< home Performer Bios / G-L A-F / G-L / M-S / T-Z STEPHEN GANSER Stephen Ganser produces and performs under various aliases, the most recent of which is his eclectic Occidental project. In addition to working with sound, Stephen has found some success with painting, photography, and video. Although he enjoys these other arts, his preference is for music, mostly of the electronic variety. Often complaining of having too many interests (and thus, influences), Stephen¹s musical output has been extremely varied, never sticking with any one genre or style long enough to master it. (Jack of all trades. Master of none.) His ultimate goal is to find a satisfying synthesis for all of his passions. ³If only I could combine all the major influences in my life into some kind of cohesive body of workŠwhether that¹s electronic music or painting, I don¹t think that matters so much. What matters is that I appropriate the things I love in a way that feels right to me. If I can successfully incorporate vinyl records, comic books, sex, karintou, dinosaurs, Wong Kar-wai, and sharks into my work, then maybe I can find some peace.² Stephen wishes that he could dislike more things, that too many things interest him, and he cannot focus on any one thing long enough to finish it. ³Sometimes I¹m just like, ŒShut the fuck up, Brain! Let me get some fucking sleep.¹ I have too many ideas that are too tangential; I don¹t feel they are related strongly enough to what I am currently doing, and I don¹t pursue them...[There¹s] not enough time. I hope I¹m reincarnated. I¹ve got at least five lifetime¹s worth of work to do.² Stephen wants you to buy his records and ³peeceowt² so the world can be a better place. top CAROL GENETTI Carol Genetti is one of the few vocal artists in the United States today who is solely dedicated to free improvised and experimental music. Mixing music idioms-such as jazz scat, Bulgarian folk singing, and extended vocal techniques, Genetti's non-verbal sound palette has a surprising depth and breadth. She has been described by Achy Obejas of the Chicago Tribune as "...a vocalist whose singing is, perhaps, an acquired taste in the same way as steak tartar or sushi... once you hook into it, it's really quite exquisite, almost otherworldly." Genetti has performed throughout the US, Canada, and Europe and has performed with Tatsu Aoki, Pauline Oliveros, Yuko Nexus Kitamura, Eric Leonardson, Bob Marsh, Michael Zerang, Jack Wright, Saturo Wono, and George Flynn. top STEVEN MICHAEL GLABMAN Artist and Poet. Steve has been honored by the Illinois Institute of Technology for his Poem "LAUSANNE" and has been the Curator's Choice winner in 1997 and 1998 for The Around The Coyote Arts Festival. Steve is a Charter member of the Nomadic Group of artists' that make up the UNOFFICIAL SOUP KITCHEN, He is currently moderator of the public forums and designer of the Icons. Steve worked with the Chicago Peace and Music Festival from 1987 to 1994. Mr. Glabman is a regular performer with Cathleen Schandelmiers Beach Poets as well as a Co-Host., He has been MC of many Poetry Events, including Art-a Pa- Loosa and the Columbia Poetry Readings. Steve's Artwork has been used as the cover for Samarai Celestial's monumental swan song COSMIC GOLD MILLENIUM CD, Twenty Six of Steve's Paintings are featured in the independent film GOONDIE GOMEZ, His work has been used for many garage and jazz bands. Steve was a founding member of The And Illusion Dogs and wrote most of the material, Also Recorded with The Measles, Orgone Accumulators, Memphis Mumphrey and many other ensemble bands. Always striving to experiment and grow. Steve is working on a Film Retrospective Called CHANGE OF THE CENTURY. Steve has written all the material for the Book MYTH VS REALITY, which this show is based, as well as published books: BLACK OLIVES 2002, MINDCLOCK LUBRICANT 1998, THERE IS A GARDEN IN MY FACE 1985, and PENETRATION 1984. His work has been published in Oakton Street Review, Hairtrigger 8, 9 and 10, SoS Jazz Magazine, Scenezine, Xpression Journal, Columbia Poetry Review, and Subnation. His Poetry is published on the web at WWW.USK.ORG and at Chicagopoetry.com He has been a contributor to Campbell and Trent's THE EARTHLY RECORDINGS OF SUN RA second edition, and to Sun Ra Research #37. top AARON GETSUG Raised in Chicago around the AACM community, Aaron Getsug has developed his sound on a variety of woodwinds, primarily baritone saxophone. Over the years he has played alto and tenor saxophone, soprano and bass clarinet as well as electric bass. Aaron has studied and performed with Ernest Dawkins, Mwata Bowden, James Kirk, Ameen Muhammad, Frank Tiberi, George Garzone, Charlie Kolhase and Hamiet Bluiett. Over the past 7 years he has performed with AACM artists residing in Chicago, performed at various Chicago Jazz festivals and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1998 he recorded an album Love Notes from the Madhouse with John Tchicai and Yusef Komunyakaa which is on the 8th Harmonic Breakdown record label. Currently he plays in the Baritone Sax chair in Ernest Dawkins1 Live the Spirit band. In the CORE trio he plays reeds and contributes compositions to the group1s repertoire. top MIKE GILES my name is mike giles, and i'm coming straight outta iowa.  my dad is a trucker, mom a lunch lady, sister a scientist, wife a killer flutist, and son the greatest thing ever.  i'm right-handed, won't eat beans, never seen the simpsons, spent four years at a community college, was shift supervisor at taco johns a while back, and am named after some baseball player my mom had a crush on.  i went to the university of iowa and learned to play the saxophone.  gave a lot of plasma then too.  i like to cook, hate the phone, and got third place in the 6th grad talent show lip-syncing to "i'm just a gigolo."  grew up on country, got hooked on hip hop, and now am down for anything.  