The Chicago Edge Ensemble, featuring renowned Chicago jazz musicians Mars Williams (sax), Hamid Drake(drums), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Dan Phillips (guitar), and Krzysztof Pabian (bass), performs at Arts + Literature Laboratory on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 8pm. Tickets $20 in advance online at http://chicagoedge.bpt.me or $25 at the door. Online sales end one hour before the show. Doors open at 7:30pm.
Chicago Edge Ensemble
Mars Williams is an open-minded musician, composer and educator who commutes easily between free jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock, Mars has played and recorded with The Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, Massacre, Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Ministry, Power Station, Die Warzau, The Waitresses, Kiki Dee, Pete Cosey, Billy Squier, DJ Logic, Wayne Kramer, John Scoffield, Charlie Hunter, Kurt Elling, Swollen Monkeys, Mike Clark, Jerry Garcia, Naked Raygun, Friendly Fires, The Untouchables, Blow Monkeys and virtually every leading figure of Chicago’s and New York City's "downtown" scene.
John Zorn credits Mars as "one of the true saxophone players--someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn. This tremendous enthusiasm is an essential part of his sound, and it comes through each note every time he plays. Whatever the situation, Mars plays exciting music. In many ways he has succeeded in redefining what versatility means to the modern saxophone player.”
HAMID DRAKE was born in Monroe, Louisiana but for the most part was raised in Chicago. In 1974 he began what was to be a long-term musical relationship with Fred Anderson who introduced him to performing with many of the other artists in the AACM. In late 1977 Drake joined Adam Rudolph and Foday Musa Suso to form the Mandingo Griot society, one of the first groups in the United States to explore the relationship between traditional West African and American musical idioms. He met Don Cherry when the group recorded their first LP on Flying fish Records. Drake’s relationship with Cherry continued until Cherry’s passing in 1995 doing many tours throughout Europe, Japan and the United States with him. Don Cherry provided a major breakthrough for Drake not only musically but spiritually as well. Since 1987 Drake has recorded toured extensively in Europe and the US with German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann and also with bass player William Parker in several of his ensembles and with many... Read More
Jeb Bishop has performed, toured and recorded with groups including the Vandermark Five, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls, Terminal Four, School Days, Ken Vandermark's Territory Band, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Globe Unity Orchestra, and his own Jeb Bishop Trio. He also co-led the Lucky 7s project with New Orleans-based trombonist Jeff Albert, and is a member of cooperative quartet The Engines.
Dan Phillips is an American guitarist, composer educator and bandleader who has worked professionally in New York, Chicago, Bangkok and Tokyo. His Chicago based Trio has released three original recordings “Journey in Mind,” “Moment of Clarity” and “Destination Unknown.” His Bangkok Quartet has two releases “Bangkok Edge” and “Bangkok Edge Live” he also produced an educational/ concert DVD “Jazz Guitar Basics and Beyond.” He is also the leader of the “Chicago Edge Ensemble” which just released its first album “Decaying Orbit” featuring Chicago greats Hamid Drake, Jeb Bishop and Mars Williams. He has appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada, Copenhagen Jazz Festival in Denmark, Ashikaga City Jazz Festival in Japan, Pattaya Music Festival, Bangkok Jazz Festival, Chiang Mai Jazz Festival and Hua Hin Jazz Festivals in Thailand, and Krakow and Empty Bottle Jazz Festivals in Chicago. Dan has also presented Jazz workshops throughout Asia, Europe and The U. S. He is currently... Read More
Krzysztof Pabian hails from Europe as a classical-trained bassist. He began his music studies at the age of 8 on piano and switched to bass at age 14. Krzysztof moved to the U.S. in 1993 where he studied at Northwestern University. Krzysztof has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He has also worked in an array of new music ensembles under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Christopher Eshenbach, Zubin Matha, Lawrence Foster, and Pinchas Zukerman. In the area of Jazz Krzysztof has performed with Danillo Perez, Judy Roberts, Max Roach, Ron Blake, Jarek Smientana and the Lincoln Center Jazz Sextet. Krzysztof has toured throughout North America and Europe.
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Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.
Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.