Negative Press Project + lider | lader

Christo’s Lounge welcomes back another presentation of Negative Press Project(s) by Andrew Lion and Ruthie Dineen. This evening features cinematic, chamber jazz and polyrhythms from Negative Press Project (set one) followed by a pre-release from Andrew Lion’s post-jazz/prog līder|lāder project (set two).

Ruthie Dineen piano

Andrew Lion bass

Luis Salcedo guitar

Lyle Link saxophones

Joel Behrman trumpet

Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews alto saxophone, synth

Adam Carlson drums

In an era when there’s no respite from bad news, when it’s difficult to tell the difference between headlines in the Onion and the New York Times, Negative Press Project comes bearing the best of tidings. After a fruitful hiatus following 2023’s ‘The Victorious Sessions’ (recorded in 2019), the chamber jazz ensemble led by pianist/composer Ruthie Dineen and bassist/composer Andrew Lion is back with the first volume of its most ambitious undertaking yet, Cycles I, an exquisitely orchestrated work featuring the innovative string ensemble Friction Quartet and released by Envelopmental Music.

Founded a decade ago by a cadre of graduates from Berkeley’s California Jazz Conservatory, NPP gained widespread notice with their second album, the critically hailed 2017 instrumental project Eternal Life | Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds. But the ensemble has mostly focused on the original works of Dineen and Lion, and Cycles I marks a creative leap for both composers. Distinguished by a rich synthesis of elements from classical music, minimalism, pop, and jazz, the music came to fruition during the first years of Covid, when the pandemic, its attendant dislocations, and other life changes transformed NPP’s work flow.

Lion relocated to Bend, Oregon, while Dineen was engulfed by huge responsibilities both as a parent and executive director of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. Other founding members of the group, which evolved out of the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, have also left the region, but Cycles I brings everyone back into the fold, including saxophonists Chris Sullivan, Lyle Link, and Tony Peebles, trumpeter Rafa Postel, guitarist Luis Salcedo, and drummer Isaac Schwartz (with guest contributions by clarinetist Ivan Arteaga, percussionist Ami Molinelli, and trombonist Patrick Malabuyo).

The music reflects the dire times in which it was created, but perhaps more significantly it embodies the determination of the artists to persevere. “Even going through the writing process, we were living the experiences, the massive cultural collective experience, that we were writing about,” Lion says. “Ruthie’s compositions instill a feeling of hope, in contrast to some of what might come in Cycles II.”

An album full of surprises is exactly what listeners have come to expect from Negative Press Project, an ensemble that has carved out a singular niche since its impressive 2015 debut album see evil eyes | civilize which focused largely on Dineen and Lion originals- followed by 2019’s withIN and 2023’s The Victorious Sessions. The group earned a good deal more attention with Eternal Life | Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds, which introduced NPP’s sumptuous pop-embracing chamber jazz sound. Encouraged by ace bassist Jeff Denson, who released the album on his Ridgeway Records, Lion and Dineen concentrated on writing and arranging for the ensemble.

“That’s my favorite thing in the world, pulling people together who are serious to create group identity and group story,” Dineen says. “There are many voices, but we all come together to tell one story. We’re both really driven to create new art.”

A fellow CJC graduate, Andrew Lion was born (June 29, 1970) and raised in Oakland on a rich musical diet from his parent’s record collection, absorbing the sounds of Motown, Led Zeppelin, Duke Ellington, the Beatles, David Bowie, and Pat Metheny Group. He started his musical journey on piano, then tried out the guitar before settling on electric bass as a young adult. A mainstay on the Bay Area music scene, he’s toured with the rock band ‘Spoke.’ and the Dave Tweedie–directed pop combo OONA featuring vocalist Oona Garthwaite. He’s also worked nationally with former San Francisco now Philadelphia based, singer/songwriter Jeff Campbell, with whom he performed on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Amid his rock and pop career (which continues today), Lion decided in 2006 to expand his instrumental arsenal to include double bass under the guidance of bass expert Glenn Richman. With encouragement from pianist Susan Muscarella, the founder of the California Jazz Conservatory, Lion plunged into jazz and Brazilian music studies, mentored by Bassist/Singer, Jeff Denson, and Grammy Nominated Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, Marcos Silva, the latter with whom Lion toured the Pacific Northwest in recent years. He graduated from the CJC in 2016. In Dineen, Lion has found an ideal creative foil, “my longest running creative partnership,” he says. “There’s such a sense of trust, and that really allows us to take chances.”