almost. top DANIEL GODSTON Daniel studied at the University of Michigan and Mills College, and he and his wife Kristin live in Logan Square. He is interested in exploring intersections between various musical genres and interrelationships among art forms, and Synapse Bound Book is an exciting doorway for those possibilities. He has performed with groups at HotHouse, 3030, Thirteenth Floor Gallery, Stolizzo Gallery, Peter Jones Gallery and other Chicago-area venues. top VINNIE GOLIA Vinny Golia, the internationally noted multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader has become an important contributer to the vanguard of creative music. As a composer he fuses the rich heritage of jazz, contemporary classical and world music in to his unique compositions. As a performer, Golia has presented his music to concert audiences in Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States in Ensembles varying dramatically, in size and instrumentation. At the forefront of improvised music, he plays twenty different woodwinds, plus various ethnic aerophones. top GUNDA GOTTSCHALK Gunda Gottschalk (violin, Viola) Born 1969, live in Wuppertal first playing the violin instruction at 7 years  89-95 study of the general musician drawing and Instrumentalpaedagogik with the speciality violin at the university for music Cologne, department of Wuppertal with Professor Johannes bounce and Susanne Imhof.  Violinmeisterkurse with Stephan Picard, Antje Weithaas and Sascha Bron Jan.95 university conclusion Resuming Violinstudien with Stephan Picard (Hans Eisler university, Berlin) and Angelika Budde (Guerzenich orchestra, Cologne) Artistic activities as an professional musician Co-operation in different orchestras, also as Solistin   Performance of contemporary chamber music in various occupations since 1991 with Partita Radicale, ensemble for new ones and improvised music. Ensembleeigene of programs: Improvisation cycles, multimedia composition, Film music, child theatre. Co-operation with komponistInnen from Germany, Romania, and Israel. Stage music in own production "crime film" together with the theatre workshop Marburg. 1996 stay at the college of music Tianjin, (China) for the study of the Chinese music tradition continuous co-operation in different ensembles for contemporary and improvised music: William Parkers creative orchestra, New York, real time ensemble North-Rhine/Westphalia, Bulls Eye orchestra, Cologne, playing fields, Cologne, variation on Love Surpreme, Brussels, Systhème friche, Paris, Krizda Krizda-Trio, Toulouse regular co-operation with improvisation musicians e.g.. Sebastian of gram, Peter Jacquemyn, Peter Kowald, Christine Wodrascka, Ute of peoples, Xu Feng Xia Solo violin and Viola in the own program?Solitude? and?Wassermonde? Specializedspreading projects within the ranges: Literature, play, screen end art and dance Together with Thomas Beimel Stipendiatin that North-Rhine/Westphalia film donation for the development and production of the radio play "the paradies" Since 1995 Concerts in Peter Kowalds "global village" formation Appearances in the context of international Festivals (?uncool? (Poschiavo), did music improvise? (Luzern), music?(Antwerpen)?fruits de mhére? (Mhére), (Barcelona), (Frankfurt), it it pleases? (Berlin), (Cologne), noise? (Wiesbaden), Bausch Festival? (Wuppertal), ect.) Repeated Einladug on the New Yorker Festival,visions OF the 21 st century, for automatic data processing avant guard music and improvisation Selected for 6. New generation forum that German society for new music in co-operation with the ensemble decaying Concerts in many countries of Europe, China and the USA. top DAVID GROSS Labeled as "One of Boston's steadfast explorers", by Bob Blumenthal of the Boston Globe, saxophonist and clarinetist David Gross discovered the world of improvised music while studying with Yusef Lateef at Hampshire College. He has performed with Le Quan Ninh, Eddie Prevost, Steve Roden, Martin Tetrault, Glenn Spearman, Raphe Malik and many members of the Boston free-improv scene including Bhob Rainey, Greg Kelley, and Laurence Cook. Currently, Gross is transforming the saxophone into exactly what it is: a metal tube with keys, mouthpiece, and a reed. Reviews of his recordings, on his own Tautology label with ensembles EED and FETISH, have been as varied as "The range of textured noise that he cajoles from his instrument is impressive" to "lengthy episodes of fingernails ripping at a blackboard." He has performed throughout the US. top MIKE HAGEDORN Trombonist and producer Mike Hagedorn has worn many musical hats. He began his home-based recording series 4boxs Recorded Entertainment in 2001 and has produced records with his groups 1,2,3,4 (experimental/improvisational cut-and-paste collages), Typewash (trombone-led heavy metal/funk power trio) and Temeritorium (post-modern jazz), all of which has received critical acclaim. He studied classical technique with chamber and orchestral trombonist Mark Fisher at Northern Illinois University. Mike has played with Ken Vandermark, Cheer-Accident, Michael Zerang and Red Moon Theater, and with a wide variety of Chicago's jazz, rock and experimental groups. When performing with 1,2,3,4 Mike switches between acoustic and electronic sounds to present his unique approach to the trombone. Currently Mike is working on Nosebleed, a trombone/tuba/drumset instrumental tribute album to The Stooges. Free MP3 downloads of all 4boxs albums can be found at www.4boxs.com. top ANDREW HASENPFLUG Drummer/Percussionist Andrew Hasenpflug started his career with the drum set, attaining success with the New York revival of Tomfoolery before embarking upon a masters degree in classical percussion. His collaborations include the USAir forceband, the University of Cincinnati Faculty Jazz Ensemble, DenverContemporary Dance Co., Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide, Equity Library Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. His teaching credits include the State University of New York at Purchase, The University of Colorado at Boulder, and The University of Cincinnati. His recording credits include the United States Air Force Band, Rick Lisak Band, Sylvain Acher and Fabien, and Hasenproject, a modern percussion duo with his brother Thom. Mr. Hasenpflug currently resides in Chicago where he works as a freelance percussionist and music teacher. The debut CD of his duo 'Divide by Pi' (with keyboardist/synthesist Aaron Johnson) is currently in production. top CHRIS HEENAN Chris Heenan is an Alto-saxophonist/bass clarinetist currently based in Los Angeles. As a performer, Chris has taken part in a newly emerging L.A.improvising scene; playing with such notables as: Peter Kowald, Vinny Golia, Tony Bevan and John Butcher.In years past, Mr. Heenan has studied