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Joe Policastro Trio

Joe Policastro Trio

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…


Javier Red's Imagery Converter

Javier Red’s Imagery Converter

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…


LaminalAnimil

Laminal Animil

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,…


Chico Freeman

Chico Freeman

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…


Mr Chair on the stairs

Mr. Chair’s Mark Hetzler

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…


The Esthesis Quartet

The Esthesis Quartet

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…


Amina Figarova

Amina Figarova

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…


ROVA saxophone quartet

ROVA’s Larry Ochs

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…


Aaron-Stroessner-Quartet-1

Aaron Stroessner

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…


Andy Narell

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.…


Lovely-Socialite

Lovely Socialite

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,…


klemens_kirshner

Julian Kirshner

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…


Michael Hudson-Casanova

Michael Hudson-Casanova

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…


Andy Milne

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…


Jakob Heinemann

Jakob Heinemann

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…


Birth

Birth

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.…


Paul Hecht

Paul Hecht

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…


Paul Dietrich

Paul Dietrich

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…


KAH

Kimmel-Ali-Harris Trio

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…


Darren Johnston playing trumpet

Darren Johnston

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.…


Ballister

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…


Ken Vandermark playing tenor saxophone

Ken Vandermark

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…


Craig Taborn playing the piano

Craig Taborn

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…


Ted Piltzecker playing vibes with four mallets

Ted Piltzecker

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…


Quin Kirchner & Rob Clearfield

Quin Kirchner & Rob Clearfield

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…


Dave King playing drums and wearing a hat.

Dave King

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…


Cody Steinmann holding his guitar

Cody Steinmann

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…


Tim Whalen playing the piano

Tim Whalen

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…


Russ Johnson playing trumpet with his eyes closed

Russ Johnson

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…


MontaukProject

The Montauk Project [più mosso]

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…


McKenna, Maunu, Ali, Harris

Wills McKenna, Peter Maunu, Ishmael Ali, Adam Shead

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…


Mike Allemana and the Regulators

Mike Allemana

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…


The Bridge: Keefe Jackson, Dave Rempis, Peter Orins

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,…


Tony Barba

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…


Rodrigo Villanueva playing drums

Rodrigo Villanueva

If there is a fundamental theme to Rodrigo Villanueva’s career in music, perhaps it is in cycles of ambition, struggle, and success. From his beginnings as a successful young drummer in Mexico,…


Tom and Dave

BlueStem Jazz’s David Stone and Thomas Ferrella

On this episode we’re talking to Thomas Ferrella and David Stone who founded the non-profit, volunteer-led BlueStem Jazz in 2019, although their history of booking creative, improvised music goes…


Arun Luthra playing saxophone with other musicians

Arun Luthra

With Arun Luthra multiculturalism is a fundamental tenet of his artistic expression, but it also informs his ethos as a person. Raised in a family about as international as they come, it’s second…


Zacc Harris with guitar

Zacc Harris

Zacc Harris puts all of the pieces together to build a celebrated career as a musician, composer, educator, and record label honcho. This year the Zacc Harris Group’s fall outing brings this sextet…


Tim Daisy playing the drums

Tim Daisy

Tim Daisy is an acclaimed improviser, composer, and performer who has been working in the experimental, Jazz, improvised, and composed music realms for decades as a solo artist, and in collaboration…


Justin Dillard

Justin Dillard

Justin Dillard propels the Hammond Organ into the 21st century with his trio, and as a sought-after sideman. Building on the legacies of the legends who came before him, including the recently…


Matt Ulery

Matt Ulery

Matt Ulery, ubiquitous Chicago bassist and composer, brings his Delicate Charms quintet to Madison's North Street Cabaret on October 15th. This first-call sideman on so many of Chicago's coolest gigs…


Dave Cooper

Dave Cooper

It’s hard to frame the Jazz or classical scene in Wisconsin or the Upper Midwest over the last 30 years without considering the contributions of Dave Cooper. He has been an Associate Professor of…


Jeremy Cunningham

Jeremy Cunningham

Drummer Jeremy Cunningham’s recent work draws on trauma and grief to inspire some compelling music -- recorded as a tribute to his brother who was murdered in 2008. His music draws Chicago peers into…


CharlieBallantine

Charlie Ballantine

Guitarist Charlie Ballantine is no stranger to ambitious projects having released an album of his own renditions of the music of Bob Dylan, and now a double LP of the music of Thelonious Monk. He's…


EthanPhilion

Ethan Philion

Bassist Ethan Philion takes a respectful, well-researched approach to the music of Charles Mingus. This busy Chicago freelancer, with degrees from Oberlin and DePaul -- and a long list of other…


Jeff Swanson's Case-fitter

Jeff Swanson

Guitarist/Composer Jeff Swanson joins me to talk about his group Case-fitter in advance of their first gig in umpteen months -- upcoming on the Garver Patio. This sextet of accomplished Chicago-based…


