It’s a cool concept: take 11 components from Vancouver, two from Montreal, one from Rimouski, and one from Australia, then mix and match them over three nights at two different but equally intimate venues.

The Assembly1 Festival is the brainchild of Vancouver’s NOW Society, the invited guests include Quebec saxophone innovators Joanne Hétu and Jean Derome, and the locals are an all-star cast of improvisers, including Peggy Lee on cello and NOW artistic director Lisa Cay Miller on piano. The festival kicks off at Merge on Saturday (November 19), then moves to the Western Front for more unpredictable brilliance on Sunday and Monday (November 20 and 21).