under Vinny Golia, Wolfgang Fuchs and Ken Vandermark. top KLAAS HEKMAN Klaas Hekman plays the bass saxophone but graduated at the conservatory at The Hague with the flute. He has been playing the bass sax for more than twenty years now, and he proved that it can be a solo instrument with unknown possibilities. Klaas Hekman is also a member of De Nazaten, a band that plays modern dance music from Surinam, and of Intermission, a hard core impro-music band (other musicians in Intermission are the three string bass players Wilbert de Joode, William Parker and Hideji Taninaka). With Intermission Hekman participated in the project ŒRising¹, together with the improvising dancers David Zambrano and Touru Iwashita (butoh, Sankai-juku). Black Tulip Transit was an exchange program set up by Hekman between musicians from Rotterdam and New York. This brought him in contact with down town musicians like Roy Campbell, Bill Saxton, Zane Massey and Reggie Nicholson. top STEVEN HESS Steven Hess has been a student of his record collection since the mid-'70s. Comfortable playing in a range of settings - rock, jazz, experimental, Steven currently plays with the post-folk unit Bosco & Jorge out of Chicago. He tours throughout the United States and can be heard on recordings that are available worldwide. His philosophy on sound and rhythm: Less is more. Steven has played, or otherwise collaborated with, such artists as: Ben Miller (Destroy All Monsters), Fred Longberg-Holm, Jon Mueller, Matt Turner, Rob Mazurek, Cynthia Dall, Adam Sonderberg, Aram Shelton, John and Frank Navin (The Aluminum Group), and Greg Davis, to name a few. top ALAN EMERSON HICKS Alan was born in Chicago and attended Illinois State University where he studied sculpture with a recent graduate student from Rutgers University, Catherine Johnson. After school he started making jewelry, which led to his working with macramé. Performance art gives him permission to stop using paint and become a full-fledged "fiber artist." His studio work, as well as his performance work, now uses fibers. The new work has a look of immediacy, a look that he always strives to achieve. top HILL-ISLET While in Nashville after college, Kurt Hill Iselt began his artistic work on saxophone and flute. With the aid of mentors like Jeff Coffin (now with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), he wrote and performed music that led to the first incarnation of his main project, The aSTraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit. After moving to Chicago in 1997, Kurt played in a variety of music projects (jazz, Moroccan, world beat) and studied with Ken Vandermark. It was the summer of 2000 when he re-assembled The Trapeze Unit and in September they made the groups first Chicago recording. Several shows followed at venues like the Empty Bottle, the Hungry Brain, the Chase Cafe, and the Rogers Park Jazz Festival, as well as a live performance and interview on WNUR. The group has finished playing a year of monthly shows at Phyllis' Musical Inn, and will be releasing their second Chicago studio recording in April or May. Local Afro-Cuban and free improv groups in Chicago also feature Kurt's saxophone and flute work. top TORU HIRONAKA Toru moved in Chicago winter of 1996 and started playing sax. In 2001 he joined Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Big Band Project, and formed a free improv band called Umanamion with Jonathan Chen and Kotaro Seki. He has performed at WNUR, HotHouse, 3030, the Empty Bottle, Pilsen Cafe, and other places. top TIM HODGKINSON Tim Hodgkinson is a performer and composer. His instrumental prowess is manifold, including clarinet, alto sax, bass clarinet, lap steel guitar, keyboards, vocals, electronics, percussion, and viola. He was a founding member of the legendary (and infamous) group Henry Cow. Other bands include God, The Work, and Shams. His work has run the gamut from rock to improvisation. Some of the major performers he has collaborated with include Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, John Zorn, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Tom Cora, Charles Hayward, Sainkho Namtchilak, Tenko Ueno and Ikue Mori, to name a few from the ever-expanding list. He has toured the world and performed at numerous new music festivals in a career that has spanned nearly 4 decades. top STEVE HUNT Steve Hunt was born sometime during the last century; played in dixieland and rock bands; attended Wabash College; studied with Hal Russell and was enlisted as drummer/vibraphonist in the Hal Russell Energy Ensemble, wherein--from some point circa the early 1980s through Mr. Russell's death in the mid 1990s and thereafter in its post-Russell incarnation as "NRG Ensemble"--he played with Russell, Brian Sandstrom, Kent Kessler, Chuck Burdelik, Ken Vandermark, Mars Williams, Nate LePine, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and others. Other musical associations have included the groups Caffeine (with Ken Vandermark & Jim Baker); FJF (with Vandermark, Mats Gustaffson & Kent Kessler); Witches & Devils (with Mars Williams, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Harrison Bankhead, Vandermark & Baker); Parage (with Tony Suto, Bankhead & Baker) and various other groupings. top SATORU IGA Satoru strives to integrate traditional and electronic Japanese musical ideas and approaches into his sound. He has performed with Tatsu Aoki, SonnySeals, Muwata Bowden, and other musicians. top HANK HOFLER Hank Hofler does improv with a laptop and controllers. Past performances include a variety of spaces around Tokyo sharing bills with Oval, Terre Thaemlitz, etc. but more people have spotted him on the streets of Shinjuku pulling off a series of "sound actions" with such sound artists as Sawako Kato and Christopher Penrose. Hank has released under different aliases on numerous compilations and labels, including an album on Mille Plateaux. He recently relocated to Illinois to teach. top SATORU IGA Satoru strives to integrate traditional and electronic Japanese musical ideas and approaches into his sound. He has performed with Tatsu Aoki, Sonny Seals, Muwata Bowden, and other musicians. top JAMESILGENFRITZ Bassist James Ilgenfritz recently left his native southeastern Michigan to reside in the New York area, where he was very active in a variety of improvising ensembles and