Mosaik

Biography
Press

Mosaik is an explosion of possibility, relentlessly and intensely exploring challenging rhythmic and harmonic spaces with virtuosic individual and collective improvisation. Energy and lyricism are the driving force of their sound, propelling it through their sometimes complex compositions even as they render them catchy and approachable. The globe-spanning scope of their influences are evident in every song: you might hear elements of music from Cuba and the Balkans, from Brazil and Zimbabwe, from the banks of the Mississippi and the Ganges. These elements are not "fused" together arbitrarily, rather Mosaik allows these rich traditions to encounter each other in a musical space that is as warm and accepting as it is mercurial and dynamic. Their sound investigates mysteries that are musical, mathematical, and cultural with urgency, passion and a firm adherence to the groove. This group's fierce need to create and express can be both heard and felt in every moment. Ultimately, it is an elegant and succinct vision of the next chapter in the story of jazz.

Since it's inception as Eigenfunk in 2009, Mosaik has regularly impressed and intrigued audiences at venues all over the Chicagoland area. The group performed at the 2011 Chicago Jazz Festival as a part of the programming at the Chicago Jazz Magazine tent. There they were well received by a large audience. The group has also performed to a full house at Chicago's Jazz Showcase and has appeared in concert at the Green Mill. The group has performed at a variety of other venues throughout the Chicagoland area and is now enjoying a stream of steady performances at the Wicker Park club, Phyllis' Musical Inn.

Formed out of a series of jam sessions in Hyde Park with a rotating personnel of young local jazz and soul artists, the group began performing in the spring of 2009. The goal of the ensemble was to explore groove-based group improvisation, as well as original compositions, ranging from experimental projects to those falling solidly within the modern jazz and jazz fusion paradigms. In the fall of 2009 the personnel settled with Andy Schlinder on tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, Kevin Brown on fretless guitar, Preyas Roy on vibraphone and malletkat synthesizer, Ian Stewart on electric bass and Nils Higdon on drums. Members of the band have played with Phil Woods, Jeff Hamilton, Tim Ries, Jimmy Greene, Marcus Printup, Jim McNeely, Dee Alexander, Jon Irabagon, Corey Wilkes, Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, Willie Pickens, Eric Schneider, Tracy Kirk, Neal Alger, Shawn Maxwell, Nicole Mitchell, Marquis Hill, Saalik Ziyad and many others.