Open Ears Music

On November 7, 2007 the Open Ears Music Series presented its first performance in the Blue Nile Balcony Room. The Jeff Albert Quintet performed at the first of the weekly Wednesday night concerts. The rest of November featured New Orleans improvisers Simon Lott, Justin Peake, Helen Gillet, Jonathan Freilich, Dave Cappello and others, as well as Dutch bass master Wilbert de Joode. It was an ambitious start for a creative music series in a city that has always had lots of creative musicians. The series was founded by Jeff Albert and organized in the early days by Jeff, Justin Peake, and Dan Oestreicher. Justin left for Brooklyn, and then returned to start Merged Music, which presents creative electronic music and visual performances, and Dan has been busied by his duties touring with trombone Shorty, so Jeff has the organizational load to himself these days, but Justin and Dan are still very much on the scene. In 2008, the series moved to Tuesday nights, where it has become a regular fixture on the New Orleans schedule.

Over the past five years the Open Ears Music Series has presented many of the best improvisers in New Orleans, and a number of the most accomplished improvisers in the world. Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Frank Gratkowski, Wolter Weirbos, Georg Graewe, Tim Daisy, Michael Zerang, Cooper-Moore, Gebhard Ullmann, Joe McPhee, James Singleton, Dave Cappello, Delfeayo Marsalis, Helen Gillet, Jonathan Freilich, Aurora Nealand, Joe Cabral, Mark McGrain, Rex Gregory, Rick Trolsen, and many others have performed on the series.

In October 2012, the 60th month of the series, Jeff Albert has put together five concerts to celebrate the first five years of the series.

October 2: Dave Rempis

October 9: The Log Ladies & Jeff Albert Quartet/Quintet

October 16: The Gebhard Ullmann/Steve Swell 4 featuring Barry Altschul & Hill Greene

October 23: Ab Baars/Ig Hennemann Duo

October 30: 5th Anniversary Open Ears Improv Mash-up

DAVE REMPIS – October 2

Dave Rempis is a great saxophonist based in Chicago. Dave is best known for his work as a member of the Vandermark 5, and with the collective The Engines. http://www.daverempis.com

Set 1: Dave Rempis/Jeff Albert Duo
Set 2: Dave Rempis & Dan Oestreicher (saxes), Jesse Morrow (bass), & Dave Cappello (drums)

THE LOG LADIES & JEFF ALBERT QUARTET/QUINTET – October 9

October 9 is Jeff’s birthday, so he booked some of his favorite groups in which he plays.

The Log Ladies have crafted their brand of cosmic skronk jazz in the rich musical soil of New Orleans. Their music sheds jazz conventions and avant-garde headiness, yet combines these genres in a rocking accessible sonic adventure. Haunting melodies mix with a romping rhythm section, shifting textures and even a healthy dose of humor, to deliver a distinctive alluring sound. Chris Alford(guitar), Dave Cappello(drums),and Jesse Morrow(bass) are three unique stylized improvising musicians whose sum is The Log Ladies. In July, The Log Ladies did a tour of Texas with Jeff as their guest. http://www.reverbnation.com/thelogladies

The Jeff Albert Quartet was born in 2004 and now features Ray Moore on saxes, Jesse Morrow on bass, and Dave Cappello on drums. They will perform material from their CDs One and Similar in the Opposite Way, as well as some newer quintet material that will also feature Chris Alford on guitar. http://jeffalbert.com

ULLMANN/SWELL 4 – October 16

The ‘Ullmann/Swell 4′ is the latest format of Gebhard Ullmann (based in Berlin) and Steve Swell (based in NYC) with bassist Hill Greene and legendary drummer Barry Altschul. This emotional and intense quartet was founded in 2004 and toured in the U.S. and Canada in the same year. In October and November of 2006 the ‘Ullmann/Swell 4′ performed in Europe for the first time and got raving reviews. The quartet performed on 2008′s Vision Festival in New York City and was called by many one of the highlights of the festival.
http://www.gebhard-ullmann.com/ullmannswell.htm

DUO BAARS-HENNEMAN – October 23

Ab Baars – tenorsax, clarinet, shakuhachi
Ig Henneman – viola

Ab Baars and Ig Henneman are among the leading representers of the jazz- and improvised music scene in the Netherlands. Their program contains improvisations based on compositions written by Baars and Henneman and completely improvised material.