projects. He has been a member of the avant rock outfit Larval, and the Soundpainting ensemble Weave, as well leading his own band, the anagram ensemble, in new york, he's been working on a trio with woodstock trombonist sarah weaver and new york percussionist tatsuya nakatani, and an ongoing duo with New York guitarist Eyal Maoz. He has released a CD of duets with saxophonist Dan Bennett entitled "made for tv movies will extend yr career by 5ive years", and is currently working on a trio recording with Chicago oboist Kyle Bruckmann and Wuppertal, Germany based violinist Gunda Gottschalk. http://www.semja.org/jun2002/recordings.html top JON IRABAGON Jon Irabagon has studied with Dave Liebman, Chris Potter, Dave Binney, Greg Fishman, and Mark Colby and currently studies saxophone and composition with Dick Oatts at the Manhattan School of Music.While living in Chicago, Jon had the opportunity to perform at the 2000 Chicago Jazz Fesival, opening for Herbie Hancock, the 1999 Ravinia Festival, opening for Wayne Shorter, the 1998 World Music Festival, and the 1998 IAJE National Conference. Other tours and performances include stints with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the 1998 Disney Collegiate All-Star Band, a tour with "Chicago, the Musical," and a performance at the 1999 Macau International Fine Arts Festival in Hong Kong. Jon has shared the stage with such well-known musicians as Chick Corea, Bob Mintzer, Byron Stripling, Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, Tim Warfield, and John Abercrombie. He recently completed a tour of Scotland with his NYC-based group, performing at the Leith Jazz Festival. To hear more, check out his recordings on the Blue Birdland, Solitaire, and Southport Record labels. He is also an active adjudicator and clinician around area high schools. STEVE IVAN Most notable for his group Methong, Steve Ivan has brought his various brass and percussion instruments to several other groups, including Black Orchid, Maluco Samba, and the Chicago Free Music Workshop stretching back to 1970. A fixture of Chicago's free-improvisational community, Steve can be found regularly at Cafe Mestizo's Sunday night and Hotti Biscotti's Monday night jam sessions. He has also contributed memorable performances on trumpet and baritone for the 1,2,3,4 recordings "Ol' Sparky" and "Total Improv!" top top GERT - JANPRINS Electronics, FM modulations, radio, TV His unique self developed live-electronics make use of radio and transmitter technology, and create strong noises with great physical energy. During the last three years Gert-Jan Prins, living in Amsterdam, established himself as one of the central electronic performers in improvised music. Once known as a drummer who played with Johannes Bauer and Luc Houtkamp, he has recently played electronics with Mats Gustafsson, Misha Mengelberg, Fred Van Hove, Lee Ranaldo, Thomas Lehn, Peter van Bergen, Cor Fuhler and in MIMEO. THE FLIRTS w/ Cor Fuhler ( analogue synth, electronics), Gert-Jan Prins ( electr ) on tour New York , Chicago, Boston , october 2002 GJ PRINS SOLO ( electr. ) [NL] forthcoming: new LP vinyl on JDK / Creamgarden 2001 autumnsoloshows: Holland & France E-RAX w/ Peter van Bergen (electr),Thomas Lehn ( analogue synth ) Gert-Jan Prins (electr.) [D/NL] on tour september 2001 : holland UNITED NOISE TOYS w/ Anne La Berge ( fl / electr. ) [USA /NL] MIMEO : ( Rowe , Noetinger , Fuhler , Prins, Wettstein, Rehberg , Fennesz, Durrant, Matthews, Toral, Schmickler, Lehn ) Duo collaborations with Misha Mengelberg, Peter van Bergen and Luc Houtkamp top LEROY JENKINS Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1932, Jenkins was already performing violin at the age of 8 at his local Ebenezeer Baptist Church. The flavor of spritiuals still remains in his music. He studied music in high school and then attended Florida A&M University Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1932, Jenkins was already performing violin at the age of 8 at his local Ebenezeer Baptist Church. The flavor of spritiuals still remains in his music. He studied music in high school and then attended Florida A&M University where he studied with Bruce Hayden and completed his B.S. in music. For the next ten years Jenkins remained in the South teaching music. Jenkins returned to Chicago in 1965 and was drawn into the well spring of Chicago s creative music activities. Almost immediately, he joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM). Jenkins recalls that this union marked the first time that as a violin player he was truly welcomed into creative music performances. During this time he played and recorded with Muhal Richard Abrams , Leo Smith and Anthony Braxton . In 1969, Jenkins left for Paris with Braxton and Smith. With the addition of drummer Steve McCall , they formed the Creative Construction Company . Their 1970 performance in New York, joined by f20 Richard Davis on bass and Abrams on piano, gave New York the first taste of the new music that Chicago musicians were creating. Jenkins continued to work with the finest creative musicians.... Archie Shepp , Albert Ayler , Alice Coltrane , Mtume , Cal Massey , to name a few. But it was the work of the collective Revolutionary Enemble (co-founded with bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper) that gained Jenkins prominence as the most significant violinist of the modern era. par Leroy works in a multitude of contexts. His recording on Tomato, Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival in America has received rave reviews. He is performing in solo, trio and quintet contexts, and is also performing in duo settings with woodwindist Oliver Lake . top DAVID JENNINGS The composer and drummer for DJAE. David is originally from the Chicagoland area. In 1991 he moved to Los Angeles and composed for and played drums in the David Jennings Electric Ensemble and other various groups. In 1995 he recorded a CD of his original compositions entitled A Clear View. He was also a member of the eclectic trio Toxic Jazz. This group recorded a self-entitled CD in 1996 that featured saxophonist Eric Marienthal. David moved back to Chicago in 1997 and formed the DJAE in 1999. He recently completed his M.A. in music from Northeastern. While at Northeastern, David received an award of merit in recognition of Outstanding Creative