Sound artists Oren Ambarchi and Crys Cole have both had thrilling careers. Ambarchi has run experimental label Black Truffle for more than a decade, and he’s collaborated with a wide array of avant-garde luminaries, including Sunn O))), Keiji Haino, and Keith Rowe and John Tilbury (both veterans of long-running UK improvising group AMM). Last year, […]
Tag: Constellation
Posted inArts & Culture
Odd Pleasures: A Queer Valentine’s Day Event, the Half-Court Classic 3v3 Invitational, and more to do this weekend
Arts and culture happenings from Fri 2/14 to Sun 2/16.
Posted inMusic
Brooklyn-based saxophone and drum duo meld composition and improvisation seamlessly
Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey have been married to each other since 2010 and playing together since 2007, working as a duo as well as within larger ensembles, where they’ve collaborated with avant-garde jazz musicians such as Tim Berne and Mary Halvorson. Though the duo initially focused on improvisational music, a 2016 tour […]
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The 29th annual solstice concerts offer a yearly return or a new annual tradition
I have to admit, I literally slept on going to Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake’s winter solstice concerts for the first 27 years (though granted, I was only 17 when the first one happened). Out-of-town friends even crashed at my pad to attend the early-morning shows, but as a former night owl, I always thought […]
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The 2020 Frequency Festival announces a lineup of world-class experimental music
Highlights of the 2020 Frequency Festival include a fusion of Carnatic music and jazz, a solo vocal piece for Diamond Reynolds, and programs of work by Eliane Radigue and Annea Lockwood.
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Antonio Sanchez composes jazz-rock anthems that celebrate immigrant journeys
The most immediately striking aspect of Antonio Sanchez’s music is its lush, cinematic feel, which the drummer also demonstrates in the percussion-only music he composed for the 2014 film Birdman. A native of Mexico City, Sanchez began playing drums at age five, and after performing professionally in rock, jazz, and Latin bands in his teens, […]
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The Reader’s guide to the 2019 Chicago Jazz Festival
This year’s lineup details a sprawling cross section of the genre, including world-changing explorers the Art Ensemble of Chicago, trad band the Fat Babies, venerable guitarist George Freeman, and restless experimenter Rob Mazurek.
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The Jazz Festival’s orbit bustles with too much music for one weekend
Jazz Fest’s ten days of neighborhood concerts, satellite shows, and aftersets include Kidd Jordan, Angel Bat Dawid, Jeff Parker, Marc Ribot, and Ben Sidran.
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Spektral Quartet’s new season takes deep dives in diverse directions
Spektral Quartet’s new season takes deep dives in diverse directions, “posi-djent” act Harm Less celebrates a new album, and more.
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Homeroom’s Physics for Listeners series connects local trio ZRL with four disparate composers
Homeroom’s Physics for Listeners series connects local trio ZRL with four disparate composers, the Plastic (Crimewave) Ono Band releases its fourth tape-only split, and more.
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Natural Information Society make the stage a home—and vice versa
Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado of Natural Information Society help give the Chicago collective’s transcendent minimalism a family feeling.
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John Corbett celebrates his latest book with free barbecue and fantastic bands
John Corbett celebrates his latest book with free barbecue and fantastic bands, self-described “Bruce jazz” trio Poplife play a farewell-for-now show, and more.
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Poster artist Keith Herzik on a self-described ‘Japanese Ultra Shit Band’
Current musical obsessions of poster artist and Wet Wallet guitarist Keith Herzik, Wet Wallet bassist and singer Gina Herzik, and Reader music editor Philip Montoro
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Minor Moon celebrate a new album of lush, stately folk rock
Minor Moon celebrate a new album of lush, stately folk rock, Hooligan magazine throws itself a fifth-birthday party, and more.
Posted inMusic
The jazz doesn’t stop when the park goes dark
This year’s Jazz Festival aftershows include Mako Sica with Hamid Drake, Dee Alexander performing Nina Simone, and the traditional engagements by Ira Sullivan and Edward “Kidd” Jordan.