Fri, 07 December 2007

Euphonic Productions presents,
The Engines

9pm, Sat, Dec 15
$8 at the door
Eyedrum
290 MLK Jr. Drive
404-522-0655
http://www.eyedrum.org

The Engines is a collaborative quartet founded in the spring of 2005. The group began as trio, featuring three mainstays of the Chicago improvised music scene: Dave Rempis on saxophones, Nate McBride on bass, and Tim Daisy on drums. In the spring of 2006, trombonist Jeb Bishop was added to the group for one concert. The dynamic of this lineup worked so well that Bishop immediately became a regular member of the band. Since then, they have been honing their skills across Chicago at many of the venues associated with creative music, including the Empty Bottle, Hideout, Elastic, Hungry Brain, and the Velvet Lounge.

All of these musicians have distinguished themselves as leaders with their own groups, but formed this band to purposely shirk that duty in favor of a more equal musical relationship that better reflects the nature of their improvisations. Each member contributes original compositions to the group, providing a wide range of expression from high energy jousting over driving bass vamps to quieter moments of melodic exploration. With McBride on both acoustic and electric bass, the band can explore some of the sonic textures associated with the early AACM, or launch into hard-hitting Zeppelin-like grooves, and they use this range of possibilities to its fullest.

Over the last decade, Dave Rempis has emerged as one of the most active young players in the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene. Rempis graduated from Northwestern University in 1997 with a degree in anthropology, focusing in ethnomusicology, and a year spent at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1995-96. Since 1998, his work with the Vandermark Five as the "other" saxophonist has established him as one of the up-and-coming voices of his generation, and has also provided him the opportunity to perform extensively in clubs, concert halls, and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His own groups, including the Rempis Percussion Quartet, Triage, The Engines, The Rempis/Daisy Duo, and The Dave Rempis Quartet, have toured regularly throughout the US and Canada, and have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Solitaire, and Utech record labels. In addition to these groups, Rempis plays regularly with Ken Vandermark's Territory Band, The Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet, The Outskirts, and the aptly named Rempis/Bishop/Kessler/Zerang Quartet. His frequent ad hoc collaborations have included performances with Paul Lytton, Axel Doerner, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Kevin Drumm, Paul Nilsson-Love, Tony Buck, David Stackenas, and Joe Morris. As a founding member of the Chicago presenters' collective Umbrella Music, Rempis also curates a weekly concert series at Elastic, a not-for-profit performance space in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. In 2006, Rempis was named as a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in the annual Downbeat Magazine International Critics' Poll.

Jeb Bishop has performed, toured and recorded with groups including the Vandermark Five, the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls, Terminal Four, School Days, Ken Vandermark's Territory Band, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Globe Unity Orchestra, and his own Jeb Bishop Trio. He also co-leads the Lucky 7s project with New Orleans-based trombonist Jeff Albert. Every year since 2001, he has been recognized as a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition (Rising Star) in Downbeat Magazine's International Critics' Poll. In addition to numerous club and smaller venue performances during tours of North America and Europe, he has performed at jazz festivals in Chicago, The Hague, Victoriaville, Berlin, Oslo, Vancouver, Paris, Lyon, Lisbon, and Seville, among others.

Born 5 May, 1971 in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, bassist Nate McBride was raised in Seattle and lived there until moving to Boston to attend New Engand Conservatory in 1990. His tenure in Boston saw the beginning of several long-running musical collaborations including work with drummer Curt Newton, guitarist Joe Morris, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and reedist Ken Vandermark. Since this period Nate has recorded and performed widely in the U.S. and Europe with those musicians and others. In late 2004, Nate relocated to Chicago, and performs regularly with his own Boston-based Quartet; the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio; the mi3; Tripleplay; Spaceways, Inc.; FME; The Frame Quartet, and the Engines. In addition to the musicians already cited, he has appeared on record or in concert with a variety of other improvisers, including Mat Maneri, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jim Hobbs, Charlie Kohlhase, Allan Chase, Satoko Fujii, James Rohr, and Hamid Drake.

Tim Daisy was born on July 15th, 1976, in Waukegan, Illinois, and began playing the drums at age 11. Soon he was involved in a rock band with his brother, playing shows around the northern Illinois and the Southeastern Wisconsin area. At age 17 a friend gave him a copy of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," which had a profound impact on him and began his fascination with improvised music. After moving into Chicago in 1997, Tim quickly became involved with the city's vibrant improvised music scene. Since 1998, he's recorded and toured with a wide range of ensembles including Triage and Dragons 1976. And in 2001, he joined the well-known Chicago free-jazz outfit the Vandermark Five. Other active projects include The Frame Quartet, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, Kyle Bruckman's Wrack, The Rempis/Daisy Duo and his own Festival Quartet; past collaborations have included work with the Chicago Improvisers Group, Sound In Action Trio, Unclocked, Arrive, Scott Rosenberg's Red, and Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra. In November, 2003, Tim was selected as one of "Thirteen Drummers For The Future" by Downbeat Magazine.

http://www.theengines.net/

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