So psyched to have heavy hitters Stein/Smith/Shead coming to Project Project on May 22nd!
Jason Stein — Damon Smith — Adam Shead (often billed as Stein/Smith/Shead) is a Chicago-rooted improvising trio uniting bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and percussionist Adam Shead. Since forming in late 2021, the group has toured extensively across the Midwest and beyond, becoming a fixture in the creative music circuit and collaborating with influential figures such as Roscoe Mitchell. Their recorded work documents a remarkably productive period, encompassing four releases: Volumes & Surfaces (2022), Hum (2023), spi-raling horn with Marilyn Crispell (2024), and Live at the Hungry Brain with Marilyn Crispell (2025). Together, these albums trace the group’s evolution from kinetic, small-ensemble interplay toward expansive collaborations that bridge generations of avant-jazz practice.
Critics have consistently praised the trio’s fearless energy and deep listening. All About Jazz described Volumes & Surfaces as “undiluted free jazz with energy as its calling card and attention as its driver,” while The Free Jazz Collective called their collaboration with Marilyn Crispell “stunning” and “full of muscular interplay.” Known for their balance of precision and volatility, Stein/Smith/Shead channel the improvisational lineage of Chicago’s creative music scene into a sound that is at once restless, focused, and alive to the moment.
Also performing: Smith & Jessen with Damon Smith (Smith & Smith & Jessen?!) and perennial favorite Lillian Kay. I cannot adequately convey in words my excitement for this gig — do not miss this one. #omahamusic #freeimprovisation
April gigs, no fooling:
4/12: @one.aux Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffestival in Tulsa, OK (whole festival looks incredible)
4/14: @mke_ultra in Milwaukee, WI, solo and trio with @jhn_lrkn and @pmgpmgpmg (both of whom are fantastic and I’m excited to meet)
4/15: @marmaladepreserve in Chicago, IL, duo with @robbiehunsinger (so psyched to play with Robbie again and on a bill that is SO stacked)
Real excited about each of them, can’t wait to get out there.
#improvisedmusic #drums #supercollider #molasar
The Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffestival of Music, Sound & Noise comes back Sunday April 12 at Riverside Studios / Spotlight Theater starting at 2pm and the afternoon lineup is stacked from the jump:
doom.kit — A violin and piano duo that uses electronics to blur the very cognition of sound. They find exquisite moments in psycho-acoustic phenomenon and weave them into something that defies easy categorization. That description is just the beginning of their aural adventures.
Ugly Feelings (aka halo_error) — Assemblage and transformation of field recordings and untidily designed instruments. Messy in the most intentional, gorgeous way possible.
BIRD DRUGS — Four simple words: post ambient dub noise. Infinite implications.
Phill Smith — Omaha drummer, improviser, and software engineer whose drumming has been called “restrained but propulsive” by Byron Coley in The Wire, and whose compositions have been called “high velocity, quasi-grindcore feedback music” by KLANG. Has performed internationally and appeared at festivals across the country. An absolute heavy hitter and we are thrilled to have him.
Der Wurm — Indescribable noises for the everyday worm. We could not have said it better ourselves.
Three days, three venues, nearly 40 acts. We’ll have more lineup announcements dropping soon so stay tuned!
#tulsadit #thingstodointulsa #tulsamusic #experimentalmusic #soundart noisemusic noisetulsa
Show alert 🚨🚨🚨 March 14 at Project Project: @kylexjessen@sbarelos and introducing new duo @sener.mx & @jen.mcevoy not to be missed!#omahamusicscene #orientedstrandboard #freeimprovisation #toypiano #engagingcontent
First of a good handful of shows to announce: the ultra spacious @v.vecker makes his triumphant return to Omaha on March 5, with local support from justly intoned electronic wizard @dylan84rry and I'll do my thing, too. #omahamusic #experimentalmusic #ambient #justintonation #wow #graphicdesigner
1. doing my best
2. LA friends! Got my first performance of the year at @suddensomethingsimprov this Friday
3. real excited about performing with/in Volumes at @bemiscenter in March
4. Ed’s got the right idea
We are proud to welcome UNO alum Phill Smith to the Recital Hall on Monday, Oct. 27 for a guest performance and lecture during Music Technology NOW! More information about Smith here:
munity/events/guest-artist-series-phill-smith/
Excited to announce the return of @jonmueller to Project Project! He will be presenting his new collaboration with photographer Tom Lecky: ALL COLORS PRESENT.
Thursday, October 30 / 8pm / PWYC
Jon Mueller’s singular performance idiom is an awe-inspiring display of elegant athleticism, preternatural focus, brute restraint, and ecstatic, monastic reverie. Paired with Tom Lecky’s photographs, it becomes a deliberate focus on form, shape and detail. It requires and demands a state of inner quietude from witnesses. Yet, from this seemingly metronomic exercise blossoms every possible tint and hue of infinite spectral sound.
Some recent and upcoming stuff. Video clips from a few weeks ago @elasticarts (big thanks to @improvisedmusicseries for having me!). Gigs this week: Smith & Jessen @weareprojectproject on Wednesday, @beneisenberger chamber group album release @pageturnerslounge on Friday. C u there. #drummer #improvisedmusic #supercollider #begrudgingselfpromotion
