Chrysalis
North Street Cabaret 610 North St., Madison, Wisconsin 53704
BlueStem Jazz.
media release: BlueStem Jazz Presentation Jim Baker, Dan Bitney, Keefe Jackson and Ausberto Acevedo
Jim Baker has been playing piano and synthesizer in and around Chicago and the world for a few decades, mostly in improvisational contexts. His work has been documented on more than eighty commercially released recordings, including recent and/or forthcoming work with Extraordinary Popular Delusions (usually comprised of some combination of Baker, Mars Williams, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Brian Sandstrom, and/or Steve Hunt); Rempis/Abrams/Ra+Baker; Urs Leimgruber and Jason Roebke; Charles Rumback; Brandon Lopez and Bill Harris; WiHuBa (with Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Steve Hunt); Mars Williams; Keefe Jackson/Baker/Julian Kirshner; Luke Stewart (with Wilkerson, Vandermark, and Ra); Bernard Santacruz and Samuel Silvant; Christoph Erb (with Frank Rosaly, Michael Zerang, or Steve Hunt); Junius Paul; Benjamin Vergara/Keefe Jackson/Phil Sudderberg; Dan Phillips; Forget to Find (with Jean-Luc Guionnet, Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, and Jason Roebke); and Madness of Crowds (with Brian Sandstrom, Matt Lux, Nate Lepine, and Joe Adamik).
Keefe Jackson ..the impeccable logic of his lines and the richness of his tone leave you wanting more...
--Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader
Jackson has an impressive grasp of the tenor's textural capabilities and exploits this knowledge to vary his attack; one minute ripe or overblown, guttural or throaty, then poppy or wailful.
--Michael Jackson, DownBeat
Jackson often gives the impression of existing in a parallel universe to whatever piece he's improvising over, full of ideas that jut out of the surroundings rather than comfortably fit in.
--Nate Dorward, Paris Transatlantic...influences and ideas are rearranged and combined in a way to exude something not only contemporary, but beautifully futuristic.
--Clifford Allen, All About Jazz
…Jackson’s tenor saxophone improvisations balance ardor with control, spontaneity with thoughtfulness...
--Art Lange, Point of Departure
Jackson's marbled tone expresses a lovely lyricism no matter how brusque or serrated his lines get.
--Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
Ausberto Acevedo is a bassist, composer, improviser, and teacher performing regularly both live and in the studio. Ausberto has performed or recorded with a variety of musicians including, Gino Robair, Kyle Bruckmann, Jason Stein, Guillermo Gregorio, Keefe Jackson, Frank Gratkowski, Sebastian Strinning, Jaimie Branch, Dan Bitney, Jim Baker, Paul Hartsaw, Adam Shead, Jerome Bryerton, and Jeff Chan. Ausberto is a founding member of Resonance Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting unconventional performance in unlikely spaces throughout the greater Chicago area.
Dan Bitney - Multi-intrumentalist from Chicago (IL, USA). He joined Tortoise in 1993. In Groups: 2DANZ, Bird Show Band, Bumps, Chicago Odense Ensemble, Isotope 217