Activities at the Student and Research and Creative Activities Symposium for the original composition entitled Integration, which used the instrumentation of computer, French horn, clarinet, and six percussionists. Performance credits: Eric Marienthal, Brandon Fields, Kim Stone, Don Menza, Jeff Nathanson, Wayne Jones, Darol Caraco, Baba Elefante, Dave Murdy, Albert Wing, ChuChu Valdez jr., Samuel De Real, Carl Coan, Ernie Denof, and Chris Clemente. Shared stage with Bela Fleck, Bruce Hornsby, Roy Hargrove, War, Paquito D'Rivera, Gary Willis, Terrance Blanchard, Three Dog Night, and Marco Mendoza.Website: www.davidjenningsmusic.com top AARON KRISTER JOHNSON Multi-keyboardist and composer Aaron Krister Johnson is mostly known for his work as a classical collaborator in Chicago. These collaborations include the Lyric Opera of Chicago Outreach, Chicago Children's Choir, the Lira Enemble, and Light Opera Works. He is a member of the Kiltartan Road ensemble, who perform a 'Irish caberet' work based on the life of poet William Butler Yeats. In chamber music, he is a member of the Ducati Piano Trio, who give lecture demonstrations of classical music to inner city children. He has been the organist and pianist at Temple Sholom of Chicago since 1998, playing one ofthe largest pipe organs in the city: a mammoth 4-manuel Wurlitzer theater organ.He has appeared on the stage of the Civic Opera house, performing Handel's Messiah for the annual 'Do-it-yourself Messiah'. He has given world-premiere performances of works by Anthony Newman, Enid Sutherland, Amnon Wolman,and Dutch composer Chiel Mejering. His own works have been heard in New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Finally, he is a member of the new duo-project 'Divide by Pi', with percussionist Andy Hasenpflug). Aaron spends much of time researching the properties and aesthetic qualities of non-standard and historical keyboard tunings, which he uses for his improvistations and compositions. top ELIEZER KAPLAN Eliezer Kaplan (b1957, Chicago) is a mostly self-taught keyboardist/ percussionist/programmer guy who has a problem with the genre-fication of music and is dedicated to busting down those invisible walls whenever possible. Eliezer's musical roots lie in experimental music and progressive rock but he refuses to be confined to any particular genre drawing on whatever sounds good & freely appropriating bits and pieces of whatever to make whatever. Ellie (and sometimes his wife Sue) can be seen playing out in drum circles and with Jewish groups as well as in occasional 'experimental' and improv settings. See website at www.zelwel.com for more info & sound samples. top TERRI KAPSALIS Terri Kapsalis is a writer, performer, and improvising violinist based in Chicago. In 1997, she first performed with Lotta Melin in *Nio or Nine*, an evening of dance and sound improvisation based on Lappish folk medicine tales. She is a founding member of Theater Oobleck and can be heard on a number of CDs, including *Van's Peppy Syncopators* (with John Corbett and Hal Rammel), *Battuto* (with John Corbett, Mats Gustafsson, and Fred Lonberg-Holm), and Tony Conrad's *Slapping Pythagoras.* Her writings have appeared in such venues as *Lusitania*, *New Formations*, *Public*, *The Baffler*, and the *Chicago Reader*, and she is the author of *Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum* (Duke University Press. 1997). She teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. top JENNIFER KARMIN Jennifer Karmin (Chicago) is a poet and interdisciplinary artist who has published, performed, exhibited, taught and experimented with language throughout the U.S. and Japan. She teaches creative writing to immigrants at Truman City College and poetry to students in the Chicago Public Schools, and she is a curator at the Spareroom Time-Arts Cooperative and a founding member of the art collective AntiGravity Surprise. top AYAKO KATO Ayako Kato is a dancer and choreographer trained in classical ballet by Eiko Okamura and Kimie Sasamoto. She became one of the junior finalists in the All Japan Ballet Competition in 1987. In the fall of 1995, she performed in the centennial celebration of Doris Humphrey as a member of Ernestine Stodelle`s Silo Chamber Dancers in New York City. In 1997, she became the first student in the arts to receive the Barbour Scholarship from the University of Michigan's Rackham School of Graduate Studies, which annually awards 4 to 5 female Asian students who are expected to contribute to their specialties in their native country. In 1998, she graduated from the Master of Fine Arts program in Dance at the University of Michigan, studying with Catherine Kerr, Mary Cochran, Peter Sparling and others. While studying at the University of Michigan, Mrs. Kato performed works by Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. She has collaborated with composer Stephen Rush, artist Tomoko Ogawa, Iemoridaikoshu (Japanese drum group) from Uku Island of Nagasaki, percussionist Michael Gould, Japanese drummer Megumu Nishino and Hironobu Tanaka from COHAN, violinist Toshiko Hagiwara from Vienna Dante String Quartet, dancer and choreographer Heidi S. Durning, artist Akari Rokumoto, as well as double bassist Jason Roebke. In Japan, she performs, choreographs, and continuously trains herself in contemporary dance, classical ballet, Tai-Chi and Noh. top GREG KELLEY (Trumpet) Greg Kelley graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1995, returning to his native Massachusetts shortly thereafter. Upon moving to Boston in 1996, he soon became an integral member of the city's burgeoning experimental improvisation scene, garnering much praise for his unique vocabulary of extended techniques and timbral manipulation. In 1998, Kelley began a pattern of dedicated travelling, performing throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. These travels have led to collaborations w/ a coterie of international artists including Pauline Oliveros, Anthony Braxton, Le Quan Ninh, Phil Minton, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Keiji Haino, Eddie Prevost, Kevin Drumm, John Butcher, and Donald Miller. Greg has released recordings on Twisted Village, Intransitive, Selektion, Meniscus, Erstwhile, RRRecords, and Emanem. He is a citizen of the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland. "The instrument