April @ An die Musik Live, Baltimore MD

SUNDAY APRIL 16 @ 8PM

AB BAARS QUARTET - KINDA DUKISH
Music of Duke Ellington (adapted by Ab Baars)

Ab Baars (tenor sax, clarinet)
Joost Buis (trombone)
Wilbert de Joode (double bass)
Martin van Duynhoven (drums)

$18/$15 seniors & students

“What is music to you? What would you be without music? Music is everything. Nature is music. The sea is music, the wind is music. The rain drumming on the roof and the storm raging in the sky are music. Music is the oldest entity. The scope of music is immense and infinite. It is the 'esperanto' of the world"--Duke Ellington.

This timeless quote from a timeless legend, Duke Ellington, may have served as inspiration to renowned Dutch jazz saxophonist, Ab Baars, whose latest release, Kinda Dukish, pays homage to the great jazz legend in this masterful re-invention of such very famous classic hits such as Solitude, Caravan, Prelude To A Kiss, Perdido, and others not so famous.

It's a very intelligent approach absolutely devoid of any commercial cheap means and it is done alongside his equally talented band which includes bassist Wilbert de Joode, drummer Martin van Duynhoven and his most recent addition in his newly formed quartet, trombonist Joost Buis.

As one of the most celebrated players on the Dutch improv scene, he co-founded his first group, Cumulus in 1978. In this band, attempts were made to break from the traditional of theme-solo-theme-pattern by using improvisations primarily as a means to influence the progressive development of the compositions rather than improvising for its own sake.

Around 1980 this concept was further developed during his time with the Trebbel Ensemble, with Guus Janssen and Mariette Rouppe van der Voort. Baars continued to play within this framework in the Guus Janssen Septet. Since the early 1980's, he has perfomed in the Theo Loevendie Consort, Willem van Manen's Springband and the Maarten Altena Octet.

Influenced by the American Saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell with whom he worked in 1987, and his participation in the (Thelonious) Monk Project performed by the Instant -Composers Pool orchestra under the direction of Misha Mengelberg with George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, and Cecil Taylor, Baars adopted a more personal style, or 'ab music' as Mengelberg calls it which may have sparked his initial fascination with 'the Duke' as Ellington's music was featured in their suite called Ellington Mix.

In the fall of 1989, he studied in Los Angeles for two months with American clarinettist/composer John Carter. This was made possible thanks to a scholarship from the Dutch Ministry of Culture. In that same year, Baars was presented with the prestigious Boy Edgar Award and as a result, which is said to be quite common for many members of the Dutch avant-garde, Baars recorded a traditional tribute to said Carter with his trio entitled, 'A Free Step'.

Since 1990, his main focus of attention has been on the Ab Baars Trio which led to national and international projects with such musicians as Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, musicians from the Nieu Ensemble and influenced by his increasing interest in dance, collaborated with Japanese musicians and dancers on a solo tour of Japan in 2005.

THURSDAY APRIL 20th @ 8pm

Jenny Lin (piano) & Elliott Sharp (guitar,electronics)

$15/$12 seniors & students

Pianist Jenny Lin, who is equally at home in classical music and contemporary repertoire, joins celebrated composer/guitarist Elliott Sharp in a concert featuring Elliot Sharp's “Suberrubus for piano/live electronics" and Arthur Kampela's “Nosturnos"

Mr Sharp will conclude the evening with selections from his acclaimed solo acoustic guitar album “The Velocity of Hue".

SATURDAY APRIL 22 @ 8pm & 9.30pm

Ellery Eskelin, tenor saxophone
Andrea Parkins, keyboards / accordian /electronics
Jim Black, drums / percussion

$18/$15 seniors & students

Having searched out Andrea Parkins and Jim Black in order to satisfy a “sound he heard in his head" saxophonist and composer Ellery Eskelin (originally from Baltimore) debuted this ensemble on March of 1994 in New York City and the band quickly become Eskelin's main working group described as “one of the finest units in progressive jazz" by Downbeat Magazine.

