Open Letter Music Series Presents …

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Rob Mazurek's Starlicker

Wednesday, May 11 9 p.m. Bobo Gallery

Starlicker is Rob Mazurek (cornet), John Herndon (percussion) and Jason Adasiewicz (vibraphone). Deeply rooted in the Chicago and international avant garde, jazz and post-rock scenes, Starlicker expel sound with pervading energy and otherworldly delicacy. Rob Mazurek leads, composes for and performs with the critically acclaimed Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground, São Paulo Underground, and Rob Mazurek's Sound Is Quintet. John Herndon, a founding member or the iconic post-rock collective Tortoise, creates waves of rhythm and maintains an abstract pulse that is uniquely his own. Jason Adasiewicz is a Chicago mainstay and Down Beat magazine rising star; he plays in critically acclaimed groups such as his own Sun Rooms Trio, Exploding Star Orchestra, Rolldown and Loose Assembly. www.robmazurek.com

With LULO

Tatsuya Nakatani

Wednesday, May 18 9:30 p.m. Lexington Avenue Brewery

Tatsuya Nakatani is originally from Osaka, Japan. In 2006 he performed in 80 cities in seven countries and collaborated with 163 artists worldwide. In the past 10 years he has released nearly 50 recordings on CD. He has created his own instrumentation, effectively inventing many instruments and extended techniques, utilizing the drum set, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells and various sticks and bows to create an intense, organic music that defies category or genre. His music is based in improvised and experimental forms — jazz, free jazz, rock and noise — yet his sound retains elements of traditional Japanese folk music. www.hhproduction.org/tatsuya_nakatani_works.html

With a duo-collaboration by Nakatani and Shane Perlowin

Gyan Riley, solo guitar
Wednesday, May 25 9:00 p.m. Harvest Records

Gyan Riley is a classical guitarist and composer from northern California. Riley has performed in 10 European countries and across the U.S., both as a soloist and in ensemble with artists such as Zakir Hussain, Michael Manring, Dawn Upshaw, the San Francisco Symphony, the Falla Guitar Trio, the World Guitar Ensemble and his father, the composer/pianist/vocalist Terry Riley. Last season he appeared at Carnegie Hall and gave a 10-concert tour of Ireland. Among the highlights of his 2009/10 season, this past fall he appeared at Bard College and Le Poisson Rouge in New York; this winter he is premiering two new solo works at the New York Guitar Festival and a new quartet for the 15th Other Minds Music Festival in San Francisco. Upcoming highlights include a featured performance for the Boston Classical Guitar Society’s Festival 21, and two performances of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. As a teacher, Riley has served on the faculties of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, California State University Sacramento, California State University East Bay and Humboldt State University. www.gyanriley.com

With Shane Perlowin

Les Rhinoceros
Wednesday, June 1 9:00 p.m.
Bobo Gallery

Hailing from the Washington, D.C. area, Les Rhinocéros blends aspects of rock, world music, noise, ambient and jazz. The trio of teenagers was formed in 2008 while the players were still in high school, and has developed since then into an intense and wildly imaginative group that takes music to its extremes. The group continues their sonic experiments by adding unusual instruments into the traditional rock band setting.

With Total Info and IO

Tim Daisy and Ken Vandermark

Sunday, July 24 9:00 p.m. Bobo Gallery

Ken Vandermark and Tim Daisy have been performing, recording and touring together in a number of groups based in Chicago since 2001 including: the Vandermark 5, The Resonance Ensemble, The Frame Quartet and Topology. Performing as a duo they concentrate on investigating the possibilities of free improvisation through their combined experiences working within a wide variety of improvised and composed musical settings over the years. Drawing on numerous influences including: American and European free jazz, experimental rock, free improvisation, soul and funk as well as 20th-century contemporary music and visual art, they combine their creative energies to further explore and assemble sound in an improvised context. Tim and Ken aim to make each performance unique by tirelessly searching for new ways to keep the music fresh and encouraging each other to play beyond their potential.
www.kenvandermark.com www.timdaisy.com

With Total Info

All concert information provided by Open Letter Music Series. For more information, visit openletterecords.com