The duo Baars-Henneman was born in Rome (IT) at the Festival “ControIndicazioni” in 1999. Ab Baars and Ig Henneman have participated in international festivals and played venues as a duo and with their own groups. The duo toured in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, Norway, Czech Republic, USA, Canada and Brasil. Ab Baars leads his own groups; the Ab Baars Trio and Quartet. For years now he is a member of the ICP Orchestra of Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink. Ig Henneman is a violaplayer and a composer. She leads her own groups in which she works with musicians from various areas of music, like radical free improvisation, jazz, contemporary music and punk. She is a member of the Canadian/Dutch Queen Mab Trio.
http://stichtingwig.com/abBaars/duoBaarsHenneman/duo%20Baars-Henneman.html

5th Anniversary Open Ears Improv Mash-up – October 30

One of the reasons the Open Ears Music Series was founded was to provide a platform/meeting place/incubator for the improvising musicians of New Orleans. Over the years we have presented a number of Improv Mash Ups, in which a number of improvisers are invited to perform in various ad hoc groupings. These have been some of the more popular performances, and October 30 will feature a huge celebratory gathering of improvisers, who will play in a variety of previously unexplored groupings. Confirmed participants include: Helen Gillet, Justin Peake, Barry Stephenson, Mark McGrain, Dave Cappello, Chris Alford, Doug Garrison, Rick Trolsen, Rev Gooden, Brad Walker, Ray Moore, Jeff Albert, Marcello Benetti, Jesse Morrow, & Dan Oestreicher.

A number of people deserve to be thanked for their role in the success of the first five years of the Open ears Music Series. The team at The Blue Nile, especially Jesse and Ollie, have made the series possible. Other presenters of creative and improvised music in New Orleans have set up a number of the concerts, especially those featuring musicians from other places, so a big thank you to Andy Durta (Scatterjazz), Rob Cambre (Anxious Sounds), and Benjamin Lyons (Valid Records).

Our TV culture has over ridden our actual culture, and the May 15 Tate Carson band show has been canceled due to a TV shoot in the club. Tate’s band will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

Tomorrow night’s show should be special. We are fortunate to be able to host the New Orleans stop on the Tim Daisy/Ken Vandermark Duo tour. The show is in the Blue Nile Balcony Room on Tuesday July 26, 2011, sometime after 10 PM CDT. The concert will be broadcast on WWOZ (90.7 FM in New Orleans and wwoz.org everywhere else), so if you aren’t in New Orleans, or can’t get to the club, please listen online, or the radio. There is a $10 suggested donation.

Read the Time-Picayune’s preview of the show.

Tim (on left) and Ken rock their excited look.

Ken Vandermark plays woodwind instruments, composes, and makes things happen. He’s had a number of groups, and is probably best known for his long running quintet The Vandermark 5. In 1999 he won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant.

Tim Daisy is a composer and percussionist. He has been a member of several of Ken’s bands and on top of that is a busy member of the Chicago scene. I have heard a rumor that Tim is a Slovenian free jazz rock star, and I know he knows where to find the best pho in Chicago.

These guys are special, don’t miss it.

This week (Tuesday Aug 17, 2010), WWOZ 90.7 FM will broadcast live from the Open Ears Music Series. The featured band is Rex Gregory’s group with Ashlin Parker, Austin Johnson, Peter Harris, and Simon Lott. Please come out and get your applause heard on the radio, and if you can’t be in the house, tune to 90.7 FM or www.wwoz.org about 10:30 pm.

Open Ears is pleased to present (or help present) two great shows by world class improvisers from other parts of our world.

On Tuesday April 20, in our regular Tuesday night Blue Nile time and space, we will present Conference Call. This quartet features musicians from Europe and the US, and they have made several great recordings. Please come hear them live.

More info here: http://www.michaeljefrystevens.com/?page=5&t=2
and here: http://www.gebhard-ullmann.com/cc.htm

Then on Monday, April 26, along with Anxious Sounds, Valid Records, & Spyboy Productions, we will present Peter Brötzmann & Hamid Drake. This show will happen at 9 PM at the Big Top, 1638 Clio St in New Orleans. This tour is the first time they have worked as a duo in a number of years, and the reviews from the early tour stops have been great.

