Joan Wildman and Joe Fonda
ISTHMUS PICK: The "Jazz on a Sunday" concert series is back with this celebratory event. Featuring UW professor emeritus and acclaimed jazz pianist Joan Wildman and bassist Joe Fonda, this concert will be hosted by Chris Wagoner of Mad Toast Live! and followed by a silent auction and an all-star jam session open to all musicians in attendance.
Brink Lounge 701 E. Washington Ave., Suite 105, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
press release:
Sunday, April 12, at 3:00pm, the Madison Music Collective will present a celebration of their 30th year bringing outstanding music to the Madison scene. This gala will be highlighted by a performance of acclaimed pianist and composer Joan Wildman accompanied by New York bassist Joe Fonda. The concert will be moderated by Chris Wagoner of Mad Toast Live and include a casual interview. Immediately following will be a first-time ever jam by the MMC All Stars. The All Stars include former MMC members and the jam will be open to all musicians in attendance. The celebration will also include a silent auction. This event is presented as part of the MMC’s highly regarded Jazz On A Sunday concert series at the Brink Lounge, 701 East Washington Avenue, Madison.
"Wildman's music is always a trip, thanks to her ceaseless experimentation."
Dean Robbins, Isthmus, 2011
Joan Wildman, (piano, synthesizer) is not only the founder of the Madison Music Collective, but is an Emeritus Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where she has taught courses in jazz improvisation, jazz piano, and music theory. Before coming to Wisconsin in 1977, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oregon and had previously taught at Central Michigan University and at the University of Maine, Fort Kent. As leader of her own jazz trio for over 25 years, she has performed nationally, made several recordings of her acoustic and electronic compositions, co-authored textbook Jazz Improvisation In Theory and Practice, scholarly journal articles and has often added computer animations as an integral part of her performance process. To quote Dean Robbins, Wildman is certainly Madison’s First Lady of Avant Garde.
Joe Fonda, bass
Joe Fonda: An accomplished international Jazz artist, Fonda has performed with his own ensembles throughout the United States Canada, Europe and Asia. He has collaborated and performed with such artists as Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Bill Dixon, Han Bennink, Bobby Naughton, Xu Fengia, Randy Weston, Gebhard Ullmann, Carla Bley, Carlo Zingaro, Barry Altschul, Billy Bang.
Fonda was the bassist with the renowned Anthony Braxton sextet, octet, tentet, from 1984 through 1999. Fonda also sat on the Board of Directors from 1994 to 1999, and was the President from 1997 to 1999 of the newly formed Tri-Centric Foundation. He has also performed with the 38-piece Tri-Centric orchestra under the direction of Anthony Braxton, and was the bassist for the premiere performance of Anthony Braxton’s opera, Shalla Fears for the Poor, performed at the John Jay Theater in New York, New York, October 1996.
As a composer, Fonda has been the recipient of numerous grants and commissions From Meet the Composer New York and the New England Foundation on the Arts. He has released twelve recordings under his own name. (Reviews and recordings available). Fonda was also a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisers Forum directed by Leo Smith, and was the bassist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world renowned tap dancer, Brenda Bufalino.
In 1989, Fonda performed with Fred Ho’s Jazz and Peking opera in its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. From 1982 to 1986 Fonda was the bassist and dancer with the Sonomama Dance Company. An independent producer since 1978, Fonda is the founding director of Kaleidoscope Arts an interdisciplinary performance ensemble and is the producer and musical director for the Connecticut Composers and improvisers Festival from 2001 to 2011.
Currently Fonda has been recording and touring extensively with the Fonda-Stevens Group, Conference Call , The Fab Trio, The Nu Band and Bottoms Out , with performances at the Bim huis in Amsterdam, Holland, Prague Jazz Festival, Czech Republic, Jazz Halo Festival, Belgium, Jazz Festival Thurinsen, Weimer, Germany, Berlin Jazz Festival Berlin Germany , Jazz Im Agusto Festival Lisbon Portugal, Natt Jazz Festival Bergen Norway, The Vision Festival New York, New York, Jazz and More Festival Sibiu Romania, Bakau Jazz Festival ,Azerbijan, Tondela Jazz Festival Tondala Portugal , Vancouver Jazz Festival ,Vancouver Canada, Guelph Jazz Festival, Guelph, Canada.
Two of Fonda’s most recent projects are From the Source, The Off Road Quartet.
From the Source is a group that incorporates the tap dancing and poetry of Brenda Bufalino and the healing arts of Vicki Dodd, and four jazz musicians. The group has released their first CD entitled, Joe Fonda and From the Source, on Konnex Records. The Off Road Quartet is comprised of four musicians from four different countries. Ux Fengia from Beijing China, Carlos Zingaro from Lisbon Portugal, Lucas Niggle from Zurich Switzerland and Joe Fonda New York USA. The Off Road Quartet blends the music’s from all four of these musicians’ cultures into a unique musical and visual experience.
Chris Wagoner, president of the Madison Music Collective and host of Mad Toast Live! will conduct live interviews of the musicians throughout the performance. Wagoner is a veteran of the Midwest music scene and has been a founding member of some of Wisconsin’s most popular groups, e.g., Harmonious Wail, Common Faces, Moon Gypsies, and the current vintage-jazz ensemble, The Stellanovas.
The Joan Wildman concert is presented by the Madison Music Collective (MMC). The MMC is a non-profit whose goal is to grow the local audience for jazz and other forms of improvised music and help audience members deepen their understanding of and appreciation for, this challenging, rewarding, and most American art form.
Jazz On A Sunday concert admission prices:
Advance/At the Door: General $15/18 MMC, MJS, Students $8/10
Info
Closed Permanently