Ars Nova Workshop is excited to announce our Fall 2012 Season! We plan to conclude our 13th year as Philadelphia's leading presenter of jazz and experimental music with a bang, and it all begins at the International House on September 4 with a night of duos featuring legendary German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and guitarist Bill Orcutt with drummer Chris Corsano.
This season we will be presenting new ensembles making their first Philadelphia appearances, such as the bassoonist Katherine Young's Pretty Monsters and the Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's The Young Mothers, and several very rare performances by legendary and renowned European experimental musicians, including the last Philadelphia concert by the Willem Breuker Kollektief, a solo set by the Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, and the saxophonist Frode Gjerstad's all-Norwegian trio.
Below you will find a summary of our Fall Season. Please refer to the event pages to the right for more details, including information about purchasing tickets, and don't forget to follow Ars Nova Workshop on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news. Be sure to survive the summer heat, because we hope to see you all in September!
Tuesday, September 4, 8pm
PETER BROTZMANN & JASON ADASIEWICZ Brötzmann, saxophones; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone
+
CHRIS CORSANO & BILL ORCUTT Chris Corsano, drums; Bill Orcutt, guitar International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 ANW's Fall Season begins with two extremely rare duo performances: the legendary German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann with the Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and the chaotic noise-blues guitarist Bill Orcutt with the drummer Chris Corsano. Brötzmann's 1967 album, Machine Gun, remains the most celebrated document of the European Free Jazz movement, and ever since he has been pushing the boundaries of jazz experimentation; Adasiewicz is a fixture of the Chicago jazz scene, and has worked in Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Josh Berman's Old Idea and Mike Reed's Loose Assembly. Orcutt, a founding member of Miami noise-rock trio Harry Pussy, has recently earned acclaim for his solo recordings A New Way To Pay Old Debts and How The Thing Sings; Corsano has worked with Thurston Moore and Nels Cline, and his solo recordings include The Young Cricketer, Another Dull Dawn and the newly released Cut.
Wednesday, September 19, 8pm
PRETTY MONSTERS Katherine Young, bassoon; Erica Dicker, violin; Owen Stewart-Robertson, electric guitar; Mike Pride, drums The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street, Free The Philadelphia debut of Pretty Monsters, the new quartet led by the Chicago-based bassoonist Katherine Young. Referencing the album Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins, The Wire called Young a “bassoon colossus.” A former student of Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier, Young has worked with Peter Evans, Mary Halvorson, F.M. Einheit (Einsturzende Neubauten) and Weasel Walter. This quartet brings together a powerful group of young improvisers: the violinist Dicker is the concertmaster of Anthony Braxton's Trillium/Tri-Centric Orchestra; the Brooklyn guitarist Owen Stewart-Robertson is a member of Make A Circus, Old Salt and This Sporting Life; the drummer Mike Pride is a member of From Bacteria To Boys and has worked with Boredoms, Vijay Iyer, Matana Roberts and Nate Wooley. Pretty Monsters' debut album releases this month on Public Eyesore.
Tuesday, October 2, 8pm
WILLEM BREUKER KOLLEKTIEF International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 The final tour by the 10-piece ensemble founded in 1974 by the late Dutch composer Willem Breuker. Breuker died in 2010, and his will stated that the ensemble tour only one more time following his death. A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra alongside Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof and Alexander von Schlippenbach, in 1967 Breuker co-founded the Instant Composers Pool with fellow Dutch experimental musicians Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg. The Kollektief became a platform for mixing jazz and improvised music with Dutch music theater. Breuker composed over 500 works, and is considered an authority on the composer Kurt Weill. Often classified as a “madcap,” Breuker was celebrated as a postmodern composer unafraid to combine high and low culture, and to take extreme musical risks. For this final US tour, the Kollektief will present an overview of compositions written by Breuker since 1965, including pieces that have never previously been performed.
