Thursday, November 2, 7:30pm
Nevada Theatre, Nevada City, California
$30 premium reserved seating
$20 general admission

Chris Olander presents a retrospective of his poetic output since 1990’s through 2023; thirty years of love, ecology, environmental, political, social and historical works both narrative and lyrical poems that explore what it is to be a human being. The poems will be backed by 7 musicians to create a semi-improvisational sound of a post beat impressionism of social and ecological relationships from the turn of the century and beyond in a gender bending look at what could be now and in the future.

Musicians include “Cool Hand Uke” Scanlan on the ukulele; Tynowyn on harp, percussion, hammer dulcimer and chimes; Kelly Fleming on guitar; Samson Suneyez on flute; Gerry Pineda on stand-up bass; Elena Rayo on guitar and violin; and maybe a few more will join in the river of music and words.

Olander is a poet, teacher and bio-educator with California Poets in the Schools. He blends performance techniques with spoken word to create an Action Art Poetry: musical image phrasing to dramatize relative experiences – a poetry arising from oral and bardic traditions. He is an organizer and featured reader in the Berkeley Watershed Poetry Festival. He served as Artistic Director for the Nevada County Poetry Series and as editor on six poetry anthologies. He also served as a Poet Coach for the California Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud competitions.

Chris has written two books; River Light published by Poetic Matrix Press and Twilight Roses published by R. L. Crow Press; and four chapbooks (Sierra Streams, Mass Man’s Epiphanies, December Birds and Iris) and has recorded seven CDs of his poetry. He describes himself as “a sound poet exploring various meanings of words, phriasings and ideas arranged in sound and rhythm patterns.”

 

A river of words and images penetrating the cultural milieu of our times: “A sign of our times,” as Richard Gill the “Medicine Man” would say. Poems of prophecy and discovery, how to recognize what’s coming and how to prepare for the inevitable choices we all must make to carry on and work to correct the inequities and inequalities that have been laid upon our backs, minds and hearts; indeed, put upon all species inhabiting this realm of existence on our Earth. We will unveil the great masturbator ego that batters the environment, rapes its species into extinction as we thread our way to the garden of answers to discover the sensuous and sustainable life of equality for each one of us.

Tynowyn Woolman – a music director, composer, Multi-instrumentalist, Mary Martin Goyne “Women in the Arts Award; an Elly Award by the Sacramento Area Regional Theater Alliance; a long time resident of Nevada County vocal and percussion teacher with special study of Early European and Ethnic music; musical Director for the Early Music Woman’s chorus, Rossignol, for 30 years; and has written music and directed ensembles for 10 productions of the Foothill Theater Company.

Cool Hand Uke Dan Scanlan plays in international ukulele Festivals in Honolulu, Hi.; the 1998 World’s Fair in Lisbon Portugal. Scanlan shares his ukulele abilities in ukulele classes at the library, convalescent and assistant living centers. He is the front man in Jukolin, the Enablers, Top Quark, Self Righteous Brothers and flathead and led the strum bums Ukulele Extravaganza for 22 years. He is a historian of the ukulele.

Samson Suneyez is a musician, music producer, an encoding engineer base in Nevada city. He shares music through live performances and sound meditations, and gives hand-pan and flute lessons.

Kelly Fleming is a long time Nevada County resident and has performed in a variety of music projects over the years. “Our area has been blessed with a host of artists, musicians and poets. “I first met Chris Olander in 1985 at an open mic at Big Al’s at the bottom of Broad Street in Nevada City and at KVMR “Tunesday Live” hosted by Dan Scanlan and Peter Wilson.

Gerry Pineda is from the Philippines and lived all over in the U.S. At the age of nine he studied piano in New Jersey. Moving to L. A. he switched to guitar lessons and then electric and double bass. He began studying formal double bass in high school in Cincinnati, Ohio then attended Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and after 2 years he transferred to Cal State University in Sacramento where he earned a BM in Jazz Studies and an MM in Double Bass Performance, Gerry is a professor of Jazz Studies at CSUSacramento where he teaches applied jazz bass, jazz improvisation and directs jazz ensembles.

Elena Rayo – Elena Rayo is a lifelong musician, with her roots in Wisconsin and over two decades living in Nevada City, California. She studied classical violin from the age of five, played in countless bands through college,and taught herself to play guitar before putting out 5 studio albums and touring the US for several years.