Raised in the Northern California town of Fairfield, the Salvadoran-American Ruthie Dineen was drawn to music as a child, studying and playing jazz and classical music throughout adolescence. Music remained a central force in her life throughout her undergraduate years at UC Berkeley studying history and music, and graduate studies in social work at Cal State East Bay. Over the past decade she’s focused on music performance and community arts, and since the fall of 2011 she’s played a leadership role at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, Calif. At the same time, she immersed herself again in jazz, earning a performance degree in jazz studies from the California Jazz Conservatory (where she received the Jamey Aebersold Scholarship).

She has composed prolifically for multidiscipline works encompassing theater, music, dance, poetry, and visual art, and has performed widely with leading salsa, Latin jazz and other Latin dance bands. Over the past decade she’s collaborated with a wide range of artists, including the Venezuelan group Bululú, the Amaranth String Quartet, and RDL+ (which she co-leads); as well as D/L Sextet.

A CJC graduate, Berkely, CA, Andrew Lion was raised in Oakland on a rich musical diet from his parent’s record collection, absorbing the sounds of Motown, Led Zeppelin, Duke Ellington, the Beatles, David Bowie, and Pat Metheny Group. He started his musical journey on piano, then tried out the guitar before settling on electric bass as a young adult. A mainstay on the Bay Area music scene, he’s toured with the rock band ‘Spoke.’ and the Dave Tweedie–directed pop combo OONA featuring vocalist Oona Garthwaite. He’s also worked nationally with former San Francisco now Philadelphia based, singer/songwriter Jeff Campbell, with whom he performed on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Amid his rock and pop career (which continues today), Lion decided in 2006 to expand his instrumental arsenal to include double bass under the guidance of bass expert Glenn Richman. With encouragement from pianist Susan Muscarella, the founder of the California Jazz Conservatory, Lion plunged into jazz and Brazilian music studies, mentored by Bassist/Singer, Jeff Denson, and Grammy Nominated Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, Marcos Silva, the latter with whom Lion toured the Pacific Northwest in recent years. He graduated from the CJC in 2016. In Dineen, Lion has found an ideal creative foil, “my longest running creative partnership,” he says. “There’s such a sense of trust, and that really allows us to take chances.”

Proceeding further into 2026, Lion expands his vision with līder|lāder, a bold, post-jazz statement that marks a striking evolution in his creative trajectory. līder|lāder embraces a more electric, rhythmically urgent language- merging high-voltage jazz, progressive rock, and textural experimentation into what Lion describes as a “kinetic exploration of ascent, rhythm, and melody.” Recorded across the West Coast in Seattle, WA, Oakland, CA, and Bend, OR, the project features a wide-ranging cast of collaborators including Ruthie Dineen (pn/keys), Luis Salcedo (gt), Eric Vanderbilt-Mathews(tn/synth), Hristo Vitchev (gt), Rafa Postel (tp), Joel Behrman (tp), Ian McArdle (keys/synth), Eli Maliwan (tn), Evan Woodle (dr), Jacob Richards (dr), Micah Hummel (perc), Rick Muñoz (dr), and vocal textures from Liv Sindler, and Jeff Denson, reflecting Lion’s deep collaborative network and expansive sonic palette.

The album rollout begins with a featured single released June 12, 2026, spotlighting renowned trumpeter Cuong Vu (Pat Metheny Group), offering an early glimpse into the project’s immersive sonic world. The full-length Andrew Lion: līder|lāder follows with a worldwide release on November 13, 2026 via Envelopmental Music Records, available in high-resolution digital formats, streaming, CD, and audiophile 180-gram vinyl, with lacquers cut by Jeff Powell (Take Out Vinyl, Memphis, TN), recorded by Adam Muñoz and Andrew Lion, and mixed by Adam Muñoz, with sonic polishing by Ken Lee Mastering.

Working within a contemporary lineage that includes forward-leaning voices in jazz and indie music, (e.g. Donny McCaslin, Kneebody, and Now vs. Now, and Deep Sea Diver), Lion channels a broad spectrum of experiences which situates his work into a sound that unites improvisation, modern production, and indie rock energy with the structural sophistication of jazz.

