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September 2018

Saturday September 22 | 4:00 pm
Free

“Intellectual Property”: A solo show of work by Julia Dratel (Opening)

“Intellectual Property” is a collection of photographs (film and digital), moving images, and words by Julia Dratel that are caught in the ongoing negotiation of internal and external worlds. The assembled works together form ruminations and queries into trauma and memory, capitalism and social control, kinds of information and kinds of taking up space, family, and portraits of the living and nonliving. She is interested in blurring still life, the intimacy of documentary, and performance through imagery that is both casual and surreal.
Sunday September 23 | 9:00 pm
$10

Prisoner’s Song by Gelsey Bell/Erik Ruin, Marvin Tate, Benny Lee

Prisoner’s Song is a performance created by composer Gelsey Bell and visual artist Erik Ruin about the prison experience. Using shadow puppets and projections alongside a variety of musical idioms, the piece draws on historic ballads, poetry, audio interviews with people who have spent time in prison, and other primary sources to create a fragmentary encounter with the states of mind and heart prison engenders. This event will also feature a talk by Benneth/Benny Lee of the National Alliance for the Empowerment of the Formerly Incarcerated, and proceeds from the show will go to support NAEFI.
Monday September 24 | 9:00 pm
$10

Collective Quintet & Marcel Bonfim Quartet

Members of the Chicago Composers Collective present their original music in quintet format, and Brazilian born bassist Marcel Bonfim leads a quartet that explores the intersection of American jazz with Brazilian folk music.
Wednesday September 26 | 6:00 pm
Free

Discoveries: Hear & Be Heard

Dalia Chin Performs electroacoustic music for flute by Composers Pablo Chin “Inside the Shell” Fernanda Navarro “About Beauty” Audience and Artists discuss the inspiration, process, and insights in the collaborative process between composer and performer, acoustics and electronics.
Thursday September 27 | 9:00 pm
$10

Kieran Daly/Jason Roebke Duo & Tiny Home Living

Two Chicago-based bands make their Elastic Arts debut, featuring a meeting of musicians from disparate corners of the scene.
Friday September 28 | 7:00 pm
$10

Party Timessss 1988: Friday

PARTY TIMESSSS 1988 DAY 2
Saturday September 29 | 7:00 pm
$10

Party Timessss 1988: Saturday

PARTY TIMESSSS 1988 SATURDAY 9/29
Sunday September 30 | 7:00 pm
$10

Party Timessss 1988: Sunday

PARTY TIMESSSS 1988 SUNDAY 9/30!

October 2018

Monday October 1 | 9:00 pm
$10

Greg Dudzienski Quartet & Mitch Paliga Sextet

Saxophonists Greg Dudzienski and Mitch Paliga each lead an ensemble playing their original compositions.
Tuesday October 2 | 7:00 pm
$5 – $10

Meekling TALKS

Meekling TALKS is a fictional lecture series for lifetime learners and people who want to know, regardless of the facts. This is the second in our series of fall TALKS, with an illustrious line-up of expert lecturers:
Thursday October 4 | 9:00 pm
$10

Berman/Abrams Duo & Brandon Seabrook Trio

From the idiosyncratic musical mind of guitarist/composer Brandon Seabrook comes his latest album Convulsionaries (Astral Spirits, September 2018). In his close to two decades in NYC, Seabrook has garnered international acclaim for his sui generis approach to the electric guitar, one which astounds with tremolo pyrotechnics and an entropic sensibility. While those elements are in full effect on Convulsionaries, they’re met with a mature and thorough sense of dynamics, pace, groove, and feeling. Joining Seabrook on this release are the young upright bassist Henry Fraser (Anthony Coleman, The Full Salon) and Daniel Levin (Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri), two revolutionary string players who have been working in various creative ensembles in Brooklyn for years. Together, the string trio tackles Seabrook’s thorny compositions, which perpetually surprise and unseat the listener throughout the album’s trajectory. The trio’s frightening rhythmic precision oscillates between ominous repeating ostinatos; cathartic, angular, and intricate counterpoint; and a massive dynamic range which can change in a nanosecond. Convulsionaries is the sound of three restless virtuosos, making a bold statement, guiding listeners through a gauntlet of emotional spaces with the aid of these structural assemblages, turning impending doom into a deep cathartic release. Journeymen Chicago improvisers Berman and Abrams open up tonight's proceedings.
Monday October 8 | 9:00 pm
$10

Nick Salvucci Quintet & Evan Levine Trio

Tenor saxophonist Nick Salvucci makes his Elastic debut, and bassist Evan Levine and his trio celebrate the release of their new album.
Tuesday October 9 | 8:00 pm
$20 – $25

You Oughta Know!: A Tribute to Firebrands of the 90s!

