NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY
« Community Ensemble with Ari Brown »
USA
QUEBEC PREMIERE
FRIDAY MAY 17
CARRÉ 150 (Salle F. Lemaire)
10 PM - $44
A collaboration
Joshua Abrams : guimbri, compositions
Ari Brown : saxophone ténor
Lisa Alvarado : harmonium
Mikel Patrick Avery : batterie
Josh Berman : trompette
Nick Mazzarella : saxophone alto
Jason Stein : clarinette basse
Mai Sugimoto : flûte, saxophone alto
JOSHUA ABRAMS has long been key to Chicago creative music, easily crossing whatever boundaries remain between, for instance, scenes that fomented Tortoise’s post-rock or the late Fred Anderson’s formally demanding free jazz. His NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY groups, featuring ABRAMS on guimbri (three-string bass lute), sound predicated on the dissolution of stylistic boundaries; this eight-piece version — which ABRAMS dubs the “Community Ensemble” — plays unfolding and layered trance-inducing rhythms and melds, among other elements, Western minimalism and free jazz expressiveness. To feed the latter, this Society includes the wonderful and distinguished tenor saxophonist ARI BROWN as a featured soloist, plus LISA ALVARADO, MIKEL PATRICK AVERY, JOSH BERMAN, NICK MAZZARELLA, JASON STEIN, and MAI SUGIMOTO. They are responsible for Since Time Is Gravity (Eremite Records), simply one of the best recordings of 2023.