is anatomised, splayed and pinned out for close inspection, a fleshy outcrop of tubes and valves. The resonant chamber wheezes and exhales, sputters and exudes. Blemishes are magnified in whispers and growls. You can hear the spittle glisten." - Julian Cowley, The Wire top MAZEN KERBAJ Mazen Kerbaj was born - together with the Lebanese civil war - in 1975 in Beirut and lived there since. His main activities are comics, painting and music. In 1999, he published his first book Djoudjou... and the others , but he has to wait until march 2000 to release some of his more personal works in his Journal 1999 (a dairy in comics' format). He self-published six other books and many short stories since. It is also in 2000 that he plays for the first time in concert, in the Strike's pub in Beirut. This concert, a duo with Lebanese sax player Christine Sehnaoui, is probably the first improvised music concert in the Middle East. In 2001, together with guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui , he creates the MILL association that curates since IRTIJAL an annual international festival for free music in Beirut as well as various concerts and events (IRTIJAL saw over the years some great improvisers like Fred Van Hove, Johannes Bauer, Le Quân Ninh, Franz Hautzinger...). In august 2002, together with Sharif Sehnaoui and double bass player Raed Yassin e he recorded the album A published by La CD-Thèque, Beirut. After meeting Franz Hautzinger by chance in Lebanon in February 2003, they played in duo in Beirut and in Paris and in trio with Japanese laptop player Taku Unami at the IRTIJAL 2003 festival. Then they were joined by Sharif Sehnaoui and Helge Hinteregger to form Oriental Space quartet that played in Nickelsdorf, Berlin, Vienna and Klagenfurt. A recording of this group is in preparation and should be released before end 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, Mazen Kerbaj played in solo and various groups in a lot of venues in Lebanon, Damascus, Paris, Bordeaux, Vienna, Berlin. Regular and occasional partners includes: Sharif Sehnaoui , Christine Sehnaoui, Raed Yassine, Charbel Haber, Franz Hautzinger , Helge Hinteregger, Le Quan Ninh, Bertrand Denzler, Stéphane Rives, Edward Perraud, Taku Unami, Guillermo Gregorio, Gene Coleman, Toshimaru Nakamura... top KELLY KESSLER Kelly Kessler has steadfastly labored in the fields of rural music - Appalachian, honkytonk, bluegrass - that once fell under the rubric of country. Country - it used to mean a bracing emotional immediacy, a high level of idiomatic musicianship, a sound that could scratch an itch. It's been a generation since that particular term has been hijacked to dignify vacuous, flaccid poprock out of Nashville, yet Kessler continues to create new forms that grow directly out of the genre's roots. Of her solo album released last year, Serbian DJ Aleksandar Lazarevic says: "Rare are the bands that can make a good song and play really well and it's obvious that your playing skills are better than most the bands on nowadays scene. Also, rare are bands that can play with styles like you. I'm glad there are still out there are creative bands who are not trying to sound like hundreds of other bands around. Using brains in nowadays music is very rare and that's why I'm glad I can play your music." Her band, the Wichita Shut-Ins featuring Lawrence Peters, uses motley instrumentation to breathe new life into country conventions. Peters, possessor of a gorgeous country baritone, also adds washboard. Evelyn Weston re-interprets the pedal steel's role on her saw. And Robbie Lynn Hunsinger, better known for her work with Tatsu Aoki, Joseph Jarman and symphonies like the CSO, sings harmony and plays upright bass with occasional forays on sax and oboe d'amore. Selected discography: with the Texas Rubies - Texas Rubies Album and Working Girl Blues. With the Shut-Ins featuring Lawrence Peters - Life Of Regret EP. Under her own name - The Salt Of Your Skin. top KENT KESSLER Kent Kessler is one of Chicago's finest improvisors. Having worked here for twenty-five years, he has been associated with many the best musicians and bands in this city and abroad, including work with Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Hamid Drake, Georg GrSewe, Michael Zerang, Paul Lytton, Ken Vandermark, Jim Baker, Hal Russell, Mars Williams, Peter Van Bergen, Fred Anderson, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Jeb Bishop, and many others. This will be his first solo performance in Chicago in over four years. top ALEKS KOLKOWSKI Aleks Kolkowski (London/Berlin) has worked internationally as an improvising violinist (including work with live electronics), interpreter, solo performer and composer for dance, theatre and film for 20 years. In his latest work, instruments and machines from the pioneering era of sound recording and reproduction (horned violins, wind-up gramophones, shellac discs and wax-cylinder phonographs) are combined to make a live mechanical-acoustic music. top KERRI ANNE KRONKE kerri anne kronke, a visual artist and musician, currently living in chicago. kerri anne has performed work at links hall, the mca, and columbia college, and is a living well of information on the infinite number of shades of white, and their inherent power to influence and change the world we live in. top ALAN KUSHAN Alan Kushan is arguably one of the most accomplished Santur players in the world. He stands out not only because of his brilliant realizations of traditional Persian compositions, but also for his innovative avant-garde soundscapes. He is not only a builder of Persian instruments but also a virtuoso in performing Persian traditional music. His style, however, is not limited to the traditional approaches but it extends itself beyond any such boundaries. He applies his own touch to the music that he performs, a touch which he has developed after experiencing the new trend of music, not only in his native land of Iran, but in the world, at these final days of this century. The instrument which he uses is also his own invention, which is designed after the traditional Persian Santur (hammered dulcimer), an old instrument with a sound box and several sets of strings. Each set usually consists of four strings which are tuned in the same pitch, so every four strings, which are supported by individual bridges, would