This Saturday we host FPE Records who present an album release party for Yea Big and Tatsu Aoki. ‘The Hand and the Moon’ is the first duo recording from Yea Big and Tatsu Aoki, two improvised sets on their favorite instruments: bass clarinet (Yea Big), shamisen (Tatsu Aoki, Part One), and bass (Tatsu Aoki, Part Two). Its floating, nighttime vibes showcase a comfortable conversation between two musicians who are loving the process of getting acquainted.
Stefen says, “I learned of Tatsu’s work through FPE, at which point I invited him down to play a show with me in Bloomington. Tatsu’s solo set was amazing. Our first time playing together was actually in front of the audience at that show. My goal with these recordings was to capture the two of us communicating with each other in as simple a form as possible, just our bare instruments, no effects, no touch-ups or redos. Just direct expression between two people who love attempting to communicate the ineffable through their music. But it isn’t really about the instruments at all. Our instruments are like the hand pointing toward the moon. Don’t confuse the hand for the moon. What we want people to experience through our music is a glimpse of the moon.”
Tatsu says, “Coolio!”
The Bridge, a transatlantic organization connecting jazz and creative musicians in Chicago and France, has returned to the US with a their group #2.11. The band includes Greg Ward, Nicolas Peoc’h, Hélène Labarrière, and Isaiah Spencer. They have organized a string of shows in Chicago and nearby midwest featuring the quartet, but also these 4 musicians collaborating with various other local musicians. This Monday’s ensemble member Hélène Labarrière represents from #2.11 in a trio with Ishmael Ali and Katinka Kleijn. Opening we’ll hear from a trio of Ernest Dawkins, Kioto Aoki, and a Bridge alumni French musician Jean-Luc Cappozzo who just so happens to be visiting at that time. We’ll kick things off at 8pm. Join us!
At this Friday’s Elastro series Ále Campos presents a second iteration of a collaborative, live audio/visual performance project titled onto a skin, highly reflective. This iteration’s collaborators include Bun Stout, Magnus, and Will Mitchell. onto a skin, highly reflective is an abstraction or rather a refraction of drag; it possesses a desire to free the drag persona from any one singular articulation. It muses over the multitudes of a projected psyche, the fluid range of emotional states experienced creating versions of the self, seeing oneself through the eyes of others, as well as the care inherent in holding and witnessing each other as queer agents. Performed in green screen suits, the performance incorporates a live stream of visually mediated bodies both in space but also video.
Joining the evening will be performances from Ruby Que and Claire Staples x Hunter Whitaker-Morrow aka ASTROMETRICS. The project explores the utopian futurities and dystopian presents of science fiction through dual desktop projections, synthesizers, and spoken word. Que will be premiering a new work “Touch” - using four projectors and layers of image-making techniques, this expanded cinema performance emphasizes touch as a form of communication to ask pertinent questions about connection, intimacy, and labor. How can we learn to hold each other better in a world that is increasingly divided?
We’ll see you here at 8pm Friday!
Join us this Thursday for an extraordinary evening of avant-garde jazz with Jean-Luc Cappozzo, one of Europe’s most respected trumpet players. He’ll be performing two sets with an excellent ensemble of Chicago improvisers: Mabel Kwan, Mark Feldman, Joshua Abrams, and Michael Zerang.
Known for his brilliant trumpet work and innovative improvisation, Jean-Luc Cappozzo has played with some of the most iconic figures in jazz, from Dizzy Gillespie to Louis Sclavis, and continues to push the boundaries of jazz performance making him one of the most essential voices on the European jazz scene today. This is a performance you will not want to miss!
Jean-Luc Cappozzo – trumpet
Mabel Kwan – piano
Mark Feldman – violin
Joshua Abrams – contrabass
Michael Zerang – drums
2 Sets: 8:30 & 9:30p
TONIGHT! The Elastro series welcomes the trio Garden Parties, a duo of Jack Langdon / Olivia Shortt, and a solo set from Nolan Chin.
Garden Parties is an experimental improvisational trio consisting of Jeff Kimmel, Ben MacDonald, and MT Coast. Utilizing synth, woodwinds, and guitar, the band traverses many genres from jazz to ambient to noise. We’re celebrating the release of a new album from the band tonight!
