Cristal Sabbagh (photo by Ricardo Adame)
Sharon Udoh (photo by Kate Sweeney)
Matthew Davis (photo by Dan Merlo)
Matthew Davis Quintet (photo by Chicago Jazz Media)
“I'll be deconstructing modern-day Black protest songs I've written while Cristal, you know, holds the entire world's suffering in her body while she moves, as she often does.” - Sharon Udoh
Following Cristal Sabbagh and Sharon Udoh’s powerful multidisciplinary opening of the Elastic space, Matthew Davis’ quintet continues the journey with deep grooves drawing on traditions the world over.
8:30 pm:
Sharon Udoh - piano
Cristal Sabbagh - movement
9:30p: Matthew Davis Quintet
Matthew Davis: Trombone/ Bansuri
Preyas Roy: Vibraphone
Jeff Wheaton: Bass
Jess Anzaldúa: Percussion
Isaiah Spencer: Drums
$15 / $10 w/ Student ID -
Tickets Available at the Door
About the Artists
Matthew Davis is a versatile composer and multi-instrumentalist known for seamlessly blending elements of jazz, avant-garde, Afro-Cuban, and Hindustani music into his work. With a deep-rooted passion for sonic exploration, he creates emotive soundscapes that captivate and transport listeners into new realms. His formal training combined with a fascination for musical exploration has shaped his unique approach to composition and improvisation.
From hypnotic grooves to cinematic arrangements, Davis's music evokes a range of feelings and experiences, reflecting the depth and diversity of his artistic influences for audiences worldwide.
Cristal Sabbagh’s performance practice, rooted in improvisation and Butoh, walks a line between the everyday, the divine, the personal, and the political. In embodying in her art transformational memories, while simultaneously celebrating pop culture and the experimental, she challenges power structures and awakens viewers’ senses. Working both in a solo capacity and with collaborators, Sabbagh is equally attuned to individual perspectives and collective structures. In various configurations, these collaborators have regularly engaged in improvised performances, opening up new avenues for Sabbagh’s material and conceptual exploration. She is the creator and curator of Freedom From and Freedom To events that are improvisational performance environments which interrogate movement and sound. In 2021 Cristal was awarded a 3Arts / Make a Wave Artist grant, and in 2023 she was awarded an Individual Artists Program grant from DCASE.
Sharon Udoh is a Nigerian-American pianist, composer, arranger, and vocalist based in Chicago. Her work combines vocals that seemingly erupt from the center of the earth with a stage presence that somehow feels both dangerous and kind. Their collaborators have included Marvin Tate, Adam Zanolini, clipping., Tune-Yards, Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus, Ben Lamar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, and on this particular night, Cristal Sabbagh. His performances have been described as a warm bowl of soup, a tornado, a jalapeño pepper, a Jackson Pollock painting, a bulldozer, and magnetic. Find out more at counterfeitmadison.com.