Saturday, November 23rd @7:30pm
Thursday, December 5th @7:00pm
Friday, December 13th @6:30pm
Saturday, November 2nd @7:00pm
Friday, November 1st @8:00pm
Saturday, October 26th @8:00pm
Saturday, October 19th @8:00pm
Thursday, October 17th @7:00pm
Friday, October 4th @7:00
At the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts - 926 East Center Street
Saturday, September 29th @8:00pm
Saturday, September 21st @8:00pm
Tuesday, September 10th
Saturday, September 7th
The Max Brown Sextet plays original compositions that combine straight ahead jazz with experimental techniques.
Stier/Sundstrom Quartet (Madison, WI) will present two mirrored quartets improvising on themes from the jazz tradition, featuring musicians from Milwaukee, Chicago, and Madison.
Local support from Cool Beauty (free improv/experimental) and Annie Grizzle (surreal, collage-suffused
This is a mixed genre show varying from Ambient Electronic to Indie Rock with acoustic guitar and tape loops mixed in between.
The show will feature such artists as Cassini Echoes, Vectors of Resonant Prescients, Blake Zweig, Wavefiler + DJ / Tape Loops Between Sets: Tron Jovi!
Date: August 23
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $5-10 sliding scale (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Kenan Serenbetz creates music that explores and extols the web of relationships that we share with all the beings of the earth. Whether crafting intricate textures of winds and strings, composing dense contrapuntal vocal harmonies, or singing with choruses of birds and insects out in the field, Kenan utilizes his own distinctive command of sound and concept to convey the need for right relationship with the natural world.
Genres: folk, experimental.
DPCD is the work of Illinois musician Alec Watson. Taking its name after a four-letter secret code given to him by his great-grandfather, DPCD’s music is intimate and soft spoken, with Watson's meditative singing illuminated by fragile webs of guitar, piano, and celeste.
Genres: folk
Local support from Shawn Alan Hurd and Kati Katchever.
Date: August 17 (after Center Street Daze festival)
Time: 8:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
STRATA is a mini-fest presenting experimental and improvised music from France, NYC, and Milwaukee.
Hans Young Binter is an American pianist and composer based in New York City, working within the city's vibrant creative music scene in addition to collaborations across musical styles and artistic disciplines. His work is rooted in the practice of improvisation, and centers itself upon core elements of music making such as conversation and ritual. New album "ChimesThe Bell 3x" available on bandcamp and streaming services.
Andy Armstrong is a musician and sound artist from Charleston, Illinois currently living in Rennes, France. He usually makes long electronic improvisations for performance, tape and radio, sometimes made under the name Cream White.
Local support from Cathedral Becomes Tomb, Hiking Journal, and Cornelius Sludge.
Date: Tuesday 8/13
Time: 6:00pm
Cover fee: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Those who practice Kyūdō, a traditional form of Japanese archery, view it as a vehicle for moral and spiritual growth. Their primary objective is not to hit the target; rather, they seek to embody the virtues of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty (Shin Zen Bi) through intense concentration on movement and form. While technical precision facilitates aesthetic sensibility, it is inner spiritual beauty that lends depth to their performance. Thus, technique and spirit are intertwined in harmonious unity.
This marriage between technique and spirit is central to the musical practice of Detroit-based saxophonist Kenji Lee. His Fortune Teller Trio, comprised of himself on tenor sax, Andy Peck on bass, and Jonathan Barahal Taylor on drums, leverages its technical virtuosity to explore the profound depths of human emotion. In their debut album, Kyūdō, the Fortune Teller Trio seeks to embody the tenets of this Japanese practice through improvisation, painting sweeping sonic landscapes against a canvas of stillness.
