just announced! our spring 2013 composer residency!
beginning in 2012, the ratchet series aims to provide an outlet for bright new voices in the chicago jazz and improvised music community to create new compositions. we dedicate one month twice a year to a composer's residency (one in the spring/summer, one in the fall/winter) at our weekly monday night series at the skylark. in addition, we present an honorarium to the composer to write new musical work for a new or existing group. APRIL 2013 - DEVIN HOFF  4/1-SACRED SISTRUMS Untangling (and re-tangling) the roots of american folk music through composition and improvisation. Personnel: Matt Schneider (gtr), Mike Reed (drums), Nick Mazzarella (alto sax), Josh Berman (cornet), Hoff (bass) 4/8-DH BASTET Bass guitar driven avant-jazz for the People, with an eye towards the Cosmos. Personnel:Darrell Green (drums) Nick Mazzarella (alto sax), Hoff (bass) Howard Wiley (tenor sax) 4/15-LOST SONGS OF LEMURIA Channeling the sacred folk music of an imagined culture. Personnel: Frank Rosaly (drums), Alex Farha (oud/guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Hoff (bass) 4/22-SIRIUS B Avant-dance music for our friends from the binary star system. Personnel: Hoff (bass), Ken Vandermark (sax), Jeff Parker (gtr), Frank Rosaly (drums) 4/28-THE URSULA PROJECT: CONCERTI FOR DOUBLE BASS AND MALE Compositions for acoustic double bass with electric/tronic accompaniment, inspired by the writings of Ursula Le Guin. Personnel: Hoff (bass), Ben Mjolsness/Todd Mattei (gtrs), Jon Krohn (electronics) ABOUT DEVIN: Devin Hoff was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado. He began playing music seriously at age 15, and has continued to do so ever since, foregoing college as he was already working at his chosen profession. Torn between the visceral energies of punk and metal and the spiritual freedom of free jazz in his youth, he has spent the last 20-plus years exploring the resonance and dissonance of these musical tendencies. He has played and recorded with many musicians and bands over the years, including Ken Vandermark, Nels Cline, Vijay Iyer, Carla Kihlstedt, Mary Halvorson, Ben Goldberg, Joshua Redman, Kira Roessler, Mike Watt, and Good For Cows, his long-standing duo with drummer Ches Smith. In 2008 he released an album of double bass compositions and improvisations creatively titled Solo Bass. He has written and recorded music for several films and stage performances, including the award winning Wholphin-produced short film Look at the Sun and the Anna Deveare-Smith play Let Me Down Easy (in collaboration with Joshua Redman). He has also written articles on bass playing and music in general for several respected publications. Learn more about devin here: http://devinhoff.tumblr.com/
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~previous composers residencies~
in may 2012, we kicked off the composer series by featuring the music of chicago's very own cameron pfiffner.
read about cameron's performance with his hroup, Adolphe'S Ax in downbeat.com read about cameron's residency on examiner.com read about it on chicagoist.com  |
| photo: bryan thompson |
Cameron Pfiffner Quartet Monday May 7
Cameron Pfiffner, Reeds
Steve Doyle, Guitar
Joshua Ramos, bass
Makaya McCraven, drums
Marco Polo May 14th
Cameron Pfiffner: Leader, Tenor and Soprano Saxes, Flute, Oboe
Marquis Hill, Terry Connell: Trumpets
Steve Horne: Trombone
Nick Mazzarella: Alto Saxophone, Alto Clarinet
Juli Wood: Baritone Saxophone
Alejandro Urzagaste: Guitar
Tom Vaitsas: Piano
Daniel Thatcher: Bass
Tim Daisy: Drums
Tim Mulvenna: Percussion
Adolphe'S Ax May 21st
Cameron Pfiffner, Leader: Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Anthony Bruno, Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Nick Mazzarella, Alto Saxophone
Caroline Davis, Alto Saxophone
Nate LePine, Tenor Saxophone
Juli Wood, Baritone Saxophone
Marco Polo May 28th
Cameron Pfiffner: Leader, Tenor and Soprano Saxes, Flute, Oboe
Marquis Hill, Terry Connell: Trumpets
Steve Horne: Trombone
Nick Mazzarella: Alto Saxophone, Alto Clarinet
Juli Wood: Baritone Saxophone
Alejandro Urzagaste: Guitar
Tom Vaitsas: Piano
Daniel Thatcher: Bass
Tim Daisy: Drums
Tim Mulvenna: Percussion
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cameron pfiffner bio:
Mr. Pfiffner has worked on the jazz scene in Chicago for 25
years. He has performed with Truck
Parham, John Wright, Marshall Thompson, Eldee Young, Earma Thompson, Willie
Pickens, Sonny Seals, John Watson Sr, Tim Daisy, and Keefe Jackson, among
others.
For five years Pfiffner played lead tenor with Alan Gresik’s
Swing Shift Orchestra, specializing in authentic big band music of the 1930s
and ‘40s.
Pfiffner was the musical director and resident composer of The
58 Group, an interdisciplinary ensemble led by choreographer and former
Hubbard Street dancer Ginger Farley, which was dedicated to creating new works
of dance accompanied by live music.
For the past twenty years Pfiffner, with fellow saxist Pat
Mallinger, has led the band Sabertooth late night Saturdays at Chicago’s famous
Green Mill Lounge.
Pfiffner currently leads the 11-piece ensemble Marco Polo,
which performs his own original compositions as well as his arrangements of
music from many different places and time periods, focused through the idiom of
jazz.
A current project is the saxophone ensemble Adolphe’S Ax,
which pays tribute to the musician and
instrument designer Adolphe Sax, inventor of the the saxophone.
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| photos: marc riordan |
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the ratchet composer series has been partially funded by these sponsors:
