Longtime collaborators Terrie Ex (Amsterdam) and Ken Vandermark (Chicago) present the Chicago debut of their stripped down but unsurprisingly energetic duo pairing. For tonight’s concert, both will also play solo sets to open the evening.

8:30 PM : SOLOS

Terrie Ex – guitar
Ken Vandermark – reeds

9:30 : DUOS

Terrie Ex – guitar
Ken Vandermark – reeds

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Terrie Ex, born in Westzaan, 12 October 1954. Started playing guitar when he co-founded the Ex in 1979. Some 1900 concerts with The Ex ever since (www.theex.nl). Next to all The Ex releases, he started free-improvising from the very start. From a little guitarsolo on the Awara/Ex 7″ in 1981, till recent tours with Han Bennink or impro-groups Offonoff or Lean Left (with Ken Vandermark, Andy Moor and Paal Nilssen-Love). Starts in 2000 the TERP label, for his own impro-projects and African Music. Produced CDs with Tsehaytu Beraki, Getatchew Mekuria, Konono No.1 and Mohammed Jimmy Mohammed; 25 releases thus far (www.terprecords.nl).

Played with:
Sonic Youth, John Cale, Getatchew Mekuria, Herman Brood, Herr Seele, Kamagurka, Jan Mulder, Mekons, Chumbawamba, Tsehaytu Beraki, Peter Brozmann, Hamid Drake, Jan Akkerman, Djibril Diabate, Butch Morris, Mats Gustafsson, ICP, Wolter Wierbos, Wilbert de Joode, Zu, Guy Picciotto, Roy Paci, Cactus Truck, Christine Senaoui, Mary Oliver, Ig Henneman, Tim Hodgekinson, Michael Vatcher, Magpie Dancecompany, Alex d’ Electrique, Ferrie Heyne, Saadet Turkoz, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Melaku Belay, Endris Hassen, Misale Legesse, Noel Akchote, Akira Sakata,

Has toured with:
Andy Moor, Han Bennink, Ab Baars, John Butcher, Rozemarie Heggen, Jaap Blonk, Paul Lovens, Paal Nilssen-Love, Joost Buis, Xavier Charles, Thurston Moore, Steve Beresford, Moe! Staiano, Katherina ‘Ex’ Bornefeld, Tony Buck, Tom Cora, Lasse Marhaug, Ken Vandermark, Steve Albini, Wim Janzen (accordeon), Rene van Barneveld, Onno Govaert. George Hadow, Colin Stetson, Romeo Mayor, Peter Zegveld.

Ken Vandermark began studying the tenor saxophone at the age of 16. Since graduating with a degree in Film and Communications from McGill University in1986, he has placed his primary creative emphasis on the exploration of contemporary music that deals directly with advanced methods of improvisation. He moved to Chicago in 1989, and has worked continuously since then, both as a performer and organizer. He now spends more than half of each year touring in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Japan, and has recorded in a variety of contexts, both as a solo performer and with internationally renowned musicians including Fred Anderson, Ab Baars, Tim Barnes, Peter Brötzmann, Tim Daisy, Kris Davis, and Hamid Drake. His current musical activity includes solo work, as well as work with Made To Break, Marker, Lean Left, Shelter, DEK, The DKV Trio, the Eric Revis Quartet; and duos with Paal Nilssen-Love, Tim Daisy, Terrie Hessels, and Nate Wooley. His concerts and many recordings have been critically acclaimed at home and abroad.

He’s worked as a concert organizer in Chicago since the mid 1990s, first at the Empty Bottle, then at the Hideout, and since June of 2015 he has been co-curator of Option, a music series held on a weekly basis at the Experimental Sound Studio. Vandermark is also creator of independent label Audiographic Records. A 1999 MacArthur Fellow in Music, Vandermark plays not only tenor sax, but also baritone saxophone, bass, and Bb clarinet.