sound the same in multiplied resonance when played with special wooden hammers. Similar instruments exist in different countries all around the world: Chinese Yan Chin, Indian Santur, and also the Rumanian Cymbalom. The structure ultimately is what the soundboard of a later invention, the piano, has been designed after. The sound you hear in "Time Traveler Suite" in Pegah album is from a new and unique instrument designed and hand crafted by Alan Kushan, using strings from Piano, Harp and Harpsichord. This instrument creates a bass sound not found in the family of Santur, yet Alan has created this instrument using the Santur trapezoidal box concept, and plays it using Santur hammers. One of Alan Kushan's many contributions to the SANTUR has been to broaden its musical range by increasing the number of bridges (notes) available to the musician. This expands the SANTUR from a typically restricted pitch area into an instrument capable of traveling previously unexplored musical territories. Alan designs and constructs these unique SANTURS and, in addition to differing gauges of steel and copper wire, he uses piano and harp strings to create fascinating variations in tonal quality. In this album he is accompanied by Ustad Abhijit Banerjee on Tabla. top THOMAS LEHN (B. May 21, 1958, Germany) - analogue synthesizer & piano Since the early 1980s Thomas Lehn has been working as a performer, interpreter, composer and improviser of contemporary music. His individual style of musical expression is rooted in the experience of a broad spectrum of musical fields. After studying recording engineering at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold (Germany), he moved to Cologne and received a formal education in order to become a professional pianist. From 1980 to 1987 he studied both classical and Jazz piano at the Hochschule fur Musik Koeln. During the 1980s he was the pianist of numerous jazz formations and a member of workshop ensembles conducted by Gunter Hampel, George Russell and Keith Tippett. As an interpreting pianist he has played concerts since 1982 - performing both contemporary new music including numerous first performances and traditional composed music of the classical and romantically period. In 1989 he initiated the chamber ensemble Trio Dario and four years later the Mengano Quartett. Focused on performing compositions of the contemporary avant-garde, he is pianist of the Nova Ensemble Wuppertal, the ConGioco Ensemble and the quartet Natrium. He has also worked in performances of music theatre compositions of Maria de Alvear and Manos Tsangaris and in projects of performance artist Angie Hiesl. Parallel to his work as a pianist, he concentrates on composing and performing electronic music. The electronic equipment he uses consists of analogue synthesizers of the late 1960s. The facilities of these 'historic' instruments - e. g. to modify electronic sounds very directly as well as to combine and to control several parameters at the same time - allows him to spontaneously act and react in close contact with the process of tension, space and structure of the music during its performance. As a synthesizer he is member of a number of ensembles, e. g. VARIO-34, a sextet with Guenter Christmann, Alexander Frangenheim, Mats Gustafsson, Paul Lovens and Christian Munte; KONK PACK, a trio with Tim Hodgkinson and Roger Turner; trios with Phil Durrant and Radu Malfatti, Phil Minton and Axel Doerner, Martin Theurer and Erhard Hirt, Peter van Bergen and Gert-Jan Prins, Andreas Wagner and Guido Hafner (DIE KLANGRAEUMER), Konrad Doppert and Joker Nies (VCO1); duos with Gerry Hemingway and Marcus Schmickler (a-musik); GLASSBAND, a quintet with Alexander Frangenheim, Evan Parker, Roger Turner and Philipp Wachsmann; MIMEO, a 12 piece electronic orchestra a.m.o. He has repeatedly collaborated with Martin Blume, John Butcher, Guenter Christmann, Jim Denley, Axel Doerner, Phil Durrant, Christian Fennesz, Alexander Frangenheim, Wolfgang Fuchs, Malcolm Goldstein, Gunda Gottschalk, Guillermo Gregorio, Beth Griffith, Mats Gustafsson, Gerry Hemingway, Erhard Hirt, Tim Hodgkinson, Bruno Leicht, Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, Radu Malfatti, Jeffrey Morgan, Torsten Mueller, Christian Munthe, Josef Novotny, Evan Parker, Peter Rehberg, Keith Rowe, John Russell, Hans Schneider, Burkhard Stangl, Raymond Strid, Martin Theurer, Roger Turner, Peter van Bergen and Philipp Wachsmann. Thomas Lehn has played concerts in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Hungaria, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and the USA. He has been repeatedly invited to perform at international festivals and for TV and radio productions. He has been involved in projects promoted and/or supported by Goethe-Institutes in Budapest, London, Roma, Manchester, Marseille, York and Chicago. His discography includes recordings with vario 34, Durrant/Lehn/Malfatti, Christmann/Lehn, MIMEO, Hirt/Theurer/Lehn, Die Klangraeumer a.m.o.CDs with KONK PACK and Hemingway/Lehn will be released in Nov 1999.A solo CD with Lehn's own electronic compositions on label Random Acoustics is in preparation. top ERIC LEONARDSON Leonardson has been producing sound works since the early 1980s, was a co-founder of the Experimental Sound Studio, ran the (now defunct) Sounds from Chicago radio series, and has been instrumental in developing the sound community that now exists. He has released two CDs of sound work. Leonardson is most frequently heard playing an instrument of his own invention: the springboard--a walker modified with wood, springs, combs, and other such objects which create sound when struck or bowed."