Monday, October 4
8pm CT
Streaming on YouTube
FREE, $10 suggested donation

Option Talks Music: Quin Kirchner

Meet the versatile and highly prolific drummer, composer and improvisor Quin Kirchner. Based in Chicago, Quin has worked within an astounding array of musical styles both a leader and sideman and has earned the position of being a first call drummer for many of the leading figures in contemporary music, both from Chicago and beyond.  His recent recording  “The Shadows and The Light” which was released to wide acclaim on Astral Spirits/Spacetone offers a superb example of his innovative and personal approach to the art of sonic exploration, composition, arranging and performance.

Tune in on Monday, October 4th at 8pm Chicago time to hear the discussion, ask questions in the chat, and listen to Quin perform from the gallery space inside Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio

The Option series is presented as part of Experimental Sound Studio’s virtual concerts every Monday. Link to this program, with the interview led by Tim Daisy, below.

About Quin Kirchner

Quinlan Kirchner (b. December 14, 1981) is a drummer, composer, improvisor & DJ from Chicago, Illinois. He first started his musical studies at the age of 10 at the famed Academy of Movement and Music of Oak Park and later at the Merit Music Program of Chicago. Learning from Chicago educator, Don Skoog, his studies soon grew to include the traditions of Afro-Cuban drumming, taking him to Havana, Cuba to study under acclaimed percussionists José Eládio, Omar Rojas & Don Poncho Terry. His early exposure to expressive arts and dedicated practice led him to earn a Basin Street Scholarship to the University of New Orleans, led by Ellis Marsalis, at the age of 18. There, Kirchner learned under the guidance of the city’s drumming masters including Ricky Sebastian, Jason Marsalis, Troy Davis and Johnny Vidacovich and his undergraduate studies led to a B.A. in Music, Jazz Studies, and the Gregory Frederico Senior of the Year Award. It was also while in New Orleans that Kirchner began his career as a performing & recording artist with QMRplus, Red Shift, The Other Planets, The Hall Monitors, Jeff Albert Trio & Quartet, Adam Croce, Irene Sage, Ed Petersen and others. After the dislocation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Kirchner moved to New York for Masters Degree studies at the Manhattan School of Music under John Riley before relocating to Chicago.

In the years since his return to his native Chicago, Kirchner has become a ubiquitous drumming force throughout the city’s diverse music scene. He has led countless large & small groups including the Broste/Beach/Kirchner Trio, Head with Wings, Ear to the Ground, Golombisky/Kirchner Duo, Lost Levels, Kirchner/Van Duerm/Lux & The Quin Kirchner Trio, Quartet, Ensemble & Group. In 2006, he was commissioned by the Umbrella Music Organization to compose and perform a 4-movement piece for string quartet & percussion entitled The Quagmire String Quartets. In 2010 he was selected as a member of the New Generation, a cross-cultural exchange in Dortmund, Germany led by Georg Graewe and Tobias Delias as part of the Ruhr 2010 Cultural Capital of Europe.

Kirchner is widely known as a popular sideman performing with such musicians as Rob Mazurek, Jeb Bishop, Jeff Parker, Greg Ward, Dave Rempis, Paul Giallorenzo, Mars Williams, Ryley Walker, Nick Mazzarella, Nate Lepine, Dave Miller, Jason Stein, Keefe Jackson & Matt Ulery to name a few. He has toured, performed and recorded with many different groups including Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards & Rogue Parade, Matt Ulery’s Delicate Charms, The Nate Lepine Quartet, The Nick Mazzarella Quintet, Bill MacKay’s Darts & Arrows, Paul Giallorenzo’s GitGo, The Lucky 7s, blink., ZING!, Health&Beauty, In Tall Buildings, NOMO & Wild Belle, among others. His musical talents have been showcased on stages all across North America and in over 20 countries around the world in various venues, most notably The Chicago Jazz Festival, The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, The Montreal Jazz Festival, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Vancouver Jazz Festival, Austin City Limits Festival, Voodoo Music & Arts Experience, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Outside Lands, Hangout Festival, Firefly Festival, Made in Chicago Festival (Poznan, PL), Music Meeting Festival (Nijmegen, NE), Festival Jazz International (Rotterdam & Nijmegen, NE), Au Foin De La Rue (St. Denis, FR), Festival Corona Capital (Mexico City, DF), and many more.

In 2018, Kirchner released his debut album as a leader, The Other Side Of Time, a sprawling 90-minute collage of jazz, beats & improvisations, called “the first great jazz album of 2018” by Chicago Reader‘s Peter Margasak. It was well received by critics, named an album of the year by Bandcamp Daily, a top 5 “Best Debut” in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll & given four stars in Downbeat & All About Jazz. In August 2018, The Quin Kirchner Group performed at the 40th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival and in toured the South and Midwest, appearing at Cropped Out Festival in October 2018.

In 2020, Kirchner released the follow-up to The Other Side of Time entitled The Shadows and The Light. In similar fashion to his debut album, his second album is a long-form musical journey, covering a wide range of styles and showcasing influences such as Elvin Jones, Sun Ra, Phil Cohran, Carla Bley & Charles Mingus. Since it’s release in June 2020, it has already received glowing reviews from Chicago Reader, Bandcamp Daily, All About Jazz and Pitchfork.

The Other Side Of Time & The Shadows and The Light are available now via Astral Spirits/Spacetone Recordings.