Showbiz Roundup

Trumpeter Emily Kuhn is another in a string of Oberlin grads who is finding Chicago to be a fertile place to hone her chops and artistic vision among welcoming peers. She set the bar high in 2020 with her debut recording “Sky Stories” that features vocals, strings, and multiple ensembles. The album release tour for her new quintet record  “Ghosts Of Us” is sure to scare up some eager listeners.

Cisco Bradley is a noted historian and professor whose new book documents the experimental avant garde music scene on the Brooklyn waterfront between 1988 and 2014. The scene sprouted in the harsh post-industrial landscape of Williamsburg and grew until it was pushed out by gentrification. Cisco's document preserves an art form so ephemeral that, in many cases, it might otherwise have been lost to history.

The band TwinTalk—Dustin Laurenzi, Andrew Green, and Katie Ernst—is a saxophone (and voice) trio named for the unique language spoken by the most genetically linked siblings. The band demonstrates this familiarity with deep exploration of a fairly spare orchestration and its possibilities. The results brim with curiosity, emotion, and wonder.

Jeb Bishop has been an important member of the improvised music scenes in Chicago, Boston, and Chicago again. Along the way he's figured out how to sustain his musical efforts—which are, by the way, some of the most engaging anywhere—over the long haul. And the trombone trio he‘s currently on the road with is one of the most exceptional.

Scott Amendola is as adventurous with his playing as he is with his exploration of live looping and electronic effects. From the freest side of improvisation to the deepest pocket, he's developed a mastery of eclecticism. And if the stellar list of musicians he's worked with is any indication—including Will Blades and Cyro Baptista on this outing, it's working. 

The Chris Speed Trio, with Chris Tordini and Dave King represents the peak of what's possible when three musicians whose capacity is limitless get together to explore the language and heart of Jazz–and choose to speak with a unified voice. But Chris Speed is no stranger to the most creative frontiers of this music having been an essential leader of this rarefied community since the late 1980s.

Pianist Pandelis Karayorgis has spent nearly 40 years here in the U.S. developing a distinctive voice that extends from the foundations built by such heroes as Thelonious Monk and Paul Bley. While much of his work has emerged from the creative scene centered in greater Boston, he also has long-standing connections in Chicago—which include noted instigator Dave Rempis who has assisted here in assembling a brand new group of bold improvisors. 

If you stop in at the Uptowner in Milwaukee on any given Tuesday, you'll be treated to the Dave Bayles Trio working it out, keeping it spontaneous and real. If you happen to hear the gears grinding and skipping a bit as they engage it's because they've invited you into the creative process in real time, which is a rare thing indeed.

On his new record “Deep Breath” Kenny Reichert engages a longstanding group of stalwart collaborators, to showcase his growth as a composer, bandleader, and guitarist over the nearly nine years since his previous outing as leader.

Anna Webber has worked hard to establish herself as an elevating force in the rarefied world at the intersection of creative jazz and new music. An accomplished composer whose first mission was to develop her potential as an instrumentalist, she's stopping by our fair city while on the road with her evocatively named Shimmer Wince Quintet.

On this episode Showbiz Roundup welcomes guest host John Christensen who will be interviewing me about the jazz octet Michael Brenneis and the Plutonium Players (or Plutonium for short) in advance of our show coming up at the North Street Cabaret. It's a good conversation and John asks some interesting questions and we both proceed as if this level of self-promotion is perfectly acceptable.

Arp of the Covenant, a trio of electro-acoustic improvisers, draws its inspiration from the ARP 2600, a 1970s era analog synthesizer known for being unpredictable except in the most expert hands. While Arp of the Covenant may be unpredictable they're far from inexpert as their intricate, ambitious, appealing music demonstrates.

Pianist Paul Hecht returns with a new trio and a new mélange of music in his pursuit of new avenues of expression. Named after a work by American poet John Ashbury, the Pyrography Trio ignites a thread between Paul's life as an English professor and his new career as excursioning pianist plying his trade and expanding his circle, while kindling connections between the scenes of Eau Claire, Chicago, and Madison.

The performers coming to the 2023 BlueStem Jazz/North Street Cabaret Piano Summit invite listeners to open themselves to the layers of sound and harmonic landscape that an acoustic piano can generate, layers not routinely thought about or explored. The four pianists here, Jane Reynolds, Matt Blair, Paul Hastil, and David Stoler represent the acme of the jazz pianists practicing within a small radius of our fair city. Each as individual as they come, but sharing roots in the nineteenth and twentieth century creative jazz tradition. Each searching for–and locating–their place in the modern expression of this music.

Zakk Jones is a guitarist who thrives on variety as evidenced by the range of groups he plays with and the repertoire he plays with his own trio. He's also someone who believes in giving back, which he does through teaching at a couple of Ohio colleges, through an online presence focused on education, and on his own guitar-oriented podcast “Beyond the Frets.”

Trumpeter Chad McCullough began a fruitful collaboration with Belgian pianist Bram Weijters in 2009 while both were attending the acclaimed Banff Jazz Workshop. Fourteen years later, with a half dozen quartet and duo recordings behind them, this ambitious duo will assemble a cast of exceptional regional players for a live recording–right here in our fair city.

The tireless and adventurous improviser Dave Rempis has once again assembled a heavyweight cast to probe the reaches of collective improvisation. Joined on this outing by world-class trumpeter Russ Johnson, celebrated catalyst Jeremy Cunningham, and home-town hero Jakob Heinemann, the field of play is wide open.

With the Joe Policastro Trio, everything is on the table: eccentric repertoire, unique orchestration, and an approach that veers from the center to the frontier. Among the elements that are not up for grabs, however, are outstanding musicianship, telepathic interaction, and a palette that extends well beyond the standard spectrum.

Javier Red's Imagery Converter is a device that transforms ideas about music from the Jazz tradition and contemporary composers into an organic sonic ecosystem. Oh, and they're also a band of accomplished musicians pushing the boundaries of the familiar with an eye toward new directions.

I interrupted the breakfast of Luke Leavitt, Ari Smith, and Tim Russell—the band Laminal Animil—to chat about their improvising, experimental trio and the way they purposefully subvert language, music, and everything else they can think of in their serious exploration of new sound frontiers.

At one time legendary saxophonist Chico Freeman was himself a young lion on the scene breathing the life of a new generation into this music. Now the internationally renowned artist and statesman is mentoring the next generation to advance this music into another century. 

Mr. Chair opens a new chapter with the release of “Better Days,” an album full of optimism, joy, and, of course–as Mark Hetzler puts it “lots of notes.” Mark joins me on this episode to talk about this collective, collaborative band and his career as a trombone professor.

The Esthesis Quartet took the adversity of a global pandemic head on by supporting each other's need to stay creative and focused. These adventurous musician-composers–with deep roots in the continuum of this music–have crafted a compelling universe of jazz.

Amina Figarova looks to a brighter future full of positive vibes with her new album ‘Joy'. Also, surrounding herself with the kind of extraordinary players who will be joining her on this tour, opens a limitless canvas for the realization of her artistic vision.

Larry Ochs makes up one-quarter of the world renowned ROVA Saxophone Quartet (he's the “O” in the name) which formed in San Francisco during the mid-1970s. Drawing inspiration from a spectrum of music that includes everything from Free Jazz to what we sometimes call contemporary classical music, ROVA pushes the envelope of what is possible for four musicians with saxophones.

Aaron Stroessner chased his rock'n'roll dreams to New York City in the 1990s where he spent a decade performing with his band ‘Dead Left' and working behind the scenes at the Knitting Factory. Fast forward a few years, he now hangs his fedora in eastern Nebraska where he's an essential member of that region's jazz scene.For those keeping score at home: the frontman of the band Soul Coughing was Mike Doughty; Dan Wilson launched his career with the band Semisonic.

