The Olympia Free Jazz Festival 25 presents solos and duets

Come to Dr. Wheelz' Pad on Olympia's West Side for a night of solos and duets kicking off the Olympia Free Jazz Festival 25. This house concert features Pedal Steel Guitar soloist Hal Merrill, Bassist Cooper Schlegel's Lullaby Utopia, and Arrington de Dionyso. For more information please RSVP to drwheelzpad@gmail.com as seating is limited. Suggested Donation $20.

Hal Merrill has been playing jazz on pedal steel guitar for more than 40 years, and for more than 30 years in the Pacific Northwest. You will enjoy the mixture of jazz standards and original free improvisation that Hal presents on this beautiful musical instrument.

Cooper Schlegel studied music at the University of Wisconsin under Richard Davis and has played with Linda Oh, John Raymond, Caili O'doherty, Ingrid Jensen, Freddie Cole, and Bob Sheppard (among others), scored two full length plays, written small theater/music pieces with buddy Christopher William-Wolter, and released "Please Take Us Seriously," an all-original album with the collaborative Left Field Quartet.

An uncompromising voice in contemporary music, Arrington de Dionyso integrates ancient soundmaking techniques with trans-modernist inquiries into the nature of consciousness. His propulsive improvisations utilize voice and reeds (primarily bass clarinets and his invention the Bromiophone) as multiphonic tools in the navigation of liminal spaces between shamanic seance and rock and roll ecstasy.
While deeply rooted in the punk inclination to tear down musical standards in an effort for liberation, Arrington's music weds no-wave iconoclasm to the spiritual searching of Albert Ayler era free jazz along with more indigenous approaches to improvisation, reaching for an unveiling of primordially potent universalities. His compositions embrace sounds as colors, placing emphasis on the complimentary spectrums- from circular overtones whispered through bamboo flutes to the penetrating deep and guttural howls of amplified throatsinging- all with the lungs of an athlete.

The Olympia Free Jazz Festival 2025 is a five-day festival from Thursday, July 10 through Monday, July 14 occurring at four different venues and featuring performers from all along the west coast from Vancouver BC to San Francisco.

Beginning with a house concert of solos, duos and trios at Dr. Wheelz’ Pad Thursday, Friday night at New Traditions features the The Myst and DJ G and the Coop. Saturday evening’s event has performances by The Free World, and the Steve Bentley Collective at ILK Lodge. Sunday’s show is also at ILK and features the poetry and music of Bay Area saxophonist Lewis Jordan with Music at Large in Olympia and the Ornette Coleman inspired band the Harmolodics. Monday night at the Eagles finds the Joe Mailhot Jazz Unit closing down the festival.