Sunday, October 7, 8pm
MICHAEL FORMANEK QUARTET Tim Berne; alto saxophone; Craig Taborn, piano; Michael Formanek, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 ANW celebrates the release of the Michael Formanek Quartet's new ECM record. The bassist Formanek got his start working with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, and Attila Zoller. He has since worked with a wide range of artists, including Elvis Costello, Marty Ehrlich, Tim Berne, Jim Black, Chris Speed and Dave Ballou. This quartet unites many of the best musicians working in jazz today: Frequent Formanek collaborator and saxophonist Berne has had a strong presence in the contemporary jazz community for many years, founding the Screwgun label, working with artists like Bill Frisell and Nels Cline and leading ensembles such as Adobe Probe and Big Satan; the pianist Craig Taborn has worked with Roscoe Mitchell and William Parker, and his solo album Avenging Angel was one of the best albums of that year; the drummer Gerald Cleaver has worked with Henry Threadgill, Matthew Shipp and Reggie Workman, and has led groups such as Veil of Names, Uncle June, Violet Hour and Farmer By Nature.
Saturday, November 3, 8pm
DUO BAARS-HENNEMAN Ab Baars, tenor saxophone, clarinet, shakuhachi; Ig Henneman, viola Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 The Philadelphia debut of this duo featuring the Dutch musicians Ab Baars and Ig Henneman. The duo began in 1999 at the Festival ControIndicazioni in Rome; they have since toured internationally, conducted numerous educational workshops, and, in 2006, released a debut album called Stof. The multi-instrumentalist Baars is well known as a member of the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, the long-running ensemble founded by Han Bennink, Willem Breuker and Misha Mengelberg. Over the years, Baars has also worked with Ken Vandermark, Roswell Rudd, Sonic Youth, and The Ex, and he leads the Ab Baars Trio with Wilbert de Joode and Martin van Duynhoven. Henneman has composed for orchestras, written film scores and has worked with ICP Orchestra members like Mengelberg, Wolter Wierbos, Michael Moore and Tristan Honsinger. She is also the leader of the Ig Henneman Sextet with Axel Dorner, Lori Freedman, Wilbert de Joode and Merilyn Lerner.
Saturday, November 10, 8pm
FRED VAN HOVE Fred van Hove, piano Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 An incredibly rare solo performance by the Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, one of the pioneers of European free-jazz music. The pianist, accordionist, organist and composer Van Hove began his long-running collaboration with the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann in the mid-1960s, and went on to work in trio with Brötzmann and the Dutch percussionist Han Bennink. Van Hove began performing solo in the early-1970s, and soon after founded the Werkgroep Improviserende Musici in order to elevate the work of experimental musicians and improvisers from Belgium. In 1978, he formed the Musica Libera Antverpiae and the Musica Libera Belgicae, which resulted in a series of new music and festivals highlighting the work of fellow experimentalists such as Radu Malfatti and Paul Rutherford. His celebrated recordings include 1967's For Adolphe Sax and 1969's European Echoes with Manfred Schoof, and throughout his career he has collaborated with Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Peter Kowald, Steve Lacy and Joëlle Léandre.
Friday, December 14, 9pm
FRODE GJERSTAD TRIO Frode Gjerstad, saxophone + trumpet; Jon Rune Strøm, bass; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums.
+
INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN'S THE YOUNG MOTHERS
Jawaad Taylor, trumpet + electronics + vocals; Jason Jackson, saxophones; Jonathan Horne, guitar; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, bass; Stefan Gonzalez, drums + vibraphone; Frank Rosaly, drums International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 A double-bill featuring ensembles led by prominent Norwegian voices. A powerful force on the Norwegian free-jazz scene, Gjerstad has worked with William Parker, Derek Bailey and Han Bennink, and is the founder of the Circulasione Totale Orchestra. Gjerstad has led many trios that have recorded and toured internationally, but this new one with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Jon Rune Strøm is his first featuring all-Norwegian musicians. The Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, a member of Atomic, Scorch Trio and The Thing who has also worked with Ken Vandermark, Peter Kowald and Evan Parker, has built a strong reputation in his native country and in Chicago. Upon relocating to Austin, Texas in 2009, Håker Flaten soon after formed the Young Mothers, a hard-hitting ensemble featuring four young musicians from Austin and the Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly.
