Nathan Clevenger

Nathan Clevenger

Nathan Clevenger is an Oakland-bred and -based composer, guitarist and keyboardist, working on the margins of jazz, modern classical, and free improvisation. Since 2003, Nathan’s primary musical outlet has been his Nathan Clevenger Group, which has performed over 150 original compositions and has recorded 3 albums, including Stateless. Gigs of note include appearances at the Switchboard Music Festival, SF Friends of Chamber Music’s SFMusic Day, and the Center for New Music’s “Best Coast Composer” series. The Group is comprised of Kasey Knudsen (alto sax), Cory Wright (tenor sax, clarinet), Rachel Condry (clarinets), Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Jon Arkin (drums), Jason Levis (drums/percussion), and Tim DeCillis (vibraphone).

Outside of his Group, Clevenger is involved in composing and recording music for film in collaboration with violinist/composer Kristina Dutton. Their multimedia work Ice Hours — created in collaboration with visual artists Kim Miskowicz and Camille Seaman, and supported by grants from New Music USA and thea Fleishhacker Foundation grant — premiered at San Francisco’s Exploratorium in March 2019. Clevenger and Dutton’s work has focused heavily on science education and has been presented at the UC Berkeley’s Vision + Light symposium and the LAST Science and Art Technology Festival. Nathan’s also active in the avant-chamber ensemble Ashen Cleric (with Crystal Pascucci, Cory Wright, Jordan Glenn, and Tim DeCillis), and the ever-mutating quartet project Book of Exits.

“Drawing on orchestral jazz concepts pioneered by Duke Ellington, Sun Ra and Gil Evans, (Clevenger) revels in coaxing a kaleidoscopic array of voicings from the band, writing extended dreamscapes that unfold with their own quirky internal logic.” – Andrew Gilbert, KQED’s California Report (NPR)

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