Date: August 8
Time: 8:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Setting forth as a guitar duo unlike any other, this very first Punk Jazz tour across the U.S. finds Peter DiStefano (of Porno for Pyros) and Mike Baggetta (of mssv) exploring no-boundaries improvised music, informed by their lives and songs, with just 2 electric guitars, electronics and maybe some vocals. Think Albert Ayler meets Stooges meets Jimi Hendrix and you might be getting close…
A founding member of the alternative rock band Porno For Pyros in 1992 with Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins and Martyn LeNoble, guitarist Peter Distefano has been heard all over the world for decades with their first album reaching no. 3 on the Billboard Top 200. In addition to his work with Pyros, Peter has featured in various projects with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, and the band Hellride with Mike Watt. He is also known for his extensive recent work as a composer and musician for many soundtracks in film, television and gaming.
Iconoclastic guitarist Mike Baggetta is most recently known for leading his post-genre power trio mssv (with the legendary rhythm team of drummer Stephen Hodges and bassist Mike Watt) through multiple U.S. tours and album releases over the past 5 years, after releasing 2 additional albums of original music alongside Watt and drummer Jim Keltner. Baggetta’s music has always been adventurous in spirit and style, creating his identifiably undefinable sound with his guitar, voice and various musical gadgets. He has also appeared on stage and on recordings with Nels Cline, J Mascis, Petra Haden and David Torn.
Date: August 3
Time: 7:00pm doors/7:45pm show
Cover: $15 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Kyrie Nova is a multi-instrumentalist at heart. She balances duties as a vocalist, guitarist, drummer and especially a bassist. Genre is not to be trifled with, though her music is generally tinged with a healthy mixture of sarcasm, spite and a dash of rage for good measure.
Local support from the electronic/no-wave/damaged pop mayhem of Pay Dirt and the experimental/improvised sounds of Headlock
Date: July 27
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Legendary experimental/noise/performance art group Boy Dirt Car celebrates its 43rd year of existence, with performances from Vocokesh and Drekka.
Date: July 20
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Jim Holman is a pianist based in Chicago and Tampa with recordings on the Delmark lable with Richie Cole, Ira Sullivan, and Frank Catalano. Jim's newest album, "First Impressions," features Eric Alexander with Clark Sommers and Tim Davis.
Holman's trio welcomes Randy Johnston, hailing from Detroit and NYC, and performs a selection from Johnston's book-- with the refined taste/elegance of New York and grounded in the Detroit tradition.
Randy has long since been considered one of the world's finest guitar players. He has been a mainstay with Lou Donaldson at the Village Vanguard and frequently tours in Asia and is flying in from Ronnie Scotts in London to play and record with Holman. In addition to his recordings, he can be frequently heard on the Small's Live feed. He has recorded as a sideman and a leader with the likes of Joey Defrancesco, Jack McDuff, and Eric Alexander to name just a few.
Randy and Jim will be performing in Chicago in the fall as part of the 7th Annual Labor Day Jazz Festival.
Date: July 13
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $15 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Maude Caillat is a prolific saxophonist leading four different projects around the New Orleans area. The Maude Caillat Quartet is the most intimate version of her musical universe.
Recognized as an emerging new sound in the New Orleans jazz scene, the Quartet fuses modern and traditional world music influences with (of course) a touch of Coltrane. Sophistication, passionate improvisation, and heartfelt melodies are just a few words to describe the music of these incredible artists.
Date: July 7
Time: 7:30pm doors/8:00pm show
Cover: $15 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
MKE Music Night brings you a night of conscious hip hop and funkadelic jazz. This will be single release show for SideQuest LR and also the 81st MKE Music Night This show will also be all ages! Check out the full schedule below:
6pm Doors Open
6:15-7pm Tlalok
7:15-7:45 High Education Records
8-8:30 SideQuest LR
8:45-9:30 Cream City Players
9:30-10pm Open Cipher
Date: July 6
Time: 6:00pm
Cover: $10 ADV/ 15$ DOS
Link for advance tickets sales with the promoter:
https://www.tikit.live/e/sidequest-lr-single-release/
Indicative of Drumming is the solo project of Nick Zielinski (Decorah, IA). In his own words:
"My primary mode of organization is improvisation so my music is about listening. I listen for ways to up-cycle audio artifacts into electro-acoustic sound collages which tread the line between parody and pastiche, irony and sincerity, paradox and truth... out of which I hope to squeeze a tiny bit of meaning, self reflection, insight, fun and aesthetic pleasure.
