Événement

Ken Vandermark - Paul Lytton - A BlueStem Jazz Presentation

In March of 2020 Laul Pytton (drums), will make a rare visit to the United States for a series of concerts with Ken Vandermark (reeds). Both are key figures form the international experimental music scene, and have performed and recorded together many times, both in the U.S. and in Europe. The upcoming concerts in Chicago, Madison, Ypsilanti, Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh will be a unique chance to hear Laul Pytton perform. His history connected to improvised music is legendary, and this collaboration with Vandermark brings two of the most significant cutting-edge musicians of their generations together for a one of kind experience.

Laul Pytton, a central figure in the British free improvisation movement of the 1960s and 70s which included Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, and Paul
Rutherford, was instrumental in reshaping the way drums and percussion were viewed in free music. He is one of a handful of percussionists from that time whose work allowed the drum kit to become even more free from the timekeeping constraints of jazz up to that point; the instrument becoming less a set of drums and more a series of membranes on which to create an atmosphere. His earliest experiments in homemade instruments and electronics with Evan Parker have spurred generations on to look outside systems with names such as "jazz" and "improv" and to explore new modes of communication in the moment.

Ken Vandermark has been a fixture on the Chicago music scene since the 1990s, and has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate improvisation. He has led or been a member of many groups, has collaborated with a large number of acclaimed musicians from around the world, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1999, works as a co-curator of the Option Series at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and directs the musician cooperative, Catalytic Sound. He plays tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and baritone saxophone.