Mr. Chair with Jon Irabagon

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Harvey Tillis

Mr. Chair with Jon Irabagon.

Mr. Chair with Jon Irabagon.

Back in January, composer and pianist Jason Kutz kicked off an ambitious project for 2023: at least 23 concert dates featuring new music, special guests, and other surprises. (23 is Kutz's lucky number.) The goal of 23 is in the rearview mirror as the series comes full circle with this concert featuring Mr. Chair (with Kutz on keys), joined by guest Jon Irabagon on saxophone, playing many of Kutz’s 2023 compositions.

Jazz.

media release: Based in Madison and winner of the 2021 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award for Best Jazz Artist, Mr. Chair brings a truly unique performance to every stage they play.

Mr. Chair looks like a jazz combo, enchants like a string quartet, and electrifies like a rock band, all while delighting listeners with their fresh and authentic sound. As classically-trained musicians well-versed in jazz, electronics, prog rock, world music and beyond, Mr. Chair is a contemporary fusion ensemble for music fans of all backgrounds. Their sound palette is diverse, and used to tell stories in styles cinematic, surreal, romantic, funky, and whimsical.

Their projects are as diverse as their sound. They have been commissioned by UW-Madison geoscientist Dr. Stephen Meyers to write music inspired by science concepts. They are working with former UW-Madison First-Wave Scholar, activist, and singer Dequadray James White to write an orchestral hip-hop album. Another collaboration has yielded a 50-min opera with singer Leslie Damaso, featuring violin, kulintang, a personal narrative, and original, contemporary arrangements of kundiman (Filipino art songs). Finally, they reimagined Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.

Equally comfortable as educators, the members of Mr. Chair have conducted masterclasses with students from middle school to college on the topics of performance, composition, style, arranging, orchestration, interpretation, and the creative process.

Arrangements of their music feature string quartet, string orchestra, additional brass/winds, and symphony orchestra. They have presented this music with KASA Quartet, the Caroga Lake Music Festival, and members of Akron Symphony Orchestra.

“The euphonious elements at the heart of Snarky Puppy’s appeal are also present in Mr. Chair’s debut.“ (PROG UK) In 2019, Mr. Chair independently released Nebulebula, a sprawling, 2-hour, double-disc CD. Also printed as a triple-vinyl, the album features spoken word, a gospel choir, string quartet, and more. Their second album, titled Better Days, was released March 3, 2023.

Jon Irabagon has been influenced by the self-empowering and individualistic philosophies and aesthetic of the great AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) ensembles as well as the historic world-class tenor saxophone lineage from his hometown. Equally adept at composing for rising stars in new music and the most intricate modern jazz ensemble, Irabagon builds on this foundation by adding modern classical and late-period John Coltrane to his compositional base, focusing primarily on mixed chamber ensembles to take advantage of hand-chosen musicians' voices and attitudes.