projects

Similar Fashion

Logan Hone: Alto Saxophone, Singing
[Lauren] Elizabeth Baba: Viola
Gregory Uhlmann: Guitar
Jesse Quebbeman-Turley: Drums, Singing

Similar Fashion is an avant-rollercoaster-jazz-n-roll band from Los Angeles. Led by saxophonist Logan Hone, Similar Fashion features viola shredder [Lauren] Elizabeth Baba, magic-emmitting guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, & fire-wielding polyrhythmic groove machine Jesse Quebbeman-Turley. The band combines Logan’s kinetic compositions with intense and joyous singing, interlocking grooves, lush landscapes, and dancing. Similar Fashion toured twice in 2016 and has performed and presented lectures at Angel City Jazz Festival, Bootleg Theater, Cry and Roar, University of Utah, University of Reno, Snow College, College of Southern Idaho, Berkeley Arts Festival, The Blue Whale, Open Gate Concert Series, MorYork, and more.

River Song Quintet

[Lauren] Elizabeth Baba: Violin/Viola
Alina Roitstein: Voice
Gregory Uhlmann: Guitar
Andrew Rowan: Trumpet/Cornet

Harrison Kirk: Trombone

River Song Quintet is a chamber ensemble and composer/performer collective whose music draws from the interests and influences of its members, merging the worlds of western-classical chamber music and art song, jazz and improvised music, and folk music.

Their performances have been described as "sparse and beautiful… mesmerizing and strewn with hauntingly gorgeous vocals." (Jhanne Jasmine, Camellia Lounge) and "… a joyous blending of memorable compositions, artful orchestration, subtle improvisation, and fresh creative energy." (Art Lande, Grammy-nominated pianist)

Since their formation in 2011, River Song Quintet has performed throughout the United States at a variety of venues including the Royal Room (Seattle, WA), the Blue Whale (Los Angeles, CA), La Peña Cultural Center (Oakland, CA), and Constellation (Chicago, IL) among others. Most recently they worked in collaboration with poet David Baker for a performance at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, accompanying him for the premiere reading of his new work Scavenger Loop, and also performing a song cycle written by River Song Quintet guitarist Gregory Uhlmann with text by Baker. Their first full-length album, Monarchs, was released in August 2014 and can be previewed and purchased on Bandcamp and iTunes.

Ya-Ya

Ya-Ya is a Los Angeles based acoustic/electric ensemble lead by violinist and arranger [Lauren] Elizabeth Baba.  Playing traditional folk music from the Balkans (predominately Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia), the ensemble finds a sound of their own by drawing from a wide range of influences from jazz to rock to Klezmer while paying homage to the traditional folk music of the Balkan regions; a hodgepodge of cacophonous melodies and boisterous rhythms. An ensemble of rotating musicians who originally met at the California Institute of the Arts in 2011, Ya-Ya features the sounds of the violin, clarinet, kaval, accordion, oud, guitar, bass and percussion.

Ya-Ya has collaborated with Source Material Collective's interdisciplinary theater production "I Should Have a Party For All The Thoughts I Didn't Say" since 2014; with Lauren Baba as music director.  Performances and tours include Blue Whale (Los Angeles, CA), The Old Church (Portland, OR), Pieter Space (Los Angeles, CA), Alexandria Hotel (Los Angeles, CA), and AvLA // Avant-Los Angeles Series at Club Monte Cristo (Los Angeles, CA).

"The choreography, music, and acting that ensues carries on this theme of a bizarre reality where the invisible, the repressed, and the denied live." - Sean Ongley at THRU Media

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