IMPROVISED MUSIC SERIES

The Elastic Improvised Music Series started in April of 2002 at the Elastic Arts Foundation’s original Humboldt Park home, 3030. It was curated by Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis from 2002-2023, and is currently curated by Ishmael Ali, Molly Jones, and Ben Zucker.

The series featured over 900 concerts by local and internationally known musicians, improvisers, and sound artists, building on the legacy of artist-based presentation of experimental music in Chicago that dates back to the AACM in the 1960’s, Lower Links and Southend Music Works in the 80’s, Lunar Cabaret, Hothouse, Velvet Lounge, and Empty Bottle beginning in the 90’s, and Hungry Brain, Hideout, and Constellation in more recent years.  It presents performances that explore improvisation from a variety of vantage points, ranging from jazz-based approaches, to new music-influenced ones, to completely non-idiomatic forms of improvisation.   

While there are too many internationally renowned musicians and improvisers who have participated in the series to mention, the true legacy of the series has been to provide a platform for emerging Chicago-based artists to develop their work.  Over the course of the past two decades, many of those artists have gone on to establish themselves as leaders in the field, including folks like Josh Berman, Jaimie Branch, Tim Daisy, James Falzone, Keefe Jackson, Nicole Mitchell, Junius Paul, Mike Reed, Tomeka Reid, Matana Roberts, Jason Roebke, Jason Stein, and Katie Young.    

Offshoots of the Improvised Music Series that were also produced by Dave Rempis in conjunction with Elastic Arts have included the 3030 Festival of Improvised Music from 2003-2005, The Umbrella Music Festival from 2006-2015, and The Exposure Series from 2016-2019.