For New Orleans to remain a viable tour stop for great traveling musicians like these, the folks that like this music have to come to the shows. These concerts are not grant funded, they are operating in the good old free enterprise system, and members of our community have stepped up to guarantee the artists’ fees if the paid attendance doesn’t cover it. If you value having this music presented live in our community, please attend the shows, and bring some friends with you.

The new (Feb 09) Downbeat contains their annual jazz club listing. Here is what they had to say about The Blue Nile (our home).

The Blue Nile offers a wide variety of jazz, from traditional and New Orleans, to Latin and funky. The atmosphere goes from relaxed to slinky. Best bets are Tuesday nights, where the Open Ears Music series has the more experimental jazz.

The Open Ears Music Series celebrates its first year with a month of special programming in November. The Open Ears Music Series presents performances every Tuesday night in the upstairs room of The Blue Nile on Frenchmen St in New Orleans. The series has presented many of New Orleans and the world’s most creative musicians including Rob Mazurek, Wilbert de Joode, Wolter Weirbos, Frank Gratkowski, Cooper-Moore, Jonathan Freilich, James Singleton, Dave Cappello, Simon Lott, Phil deGruy and many others, as well as the core of the young fertile creative scene that is developing in New Orleans.

November 4 brings two sets from co-curator Dan Oestreicher. A duo set with bassist Jesse Morrow, and a set from Micro Diesel Combustion. Jesse has been a regular on the series, and this is the first performance of Micro Diesel Combustion. One of the goals of the series has been to provide a place for ideas to morph into reality, so we are glad that Micro Diesel Combustion is being realized on our anniversary.

Another goal of the series has been to provide a place for visiting creative music artists to perform, and the November 11 show has an over load of great out of town musicians. German pianist Georg Gräwe has played with many of the greats in improvised music, including Anthony Braxton, and Frank Gratkowski (who has also appeared on the Open Ears Series in our first year). Gräwe will be performing with New Orleans trombonist and Open Ears co-curator Jeff Albert, as well as Chicago saxophonist Greg Ward, and former New Orleanian, drummer Quin Kirchner. Greg and Quin will also perform the second set on the 11th with the Chicago band Blink, which also includes bassist Jeff Greene, and guitarist Dave Miller. Georg Gräwe’s appearance is made possible by Scatterjazz.

The first out of town artist to play the Open Ears Series was world traveling pianist Thollem McDonas, and he will return almost exactly one year later to perform on November 18th. He will perform a duo set with Nick Sanzenbach, and in a quartet with Jonathan Freilich, Helen Gillet, and Rex Gregory. Between sets, we will hear David Kunian’s radio documentary called “Jonathan Freilich’s Freedom Double-O Naked Klezmer Jazz Latin Boogaloo.”

November 25th brings another new project featuring some of New Orleans craziest young musicians making crazy music in a band with a mysterious name. Jesse Morrow is the organizer of VH2:Rise of the Machines.

Due to some difficult logistics, and changes in personal schedules, we will no longer be able to record and post all of every show. Some full shows will still get recorded, and some partial shows, and we will continue to post whatever we record, but it will no longer be every note of every night. It is hard to predict what will and won’t get recorded.

From now on, if you want to be sure to hear it, you better be there when it is played. The music is better that way anyway.

We will take a short summer break the first two weeks of July, and then will come back on a new night starting July 15.

Our move to Tuesday nights was done in the interest of having the best possible listening environment. There is no music downstairs at the Blue Nile on Tuesdays. This will allow us to enjoy quiet and subtle presentations with out the audio bleed from downstairs. Of course we can still have not quiet and not subtle presentations as well.

We’d like to thank Jesse and Ollie and the Blue Nile for having the vision to open the club an extra night purely in the interest of having the best possible listening experience. Please reward their commitment to good music with your continued support of the Open Ears Music Series.

Thanks,
Jeff, Justin, and Dan

Starting this week, the Frenchmen String Quartet will play before each Open Ears show. They do classical string quartet repertoire as well as some other interesting things, so get there early and enjoy the music. This shouldn’t affect the start times of the Open Ears shows, it will just double the amount of cool music you can hear in one night.