I create sounds using a combination of acoustic instruments (mostly drums) and a variety of electronic tools. My laptop holds a repository of pseudo-cultural nostalgic junk in the form of samples lifted from various sounds that were tattooed onto my brain during childhood (tv themes, commercial jingles, vocal snippets, etc) mixed with slightly less nostalgic sounds from my early creative work. At times I “play” the electronics by using analog-to-digital interfaces and at times the electronics play themselves using various algorithmic processes which I have created to suit my tastes. The algorithms add an element of aleatoric unpredictability to which I must react in the moment, lending the music an air of improvisational excitement."
Local support from Nicholas Elert and Sarnal Key.
Date: June 28
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Pet Peeves from Chicago will be bringing their angular no wave/noise rock to Jazz Gallery on Thursday, June 27th. Local support from Sara Sowell, Dada's Daughter and Mom's Brownies.
Date: June 27
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Tour in support of the new album ‘Play’.
Giallorenzo plays beyond the theme-and-variations format, happy to skip beyond the well-worn phrases of silky piano trios, ready to take the game in an oblique direction at every turn. Plenty of musicians have explored such areas: the jazz avant-garde evolved thanks to the legendary artists who “played outside.” Most of those musicians were adept at playing “inside” as well; it’s said that Ornette Coleman, for example, could sound exactly like Charlie Parker when he chose.
And today’s post-freedom musicians sometimes surprise ardent avant-garde fans with their mastery of music that they have supposedly jettisoned from their repertoire. But not so many artists can adeptly merge these approaches into one theory of mind, and such “inside-outside” musicians—the category that certainly includes Giallorenzo’s trio—are a separate gang.
They infuse the tradition into their edgier romps, and vice-versa; more to the point, they inhabit both territories at the same time. So while the music in "Play" can grab the ear of musical adventurers, it also won’t frighten those just dipping their toes into this particular stream. These players find a middle ground—not by compromising the new or the old, but by elevating the virtues of each.
It’s not so easy to make music this demanding and yet so deceptively fluid. ... These performances arise from a combination of focus and intensity, dedication and rigor. But they sure don’t sound like “work.” Whether outside or in, the message remains the same: Play. (-Neil Tesser)
Date: June 17
Time: 8:00pm doors/8:30pm show
Cover: $15 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Boston-based guitarist Peter Janson is a national touring artist - one of few who specializes in performing solo jazz guitar. His concerts are unique experiences where he showcases his artistry by performing a vibrant blend of originals, jazz classics from legendary musicians ranging from Miles Davis and Tom Jobim to contemporary players like John Scofield and Immanuel Wilkins, and compelling improvisations.
Janson has been strongly influenced by the solo playing of guitarists like Joe Pass, Earl Klugh, Lionel Loueke, and Julian Lage. Growing up in Massachusetts, he listened to his father, an accomplished amateur guitarist, play solo guitar every day. He received his first guitar at the age of seven and started doing pop gigs at age 15. Over the past 25 years, he has performed extensively throughout North America, including at Carnegie Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival. His music has been featured in video games, commercials, and news documentaries, and has charted on Billboard's top 10 as a session guitarist. He has a growing fan base from 137 countries, and his latest album, "Getting To Here," is in rotation on over 75 radio stations globally, as well as on streaming platforms.
“As a musician, I have continued to grow through the exploration of numerous genres. I need to feel the community that live performance brings. After many years, jazz form, language, and sensibility have returned to become the place where I can make music. I didn’t want too formal a structure to work on, but rather an improvisational base. As a solo guitar player, I can explore styles and improvise, which brings me joy and helps me understand life in a unique way. I merge traditional elements, acoustic nylon-string sounds, and form, with sound-enhancing tools and chance.”