Beyond his recording projects, Lion’s broader body of work spans performance, composition, and production across a diverse range of artists and ensembles. He is the co-founder of Envelopmental Music Records and Bassmore Music, and has contributed as a bassist and arranger to numerous recordings and live projects, reinforcing his role as both a collaborator and creative catalyst.

Saxophonist and flautist Lyle Link, once based in Washington, DC, having transplanted himself is now a heavy presence on the San Francisco Bay Area scene. A versatile musician and sought after sideman, he performs in many musical styles- from jazz, blues and R&B to latin and world beat. He has played with artists Patti Austin, Christian McBride, Larry Willis, George Duke, Curtis Lundy and Ralph Peterson, to name a few. He has also performed with pop icons Patti Labelle, James Ingram, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, and jammed with Prince. He has shared his musical gifts in festivals and concerts in Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Europe, South America and throughout North America. A regular featured member of Washington, DC based groups Sine Qua Non, the Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra, and the Kenny Rittenhouse Sextet, he has also performed with the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. One of the first ensembles he associated himself with in the Bay Area was Oakland based, Negative Press Project. With a BA in History from the University of Maryland, College Park, Lyle included a full schedule with the jazz program, and followed up with a year of graduate work in the Jazz Studies/Performance Master Program. In addition to working as a first call sideman, he also leads his group, the Lyle Link Quartet. As a music educator, Lyle has taught at Sheridan School, Levine School of Music, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and SF JAZZ. Lyle presently resides in the Washington D.C. region.

Eric Vanderbilt-Matthews is a multi-instrumentalist splitting his time between Seattle, WA and Brooklyn, NY. An accomplished reeds player (Saxophone, Clarinet, etc.), Vanderbilt-Matthews started on violin and expanded his focus to piano shortly thereafter. Sought after for his saxophone and keyboard/synthesizer skills, he’s toured internationally playing jazz, rock, and pop with a variety of acts. When he’s not performing he can be found in the mountains with a penny whistle.

With his first exposure to guitar in the San Francisco Bay Area being surf rock and music of the 90's, once in high school, Luis Salcedo had begun looking beyond to the jazz scene for a better understanding of how music functions.

As the recipient of the Jamey Aebersold Scholarship and graduate of the California Jazz Conservatory, he has been fortunate enough to study with Jeff Massanari, Randy Vincent, Bruce Forman, Steve Erquiaga, and Jeff Denson. Taking with him what he learned from them, he has performed at Yoshi's Oakland, the Fillmore Jazz Festival and other venues from California to Colombia.

Today he is drawn to the guitar because of its cultural omnipresence, and he continues to draw inspiration from a wide range of musicians and composers - Andres Segovia, Arnold Schoenberg, Charlie Parker, Kurt Rosenwinkel and the movements they represent; all of which have a huge influence on Luis' output as a composer and improviser. With a firm grasp on the jazz idiom, Luis is a featured member of several ensembles, including a Core member of Oakland, CA group, Negative Press Project. He is the leader and co-leader of his own groups, LuMaMa, RDL+, among others, covering original material, jazz repertoire and beyond. No matter what the setting is, Luis always aims to tell a story. His process includes writing songs with words, even when the words will never be heard by anyone. He allows the words to inform the content, phrasing and melodicism. He is also known to vocalize as he improvises, singing along with himself as he solos.

Now based in Brooklyn, New York, with late-night speakeasy gigs, weekly residencies, and occasional tours, Luis also is sure to make time for the outdoors, for the beach, the ocean, for travel, for coffee and friends.

Adam Carlson is a Bend, OR native now living in Portland, Oregon as a freelance musician. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies (Cum Laude) and has performed hundreds of times around the Northwest. Adam also spent a year in New York City where he honed his playing style to include jazz, soul, latin, funk, rock, and pop. Carlson’s interest in jazz grew exponentially (and eventually became an addiction as he puts it) as inspired by local Bend jazz educators, such as Andy Armer (Herb Alpert) and Jody Henderson. Under the direction of Steve Owen while at UofO, Adam traveled to Europe to perform with the Oregon Jazz Ensemble at four renowned, international Jazz festivals: The Montreux Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz á Vienne, and Festival Internazionale del Jazz della Spezia. Currently, he works most frequently with Ben Rice and the PDX Hustle, Tony Starlight, Patrick Lamb, Luke Broadbent, McKayla Marie, Galen Clark, Dan Balmer, Under The Lake, and Justin Copeland.