Hanging Hearts

Hanging Hearts’ Chris Weller

Along with drummer Quin Kirchner, Chicago's Hanging Hearts consists of Cole DeGenova and Chris Weller, two Oak Park high school chums who went on to formulate their musical identities at Boston's…


Chad McCullough

Chad McCullough

Trumpeter / Composer Chad McCullough brings his quartet to the Garver Patio on July 23 for a COVID-postponed release show for his new record "Forward." Chicago Jazz Magazine highlights Chad for his…


Mars Williams

Mars Williams

One of the cornerstones of the Chicago improvised music scene, Mars Williams is one of those rare musicians who successfully approaches music as a continuum, rather than a series of discrete genres.…


ARP of the Covenant

ARP of the Covenant

This pun-loving band came together in 2003 on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor as fresh-faced graduate students in the department of music. Although they've never quite breached the…


The Dirk Quinn Band

The Dirk Quinn Band

The Dirk Quinn Band is a hard-travelling jam band from the Philadelphia area. The band is on the vanguard of groups heading out on tour as venues across the country begin to re-open. Our conversation…


MaxBessesen

Max Bessesen

Max Bessesen brings his Chicago/Milwaukee based quintet to the Garver Feed Mill Patio to make up for a date postponed from April of 2020. The band will be playing from Max's debut recording as a…


ClauserMercado

Alex Mercado & Todd Clouser

Alex Mercado, considered by many to be one of Mexico’s finest jazz pianists, brings his U.S. based trio to play music from his newly released album “Exilio.” Todd Clouser’s Cinema: Music for Unmade…


Tony Barba + Maitri

Tony Barba Quartet + Maitri

Once again responsible people will gather at a social distance on the Garver Patio to experience some great music--some of which is only available to us now due to pandemic circumstances. The Tony…


Lesser Lakes Trio + Svanoe/Townsend/Zielinski Trio

The two trios coming to Garver, while similar in instrumentation (horn-bass-drums), are substantially different in many ways. The seven-year-old Lesser Lakes Trio draws members from a swath of…


Harriet Tubman

Their music defies categorization, but these days--and in any era, really--the best music does. These are creators whose roots extend into the fertile ‘80s, ‘90s, and beyond, and to artists who were,…


MindStorm

Thomas Ferella, who, along with Dave Stone, makes up the BlueStem Jazz leadership, has collected an extensive archive of video, that he’s shot over the last 15 years. Inspired by the work of another…


Ken Vandermark and Paul Lytton

Throughout his prolific career, Ken Vandermark has led or collaborated in ensembles of every size--from large groups like his Territory Band, to duo settings like the one he will present in Madison.…


KUZU : Rempis – Dorji – Damon

Dave Rempis is a tireless internationally-touring artist, and has led or been a member of 20+ bands, with Chicago-based and other US musicians, and a select group of international comrades. Over the…


REVERSO

Ryan Keberle’s career is an archetype for the talented, creative musician: featured soloist with Maria Schneider; first-call sub on Saturday Night Live; college professor in NYC; projects at every…


FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS

The name “Friends & Neighbors” is an homage to inspiration Ornette Coleman, but also describes the members of this Norwegian band themselves. With the classic jazz quintet instrumentation, these…


KAHIL EL’ZABAR ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE

The success of Kahil El’Zabar’s innovative and creative vision is evidenced not only by the substance and breadth of his career, but also by its longevity. Coming of age in the early years of the…


NOW ENSEMBLE

It’s widely known that southern Wisconsin is something of a hot-bed for New Music in all of its shapes and flavors. With the upcoming performance by NOW Ensemble, Madison has a somewhat rare…


COLLECTOR

Collector twists the definition of a jazz piano trio with a collective process, a healthy dose of electronics, and a focus on free improvisation. For this show they may change their routine a little…


2023

Emily Kuhn with her trumpet

Emily Kuhn

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…


Cisco Bradley

Cisco Bradley

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…


TwinTalk band

TwinTalk

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…


Jeb Bishop

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,…


Scott Amendola

Scott Amendola

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…


Chris Speed

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…


Pandelis Karayorgis

Pandelis Karayorgis

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…


The Dave Bayles Trio

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…


Kenny Reichert

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…


Anna Webber

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…


Michael Brenneis’ Plutonium

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…


ARP of the Covenant

Arp of the Covenant

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.…


Pianist Paul Hecht

Paul Hecht’s Pyrography Trio

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…


Piano Summit 2023

Piano Summit, 2023

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…


Zakk Jones

Zakk Jones

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…


Chad and Bram

Chad McCullough and Bram Weijters

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…


Rempis,Johnson

Rempis, Johnson, Heinemann, Cunningham

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…