Nolan Chin’s current program will feature prepared piano with electric guitar in a solo performance exploring pathways related to acoustic/electric manipulation under constraint, sympathetic resonance, free improvisation, and sonic textures created under the lens of mid 20th century music.
Chicago-based organist Jack Langdon (he/him, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), and the Toronto-based saxophonist and multimedia performer Olivia Shortt (they/them, Anishinaabe, Nipissing First Nation) will play an improvised set of electroacoustic, drone-influenced improvised music.
We’ll get started at 8pm. Join us!
We love the community footage we’ve seen over the past couple weeks - from the Chicago Asian American Jazz Fest, to Music in the Garden Fest, to CLEAT Series, to our Improvised Music Series! So many great shows. Be sure to tag Elastic in your videos and photos and we’ll feature you next! Community is best!
Thanks to @airmw , @terenia___ , @cowitchcraftofferings , @ricardoeadame , @theduval.leah , @amm.url , and @jyhatta !
Join our friends at Homeroom for an exciting evening at Elastic Arts as we premiere a documentary-style short film created by Rhizomes Films capturing the artistry of Spectralina (the audio-visual performance project of Dan Bitney and Selina Trepp), created with footage from Spectralina’s Homeroom Residency earlier this year. Unfolding the Tone!
The film features Spectralina collaborating with a range of special guests, including Ben LaMar Gay, Frederick Wells, Ayako Kato, Jason Roebke, Norman Long, Amalea Tshilds, Lia Kohl, Chér Jey, and Mabel Kwan.
Doors open at 5:45 pm
Film screening at 6:15 pm
Followed by a light reception and casual conversation with the artist.
See you then!
We’re so pleased to welcome Yeeseon Chae as our 2024/2025 Visual Gallery Curatorial Resident! We have a great year ahead planned in our visual gallery. First up is ‘the intimacies of a clover’ from the Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist and sewist, Lee Miko Romero. ‘𝒾𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓂𝒶𝒸𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇’ brings together the intricate webs and weavings of Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist and sewist. Through drawings, quilts, and functional objects, Lee’s works present a timeless story of their own, of slowing down and rest, of slow labor, of interconnectedness. Framed by moments of catching oneself getting lost in thought, or dreaming of a flourishing spring in the dead of winter, the show is meant to capture the feeling of a cunning fox prancing through moss covered rocks to find a gem long-lost in the thicket.
Join us for a soft opening reception for the visual gallery at Elastic Arts on Sunday, November 17th, from 2pm-5pm. Following a short discussion with the artist and curator, we will have light snacks and refreshments. We invite you to bring crafts to work on alongside viewing the exhibition. We’ll see you Sunday as we welcome Yeeseon to Elastic Arts, and celebrate this gorgeous new exhibition.
This Wednesday night Sharon Udoh curates a brand new event Pianist and a Partner Perhaps! Sharon has invited five wonderful (and very different!) pianists to perform a 20 minute solo set, or invite a collaborator (perhaps). It’s going to be so much fun hearing a full night on our Steinway grand piano, so come join us Wednesday night at 8pm! At this inaugural event, we have Erez Dessel, Paige Brown, John Bitoy, Anaïs Maviel, and Mabel Kwan. Don’t miss it!
We’ve got an exciting Elastro planned for November featuring the trio Garden Parties, a duo of Jack Langdon / Olivia Shortt, and a solo set from Nolan Chin.
Garden Parties is an experimental improvisational trio consisting of Jeff Kimmel, Ben MacDonald, and MT Coast. The group was formed with the aim of bringing friends together to share in the joy of making improvised music. Their music can be described as minimal, jazz, noise, and ambient, but the motivation behind the music is to create spaces for exploration.
Nolan Chin’s current program will feature prepared piano with electric guitar in a solo performance exploring pathways related to acoustic/electric manipulation under constraint, sympathetic resonance, free improvisation, and sonic textures created under the lens of mid 20th century music.
Chicago-based organist Jack Langdon (he/him, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), and the Toronto-based saxophonist and multimedia performer Olivia Shortt (they/them, Anishinaabe, Nipissing First Nation) will play an improvised set of electroacoustic, drone-influenced improvised music.
We’ll get started at 8pm. Join us!
