Archer

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courtesy Dave Rempis

The band Archer on stage.

Archer

This weekend of BlueStem Jazz shows promises many delights for the musically adventurous. April 5 (8 p.m.) features a new quartet led by Chicago-based bassist Jason Roebke; his compositions on their album, Four Spheres, get very free without being overly frenzied about it. April 6 (8 p.m.) features Archer, a new improvisatory ensemble fronted by Chicago sax master Dave Rempis and Dutch guitarist Terrie Ex (of punk band The Ex). And April 7 (4 p.m.) features a quartet Chicagolanders: bassist Ausberto Acevedo, pianist Jim Baker, sax player Keefe Jackson, and multi-instrumentalist/Madison native Dan Bitney.

media release: Presented by BlueStem Jazz.

Archer is a new quartet configuration featuring Dutch punk legend Terrie Ex alongside Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis on the front line, backed by one of the hardest working rhythm sections in Norway with “Johnny Strum” on bass and “Dollop Eastfang” on drums.  This international conglomerate made its debut on a tour of Norway in February 2023, and now hits the US for the first time in April.

Guitarist Terrie Ex may be known for his decades of work in the Dutch punk band The Ex, but his abilities as an improviser are unparalleled.  The urgency of his playing and a complete irreverence to form or narrative, coupled with a wild imagination and a Dadaist sense of humor, turn him into a rare bird in the field of improvised music – an actual improviser.   His longstanding work with legends of the worldwide scene includes ongoing collaborations with Han Bennink, Ken Vandermark, Jaap Blonk, Paal Nilssen-Love, and Ethiopian superstar Getachew Mekurya.

Rempis is a saxophonist who’s developed a wide-ranging palette across his decades as an anchor of the Chicago scene.  From Brötzmann-like blasts of sound that he can sustain over the long-term like few living saxophonists, to pointillistic explorations of texture and timbre, his broad arsenal is the perfect foil to match that of Ex.   The two together might spiral upwards into the stratosphere at one moment, and alight like a bee on a flower the next.

Alongside them, a powerhouse Norwegian rhythm section drives the momentum forward. Bassist Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Tollef Østvang are known for their work together in bands like Universal Indians (with Joe McPhee), and All Included (w/Martin Küchen), as well as in the renowned Norwegian quintet Friends & Neighbors. Strøm has also been a frequent collaborator of drummer Paal Nilssen-Love in his Large Unit, and the Frode Gjerstad Trio, while Østvang's CV includes work with Mars Williams, Trevor Watts, Ben Lamar Gay, and jaimie branch.

As a quartet, these four might spark a fire under your ass, or they might tiptoe across the tulips softer than a morning dew.  This band fully reserves the right to make it up as they go.

Rempis’ musical expression draws on a number of touchstones. While heavily improvisational in nature, his Greek ethnicity, studies in jazz and ethnomusicology, an appreciation for the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary composition, and a love for unforgivingly strident yelps, screeches, and squeals that can encompass the ever-evolving state of human depravity all inform his work.

Aside from his work as a musician and composer, Rempis has worked tirelessly as a presenter.  From 2002-2023, he curated and produced a weekly series of improvised music at Chicago’s Elastic Arts Foundation, where he also served as Board President. He was a founding member of the presenters’ collective Umbrella Music, and one of the lead producers and curators of its annual festival of improvised music from 2006-2014. He was business manager of the world renowned Pitchfork Music Festival from 2005-2016. Since 2017 he has worked as Operations Manager with the internationally renowned but neighborhood-based Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago.