7-9 pm
$15 donation or b/o
rob chalfen &
subconsciouscafe new chamber music
presents
MORRIS / GRAY / VANDERMARK : american improvisations
Joe Morris – guitar
Luther Gray – drums
Ken Vandermark – tenor sax
KEN VANDERMARK ON THE TRIO:
“The trio with Joe came out of our discussions during the last couple of
years about organizing a specific project together, a place to develop an
ongoing way to work, and this group is the result of those talks. When I go
out East to visit family in mid January, I’ll also be getting together with
Joe and Luther to rehearse, and to perform at the Zeitgeist Gallery in
Boston on Friday the 21st. With this band Joe and I are interested in
investigating new methods of working with free improvisation, approaches
based more on “American” improvisation models than the ones that have been
developed primarily in Europe. The idea itself is going to take some real
effort to clarify (Joe’s suggestion that I look at the photography of Walker
Evans sounds like a brilliant place to start). However, by asking questions
about what the idea of being an “American improviser” means in this period,
it should be possible to find some new ways of expressing ourselves - and
that idea alone makes the trio worth pursuing.”
JOE MORRIS - guitar
In 1981 he began what would be a six year collaboration with the
multi-instrumentalist Lowell Davidson, performing with him in a trio and a
duo. During the next few years in Boston he performed in groups which
featured among others; Billy Bang, Andrew Cyrille, Peter Kowald, Joe McPhee,
Malcolm Goldstein, Samm Bennett, Lawrence “Butch” Morris and Thurman Barker.
Between 1987 and 1989 he lived in New York City where he performed at the
Shuttle Theater, Club Chandelier, Visiones, Inroads, Greenwich House, etc.
as well as performing with his trio at the first festival Tea and
Comprovisation held at the Knitting Factory.
Since 1993 he has recorded and/or performed with among others; Matthew
Shipp, William Parker, Joe and Mat Maneri, Rob Brown, Raphe Malik, Ivo
Pearlman, Borah Bergman, Andrea Parkins, Whit Dickey, Ken Vandermark, DKV
Trio, Karen Borca, Eugene Chadborne, Susie Ibarra, Hession/Wilkinson/Fell,
Roy Campbell Jr., John Butcher, Aaly Trio, Hamid Drake, Fully Celebrated
Orchestra and others.
www.joe-morris.com
http://www.joe-morris.com/riti.html
some quotes on Joe Morris:
“One of the most profound improvisors at work in the U.S.”
WILL MONTGOMERY, THE WIRE
“If Ornette Coleman were Jim Hall, he would be Joe Morris.”
GARY GIDDINS, THE VILLAGE VOICE
“. . . the guitar revolutionary to pay attention to.”
NORMAN WINSTEIN, THE BOSTON PHOENIX
“. . . the most exciting and original jazz plucker to emerge in the last
decade.”
JJOHN CORBETT, DOWNBEAT
“. . . a guitarist whose sound is completely his own, oscillating between
deadpan sweetness and dangerous, shrapnel-like caprice.”
K. LEANDER WILLIAMS, THE VILLAGE VOICE
KEN VANDERMARK – tenor sax, reeds
Ken moved to Chicago in the fall of 1989 and is now working with a variety
of improvised music ensembles, including the Vandermark 5, FME, the
Territory Band, the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, Sonore, the
Nilssen-Love/Vandermark Duo, Free Fall, and Bridge 61, as well as working as
an individual soloist.
Aside from the schools of music influenced by the history of jazz, his work
has been greatly impacted by a diverse range of other sources; such as
Mississippi Fred McDowell, James Brown, John Cage, the Ex, Morton Feldman,
Lee Perry, and various traditional musics from around the world.
http://www.kenvandermark.com/
LUTHER GRAY – drums
Drummer Luther Gray is one of the most creative and swinging drummers in
Boston today, and is at the center of a large group of musicians who rely on
him to keep things moving in the right direction. Luther is hosting various
ensembles every Wednesday in February at the MIM series at Artists At Large
in Hyde Park (see link, below).
http://mim.karayorgis.com/
Production:Rob Chalfen - robchalfen@hotmail.com