Entries associated with the tag "Elastic":

Two of the best-known groups to have featured local reedist Mars Williams will perform over the next two days. This evening at the Hideout the NRG Ensemble, the wild group once led by free-jazz icon and endearing nutjob Hal Russell, reconvenes for one of its sporadic "Hal the Weenie" Halloween shows, named after a favorite song from its vast repertoire. The lineup includes mainstays Williams, Brian Sandstrom (bass, guitar), Kent Kessler (bass), and Steve Hunt (drums) along with new recruits Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello) and Dave Rempis (reeds). Between sets Yakuza front man and saxophonist Bruce Lamont will spin what the schedule is calling "Tunes of Terror."

Over at Elastic tomorrow Williams's Witches and Devils, which began as an Albert Ayler homage, plays an even rarer gig. Though early announcements said that superb Denver-based trumpeter Hugh Ragin would be participating, instead the leader will be fronting an all-Chicago lineup--it's nothing to sneeze at, though, featuring Hunt, Lonberg-Holm, Kessler, pianist Jim Baker, and trumpeter Jaimie Branch. Both shows promise plenty of paint-peeling free jazz.

Today's playlist:

Theresa Andersson, Hummingbird, Go! (Basin Street)
Marcos Valle, Samba "Demais" (Odeon)
Frida Hyvönen, Silence is Wild (Secretly Canadian)
Blitzen Trapper, Furr (Sub Pop)
Michael Bates's Outside Sources, A Fine Balance (Between the Lines)

Keyboardist Paul Giallorenzo is probably best known around town as one of the driving forces behind the eclectic performance space Elastic Arts (formerly known as 3030 when it occupied an old Humboldt Park church), but he’s also an active presence on the local free jazz and experimental music scene. Along with saxophonist Dave Rempis, cornetist Josh Berman, bassist Anton Hatwich, and drummer Frank Rosaly, he’s a member of the group Get In to Go Out, which has a forthcoming album due on 482 Music. But it's with his duo, Masul, which recently released its debut, The Arousal City (Creative Sources), that he's captured in a much more abstract light.

A collaboration with Swiss reedist Thomas Mejer (who enjoyed a fruitful Chicago residency a few years back as part of the Sister Cities program with Lucerne) Masul crafts subdued yet colorful electro-acoustic meditations, shuffling cycled melodic snippets, hovering drones, gently rippling noise, and all manner of sibilant breathiness (courtesy of Mejer’s whispery, unpitched columns of air). Giallorenzo is credited with piano, synthesizer, found samples, and computer, and it’s to Masul’s credit that the genesis of any given sound often remains hazy, both musicians managing to forge a rich entwined sound stream where the subtle interactions are clearly audible.

On Monday, June 30, Giallorenzo will collaborate at Elastic with another Swiss musician, sound artist Marie-Cecile Reber, who specializes in capturing the sounds and motion of nature (such as the swaying of flowers in the breeze) and translating them into abstract electronic tones.

Yesterday the office of the Cook County medical examiner confirmed that it was indeed Malachi Ritscher who committed suicide last Friday. He was 52.

This Sunday, November 12, Elastic will host a memorial for Ritscher from 5 to 8 PM. Saxophonist Dave Rempis, who is co-organizing the event, writes: "Malachi left many people behind who will greatly miss him, his sense of humor, his fierce individualism, and his selfless efforts in documenting the music for so many years. He was truly a unique and passionate person, who followed his beliefs unflinchingly up until the end. If you have anything that you'd like to bring (photos, etc.) that has some relevance to Malachi, please do. We'd like to display some of these items for everyone to share in. And please pass this information on to others who knew Malachi. There are many out there who will greatly miss his presence."