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Three members from three Midwestern cities — Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis — form this experimental jazz trio, one of the most intriguing acts the region has to offer. Their new record, Post Rock Lately, runs for 52 minutes but is composed of just two songs. Jakob Heinemann (bass), Devin Drobka (drums), and Matt Blair (Fender Rhodes electric piano and electronics) craft ever-shifting sonic landscapes — ranging from the industrial to the sublime.

Sponsored by BlueStem Jazz. Cover $15 (students $10 with valid student ID).

press release:

Collector

https://collectormusic.net/

New Record: Post Rock Lately

August 2019- Digital only release through Bandcamp

Post Rock Lately is the debut record from pan-Midwest trio Collector. Composed of Jakob Heinemann on bass (Chicago), Devin Drobka on drums (Milwaukee), and Matt Blair on Fender Rhodes and electronics (Minneapolis), this working trio of improvisors has played together in countless contexts stretching back to 2012. For their first recording, they exhibit an utterly unique approach to free improvisation through two expansive pieces, recorded live in April 2018 at the Slate Arts venue in Chicago. Taking as much influence from drone and noise music as from classic free jazz, the trio moves through a series of rich, evocative sonic landscapes, at times reaching moments of dense freneticism paralleled only by inverse textures of extreme sparsity and silence. Above all, Collector prizes close listening and a sensibility for self-expression in their music.

https://collector-music.bandcamp.com/album/post-rock-lately

Jakob Heinemann is a bass player, composer, improvisor and educator from Madison,

Wisconsin. In 2017, he graduated from Lawrence University with a degree in music performance, where he studied with many great artists, including Bill Carrothers, Matt Turner, Patty Darling and Mark Urness. Also in 2017 Jakob moved to Chicago, Illinois. He has quickly established himself as one of the most in demand young improvisors on the Chicago scene, working with established players like Dave Rempis, Jim Baker, Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, and Steve Hunt, as well as the younger generation of Julian Kirshner, Adam Shead, Emerson Hunton, Sarah Clausen, Molly Jones, and many others. His debut record of solo bass improvisations, Latticework, came out in May 2019 on SCRIPTS Records.

Devin Drobka , drummer, composer and educator has been playing drums for the past 20 years. Devin is currently one of the most in demand Performers and Educators in the Midwest. Devin received his BMA in jazz drumming performance from Berklee College of Music in '09, and shortly thereafter moved to New York to further his musical knowledge. While in New York he performed at Kitano's, Douglass St. Music Collective, Barbes, and the Shapeshifter lab. Devin moved back to Milwaukee in 2013 and quickly established himself as a go to educator. Currently Devin teaches at the West End Conservatory, UW-Whitewater and at his house. Devin’s latest record, Amaranth, was released in September 2018 on Shifting Paradigm Records.

Matt Blair is a pianist, composer, improviser, and educator currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a bachelor of music degree with a self-designed major in contemporary improvisation at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Since relocating to Minneapolis, his latest projects include performing with YINS, a duo with drummer Devin Drobka, Work Friends, a jazz quintet dedicated to playing all original music. In June of 2017, Matt recorded his first solo record with drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple) as producer. The recording, Shadow Sets, features eight original compositions for solo piano and was released in April 2018.