This season we will be presenting new ensembles making their first Philadelphia appearances, such as the bassoonist Katherine Young's Pretty Monsters and the Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's The Young Mothers, and several very rare performances by legendary and renowned European experimental musicians, including the last Philadelphia concert by the Willem Breuker Kollektief, a solo set by the Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, and the saxophonist Frode Gjerstad's all-Norwegian trio.
Below you will find a summary of our Fall Season. Please refer to the event pages to the right for more details, including information about purchasing tickets, and don't forget to follow Ars Nova Workshop on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news. Be sure to survive the summer heat, because we hope to see you all in September!
Tuesday, September 4, 8pm
PETER BROTZMANN & JASON ADASIEWICZ Brötzmann, saxophones; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone
+
CHRIS CORSANO & BILL ORCUTT Chris Corsano, drums; Bill Orcutt, guitar International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 ANW's Fall Season begins with two extremely rare duo performances: the legendary German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann with the Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and the chaotic noise-blues guitarist Bill Orcutt with the drummer Chris Corsano. Brötzmann's 1967 album, Machine Gun, remains the most celebrated document of the European Free Jazz movement, and ever since he has been pushing the boundaries of jazz experimentation; Adasiewicz is a fixture of the Chicago jazz scene, and has worked in Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Josh Berman's Old Idea and Mike Reed's Loose Assembly. Orcutt, a founding member of Miami noise-rock trio Harry Pussy, has recently earned acclaim for his solo recordings A New Way To Pay Old Debts and How The Thing Sings; Corsano has worked with Thurston Moore and Nels Cline, and his solo recordings include The Young Cricketer, Another Dull Dawn and the newly released Cut.
Wednesday, September 19, 8pm
PRETTY MONSTERS Katherine Young, bassoon; Erica Dicker, violin; Owen Stewart-Robertson, electric guitar; Mike Pride, drums The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street, Free The Philadelphia debut of Pretty Monsters, the new quartet led by the Chicago-based bassoonist Katherine Young. Referencing the album Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins, The Wire called Young a “bassoon colossus.” A former student of Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier, Young has worked with Peter Evans, Mary Halvorson, F.M. Einheit (Einsturzende Neubauten) and Weasel Walter. This quartet brings together a powerful group of young improvisers: the violinist Dicker is the concertmaster of Anthony Braxton's Trillium/Tri-Centric Orchestra; the Brooklyn guitarist Owen Stewart-Robertson is a member of Make A Circus, Old Salt and This Sporting Life; the drummer Mike Pride is a member of From Bacteria To Boys and has worked with Boredoms, Vijay Iyer, Matana Roberts and Nate Wooley. Pretty Monsters' debut album releases this month on Public Eyesore.
Tuesday, October 2, 8pm
WILLEM BREUKER KOLLEKTIEF International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 The final tour by the 10-piece ensemble founded in 1974 by the late Dutch composer Willem Breuker. Breuker died in 2010, and his will stated that the ensemble tour only one more time following his death. A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra alongside Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof and Alexander von Schlippenbach, in 1967 Breuker co-founded the Instant Composers Pool with fellow Dutch experimental musicians Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg. The Kollektief became a platform for mixing jazz and improvised music with Dutch music theater. Breuker composed over 500 works, and is considered an authority on the composer Kurt Weill. Often classified as a “madcap,” Breuker was celebrated as a postmodern composer unafraid to combine high and low culture, and to take extreme musical risks. For this final US tour, the Kollektief will present an overview of compositions written by Breuker since 1965, including pieces that have never previously been performed.
