$15 Cover @ the Door ($10 Students) / Start 7:30pm / Doors 7pm / Seated Show
Elwood Epps
Born in Toronto in 1976, trumpeter Ellwood Epps lives and works in Boston, where he has quickly become active on the improvised music scene. In addition to leading Togetherness!, a sextet which plays music from South Africa, he can also be heard regularly with Eric Zinman, Gylnis Lomon, Matt Crane, Luther Gray, and Steven Lantner. Epps lived in Montreal for 16 years, where he co-founded the venue l'Envers, the weekly Mardi Spaghetti series, and the Festival of New Trumpet Music Canada. Ellwood has played on over 100 records, including 40 as leader/co-leader, for diverse labels including Mr. E, Ambiances Magnetiques, &Records, Constellation, VICTO, Rogue Art, Majmua, Kakutopia, Panospria, Drip Audio, Barnyard, Mode, and Bug Incision. He has performed with musicians from many parts of the world, including Steve Lacy, Josh Zubot, William Parker, Michel F Côté, John Butcher, Yves Charuest, Henry Grimes, John Heward, Marshall Allen, Lori Freedman, and Jean Derome. Ellwood has also been active as a trumpet teacher for 30 years, and has been engaged in teaching improvisation, including the Studio d'Improvisation de Montréal, a popular series of workshops which ran over 10 years and welcomed many dozens of musicians from all backgrounds and levels of experience.
Erik van Damm
Erik Van Dam plays flute, baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones. Having studied with the highly acclaimed Joe Lovano and later Hal Crook, Erik has gone on to draw inspiration from many influences, including Lovano, Sam Rivers, and Eric Dolphy. Erik has crafted a sound of his own. He has also spent time working and performing with Bob Moses, Bill Lowe, Stan Strickland, and Fred Ho’s Monkey Orchestra. Former performance ensembles include Erik’s jazz trio TRIOSOPHY, his all improvisational quartet SRUTI, as well as "The Sonic Construct Funk Project, and a nine piece rock group "Strange Changes. " Erik has performed internationally in Tokyo, Paris, Jamaica, and Bulgaria. Erik currently performs at many venues in Massachusetts with different small jazz combos. In addition to being a musician, Erik is an avid creative painter and sculptor who teaches art professionally in a local school system.
Martin Gohary
Martin Gohary is an avant-garde pianist + composer whose uncompromising vision and relentless recording schedule have established him as a rising performer in the contemporary music scene. His music defies categorization, blending elements of 20th-century concert music, jazz, electronic, and experimental music into a unique and captivating sound. With each new release, Gohary pushes the boundaries of what is possible with the piano, exploring new techniques and textures that challenge both himself and his audience. His music is both challenging and accessible, and his performances are always thrilling and unpredictable. Whether playing solo or collaborating with other musicians, Martin Gohary's music is always fresh, exciting, and deeply satisfying.
Evan Palmer
Evan Palmer (they/he) is an improviser, bassist, oboist, English hornist, composer and educator based in Boston, Massachusetts. They specialize in music in the Black American tradition, particularly improvised music. Evan is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where they received a Bachelor of Music in Bass Performance, studying with John Lockwood, Billy Kilson, Bruno Räberg and many more. They have performed and recorded with many artists including Francisco Mela, Phil Grenadier, Jim Robitaille, Leo Blanco, Shinya Lin, Mark Walker, and John Dalton. Evan's band performs their own improvisations and compositions as well as music by Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, and other great composers. Evan is currently a private lesson instructor for the Hopkinton Music Association, Note-Worthy Experiences and Karen Amlaw Music.
John Dalton
John Dalton is a Boston based musician, composer, and educator. He has performed at the New Bedford Jazz Festival, Fete Music hall, the Zeiterion Theater, Boston University, Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club, Shrine World Music venue in Harlem and Cafe 939 at Berklee College of Music. He has performed or shared the bill with artists such as Jim Robitaille, Dino Govoni, Amanda Monaco, John Sullivan, Barry Altschul, Dennis Montgomery, Jerome Harris, Stefano Battaglia, Kaya Meller, Kamil Piotrowicz, Anastassiya Petrova, and royal hartigan. John has also received grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Medford Arts Council, and the Somerville Arts Council for work with his modular ensemble Spheres of Influence, which performs original compositions, standards, as well as arrangements of well-known repertoire.
ISAO
Isao, aka Phil Morimoto, is a guitarist of 30+ years. Isao graduated from Berklee and was later hired by Lawrence Berk, its founder. Isao was inspired by Mr. Berk’s quest to unlock, decode and understand how and why music is such a powerful influence to our senses. Isao is a supporter and practitioner of improvised music, or what is now being recoined as “This Music”.