--Philip von Zweck, dialogue March/April 2001 Over the past eight years Leonardson has performed and recorded with many free improvising musicians, among them, Carol Genetti, Toshi Makihara, Tatsu Aoki, Steve Barsotti, Jack Wright, Yasuhiro Otani, Jim Baker, and Bob Marsh. Leonardson is the composer for Plasticene, a Chicago-based physical theater company he co-founded in 1995. Recordings of Leonardson's work are featured on his solo CD Radio Reverie In the Waiting Place (1999). Animus (1998) features his work with Carol Genetti and the forthcoming release of Rarebit will feature his work with Steve Barsotti. Leonardson also teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Related web links: Eric Leonardson "sound thinking": http://pages.ripco.net/~eleon Plasticene: http://www.plasticene.com AARON SEIGEL aaron siegel performs as a percussionist and composes music in brooklyn, new york.he plays regularly with memorize the sky (improvised trio with matt bauder and zach wallace), debug (electro-acoustic trio with andrew dÍangelo and jonathan goldberger), elizabeth harper (a four-piece rock band), and as a solo performer on both computer and percussion. aaron has improvised with boris hauf, okkyung lee, jason roebke, tim daisy, sam hillmer, jamie fennelly, tim flood, andrew bishop, jacob garchik, ben bracken, and jacob danziger. a cd of his compositions for the quartet block was released in 1999. aaron co-curates eggwolf, a weekly improvised and experimental music series in williamsburg, brooklyn. top LOCAL INFINITIES Dedicated to the creation of original works of visual theater, LOCAL INFINITIES is the collaboration between installation artist Charlie Levin and theater artist Meghan Strell. Their unique brand of visual theater uses raw materials and metaphor to create visceral experiences. They explore the spaces between theater and art and between physical and metaphysical expression. Founded in 1996, Local Infinities has produced 14 original works, curated two festivals, and instigated international exchanges with artists from Belgium and the Netherlands. Internationally, they performed in Ukraine at Kiev's international theater festival "Kyiv Travnevy." In and around Chicago, they have performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rhinoceros Festival, Around the Coyote, Bailiwick's Naked I Festival of Visual Theater, Warren Woods Michigan's Art Attack, Nights of the Blue Rider and Links Hall, among others. Local Infinities has been highly recommended by reviewers in The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Reader. http://www.localinfinities.com top FRED LONBERG-HOLM Composer, improvisor and anti-cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm currently resides in Chicago. Defying categorization, his work deals only with the context of the specific musical situation in which he finds/places/builds for himself. A former composition student of Morton Feldman and Anthony Braxton, his ongoing projects include the groups Terminal 4, In Zenith and the Lonberg-Holm/Zerang Duo. He is also currently a member of the Guillermo Gregario Trio, the NRG Ensemble, Pillow and Witches and Devils (music of A. Ayler).He also has been coordinating and directing performances of his Light Box Orchestra, a non fixed structured improvising ensemble utilizing a light based cuing system . In addition he has performed with ensembles led by Anthony Braxton, Peter Brotzmann, Anthony Coleman, Georg Graewe, Wolfgang Fuchs, and John Zorn. As an improvisor he has recorded and or performed with Ikue Mori, Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark, Jaap Blonk, Willie Winant, Joelle Leandre, Axel Dorner, Jeff Parker, Paul Lytton, Mischa Mengelberg, Mats Gustafsson, Peter Brotzmann, Paul Lovens, Jim O'Rourke, John Butcher, and many others. He has also performed/recorded with the rock groups God-is-my-Co-Pilot, the Flying Luttenbachers, Bobbie Conn, Ahmed Elmotassem's Legal Fiction, US Maple, Freakwater, Lake of Dracula, Plastic Scorpions, Zeek Sheck, Smog and others. Concert works have been premiered by William Winant, Carrie Biolo, Joe Fonda and Bottoms Out, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/Speach Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton, the E.S.P. Ensemble and others. He has performed throughout the US and Europe as both a soloist and ensemble member. His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues. Film credits include music for a Playboy Channel short and the independant feature Animals, by Michael DiGiacomo. He has recorded for the Avant, Pogus, Occa, miguel, Explain:, Curious, Random Acoustics, Skin Graft, Hat Art, Buzz, Knitting Factory Works, Drag City, Ecstatic/Yod, Nine Winds, Atavistic, Rastascan, Box Media, 8th Day, Tzadik, and What Next? labels as well as many others. top LOOP 243 The percussion-based ensemble Loop 2.4.3 hopes to bring a new relevance to chamber music in the 21st century, crossing traditional boundaries between genres of music with its boldly innovative programs. With a repertoire ranging from J.S Bach to Marshall Mathers, Loop 2.4.3 is as comfortable in a recital hall as it is in a jazz club setting, bringing a freshness and vitality to each. Recently relocated to Brooklyn from New Haven, Loop 2.4.3 will be appearing throughout the Northeast and Midwest this coming fall and winter. The members of Loop 2.4.3 have collectively performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. They have performed and recorded at a variety of venues including the Prague Music Academy (Czech Republic), The Hit Factory (New York), SUNY Purchase (New York), Swedish Culture House (Stockholm), Devos Hall (Grand Rapids, MI), the jazz festivals of Notre Dame and Montreux/Detroit, The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, The Brighton Music Festival, as well as alternative spaces such as The Smell (Los Angeles), CafÈ du Nord (San Francisco), The Empty Bottle (Chicago), Casa del Popolo (Montreal), Jazzkeller Treptow (Berlin), Tonic and the Knitting Factory (New York). They have been featured performers at major conventions for the Percussive Arts Society, Mid-West Band and Orchestra Association, the Music Educators National Conference, and the International Association of Jazz Educators. The percussionists of Loop 2.4.3 are all alumni of the world renowned Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble. The late Robert Hohner was known throughout the world as a leading figure in percussion. Douglas Wolf of the Percussive Arts Society wrote, ìHohner is the champion of modern day percussion ensemble literature. His ensemble performs with a musical mastery that is rarely heardî (Percussive Notes, April 1994). Performances by Kozumplik, Gage, and Cotter can be heard on seven of the Hohner Ensembleís internationally acclaimed recordings: Lift Off, The Gamut, World Music Tour, Far More Drums, Third Wind, Stained Glass: Music for Percussion (complete percussion works of David Gillingham), and The Percussion Music of David Maslanka. top   Site by SMH