Sunday January 26 * 8pm * $10 * TICKETS

Low Ways Quartet is a new Washington, DC based group performing original compositions by Mark Cisneros (Stritch & Tenor saxophones), using them as springboards for group improvisation. An all-star ensemble with DC standard bearers in the jazz and improvised music scenes, Luke Stewart on Double Bass, Anthony Pirog on Guitar, and Ian McColm on Drums.

The music on “Clarity,” a recording that Leppin’s eight-piece Ensemble Volcanic Ash made at the 2013 Sonic Circuits Festival, is as nebulous in category as the duo’s: elements of jazz, electronica, ambient, avant-garde and chamber classical music (or at least chamber instruments, like harp and bassoon) all interact within the mix. If none of these musical strands quite defines the ensemble’s sound on “Clarity,” jazz comes the closest — between Leppin’s stark rhythmic figure and Sarah Hughes’ dark and mysterious alto sax solo, the jazz feeling is unmistakable.