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Natural Information Society

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Natural Information Society (NIS) represents a convergence of musicians & artists to create sonic harbor, meditative space & kinetic momentum music. Realizing (ANIMATING) compositions by bandleader & composer Joshua Abrams, the group's current core includes Lisa Alvarado, Mikel Patrick Avery & Jason Stein. Working the seams between minimalism, jazz, ritual & experimental traditions, the group has become a reference for contemporary non-idiomatic creative music. Alvarado's free hanging paintings provide the group's visual language as stage settings, album art & visual mandalas. The band has released 7 albums on eremite records. In 2021 Abrams formed an expanded version of NIS called the NIS Community Ensemble, augmenting the group with more winds as heard on 2023's Since Time Is Gravity. NIS has collaborated on 2 albums with Bitchin Bajas for Drag City including 2025's Totality.

Jazz This Week: Christian McBride Trio, Gaslight Cabaret Festival, Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 20, 2014

Has the dreadful winter of 2014 finally released its icy grip on the St. Louis area? We can only hope so, because there's a lot of interesting jazz and creative music to hear around town over the next few days. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, bassist Christian McBride begins a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, this time with the latest iteration of his trio, featuring drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. and the up-and-coming pianist Christian Sands. Their first ...
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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 16, 2014

This week, let's get better acquainted with Joshua Abrams, the Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist whose group Natural Information Society will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 22 at Joe's Cafe, the gallery and “house concert" venue at 6014 Kingsbury Ave in the Central West End. As a bassist, Abrams has worked with many musicians well-known in Chicago's jazz and improv communities, including the David Boykin Expanse, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, Jeb Bishop, ...
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Performance / Tour

Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society Performs at UMass Amherst on Wednesday, October 26

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
October 25, 2011

Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society perform at the Fine Arts Center at University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students and can be ordered online. Playing bass and guimbri (North African bass lute), composer Abrams is part of Chicago's vibrant music scene over the past 15 years. He appears with percussionist Frank Rosaly. For a complete schedule of concerts and events at the Fine ...
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