Andre Vida

The New Music Circle's minifestival of saxophonists closes out on Feb. 23 with an appearance by multireed adept Andre Vida. Though previous attractions Frank Gratkowski and John Butcher blew their respective houses down combining conservatory and extended techniques, Vida carries a deep bag all his own. Experienced though under-recorded, he's spent years gigging in the deep end of free New York's talent pool, maintaining long-term associations with past and present David S. Ware Quartet drummers Susie Ibarra and Guillermo E. Brown, as well as doing time in Cecil Taylor's big bands and Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Ensembles.

But on this trip, Vida's bringing only himself and a passel of horns. For his Saturday NMC show, Vida will be performing solo excerpts from his "biotechno-illogical love story" of an opera, Clown Monkey. A five-year work in progress, Clown Monkey avails Vida of a "poetic logic for interpreting sound space." Who knows but that it might also provide him the opportunity to wield his tone, that densely veined, metal-studded column of breath issuant from his tenor. Given that he's traveling with six instruments and a stated vocation as a storyteller, expect something happening. He'll also be in workshop at Washington University on Friday, discussing extended notational techniques (check out www.vidatone.com). Vida's ready; you're late.