Even with an unrivaled and prestigious body of work behind him, steel pan maestro Andy Narell continues to strive to improve, explore, reinvent, and push the boundaries of what the steel pan can do. He'll be in Madison this August for a not-to-be-missed whirlwind of performances, appearances, and collaborations.

The band Lovely Socialite celebrates their latest album "The Drift" to be released on the ten-year anniversary of their first record, 2012's "Registers Her Delight." Unfolding into its second decade, the band continues to build on its legacy of odd orchestration, subtle mirth, and stylistic alchemy.

The duo of tenor saxophone and drums is a classic free improv pairing, but the music and sounds each group makes are guaranteed to go in an infinite number of singular directions. That will certainly be the case at Audio for the Arts on July 22nd when Chicago meets Switzerland in the form of the Julian Kirshner/"Nikolaj Klemins" (aka Sebi) duo.

After a few years cultivating his craft in Michigan and Philadelphia, Michael Hudson-Casanova has established himself in Chicago with a new trio featuring Erik Skov on guitar, and Gustavo Coriñas on drums. Dance, another art form that has special significance for this alto saxophonist, will feature prominently on the trio's Madison date.

Andy Milne's outstanding career spans a wide breadth from collaborating among the elite of North American creative music, to being an accomplished film scorer and educator. I originally spoke with Andy in early 2020 in advance of his tour for his then newly released trio album The reMission. That canceled tour has been rescheduled, now two years later, but much has happened with the trio Andy Milne and Unison in that time. Most notably the album won a Juno award in 2021 for Jazz Album of the Year in the Group category.Although two years have passed, much of our conversation is still relevant and brimming with insight into the world of Andy Milne.A note about the audio for this episode: This interview was recorded as a reference to be transcribed during the period when the Showbiz Roundup was a blog. As such, the fidelity is not as high as we've come to expect from this program, and contains a small amount of background noise.

I spoke with the other members of the Jackson-Heinemann-Shead trio, Keefe Jackson and Adam Shead recently for other projects, so I thought I'd give bassist Jakob Heinemann his due on this program. A Madison native now living and working in Chicago, Jakob joins me to talk about his history and his burgeoning career.

Josh Smith, Jeremy Bleich, and Joe Tomino came together as the band Birth in Cleveland in 1998 with a shared mission that launched them into a world of meaningful and rewarding musical experiences. After a number of years they parted onto different paths. But they're back now wiser, stronger, tested, and keen to bring their evolved sound to receptive ears.

Pianist Paul Hecht—who divides his time between Chicago and Eau Claire—joins me to talk about an exciting new chapter in his musical life, his delight in exploring some new music with accomplished Chicago-based collaborators, and some personal insights into the Eau Claire Jazz scene.

It would be a challenge to run an 18-piece jazz ensemble that plays non-traditional big band music anywhere, but the fact that Paul Dietrich does it in Wisconsin, and attracts the caliber of musicians that he does—and let's face it, no one's getting rich off of this—is a testament to his leadership, his composing and arranging prowess, and the individuality of his musical vision.

Jeff Kimmel, Ishmael Ali, and Bill Harris commandeered an air b'n'b in the wilds of Michigan during the height of the pandemic in 2020 to record their latest release “Vivary.” The record is an abstract electro-acoustic tour-de-force, and a fitting document of this period of experimental existence.

Darren Johnston's pandemic routine included lots of practicing the trumpet and composing. As things opened up he recorded three sessions of his music with different groups in New York and Chicago. The first of these albums “Life in Time” has now been released and will be showcased in Madison with his quartet of Chicago heavies.For those keeping track: The name of the bassist Darren couldn't remember is Joelle Leandre.

