November 21, 2014

Friday night live at Transistor: Young/Wildeman/Rosaly and Zebec Quintet. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

Zebec Quintet performs original composition in the jazz and improvised music idiom.

Personnel:
Billy Wolfe reeds 
David Fletcher trombone 
Ishmael Ali guitar 
Mike Humpherys bass 
Zach Yanez drum set

Free improvisation trio Young/Wildeman/Rosalymade its public performance debut this night at Transistor.

Composer and bassoonist Katherine Young creates acoustic and electro-acoustic music that uses curious timbres, expressive noises, and kinetic structures to explore the dramatic materiality of sound, constantly shifting ensemble energies, and the tension between the familiar and the strange. The New York Times described her music as "raw, wailing, coloristic," and New Music Box has noted "her visceral approach to sound; her organic use of repetition, structure, and pacing; her attentiveness to the smallest details of timbre; her adventurousness in using instruments in unexpected ways."

Ensemble Recherche, Talea Ensemble, Flux Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Spektral Quartet, Fonema Consort, TimeTable Percussion, and others have performed her music. Collaboration is central to Katherine's process, and particularly rich collaborations include work with Till by Turning, violinist Austin Wulliman, choreographer Daria Fain and the Prosodic Body, and Linda Jankoska of Distractfold Ensemble.

As an improviser, Katherine amplifies her bassoon and employs a flexible electronics set-up. She has documented her work on numerous recordings. Her solo bassoon release garnered praise in The Wire ("Bassoon colossus") and Downbeat ("seriously bold leaps for the bassoon"). At Oberlin College and Conservatory, Katherine studied bassoon performance and comparative literature; she completed her masters in composition at Wesleyan University, where she worked with Anthony Braxton, Ron Kuivila, and Alvin Lucier. Katherine is currently a DM candidate in composition at Northwestern University, working with Lee Hyla, Hans Thomalla, Jay Alan Yim, amd Chris Mercer.

Bassist Albert Wildeman relocated from The Netherlands to Chicago in 2011 to pursue improvised music and has since performed with musicians including Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jeb Bishop, Frank Rosaly, Dave Rempis, Tim Daisy, Michael Zerang, Jim Baker, Katherine Young, Jason Roebke, Mars Williams, James Falzone, Keefe Jackson, Nick Mazzarella, John Niekrasz and Guillermo Gregorio. In addition, he co-hosts and curates the Splice Series, which aims to present and bring together a wide range of approaches to improvised music and performance.

Frank Rosaly is a drummer and composer living in Chicago. He has been involved in the improvised and experimental music community since 2001 where he has become an integral part of Chicago's musical fabric, navigating a fine line between the vibrant improvised music, experimental, rock and jazz communities. He contributes much of his time to performing, composing, teaching, as well as organizing musical events, while also touring regularly domestically and internationally.

Rosaly is currently active in many projects throughout Chicago as well as New York and in Europe. Some groups include Matana Robert's Chicago Project, RobMazurek's Mandarin Movie, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet, Scorch Trio, Jason Stein Quartet, Jeff Parker/Nels Cline Quartet, Josh Abrams' Natural Information, Fred Lonberg-Holm's Valentine Trio, Keefe Jackson's Project Project, The Fast Citizens, The Jeb Bishop Trio, JasonAdasievicz's Rolldown, Jorrit Dijkstra's Flatlands Collective, Chicago Lucern Exchange, Hearts and Minds, Slow Cycle, Outskirts, Darren Johnston's Chicago Quintet and others. Some performances in the recent past include collaborations with Thurston Moore, Peter Brotzmann, Tony Malaby, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Coleman, Paul Flaherty, Marshall Allen, Louis Moholo, Eric Boeren, Ken Vandermark, Michael Zerang, Walter Weirbos, Joan of Arc, White/Light, Male,Fennesz, Green Pasture Happiness, among many others. He organizes and coordinates the Ratchet Series, a weekly showcase of creative music at the Skylark in Chicago. Frank is also faculty at the Old Town School of Folk Music. He earned a performance degree from Northern Arizona University. He has studied with Billy Higgins, Peter Donald, Bob Moses, Joel DiBartolo, Dom Moio, Steve Hemphill, Robert Schulz, Michael Vatcher and with the staff at the Jazz Record Mart.