June 7
2pm
ESS is pleased to host an hour of music with Chicago jazz legend Ken Vandermark. This is a rare opportunity to hear McArthur Fellow and former Tribune Chicagoan of the Year in the Arts Vandermark play solo in our intimate, inviting studio. We hope you can join us for this very special performance.
Since moving to Chicago from Boston in 1989, Ken Vandermark has played and recorded in a variety of contexts, and with many internationally renowned musicians. Past groups of significance include the NRG Ensemble, the DKV Trio, AALY, FME, the Vandermark Quartet, Spaceways Inc., School Days, Cinghiale, Steam and Caffeine. Currently, the majority of his work as a composer and improviser has been directed toward the Vandermark 5, Powerhouse Sound, the Frame Quartet, the Territory Band, Free Fall and the Resonance Ensemble. In addition, he performs on a regular basis with the total improvisation units Sonore, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, separate duos with the percussionists Paal Nilssen-Love and Tim Daisy, Lean Left, and iTi. In December of 2008 he recorded his first soundtrack, for the documentary film, “Roads of Water,” directed by Augusto Contento.
Ken has made many significant and highly respected contributions to both the local and international jazz/improvised music scenes through organizing concerts in Chicago and sponsoring North American tours with various ensembles. In 1996, he and writer John Corbett began organizing the Empty Bottle “Wednesday Night Jazz Series,” concerts that brought musicians from Chicago, North America and Europe to audiences on a weekly basis for nearly a decade. From April 2006 to October 2008, he continued this work by co-directing the “Immediate Sound Series” with Mitch Cocanig at the Hideout; and since the autumn of 2005 he has been a member of Umbrella Music, a musician based group of organizers collaborating in Chicago, which is currently preparing its fourth intercontinental music festival for Jazz and Improvised Music. To learn more, visit his website.
$10 suggested donation, $7 students and ESS members. All proceeds benefit ESS.
UPCOMING
June 14: Nicole Mitchell – flute
June 28: Dave Rempis – saxophones
July 12: Tim Daisy – drums
