Iain Ballamy and Thomas Strønen photo courtesy of Thomas Strønen Website
January 17, 8pm
PONCHO Concert Hall
Cornish College of the Arts
710 E Roy
FOOD
In the duo Food, the versatile Norwegian percussionist Thomas Strønen joins British saxophonist Iain Ballamy in preparing thought-provoking and deeply satisfying feasts, based on instrumental virtuosity, and spiced with live electronics and a rack of tricks. The BBC calls Food, “a magical hybrid of technology and improvisation, Europe and America, ambience and dance.”
Their signature style of lyrical, spaciously grooving soundscape has developed over a series of albums since 1999. Those include three on Rune Grammofon – Veggie (2002), Last Supper (2004), and Molecular Gastronomy (2007) – and most recently two superb outings on ECM Records – Quiet Inlet (2010) and Mercurial Balm (2012). The last two added to their mix such guests as one-of-a-kind Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, and Indian slide guitarist and vocalist Prakash Sontakke.
Food’s Seattle feast will boil down to the two basic ingredients: Ballamy’s lyrical lines and gorgeous tone, and Strønen’s multifaceted groove. The two produce shifting, elevating washes of sound and emotion, at times minimalist, at times turbulent. The whole “vibrates with irresistibly fascinating detail and visceral excitement,” as The Guardian reported. A BBC review of Quiet Inlet spoke of the music as “sumptuous and strikingly original,” and as possessing a “sense of space” where “each moment focuses itself as it unfolds.”
Tickets are $16 general admission, $14 Earshot members and seniors, and $8 students and veterans, and are available at brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006.
January 25, 8pm
Poncho Concert Hall
Cornish College of the Arts
710 E Roy
Ben Wendel Quartet
with Taylor Eigsti, Harish Raghavan & Eric Harland
The brilliant tenor saxophonist Ben Wendel helps to kick off our spring presenting season with a quartet that includes some of the most exciting younger artists today. In this startling demonstration of exactly why jazz is alive and thriving right now, pianist Taylor Eigsti, bassist Harish Raghavan, and everybody’s-favorite-drummer Eric Harland join Wendel to blast, slide, and twist through a program of original material that is sure to dazzle. Though all of the members of this quartet perform and record with each other regularly, this will be their first tour as a quartet.
In branching out from the collective Kneebody, of which he is the founding saxophonist, Wendel has earned a reputation as “a composer with a restless sonic ear”(LA Times), and “a literate and adaptable multi-reedist whose original music puts a premium on lyricism,” with “a wide-open sensibility, about as tuned to Bach and Bjork as Monk and Shorter” (NY Times).
Pianist Eigsti, who’s recent Daylight at Midnight (Concord Jazz, 2010) includes Harland and Raghavan, was a California child prodigy, who first performed with Dave Brubeck at the age of 12, and released his first album at 14. He typifies the brilliance, virtuosity and far-ranging influences of this band of artists.
Bassist Raghavan began studying double bass at 17, following up early studies with John Clayton at the University of Southern California. He moved to New York and has since performed regularly with Ambrose Akinmusire and Kurt Elling, among many others.
Drummer Eric Harland is the most in-demand drummer of his generation. At age 36, he has already been on close to 200 recordings. “His skill, versatility, and personality have sent his fellow musicians searching for superlatives,” the Boston Globe’s Siddhartha Mitter writes. Working as one of the best, Harland has shared the stage with masters such as Betty Carter, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Terence Blanchard, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Savion Glover, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Charles Lloyd and Zakir Hussein. When Harland contributes, his intention is to create the highest musical experience so that every listener may have insight … into the musical moment.
In tonight’s quartet, this open mind, incredible facility, and ability to connect aspects of all music will surely shine. Tickets are $18 general admission, $16 Earshot members and seniors, and $9 students and veterans, and are available at brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006.
