We are so excited to continue our Side Yard Sound series, 2022 with Slow Bell and Levinson/Mahlmeister!
Saturday May 7th (rain date TBA)
$15 at the door (all proceeds go to the artists!)
BYOB
This performance will take place in the outdoors!

Slow Bell Trio:
Slow Bell Trio of Steven Hess, Mike Weis, and Keefe Jackson is a new combination of improvisors which stands out because of the unusual affiliations the members bring to the proverbial musical table. In addition to playing low-key rock music with Zelienople and abstracted folk themes with Scott Tuma, percussionist Mike Weis performs ambient soundscapes with Mirror of Nature and solo material influenced by forms of Korean rituals. Steven Hess hits the drums hard and precise with art-metal combos Locrian and RLYR and combines stark beats with electronic textures in Cleared, but he also explores the resonance of Kentucky caves with the experimental ensemble Haptic on their new CD Ten Years Under the Earth (Unfathomless). And Keefe Jackson is a redoubtable presence on Chicago’s jazz scene, contributing tenor saxophone and bass and contrabass clarinets to his own bands, Greg Ward’s Mingus-themed 10 Tongues band, and Jason Stein’s muscular, swinging quartet as well as plunging into fractious free improvisation in the Urge Trio with Tomeka Reid and Christoph Erb. You can count on the three men to be thoughtful, forceful, and wide open to possibility.”
(Thanks to Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader)

Levinson/Mahlmeister:
Comprised of Jamie Levinson & Donny Mahlmeister, the Chicago duo uses synthesizers in combination with tactile instruments (Levinson is a drummer/percussionist & Mahlmeister a guitarist) to create cinematic snapshots of sonance. While the duo absolutely gives glances toward artists like Eno, Lanois, Reich, Riley & the kosmische places and spaces of Deuter, they are absolutely of the NOW, in step with ambient explorers like Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Panabrite, or locals Bitchin’ Bajas, TALsounds or Brett Naucke. They perform their compositions & improvisations live, reacting to each other in conversation (not only with each other’s physical playing, but their respective synth patches), creating a dazzling harmony with the natural & synthetic as well as the tactile & the intangible.

-Courtesy of Bill and Lisa Roe, Trouble in Mind Records
We are so excited to continue our Side Yard Sounds Series in 2022 with a bevy of creative musical artists who traverse diverse forms: from the intriguing waters of experimentalism and the avant-garde to forward-reaching jazz and other modes that are expanding our vision of music both in and outside of Chicago.
Compound Yellow, in Chicago’s Oak Park neighborhood, has long been a site for visual art exhibitions of all kinds. Its emphasis on the artist as a protagonist who incites our impulses to challenge the status quo, and considers brighter alternatives, reminds all that taking risks and new steps is what keeps our arts and social circles truly alive.
Join us then as we embark on bold new adventures in sound & space with a series of outdoor concerts held safely in our colorful, art-adorned yard.

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Tags: Donny Mahlmeister, Illinois, Jamie Levinson, Keefe Jackson, Levinson/Mahlmeister, Mike Weis, Oak Park, Slow Bell, Steven Hess