"Peter Janson's music has the substance of great jazz presented in an original and accessible style. Truly great!” says Steve Hunt, keyboardist (Allan Holdsworth, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham).
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm doors/ 7:30 pm show
Cover fee: $20 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
The Marques Carroll Quintet is a Chicago based ensemble led by trumpeter Marques Carroll and includes drummer Greg Artry, pianist Julius Tucker, bassist Christian Dillingham, and saxophonist Brent Griffin. Carroll is a Jazz Educator for Chicago Jesuit Academy and UIC, a Grammy member, an Emmy award winner, a co-founder of JMarq Records, and a former member of the legendary Count Basie Orchestra. Carroll has gathered together a group of musicians over the last few years to showcase his original music that deals with social ideals through music.
Date: June 14
Time: 7:00pm
Cover: donations encouraged
Informed by an array of styles including avant-garde jazz, post-bop, and indie rock, the Gabriel Heinemann Trio’s debut album, “After a Break”, incorporates improvisation, open-form composition, and melodic interplay into each song. Collaborators Owen Frankel and Jeremy McCabe, fellow Oberlin peers with a shared vision of genre-blending improvisation, bring the music to life with spontaneous interpretation and dynamic interaction. In addition to Heinemann’s originals, this trio also performs compositions by Frankel, and select jazz standards as well.
Date: June 9
Time: 7:30pm
Cover: $10 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Pulling equally from the worlds of harsh noise and absurdist theatre, England’s Peter J. Woods builds a sense of terror from simple imagery, muted text and an unpredictable barrage of silence and sound. Woods utilizes these approaches within a critical context, building on his scholarly work to challenge oppressive formations embedded within the musical contexts he finds himself in. Recent projects represent this aesthetic and thematic sensibility through a multi-media approach that includes writing, theatre, concerts, photography and film.
Nosse Noos Nase is the duo of Ryan Dunn (Instinct Control) and J. Soliday from Chicago. Improvised electronic textures filtered through the best of free-improv and harsh noise.
This show will feature local support from the duo of Wilhelm Matthies and Karel Suchy.
Date: June 8
Time: 8:00pm
Cover: $5-10 sliding scale (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Trace Ellington and Mood Indigo Recordings humble beginnings started in Oakland California. There he wrote and produced and recorded many independent hip hop artists. His first platinum project was with the group Digital Underground. Followed by many other artists like Tupac, Too Short and other Oakland hip hop superstars. Trace has always been a multifaceted performer and musician. Trace musical roots go all the way back to Duke Ellington. Trace Ellington’s debut project Let Love In was released overseas on the Soul Brother This Is Soul. The album Life Love & Music is due to drop this year; it is a blend of Soul Electronic funk and tales of divorce and reflection and the legendary STAX sound . It was recorded in Chicago during the course of the many urban challenges that help create this masterpiece. In the last four years Trace has been producing and writing for Independent groups like High Diamond , Trio Dubb Jazz, Ja Rocka, Tra Soul , Anna Belle Black and many more. Trace started his label Mood Indigo Recordings back in 1989 in Oakland and he is still releasing gems from over the many years of his career with a new project on the horizon. So this is a night to showcase some of Mood Indigo Recordings new projects along with new up and coming independent artist like B Wyzdom, Brandon Frizzell, Cece Rodriguez and many more.
Date: June 7
Time: 7pm
Cover fee: $15 (please note we do not sell tickets in advance, doors only. both cards and cash are accepted)
Chad McCullough's Firestarter is an international collaboration with Australian trumpeter "St. Trumpah" and Midwest artists McCullough, John Christensen and Jon Deitemyer. One of the finest trumpeters in the world, "St. Trumpah" is a rare appearance in the US, let alone the Midwest. A unique musical experience for all!
Date: June 6
Time: 7:00pm
