The word “Goggle”—whether signifying a verb, “to stare with wide or protuberant eyes (often in conjunction with the word ‘amazement’)” or referencing its plural noun form, “spectacles used to enhance vision or produce images,” aptly describes this adventurous quartet of composer/performers. Comprised of Chris Jonas on soprano sax, Randy McKean, alto, Dan Plonsey, tenor, and Cory Wright, baritone, Goggle’s love of mutual creation and discovery are fueled by a long history of friendship and collaboration.
Through their individual work with Anthony Braxton, Vinny Golia, Yusef Lateef, Roscoe Mitchell, and ROVA, as well as through their own explorations as leaders and composers, the members of Goggle are perpetually inspired by the saxophone’s ability to astonish. Plonsey states the case: “Sax quartets exist because saxophonists like to be with other saxophonists. There's an equality across the group: no rhythm section, no featured soloist. Each composition has two aims, which are seemingly contradictory: the development of the choir sound, versus a polyphony of individual voices heading in different directions simultaneously. Finding a healthy and just balance in this contradiction is the goal of all societies.”
The nucleus of Goggle formed in 1987 at Mills College in Oakland, California, when graduate students McKean and Plonsey worked together on original compositions, featuring quirky rhythmic schemes and extended techniques. Jonas joined them in 1989, forming the Great Circle Saxophone Quartet (with Steve Norton on baritone saxophone) and recording “Child King Dictator Fool” on New World Records. In 2013 Cory Wright, a former Oberlin schoolmate of Jonas’s, joined the group, which reformed as Goggle. Simultaneously, the members continued working together in various San Francisco Bay Area combinations, including the groups Daniel Popsicle, Bristle, and the Jonas/McKean Quartet.
Since that time, Goggle has continued to explore and expand the possibilities of the quartet format, performing and touring together throughout the southwest. This included work with Taylor Ho Bynum, yearly appearances at the Garden of Memory Summer Solstice gathering at Oakland’s Chapel of the Chimes, and performances with bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and the Del Sol String Quartet of various works by composer Anthony Braxton at the UC Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archives as part of the Tri-Centric Foundation’s worldwide celebration of the composer's 75th birthday.