Two iconic improvisors and bassists, Luke Stewart and Joshua Abrams, open OPTION’s 10th Season.

Experimental Sound Studio presents New York-based bassist, multi-instrumentalist, improviser-composer, and organizer Luke Stewart in a duo performance with Chicago bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Joshua Abrams.

This performance and interview are presented in the ESS garden, and will be premiered online on ESS’s YouTube.

The OPTION series is curated by Ken Vandermark, Lily Finnegan, and Andrew Clinkman.

About Luke Stewart

Luke Stewart is a musician, performer, improviser-composer, organizer, and writer-researcher whose work represents a deep reverence for the history and tradition of Creative Music: a tradition which encompasses the diverse styles of expression within the body of Black Music in the United States, Africa, and throughout the world. Stewart’s regular ensembles include Irreversible Entanglements, SILT Trio, Exposure Quintet, and the experimental rock duo Blacks’ Myths; he also performs regularly in numerous collaborations.

https://thelukestewart.com/

About Joshua Abrams

Joshua Abrams is a composer, bassist, and improviser. His early formative musical experiences include performing in a chamber group conducted by Earle Brown, and busking on the streets of Philadelphia as an original member of The Roots. Since the mid-1990s, Abrams has been a key figure in Chicago’s creative music communities and an international touring musician with artists across genres. In 2010, Abrams formed the project Natural Information Society (NIS), a group that creates long-form psychedelic environments that join the hypnotic qualities of the guimbri, a Gnawan lute, to a wide range of contemporary musics and methodologies including jazz, minimalism, and experimental rock.

https://joshuaabramsmusic.com/
About OPTION

OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a ‘salon’ format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform.
The 2024 OPTION season is sponsored in part by Sketchbook Brewing.
Parking

Street parking can be found easily around ESS on streets such as W. Thorndale. There are three parking spots directly in front of ESS on Ravenswood. On weekends, parking is also available along the front of Weber Furniture; please do not block the garage doors. Behind ESS through the alley, there are also two parking spots which we are happy to reserve for anyone with accessibility needs. Please get in touch with info@ess.org to reserve a spot.

During the OPTION series this summer, diagonal parking is available in the alley directly south of ESS and Weber Furniture Service.

Accessibility

ESS has wheelchair seating and accessible bathrooms on both floors.

Please note that once on one floor, there is no ADA-accessible path inside the building to switch between floors; you will have to exit the building and reenter from the respective floor entrance. Our front entrance on Ravenswood leads you to our 1st floor (Audible Gallery, Studio A, Live Room), while our alley entrance leads you to the basement/garden (garden shows, Creative Audio Archive, Studio B).

To reserve accessible seating or parking, request other accommodations, or ask us any accessibility-related questions, please email info@ess.org.

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Tags: Chicago, Edgewater, ess, Experimental Sound Studio, Joshua Abrams, Luke Stewart, OPTION: Luke Stewart & Joshua Abrams