Tag Archives: improvisation

3/12 | YAK (DET) + visual projections w Emili Earhart & BC Grimm @ Art In

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Sun, 3/12 | $8  730p door / 8p music @ Art In

1444 E Washington Ave., Madison, WI

Emili Earhart – opens

YAK (DET) on tour

BC Grimm – closes

YAK is an ambient/industrial duo of amplified, bowed friction on strings and metal. Their 2017 Midwest Tour is an audio-visual journey into the existential mind-state of the Tibetan beast, the Yak. These sounds are tailor-made for the shaggy beast of burden of the Himalayan Plateau, evoking their life and spirit in a mesmerizing structured improvisation cycle.

Yuri Popowycz (violin) is a Detroit-based violinist, electronic music producer/performer, and illustrator. He performs with the Michigan Opera Theatre and is assistant concertmaster with the Michigan Philharmonic. He also plays out frequently in the city and is active with Detroit Bureau of Sound. Yuri is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy ‘11, and the Oberlin Conservatory ‘15, and has toured in Japan as concertmaster of the PMF orchestra as well as performed in Europe alongside the Jack quartet with the Lucerne Festival Academy. Currently he runs the ambient music label Music To Stretch To and enjoys working with all the wonderful artists living nearby.

Zac Brunell (percussion) is a performer and concert producer in the Motor City. As director of the Detroit Bureau of Sound, his work engulfs a range of avant garde music through his productions, which have been described as “sounding as raw as mating bull elephants” (Lansing City Pulse on “X is for Xenakis”). A classically trained percussionist and pianist, Zac is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Music and is currently Production Manager with the award-winning ensemble New Music Detroit.

Detroit Bureau of Sound Announcing… “BOS MUTUS“, the 2017 meditation in four movements by YAK.  Digital download and physical pre-order available now via Bandcamp >>

Opening the show…

Emili Earhart is a pianist studying at UW-Madison. Recent projects have included performances of the Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano by John Cage, and both books of Piano Etudes by Philip Glass. As Program Director at WSUM 91.7fm student radio, Emili hosts live ‘on-air’ performances and interviews touring acts (a/w/a local musicians!) Fridays on “Live @ WSUM”, 3-5pm. Emili is a member of noise/synth & bass duo, And Illusions. Sunday’s (3/12) set is part of a new effort to explore improvised new age piano and drone music.

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photo via Troy Peterson

Closing the show…

BC Grimm to close the night with an Orbis Obscura set!  Pipa, Guqin, #frankencello + “the hernia-maker” pedalboard.

2/17 | DAVE REMPIS (Chi) Sax @ Arts + Literature Laboratory

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Fri, 2/17 | Doors 730p, Music 800p @ Arts + Literature Laboratory

Tickets $10 advance at http://daverempis.bpt.me/ or $12 at the door

2021 Winnebago St, Madison, Wisconsin 53704

DAVE REMPIS + STRAY PASSAGE

Chicago based saxophonist Dave Rempis will open the night with a 30 min solo set.  He will then be joined by Madison free-jazz trio Brennan Connors & Stray Passage to play a quartet set for the rest of the evening.  ** Catch a preview of Rempis on-air during the day, 2/17 from 3-5p @ 91.7fm WSUM Live with host Emili Earhart!

 

Dave Rempis (Chicago) | http://daverempis.com/

Discography: http://aerophonicrecords.com/

Prolific Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis (Rempis Percussion Quartet, Ballister, The Engines, Vandermark Five) makes his first Madison appearance in five years, performing solo, and in collaboration with Madison-based improvising trio Stray Passage.  This special night is part of a larger series of solo performances Rempis is undertaking throughout North America in 2017, with the goal of building a unique approach to solo saxophone that will be documented for release on his Aerophonic records imprint next fall, while also working to strengthen the informal networks that connect, inform, and sustain the improvised music scene worldwide.

Brennan Connors & Stray Passage (Madison)

Experimental Jazz Trio Brennan Connors & Stray Passage has been performing in Madison for over three years, exciting listeners with their range of sonic capabilities.  Their improvised music is directly linked to the atmosphere in the room and energy of the audience.  Attendees will experience a jazz trio that embraces free and structured improvisation, original compositions, groove based experiments, and sound exploration. 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.

