Hey friends and family. The 8th Annual Elastic Arts Benefit is tomorrow, Saturday 5/16. Our small but mighty team have worked hard the last few months preparing an epic night of performances alongside food from Irazu, drinks from Star Union Spirits + Half Acre, a huge silent auction, and we’re honoring the wonderful composer Renee Baker with the Elastic Achievement Award. The AACM Percussion Ensemble, Infrathin (Whitney Johnson + Lula Asplund), and Sam Lewis / Hunter Diamond will present new work. It’s always a super fun party celebrating this community that has been building for 28 years. It would mean the world to have you come through. The ticket includes open food/drink and goes a long way in supporting our artist community. If you can’t make it to the event, the silent auction is absolutely stacked with items, including visual art, experiences, and record bundles (including mega bundles from the homies Orange Milk, Hasu Mountain, Drag City, Numero Group, Amalgam, Relative Pitch, + more!) — so get in there and bid on some bundles. They’re priced way way low to get things started, so it’s the perfect chance to stack your collection on the low - we can ship! We have also teamed up with our friends Ensemble Dal Niente who are having their benefit across the street, so there are party crawl tickets that support both orgs. If you’re super scrapped on funds and still really want to slide by, DM me. We just want to party with you. Hit that link and grip a ticket if you can! Let’s go!
Our medieval band Fortuna rides again this Sunday 5/17, this time for a wonderful family friendly ‘MayDay’ Maypole Party at Music House in Humboldt Park! This is an all ages event 2pm-4pm, so to all my fellow parents out there who we don’t see in the evenings as much these days, I’d love to see ya there! There will be a Jasper Sage appearance for sure! All friends encouraged to come and rock. There will be performances from Corey Smith and Deeply Choir as well. Foods, snacks, fun. 2pm-4pm this Sunday! Let’s get medieval!
Hi all! As all the friends and family know, Elastic Arts is a huge part of my heart. We’re holding our annual benefit in two weeks on May 16th, and it’s a major source in sustaining this organization’s mission supporting artists. This year we honor the wonderful Renee Baker with the Elastic Achievement Award. We have performances from Infrathin, the duo of my old friend Whitney ‘Matchess’ Johnson and Lula Asplund, the mind bending AACM Percussion Ensemble, and an A/V piece from Elastic founder/curator Sam Lewis + the main homie Hunter Diamond. There’s open bar from Star Union Spirits and Half Acre, and a tasty dinner. It’s going to be a super special night, and I would love to see all my Chicago fam there. Please consider grabbing a ticket by this Friday night, as we’ve got early bird pricing. It’s a real deal considering how stacked with goodness the evening is. Hit that link, grip a ticket, and let’s hang on May 16! LOVE YOU!
Please join me this Saturday at Elastic to celebrate the one and only Dr. Charles Joseph Smith. It’s been a privilege and pleasure to be pals with Charles for 15+ years, dancing at all the best shows, performing a drum/piano duo, experiencing his wonderful written and musical works, and just knowing we have such a brilliant supporter of the Chicago music scene. Sooper Records has released a new double LP retrospective of his work, and you can grab an LP or CD copy this Saturday! Charles will perform, a Pan American / Chelsea Bridge duo will perform on the 16 channel CLEAT system, and my old friend Tom POTIONS Owens will DJ throughout the night. It’s going to be very special. Don’t miss it. Saturday, 8pm!
Pretty damn stoked to host this mega improvised music festival here at the spot this weekend. Tons of legends / friends that I love a whole lot. All killer no filler. Come hang with us. Grip tix now so you don’t miss out, and find that link where you know it is.
Look at this lineup!
Don’t miss it! LFG!
Thursday 4/16
8:30pm - Jason Roebke Quartet
9:30pm - Ken Vandermark / Damon Locks / Chris Corsano
Friday 4/17
8:30pm - Potliquor w/ Ben Hall + Macie Stewart
9:30pm - Hearts & Minds
Saturday 4/18
8:30pm - Jim Baker (solo)
9:30pm - Dave Rempis / Jacob Wick / Beth McDonald / Phil Sudderberg
10:30pm - Bill Mackay and Katinka Kleijn
Saturday 4/18 @ 1:00pm $FREE$ Afternoon Workshop w/ Open Jam ft. Ishmael Ali / Molly Jones / Ben Zucker / Bill Harris
Whisker returns this Thursday as part of the Improvised Music Series at Elastic Arts - duo formation. We share the bill with our good pals Carol Genetti playing solo and the Baker/Jackson/Kirshner trio. Will be a classic hang. Come party with us.
40.
Thankful for a lot of things in this tough world, but pretty much just Jasper 😂🫠. Birthday Shedd day off with my guy was the perfect jump from reality. Love y’all a whole lot too, promise.
Excited to be playing with Anna Johnson’s band this Friday as part of The Hideout’s annual Chicago Psych Fest. We’ll be opening for acid folk legend Gary Higgins, who has a Drag City reissue of his ultra dank 1973 LP Red Hash. Singleman Affair opens, with DJ PsychedAlex all night. Will rip. Hope to see the true heads at this one, cruise out. Psych Out. Micro and Macro encouraged.
It’s no longer -20 degrees outside, so let’s try this again. Come on downtown this Saturday 2/28 to Seven Bar on Randolph to celebrate the release of a new Melon Sprout record! I’ll be playing my one annual-ish Quicksails set, we’ll hear from Nu A.M. and Slumpman Ray opens the night. It’ll be fun - new-ish venue with good PA and nice friends running the show (thanks @naturalblkinvention !) Let’s hang Saturday *DOWNTOWN*!
It’s been a serious pleasure joining the Fortuna ensemble on percussion, a band dialing in 11th-16th century medieval folk tunes with a slightly contempo flair. Led by Anna Johnson, the group includes Mallory Linehan, Curt Oren, Andrew Scott Young, and Doug. We’ll be debuting in this configuration on Sunday February 22nd at the California Clipper as part of ‘Peasant’s Revolt, A Medieval Party and Craft Faire.” As you can imagine, it’ll be incredibly lit. Let’s rip some fine ales, and take our reality back a large handful of centuries. 2/22 @ Cali Clip!