Sunday, October 7, 8pm
MICHAEL FORMANEK QUARTET Tim Berne; alto saxophone; Craig Taborn, piano; Michael Formanek, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 ANW celebrates the release of the Michael Formanek Quartet's new ECM record. The bassist Formanek got his start working with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, and Attila Zoller. He has since worked with a wide range of artists, including Elvis Costello, Marty Ehrlich, Tim Berne, Jim Black, Chris Speed and Dave Ballou. This quartet unites many of the best musicians working in jazz today: Frequent Formanek collaborator and saxophonist Berne has had a strong presence in the contemporary jazz community for many years, founding the Screwgun label, working with artists like Bill Frisell and Nels Cline and leading ensembles such as Adobe Probe and Big Satan; the pianist Craig Taborn has worked with Roscoe Mitchell and William Parker, and his solo album Avenging Angel was one of the best albums of that year; the drummer Gerald Cleaver has worked with Henry Threadgill, Matthew Shipp and Reggie Workman, and has led groups such as Veil of Names, Uncle June, Violet Hour and Farmer By Nature.
Saturday, November 3, 8pm
DUO BAARS-HENNEMAN Ab Baars, tenor saxophone, clarinet, shakuhachi; Ig Henneman, viola Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 The Philadelphia debut of this duo featuring the Dutch musicians Ab Baars and Ig Henneman. The duo began in 1999 at the Festival ControIndicazioni in Rome; they have since toured internationally, conducted numerous educational workshops, and, in 2006, released a debut album called Stof. The multi-instrumentalist Baars is well known as a member of the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, the long-running ensemble founded by Han Bennink, Willem Breuker and Misha Mengelberg. Over the years, Baars has also worked with Ken Vandermark, Roswell Rudd, Sonic Youth, and The Ex, and he leads the Ab Baars Trio with Wilbert de Joode and Martin van Duynhoven. Henneman has composed for orchestras, written film scores and has worked with ICP Orchestra members like Mengelberg, Wolter Wierbos, Michael Moore and Tristan Honsinger. She is also the leader of the Ig Henneman Sextet with Axel Dorner, Lori Freedman, Wilbert de Joode and Merilyn Lerner.
Saturday, November 10, 8pm
FRED VAN HOVE Fred van Hove, piano Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, $15 An incredibly rare solo performance by the Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, one of the pioneers of European free-jazz music. The pianist, accordionist, organist and composer Van Hove began his long-running collaboration with the German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann in the mid-1960s, and went on to work in trio with Brötzmann and the Dutch percussionist Han Bennink. Van Hove began performing solo in the early-1970s, and soon after founded the Werkgroep Improviserende Musici in order to elevate the work of experimental musicians and improvisers from Belgium. In 1978, he formed the Musica Libera Antverpiae and the Musica Libera Belgicae, which resulted in a series of new music and festivals highlighting the work of fellow experimentalists such as Radu Malfatti and Paul Rutherford. His celebrated recordings include 1967's For Adolphe Sax and 1969's European Echoes with Manfred Schoof, and throughout his career he has collaborated with Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Peter Kowald, Steve Lacy and Joëlle Léandre.
Friday, December 14, 9pm
FRODE GJERSTAD TRIO Frode Gjerstad, saxophone + trumpet; Jon Rune Strøm, bass; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums.
+
INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN'S THE YOUNG MOTHERS
Jawaad Taylor, trumpet + electronics + vocals; Jason Jackson, saxophones; Jonathan Horne, guitar; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, bass; Stefan Gonzalez, drums + vibraphone; Frank Rosaly, drums International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, $15 A double-bill featuring ensembles led by prominent Norwegian voices. A powerful force on the Norwegian free-jazz scene, Gjerstad has worked with William Parker, Derek Bailey and Han Bennink, and is the founder of the Circulasione Totale Orchestra. Gjerstad has led many trios that have recorded and toured internationally, but this new one with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Jon Rune Strøm is his first featuring all-Norwegian musicians. The Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, a member of Atomic, Scorch Trio and The Thing who has also worked with Ken Vandermark, Peter Kowald and Evan Parker, has built a strong reputation in his native country and in Chicago. Upon relocating to Austin, Texas in 2009, Håker Flaten soon after formed the Young Mothers, a hard-hitting ensemble featuring four young musicians from Austin and the Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly.
