Natural Information Society Archives

Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society

Natural Information Society and the Separatist Party usher in a brave new year at Constellation

by Hannah Edgar December 22, 2022December 19, 2022

Constellation hasn’t hosted a New Year’s Eve bash since the Sun Ra Arkestra’s legendary fete in 2017. This year, the intimate venue ushers in 2023 with homegrown talents who could be considered Constellation all-stars. The evening is headlined by Natural Information Society, led by multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams; the five-piece ensemble realizes his teeming compositions (often […]

The five members of darkwave band Kill Scenes shot in black-and-white standing in the narrow gangway between two residential buildings

Music

Local darkwave group Kill Scenes preview a new album at the Hideout

by J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil August 23, 2022August 23, 2022

Last month, local darkwave band Kill Scenes dropped “Acid Black Window,” the first single from the upcoming full-length album Masque. The five-piece group, anchored by songwriters Meghan Lamb (vocals) and Sean Whittaker (guitar, electronics), lace their tracks with swirling six-string textures and driving synth melodies—Gossip Wolf doesn’t doubt for a second that “Acid Black Window” […]

Mandingo Griot Society performs in Finland in the early 80s. The band's lineup at that time, from left to right, was bassist John Marsh, guitarist J Marcus, drummers Hank (Hamid) Drake and Adam Rudolph and (in separate photo) kora player Foday Musa Suso.

Music

Mandingo Griot Society: a global exchange born in Chicago

by Aaron Cohen January 27, 2022August 15, 2023

Foday Musa Suso absorbed centuries of tradition growing up in Gambia. As part of the griot caste, his family had performed a centuries-long role in Gambian society, narrating historical epics and singing praise songs while playing the kora, a harplike 21-string instrument his distant ancestors invented. Suso dreamed of bringing his music to places far […]

The Drum Divas, a multi-generational group of women who perform in the African Drum tradition.

Music

The Preservation of Fire series brings the cosmos to Millennium Park

by Salem Collo-Julin August 18, 2021August 19, 2021

In 2019, Chicago event producer and teacher Alejandro Ayala, who DJs as King Hippo, received a grant from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to produce a two-night concert series called the Preservation of Fire. The concerts, hosted by Co-Prosperity in Bridgeport and broadcast live on Worldwide FM and Lumpen Radio, […]

Music

Burr Oak debuts with a long-gestating album of dreamy folk-pop

by J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil August 3, 2021August 18, 2021

Burr Oak debuts with a long-gestating album of dreamy folk-pop, Experimental Sound Studio hosts an all-star fundraiser in its backyard, and more.

Music

Versatile instrumental trio Bitchin Bajas unspool new material at their first concert since 2019

by Bill Meyer July 19, 2021August 18, 2021

For the past decade, local trio Bitchin Bajas have exemplified the virtues of patience and versatility. All three members play synthesizers, Cooper Crain and Daniel Quinlivan play organ, and Rob Frye plays woodwinds and percussion. They create plush, pulsing instrumentals with melodies that evolve at such a leisurely pace that you might not notice the […]

Music

Natural Information Society reaches a new ecstatic peak with Evan Parker

by Bill Meyer April 20, 2021August 18, 2021

While it’s impossible to pinpoint a single peak in John Coltrane’s vast discography, Ascension is one of his most intense expressions of transcendental intent. Local musician Joshua Abrams knows his Coltrane, so it’s no accident that he’s given the name Descension to this summit between his group Natural Information Society and English saxophonist (and fellow […]

Music

Free-jazz piano great Dave Burrell plays a rare Chicago show

by Steve Krakow January 17, 2020August 18, 2021

The only time I’ve seen wild jazz pianist Dave Burrell play live was in an odd setting for him—he joined free-jazz bass titan William Parker for a program called “The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield” at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2009. The ensemble also included drummer and musical polymath Hamid Drake and writer Amiri […]

Music

Natural Information Society make the stage a home—and vice versa

by Bill Meyer April 17, 2019August 18, 2021

Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado of Natural Information Society help give the Chicago collective’s transcendent minimalism a family feeling.

Music

Chicago jazz hero Joshua Abrams and his Natural Information Society bottle hypnosis on Mandatory Reality

by Leor Galil February 28, 2019August 22, 2022

Chicago jazz and improvised-music linchpin Joshua Abrams could continue to explore the outer reaches of minimalism with his Natural Information Society ensemble for decades and have no trouble maintaining a hypnotic atmosphere. The eight-piece band’s upcoming fifth album, Mandatory Reality (Eremite), opens with two sprawling tracks. The group is so successful at casting spells that […]

Music

With Natural Information Society, Joshua Abrams expands his sonic palette while remaining locked-in on modal trance

by Peter Margasak June 1, 2017August 18, 2021

The power of Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society is in large measure derived from a singular sense of purpose: to lock in on a single chord and with subtle, kaleidoscopic modality cast a spell at the nexus of a hypnotic groove. That intent is carried forth on the Chicago band’s fourth and best album, Simultonality […]

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