2008: C.O.M.A. (The California Outside Music Associates)

CD Release celebration performance for Big Words

“C.O.M.A. does with jazz what Kronos Quartet does with chamber music: they update and expand the tradition.” —Greggory Moore, Long Beach Culture

C.O.M.A. (The California Outside Music Associates) is a collective of improvising musicians from central California dedicated to music of the moment. The collective performs throughout California in settings ranging from the duo to an octet, with dancers, visual artists and poets.

John Vaughn is a founding member of C.O.M.A. He is currently involved in a recording project with C.O.M.A. and playing with as many creative people as possible. He has performed in groups ranging from concert and jazz bands, pit orchestras to improvisations groups of all types. He is often playing in Sacramento with the Gambari Arts Ensemble led by Adam Jenkins or at Old Ironsides with Ross Hammond and Tony Passerell. John is focused on making the central Valley of California into a friendly place for improvising and experimental musicians.

Dax Compise is one of the founding members of the California Outside Music Associates. He has performed throughout the region in settings ranging from the symphony, to blues and jazz groups, to fully improvised percussion ensembles. His command of the instrument and creativity has led to Dax being great demand as a sideman. Besides performing on a regular basis with COMA, he has forged a musical relationship with the improvisational community in Sacramento. Recordings with Ross Hammond and Tony Passerell are in the works.

Zach Silver is primarily a violinist, but also plays guitar, sings and compute. He is a school teacher in rural San Joaquin County. Zach has played and recorded with groups ranging from bluegrass to punk rock to experimental music in the Central Valley and the SF Bay Area. For the past year Zach has been a regular player in the Blackwater ensemble of improvisor's playing in the Yosemite Sound Series in Stockton California.

Artist (photo by Photographer)