Wilkerson / Ra / Dammann / Berman
Joe Rauen
Joe Rauen makes musical instruments from household items. He uses things such as kitchen utensils, plumbing, canes, hockey sticks, pool noodles, tennis racquets, and salad bowls to make playable musical sculptures. Joe will present improvised music based on audience suggestions.
Christopher Dammann (bass), Avreeayl Ra (percussion), Edward Wilkerson, Jr. (reeds), and Josh Berman (cornet) are internationally recognized artists with Chicago as a home base.
8:30 pm: Joe Rauen
9:30 pm: Dammann / Berman / Ra / Wilkerson
$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door
About the Artists
Joe Rauen is an artist and musician who makes musical instruments from household items. He uses things such as kitchen utensils, plumbing, canes, hockey sticks, pool noodles, tennis racquets, and salad bowls to make playable musical sculptures. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and the first person to play a kitchen sink on live television.
Christopher Dammann is a composer/bassist who lives in Chicago. He considers himself indebted to the generosity and knowledge of those he collaborates, studies, and performs with, including Jim Baker, Avreeayl Ra, Steve Hunt, Vincent Davis, Brian Sandstrom, Edward Wilkerson Jr, Jon Irabagon, Mabel Kwan, James Davis, and Brian Gephart. Recent work includes the debut recording of his current sextet (Scott Clark, Jon Irabagon, Edward Wilkerson, Mabel Kwan, James Davis) and an upcoming quintet release expected July 2026 of a new quintet (Jim Baker, mike Reed, Jon Irabagon, James Davis) on the Shifting Paradigm label. Christopher is a 2025 Illinois Arts Council Creative Catalyst Grant recipient and a 2025 3arts Make a Wave Awardee.
In addition to his work as a performer, Christopher is also proud to be a teaching artist with The People’s Music School of Chicago, Chicago’s largest tuition free music school.
Drummer/percussionist Avreeayl Ra grew up in Chicago in a house full of music: his father, Arthur “Swinglee” O’Neil, was a tenor saxophonist who mentored many young Chicago musicians, including John Gilmore. He studied drums with Kelan Philip Cohran, one of the cofounders of the AACM, and has since remained a member of that organization. Ra has performed and/or recorded with Fred Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Ari Brown, Oscar Brown, Jr., Charles Gayle, Henry Grimes, Billy Harper, Joseph Jarman, Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Nicole Mitchell, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Malachi Thompson, and many others.
According to the Chicago Tribune he is “an indispensable Chicago innovator, Avreeayl Ra shapes the music-making swirling around him with remarkable precision and poise… extraordinarily sensitive percussion.”
Edward Wilkerson, Jr. is an internationally recognized composer, arranger, saxophonist, clarinetist, and educator based in Chicago, where he has been closely associated with the AACM, serving at one time as its president. He first came to prominence as a member of Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, participating in a number of recordings by the group. As founder and director of the cutting-edge octet 8 Bold Souls, and the 25-member Shadow Vignettes ensemble, Wilkerson has toured festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East.
Josh Berman is an internationally recognized cornetist and composer. He has led the acclaimed Old Idea, Josh Berman and his Gang, and his own trio. In addition to being an indispensable contributor to Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene, Berman has been a concert presenter with fellow Chicagoan Mike reed, producing hundreds of shows over the past 20 years. Berman's work has been critically acclaimed in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, and DownBeat, among others. His recordings can be found on the Chicago's legendary Delmark Records and more recently on Austin's Astral Spirits Records.