Banana Acid (L-R: Erez Dessel, Caroline Jesalva, Garrett Frees, Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Tyler Wagner) - photo by
Amos Egleston (photo by Karlyn Gehring)
Tonight features groups lead by young improvisers in Chicago’s free music scene! Don’t call them up and coming—they’ve already more than arrived, and have the sound to prove it.
8:30 - Amos Egleston Quartet
Amos Egleston - trumpet
Garret Frees - tenor Sax
John Sutton - bass
Andy Danstrom - drums
9:30 - Banana Acid
Erez Dessel - piano
Garrett Frees - saxophones
Caroline Jesalva - violin, voice
Aaron Kaufman-Levine - saxophones
Tyler Wagner - bass
$15 general admission, $10 student discount, available at the door
About the Artists
Amos Egleston is an improvising trumpeter living in Chicago. He has a background in classical music and jazz and holds a masters degree in Performance from Northern Illinois University. His music is influenced by the work of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, as well as current members of the Chicago improvisational music scene. With various ensembles, he performs regularly in and around Chicago.
Banana Acid is an improvising ensemble made up of Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, and Tyler Wagner. Banana Acid is committed to the practice of spontaneous composition, influenced and shaped by their studies at New England Conservatory of Music. Their unique sonic language synthesizes deep individual studies of various music traditions, including early jazz, free jazz, classical, electro-acoustic, and folk music. Their recording and performance techniques draw on modernist and postmodernist cultural movements, including surrealism and deconstructivism. A creative and adventurous force in the world of the avant-garde, their sound is uncompromising, and their musical approach pushes at the boundaries of free jazz.
Within the last two years, all members have moved to Chicago where they actively perform, record, curate, and present improvised music. Activities include creating and presenting a multidisciplinary music festival featuring all original music by Chicago musicians; curating multiple series’ with visual and experimental video artists; presenting the Banana Acid Fruit Stand Variety Show (an exhibition of visual art and music). Their debut album Unio Mystica was released June 2025 on cassette tape.