Karl Evangelista

Young Filipino-American firebrand Karl Evangelista is joined by the extraordinary company of pianist Alexander Hawkins, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Mark Sanders for a brand new project, melding explosive free jazz with intricate avant-garde composition. Evangelista and Hawkins first joined forces alongside the late South African innovator Louis Moholo-Moholo, and this project carries forward the energy of that collaboration with sonic intensity and international flavor.

Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as "one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation." He is a mainstay of creative music on the US West Coast, working with the likes of Andrew Cyrille, Bobby Bradford, Oliver Lake, Fred Frith, Larry Ochs, Luke Stewart, Michael Zerang, Asian Improv aRts cofounders Francis Wong and Jon Jang, and his longstanding experimental duo Grex.

As one of the most in-demand pianists in Europe, Alexander Hawkins needs little introduction. His collaborations with Moholo, Evan Parker, John Surman, Joe McPhee, Sofia Jernberg and countless others have won countless accolades throughout the world, and his work at the helm of the groups Decoy, the Convergence Quartet, and his own Alexander Hawkins Ensemble is at the cutting-edge of modern jazz.

Writer Richard Williams calls bassist John Edwards "absolutely remarkable," and he is a mainstay of free improvisation in the UK and beyond. Edwards has worked with the likes of Peter Brotzmann, Joe McPhee, Phil Minton, Maggie Nichols, and Roscoe Mitchell, and he was (alongside Hawkins) a member of Moholo's renowned Four Blokes quartet.

British-Belizean drummer Mark Sanders is renowned for his versatility in the realm of free jazz/free improvisation, performing with Wadada Leo Smith's "Fire-Love Expanse," Nicole Mitchell's group at the Skopje Jazz Festival, and Evan Parker, Joelle Leandre, John Butcher, Elaine Mitchener, Myra Melford, and Xhosa Cole.

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Full Biography and Discography at Karl Evangelista website

Filipino-American guitarist/composer Karl Evangelista (b.1986) ranks among the vanguard of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz and experimental music into the future.
Synthesizing the heavy legacy of contemporary improvised music with popular song and 20th century composition, Evangelista explores multicultural concepts with sonic intensity and political fervor.

Signal to Noise magazine hails Evangelista as "one of the most original instrumentalists and composers of his generation," and as the creative force behind boundary-breaking group Grex, Evangelista's music has been called an "otherworldly experience" (Eugene Weekly) and "a near-seamless blend of modern jazz, contemporary structuralist composition, indie rock, and blues rock" (Tiny Mix Tapes).

Evangelista has explored new realms in sound and intercultural collaboration across a vast spectrum of musical situations. He has worked with or under the direction of Muhal Richard Abrams, Bobby Bradford, Andrew Cyrille, Marc Edwards, Fred Frith, Eddie Gale, Oliver Lake, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Alexander Hawkins, Luke Stewart, ROVA and many others.
He has studied under Myra Melford, Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Roscoe Mitchell and the legendary Milford Graves.

Evangelista maintains longstanding ties to the influential Asian Improv aRts organization, having been mentored by master saxophonist Francis Wong. He maintains an active role among the Bay Area's BIPOC and Asian American jazz community, working with the likes of Jon Jang, Lewis Jordan, Mark Izu, and Chicago bassist Tatsu Aoki.

Evangelista has presented work at Ars Nova Workshop, the Guelph Jazz Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, Myra Melford's New Frequencies Festival, the Switchboard Festival, the Sonic Circuits Festival, and the Outsound New Music Summit. He has garnered grant support from the California Arts Council, East Bay Community Foundation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation for a range of pieces centered on his Filipino-American heritage, including "Taglish" (2011), "Apura" (2020), "Bukas" (2022), "Auntie + Tebs" (2023), and "Taglish II" (2025).