Over twelve years of obsessing over the composition/improvisation paradigm has resulted in over fifty compositions by Eskelin that exploit the band's egalitarian approach to playing and each musician's ability to change musical roles fluidly and with great agility. In a effort to continually open new interactive pathways between the musicians and give each piece a unique form the group has produced a substantial body of music that has been described as “enjoyably organized madness which needs to be heard to be believed." (Signal to Noise magazine).

The group has been recording regularly for the legendary Swiss label hatHUT which itself has been in existence for thirty years having released many classics of jazz and new music. The group's recorded output consists of “Jazz Trash" (1995), “One Great Day..." (1996), “Kulak 29 & 30" (1997), “Five Other Pieces (+2)" (1998), “Ramifications" (1999), “The Secret Museum" (1999), “12 (+1) Imaginary Views" (2001), “Arcanum Moderne" (2002) and “Ten" (2004). The band tours regularly in the US, Canada and Europe having performed hundreds of concerts in all manner of venues from bars to concert halls from major cities to small towns. This work has resulted in critical acclaim from the international music press, a growing fanbase and an increasing influence on younger musicians. Eskelin has occasionally invited guest artists to participate in special projects including Erik Friedlander (cello), Joe Daley (tuba), Marc Ribot (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (electric bass) and Jessica Constable (voice). Constable, who resides in France, has become a frequent addition to the group on European tours since 2004. In addition to it's recorded output the band has also released a tour diary on DVD titled “On the Road with Ellery Eskelin w/Andrea Parkins & Jim Black" containing music and behind the scenes footage described by citizenjazz.com (France) as “original and daring, full of charm" which further documents the creative process of a group that shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

“From bright, punky melodies to diaphanous ruminations, the leader and his cohorts touch on practically every imaginable musical base to the point that Eskelin is loath to call his group a jazz band. Certainly, his own playing is steeped in the blues, retaining an affable warmth and lanky swing even at its most abstract. Limbs flying in all directions, Black plays with unorthodox techniques that have yet to be named, let alone described. Sentimental kitsch and disquieting rumble emanate in equal measure from Parkins's bellows. On piano, she girds the band with stately figures; a moment later, she may steer her colleagues into a hall of fun-house mirrors with her sampler, occasionally pitting Eskelin against his own horn in an impromptu duet. Together, the three have taken jazz to previously unexplored areas; their string of hatOLOGY releases is without question one of the signal oeuvres of '90s improv"--Time Out NY

SATURDAY APRIL 29 @ 8 & 9.30pm

Marc Copland - piano
Drew Gress - double bass
Jochen Rueckert - drums

$20/$18 seniors and students

Born 1948 in Philadelphia, Marc Copland was a part of the vibrant music scene in Philadelphia as a saxophonist before going to New York where he met John Abercrombie and also played with Chico Hamilton and others. He experimented with the electric alto but gradually became dissatisfied with the direction his music was taking and, leaving New York, quit playing the sax in order to study piano. He was gone for almost a decade but upon his return to the jazz world in the mid-80s his piano playing was a revelation, his own vividly original style firmly in place. As a sideman he has played with Bob Belden, Jane Ira Bloom, Joe Lovano, Tim Hagans, James Moody, Wallace Roney and many others.

But his career as a sideman in the Apple was relatively short-lived; Copland began recording and touring in trio with Gary Peacock and Billy Hart (At Night/Sunnyside, Paradiso/Soul Note) In the nineties, his reputation spread owing to three legendary recordings with the Savoy label, which put him on the road in an All-Star quintet (Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, and Dennis Chambers), and later in quartet with guitarist John Abercrombie,Drew Gress and drummer Billy Hart. Copland has enthralled audiences not only in trio and as a solo pianist, but also as a duo partner without peer--as attested by his duo recordings with Greg Osby(Night Call, Round and Round/Nagel-Heyer) and Gary Peacock (What It Says/Sketch).

“A quiet giant of his instrument ... the stuff of legend"--All About Jazz