Celebrate fierce femme singers and songwriters of the 90s with the first feminist equity musical theatre company: Firebrand Theatre! Performed by Chicago's best Firebrands, and the critically acclaimed casts of 9-5, Lizzie and Firebrand's upcoming production of Caroline, or Change. Hosted by Becca Brown and Liz Chidester. Produced in association with Bill Brickey of Shoobooty Productions' Emerging Artist Series at Elastic Arts in Logan Square.
Thursday October 11 | 9:00 pm
$10

Good/Hatcher Duo & Kimmel/Clinkman/Roebke

Elastic Arts regulars Zach Good and Gerrit Hatcher negotiate across disciplines in this new duo pairing, while Jeff Kimmel, Andrew Clinkman and Jason Roebke also convene for a first time meeting of improvisations.
Friday October 12 | 8:00 pm
$10

Matt Weston – solo percussion + electronics

Matt Weston plays percussion and electronics. His performances eschew traditional percussion phrasing and instrumentation.
Saturday October 13 | 9:00 pm
$10

Kuzu Record Release Party!!

Kuzu returns to Chicago towards the tail end of a fourteen-date North American Tour, to celebrate the release of their first record, Hiljaisuus on Astral Spirits, which was recorded in this very room in September 2017! Comprised of Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis, recent Chicago transplant Tyler Damon, and Asheville-based guitarist Tashi Dorji, this band relishes in a patient development of themes and ideas into a maelstrom of energy. Detroit-based Shells opens the night up with a set of punk wildlife!
Sunday October 14 | 8:00 pm
$10

IE (Minneapolis) + Whitney Johnson / Lia Kohl Duo + Matt Mehlan Solo + Rob Jacobs (of Wei Zhongle) Solo

Minneapolis's IE comes to town in support of their new album Pome (Moon Glyph). They are joined by Chicagoans Matt Mehlan (solo), Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl (duo), and Rob Jacobs (solo)
Monday October 15 | 9:00 pm
$10

The KickBack & Clif Wallace Quintet

Drummer Clif Wallace leads his trio and quintet in consecutive performances.
Thursday October 18 | 9:00 pm
$10

Tim Daisy’s Metamatic Percussion

Metamatic is a percussion trio organized by Chicago based drummer and composer Tim Daisy. The trio, which includes fellow percussionists Philip Sudderberg and Julian Kirshner, perform original compositions and improvisations arranged for a wide array of traditional and non traditional percussion instruments. Formed in the Spring of 2018, Metamatic will have its premier performance at the Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago on October 18th, 2018, with more performances both in Chicago and abroad planned for the near future. The title for the group is inspired by the wondrous sculptural machines created by Swiss artist Jean Tinguley in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Monday October 22 | 9:00 pm
$10

The Unknown New & Demon House

Paul Mutzabaugh's large ensemble returns to Elastic, followed by the premier of guitar/drums duo Demon House.
Thursday October 25 | 9:00 pm
$10

Murphy/Bach/Hatwich & Sleight Of Hand

Making their Elastic Arts debut, Sleight of Hand is a Chicago-based free improvising trio. Combining strings, woodwinds and found percussion they focus on creating spontaneous sounds of acoustic avant-garde.
Monday October 29 | 9:00 pm
$10

Paul Bedal Solo & Dion Kerr Quintet

Pianist Paul Bedal performs solo, and Miami bassist Dion Kerr leads his audio/visual quintet.

November 2018

Thursday November 1 | 9:00 pm
$10

Wark/Heinemann/Harris & Hatcher/Maunu/Kirshner

Two new working trios make their Elastic Arts debut, featuring some of the bright lights amongst a new generation of Chicago improvisers.
Monday November 5 | 9:00 pm
$10

Hart/Wark & Berman/Heinemann/Drobka

Angelo Hart and Jake Wark play a set of improvised duets, and Milwaukee-based drummer Devin Drobka convenes a trio that includes a recent transplant to Chicago and a longtime fixture of the city's music scene.
Thursday November 8 | 9:00 pm
$10

Jarrett Gilgore & Friends

Baltimore-based alto saxophonist Jarrett Gilgore returns to Chicago after his Exposure Series debut at Elastic Arts in March of this year to to pair his tart, Jimmy Lyons-influenced alto sound together with a number of Chicago regulars.
Monday November 12 | 9:00 pm
$10

Stine/Perraud & Mazzarella/Berman/Roebke/Perraud

In conjunction with The Bridge cultural exchange project, the Anagram Series presents a collaboration between Chicago improvisers and French drummer Edward Perraud.
Thursday November 15 | 9:00 pm
$10

The Bridge #15

The fifteenth and final incarnation of the first round of the ongoing transatlantic collaboration The Bridge makes its way back to Elastic Arts as part of their fall 2018 tour of Chicago and the Midwest.
Monday November 19 | 9:00 pm
$10

John Wojciechowski Trio & Clark Sommers’ Lens

Saxophonist John Wojciechowski performs with his trio, and bassist Clark Sommers presents his original compositions in quintet format.
Monday November 26 | 9:00 pm
$10

Mobile Vanguard & Piet/Piazza/Shead

Tonight's concert features two improvising trios.
Thursday November 29 | 9:00 pm
$10

Goldberg/Bradfield/Hall

Renowned Bay Area clarinetist returns to Chicago to initiate a new collaborative trio with two esteemed hometown colleagues - saxophonist Geof Bradfield and percussionist Dana Hall.
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