 

3/18, 3/19 | Brennan Connors & Stray Passage record live album @ Audio For The Arts

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AFA 20.PNGGrimmusiK logo

Brennan Connors & Stray Passage
TWO NIGHTS, LIVE IN-STUDIO
ALBUM RECORDING SESSIONS
@ Audio For The Arts Studios

March 18th & 19th, 2016
$10 cover, doors at 7:30pm
7 S Blair St # 1, Madison, WI 53703

“Their sets embrace plenty of sinuous melody and conversational interplay,
but can just as easily dive into minimalism and dissonance.” ~ Tone Madison

Brennan Connors & Stray PAssage

Experimental Jazz Trio Brennan Connors & Stray Passage has been performing in Madison for over three years, exciting listeners with their range of sonic capabilities.  Their improvised music is directly linked to the atmosphere in the room and energy of the audience.  Being that the listener is such a crucial element in shaping the band’s sound, it is only fitting that this album should be recorded in front of a live in-studio audience.  Attendees will experience a jazz trio that embraces free and structured improvisation, original compositions, groove based experiments, and sound exploration. 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.

The group is led by Brennan Connors on tenor and soprano saxophones.  Geoff Brady provides orchestrated drum and percussion textures & Brian Grimm who rounds out the trio playing cello, contra-cello, and electric bass. On Friday, March 18th & 19th (Fri, Sat) – the trio will record two, live-concert performances which are open to the public.  The sessions will be hosted & recorded by master engineer Steve Gotcher at Audio for the Arts on 7 South Blair Street in Madison WI.  Stray Passage would be honored by the presence of anyone who wishes to experience the recording process.

Brennan Connors & Stray Passage
facebook event page
facebook band page
soundcloud

 

4/24 | Jack Wright & Bob Marsh @ Arts + Literature Laboratory

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4-24 SHOW POSTER 4.2

Sun, 4/24 | All Ages  $10  7pm  @ Arts + Literature Laboratory

2021 Winnebago St, Madison, Wisconsin 53704

JACK WRIGHT & BOB MARSH (TOUR)
sax + bass, electronics, sound suit

BC GRIMM & MICHAEL KOSZEWSKI (Mad) [of Lovely Socialite]
cello, Chinese string instruments + percussion

TONTINE ENSEMBLE (MILWAUKEE)
double bass, cello, viola, violin – through fx

JACK & BOB

These two have been playing together since they met in Detroit in 1986, their duo transforming over time as their music has developed. This despite moving far apart, and never more than at present; after fifteen years in the Bay Area Bob now lives in Pueblo CO and Jack is in Easton Pa, so their meetings are infrequent. They have toured on the East and West Coast and the Midwest, most recently connecting in the Bay Area, before that tours that took them from the east coast to Chicago. Their music has shifted from a huge web of notes and fast-shifting directions on conventional instruments to sound and space, with Bob playing electronics and distorted voice….yet still they are indelibly the same duo. And the best of friends.

A review of a 2012 performance in Philadelphia from Cadence Magazine: “Jack Wright (sax) and his longtime collaborator, Bob Marsh (cello, voicings) sat in cramped quarters with records stacked all around, low ceiling strung with Christmas lights, and frightful paintings lining the wall. The two explorers seemed to like the atmospheric space and quickly went about their business of quietly merging tones and thoughts. Marsh, who was on a rare trip to these parts from this California abode, used everything out of his cello case on his instrument except the kitchen sink, which he was unable to get down the steep stairs of the lair. Also of note was the sighting of Wright in real pants and not his ever-present shorts…” 

GRIMM & KOSZEWSKI

Michael Koszewski (percussion) & Brian Grimm (cello, Chinese string instruments) of Madison’s psychedelic Jazz/Rock outfit Lovely Socialite join forces as a duo. Both cut from the New Music cloth, they bring sensitivity, dynamics & chops to their explorations. Between Koszewski’s 5 years in Madison’s acclaimed Clocks in Motion Percussion ensemble & BC Grimm’s array of Chinese zithers, lutes & bowed strings – who knows what sonic orchestrations may come to pass.

Michael Koszewski and BC Grimm

TONTINE ENSEMBLE

Tontine Ensemble was founded in the spring of 2014 with the mission to perform improvisational and contemporary chamber works, as well as champion the compositions of Milwaukee composers. Its four current members first played together for a Blank Radio recording session and immediately began rehearsing regularly. Allen Russell, Molly Lieberman, Pat Reinholz, and Barry Paul Clark are all classically trained musicians who teach and regularly perform in a variety of styles around the Milwaukee area and beyond.

Tontine Ensemble has appeared as guest artists at Mike Neumeyer and Friends, Danceworks, Inc. (Paleontology of a Woman – 2014, Footsteps, Shadows & Whispers – 2015), Milwaukee Follies, Formations Series for New and Improvised Music, Alverno Presents (Prince Uncovered – 2015) and The Pre-Maturely Air Conditioned Arts Collective.  The ensemble has shared the stage with JOBS, Netmoiré, Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps, Geodes, Trench, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, and Jamison Williams.

Tontine Ensemble
http://tontineensemble.com/