Ballister is a trio of muscular disquisitive improvisors, whose palette is equal parts bombast, and subtle nuance. After thirteen years together and ten album releases, including this year's Chrysopoeia, they're still going strong.

When Ken Vandermark was last here with (air quotes) Laul Pytton, in March of 2020, although he didn't know it he was days away from a canceled tour and an 18 month hiatus from the road. He returns triumphantly now with the full trio that was supposed to perform on that date—as his touring schedule ramps up to approach its pre-pandemic pace.

Craig Taborn is one of the most brilliant and creative piano and keyboard artists working today. Someone who ordinarily prefers to let the music speak for itself, he was generous enough to join me on this program to discuss his history, and his conception, and approach — which are as deep as they are philosophical.

Ted Piltzecker has a long history of traveling the world, spreading his lyrical approach to playing the vibraphone. He often collaborates with fine local players, and for this performance he has recruited the Lawrence University Faculty Jazz Ensemble.

The new album “Concentric Orbits” from Trans-Atlantic improvisers Quin Kirchner and Rob Clearfield was recorded during the sessions for Quin's 2020 release “The Shadows and The Light.” Madison is fortunate to host the first night of the release tour for this album of compelling synergy.

Whether he's speaking in a whisper or a roar, Dave King's voice is distinctive and recognizable. Indeed, along with a very select few others, he has redefined the role of drummer for his generation and those to follow. His originality extends to his compositions and the extraordinary bands with which he affiliates.

Cody Steinmann is on an earnest quest to realize the sound that fulfills his vision and the direction he wants to take his music. He's also open about the life struggles early on that formed him as a player and some of the aspects of the music scene where he feels some incongruity.

Tim Whalen left Madison over a decade ago for Washington DC and the US Army band, but his legacy lives on here in the New Breed Jazz Jam, and Phat Phunktion—musical institutions formed with contemporaries at the UW Madison. He returns to showcase the Tim Whalen Nonet, another popular institution formed somewhat later during his Madison tenure.

Russ Johnson returned to Wisconsin to take a teaching position in 2011 after thriving on the New York scene for nearly a quarter century. The quality of his work from his New York days through his current endeavors along the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor rivals anything produced by his contemporaries, and deserves to be widely recognized. Russ is one of those musicians whose mere presence serves to elevate the entire scene.

The Montauk Project [più mosso] is a gathering of improvising musicians and dancers from the western Milwaukee suburbs, the Fox Valley, and Madison itself. A group that expands and contracts to fit the performance, this iteration will include four musicians and three dancers–all of whom come together with the underlying credo of “anything goes.” 

Today we're talking to a multi-generational collective quartet of Chicago improvisers: a nameless band in the tradition of nameless bands—more on that later. The members of this group span a spectrum from L.A. studio veteran to up-and-coming software engineer, but they gather with the unified purpose of advancing their humanity through musical exploration.

Guitarist, arranger, ethnomusicologist Mike Allemana traces much of his inspiration back to the influence of Von Freeman, and his nights at the fabled Apartment Lounge where he engaged with both the elders and the youth of the culture. His band the Regulators pushes the limits of rhythm while always maintaining a Funk connection, and acknowledging the lineage of Steve Coleman, Von Freeman, and many others.

The Bridge is an exchange of music and culture between France and Chicago that began in 2012. Each edition includes a new batch of improvisors who join forces over an extended period of time, performing numerous shows in Europe and the U.S., and combining their individuality into a group sound that is coherent and unique. The performance in Madison includes Chicago reedmen Keefe Jackson and Dave Rempis, and French drummer Peter Orins.For those keeping score: Christine Wodrascka joins this performance now that a piano is available.

Bay Stater Tony Barba has hung his hat in Madison for almost a decade now, and built a solid musical career over that time. He's as serious about work/life balance as he is about writing and performing at the highest level. While his melodic approach harkens back to tenor giants like Sonny Rollins, Tony's unique voice rings true in any context.