Sometimes it’s good to venture out to the boundaries, find out what’s going on on the wild side of music. The annual Outsound Festival of experimental and improvisational music is as good a time as any to do this exploration. For denizens of the symphony world, this will be too crazy, but for aficionados of indie-rock and cross-genre experiences such as the Switchboard Festival, not to mention some of the acts at the Garden of Memory, the weird will be wonderful, and better for being curated.
This concert, which includes three established improv groups, has a lot of variety in it. Wiener Kids is a trio of raucous, sometimes funny improvisers who like to work with sounds, including homemade percussion. Opera Wolf is more melodically conceived, with the musicians trying out different styles in an improvisatory context. The Kevin Robinson Ensemble is based in many jazz styles, but is interested in “introspective”, thought-provoking, conversational improvisation. It’s off the beaten path, if not off the charts, and it’s a good introduction to San Francisco’s thriving, underground, improv community.