Laminal Animal, a Madison-based trio consisting of Luke Leavitt (piano and electronics), Tim Russell (percussion and electronics), and Ari Smith (bass, percussion and electronics), utilizes improvisation to investigate emergent, complex social interactions in order to create and navigate new sonic landscapes.
Adult Swim at Madison Children’s Museum honors the public pool tradition of kicking the kids out so adults can have the space to themselves (without the water or need for a swimsuit). This 21-and-up event series offers adults the opportunity to play like a grown-up for the evening—crawling, sliding, crafting, and dancing their way through the museum.
Adult Swim is presented by the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co.
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage returns to the Mason Lounge for a night of fascinating adventures into jazz, sound, and musical narrative. Geoff Brady on drums, homemade electronics, and Theremin. Brian Grimm on electric Frankencello and electric bass. Brennan Connors on saxophones. Craft Brew, Jazz Delights, No Cover.
“Their sets embrace plenty of sinuous melody and conversational interplay, but can just as easily dive into minimalism and dissonance.”
– Tone Madison
Watch the trio’s first return to Cafe Coda since the pandemic hit, live streamed on Facebook in May 2021.
“For those who seek to shake themselves out of musical complacency, there’s Stray Passage, an improvisational jazz trio that explodes boundaries, playing off the energy in the room and audience. The group, led by saxophonist Brennan Connors, includes master percussionist Geoff Brady and Brian Grimm on bowing cello, contra-cello and electric bass. The album they’re releasing on an Italian label (Setola di Maiale) was recorded live by Steve Gotcher at Audio for the Arts.“
~ Isthmus Daily Page
Check out Brennan and Geoff playing as a Duo (due to pandemic performance restrictions) at Cafe Coda back in May of 2020!
I’d like to start out with some after show thoughts on Brennan Connors & Stray Passage’s recent performance at Cafe CODA…
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage @ Cafe CODA | (c) 2018 Paul S Howell Photography
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage @ Cafe CODA | (c) 2018 Paul S Howell Photography
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage @ Cafe CODA | (c) 2018 Paul S Howell Photography
A big shout out and thank you to Hanah Jon Taylor and Cafe CODA for hosting us last Friday, 10/5 at his newly opened space on Willy Street. When I first moved to Madison from Indianapolis, I noticed the absence of a true Jazz club. I had been spoiled by my experiences at The Jazz Kitchen (and a number of other joints) where you knew you could go hear the best local and touring players. The environment at Cafe CODA brought me that feeling once again. It’s comfortable, in a prime location, has headroom, plenty of large inspiring photos of Jazz legends, and sounds great. The space invites you through it’s front lounge, to the bar in the middle, and finally pulls you towards the listening space in the back. As a patron, you have three options when deciding how close-to or far-from the musical action you want to be. Congratulations to Hanah (and anyone who helped out) on getting this new space up and running, I hope many successful nights of music come your way! If you are in Madison and love Jazz, check this place out.
Café CODA is Madison’s premier new jazz space! We are dedicated to the presentation of traditional, contemporary and creative music. Café CODA maintains an arts-centric program of musical performances, workshops and master classes available to residents and patrons of the Madison area.
Additional thanks to Paul S Howell for shooting some nice pics at the club!
Fri, 10/19 | 7:30pm All Ages, FREE
Wisconsin Union: Play Circle Theater
800 Langdon St, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
INDIGENOUS JAZZ SERIES PRESENTS
EXECUTIVE TEA SET
BRENNAN CONNORS & STRAY PASSAGE
Brought to you by Madison Music Collective, Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, Wisconsin Union Theater.
from inDIGenous:
The inDIGenous Jazz Series is presented by Madison Music Collective, The Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, and the Wisconsin Union Theater. Concerts begin at 7:30 pm and are held in the Memorial Union Play Circle at the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon St. Each concert is free, all-ages, and open to the public.
The group Executive Tea Set was formed at a time in history just before it was unfortunate to be associated with the word “tea.” After a short time off from regular performances, the group returns to full force with their inimitable style, humor, and grace. Michael, Mark, and Brad are psyched to welcome newest member Paul Dietrich on trumpet. Paul brings his unique panache, and subtle bluster, spurring the band into unknown universes. Their choice of repertoire combines self-described “difficult music” featuring polyrhythmic, multi-modal reading, metric mystery, and high-flying harmonic modulation with “gut-bucket tunes we can blow on”. Original music of a jazz variety carries the day, penned by the members of the group themselves, with occasional masterworks from one jazz luminary or another.
Paul Dietrich – Trumpet
Mark Siegenthaler – Piano
Bradley Townsend – Bass
Michael Brenneis – Drums
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage is primarily an improvising unit focusing on the outside or experimental aspects of jazz. Each performance is dependent on the mind states of the individual musicians, the physical environment of the performance space, and the intense listening and sonic communication that occurs as they play. Their 2017 release Emergence is available on Bandcamp. The breadth of a performance ranges from focused minimalism to fiery high energy music, all while maintaining a sense of narrative organization and compelling ensemble interplay. Their repertoire includes original compositions, a few old favorites, and raw improvisation.
Brennan Connors – Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Brian Grimm – Electric Bass and Contra-Cello
Geoff Brady – Drums
The inDIGenous Jazz Series is presented by the Madison Music Collective, the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, and the Wisconsin Union Theater; supported by Dane Arts, the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, the Madison Arts Commission, Janus Galleries, and the Evjue Foundation; and receives promotional support from WORT-FM and Wisconsin Public Radio.
As always, you can find me on Bass Guitars at the Mason Lounge on S. Park ST every Tuesday night, with the Five Points Jazz Collective! We’ll have the full sextet this week, featuring Charlie Painter on guitar, Trey Grimm on keyboard, Rin Ribble on violin, Kyle Rightley on trombone/euphonium, and Eric Shackelford on drums! Sure to please with funk, latin-jazz, swing, and blues along side the wonderful selection of craft brew that the Mason rotates on tap. Warning! Jazz occurs between 9p-12a.
Built on an improvisational base, Boat Patrol (pictured above) uses a trove of influences and techniques ranging from bluegrass to avant-garde jazz to create extensive musical landscapes and textures.
Boat Patrol began creating music in the fall of 2017 in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Avoiding simple categorization, boat patrol explores every nook and cranny of the musical palate with each live performance serving as a unique portrait of the band. Featuring Cai Mountjoy – bass/madolin/guitar, Daleth Mountjoy – keys/synths, Evan Verploegh – drums/theremin
Labrador. The band. are a mellow, moody three-piece that sounds like the type of estro-rock you might hear in The Bronze on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Brennan Connors & Stray Passage is a free/outside jazz trio. Performances delve into fiery high energy music, focused minimalism, and raw expression.
Donations suggested.
FREE-IMPROV
Sat, 9/8 |6p potluck 8p music $5 @ The Vault
JACK WRIGHT & ROUGHHOUSING (tour)
HIGH PRIESTS OF THE APOCALYPSE
BRIAN GRIMM (cellos)
Improviser extraordinaire and road warrior Jack Wright and his trio Roughhousing is back in Madison for a show at The Vault! Roughhousing features bassist Evan Lipson and guitarist Zach Darrup. Read more about the trio here > Roughhousing EPK. Potluck starts at 6pm – bring a tasty dish to share and enjoy; music starts by 8pm. Enjoy a night of free improv at one of Madison’s most notorious DIY venues with a trio that aims to strip away the layers of facades that plague the digital marketing age.
