recorded in Astoria with the full octet, including Dan Galucki on drums and Ben Walden on guitar, will be released at the end of 2025.

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Few bands command the fine line that divides tension and release like Sama Dams. Perhaps it’s because married songwriters Sam and Lisa Adams have been playing together for fifteen years, developing a creative forthrightness that at times feels voyeuristic. With colors of jazz, R&B, new wave, indie-rock, and classical art song, the trio is able to weave a mosaic musical fabric that is distinctly their own. 

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Luke Wyland is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, and cultural organizer based in Portland, Oregon. Wyland has been releasing critically acclaimed records for the past 20 years in the groups AU and Methods Body, as LWW, and under his own name, working with such labels as New Amsterdam, Beacon Sound, Balmat, The Leaf Label, and Aagoo Records. As a person who stutters, his practice is rooted in disability justice and speech diversity. In collaboration with the nonprofit SPACE, he curates the Library of Dysfluent Voices, a living archive that reimagines stuttering as a generative, expressive mode of communication. Through live performances, community exchange, and immersive installations, he explores the textures of voice and the politics of fluency, inviting new ways of listening and learning.