Chris Speed

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 with her debut recording “Sky Stories” that features vocals, strings, and multiple ensembles. The album release tour for her new quintet record  “Ghosts Of Us” is sure to scare up some eager listeners.

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 post-industrial landscape of Williamsburg and grew until it was pushed out by gentrification. Cisco’s document preserves an art form so ephemeral that, in many cases, it might otherwise have been lost to history.

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 this familiarity with deep exploration of a fairly spare orchestration and its possibilities. The results brim with curiosity, emotion, and wonder.

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, some of the most engaging anywhere—over the long haul. And the trombone trio he‘s currently on the road with is one of the most exceptional.

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 mastery of eclecticism. And if the stellar list of musicians he’s worked with is any indication—including Will Blades and Cyro Baptista on this outing, it’s working. 

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 Jazz–and choose to speak with a unified voice. But Chris Speed is no stranger to the most creative frontiers of this music having been an essential leader of this rarefied community since the late 1980s.

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 much of his work has emerged from the creative scene centered in greater Boston, he also has long-standing connections in Chicago—which include noted instigator Dave Rempis who has assisted here in assembling a brand new group of bold improvisors. 

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 and skipping a bit as they engage it’s because they’ve invited you into the creative process in real time, which is a rare thing indeed.

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 his previous outing as leader.

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 develop her potential as an instrumentalist, she’s stopping by our fair city while on the road with her evocatively named Shimmer Wince Quintet.