EPK

“Four Spheres is infused with the exploratory principals that have animated Chicago sounds since at least the mid-1960s.” Ken Waxman, JazzWord
“a kind of hall-of-mirrors vibe side-by-side within elegant tunes and ferocious improvising” Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street
“Brilliantly unusual approaches to jazz scores” Squidco

Jason Roebke Quartet

Jason Roebke – bass, cassette
Edward Wilkerson Jr. – saxophone, clarinet, cassette
Mabel Kwan – piano, cassette
Marcus Evans – drums, cassette

Marcus Evans, Jason Roebke, Mabel Kwan, Edward Wilkerson Jr. Photo by Jim Dempsey

BIO:

The diversity of Jason Roebke’s musical associations makes him one of the most sought-after bassists, composers, and educators in Chicago and beyond. He composes extreme music in its pairing of silence and explosive gestures. His music is rooted in jazz and takes inspiration from experimental music, noise, and improvisation. He has been an Artist-In-Residence at High Concept Labs and Chicago Park District. Solo performances and a duo with dancer Ayako Kato are also at the forefront of his creative activities. Roebke’s compositions have been recorded on labels such as Corbett vs. Dempsey, Delmark, NoBusiness, and Clean Feed. Roebke studied privately with saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell as well as legendary double bass pedagogue Stuart Sankey. He was awarded the Fellowship in Music Composition from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago, Mid-Atlantic Arts Council, and Experimental Sound Studio have funded his work—Roebke tours widely in the US and Europe with Tomeka Reid, Jason Stein, Mike Reed, and Josh Berman.

Band Bio:

Chicago-based bassist and composer Jason Roebke leads a new quartet, featuring his original compositions and a stellar lineup. The quartet has performed extensively in Chicago jazz clubs and Midwest venues such as North Street Cabaret in Madison, WI, Stop Tavern in Lafaette, IN, and The Bop Stop in Cleveland. Equal parts Art Ensemble of Chicago and Luc Ferrari, Roebke’s graphic scores are rich and flexible, concentrating on exploring multifarious ways of stopping, something that’s been a feature of the bassist’s improvisation for decades. Roebke’s music bridges the worlds of jazz and experimental music and his compositions lead the listener through twists, turns, and returns. The band is composed of veteran reed player Edward Wilkerson Jr., whose own bands Eight Bold Souls and Shadow Vignettes were among the great ensembles of eighties/nineties Chicago, extending the AACM tradition and spotlighting Wilkerson’s sensitive improvising. Here, wielding tenor saxophone and alto clarinet, Wilkerson is a commanding – but also supremely collaborative – voice, joining the younger pianist Mabel Kwan and drummer Marcus Evans. Investigating the interrelationships between flow and cessation, the quartet is at once organic and halting. Roebke’s bass playing has been a feature of scads of ensembles, both working and ad hoc, including Tomeka Reid Quartet, Jason Stein Trio, Jeb Bishop Trio, James Falzone’s KLANG, Jorrit Dijkstra’s Flatlands Collective, Pillow Circles, The Whammies, Keefe Jackson, and Mike Reed’s People, Places, and Things. The quartet’s new recording “Four Spheres” was recently released by Corbett vs. Dempsey.

Edward L. Wilkerson Jr. is an internationally recognized American jazz composer, arranger, musician, and educator based in Chicago. As founder and director of the cutting-edge octet 8 Bold Souls, and the 25-member performance ensemble Shadow Vignettes, Wilkerson has toured festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. One of the great saxophone and clarinet players on the Chicago scene, Wilkerson from the 1980s into the new millennium may have become best known as a bandleader and composer, particularly associated with medium- to large-scale projects (somewhat daunting in an era when creative music bandleaders are challenged to keep even small ensembles together). He has also been a major presence in Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), teaching composition at the organization’s music school and serving for a time as AACM president.

Marcus Evans is a drummer and composer who has worked with many of Chicago’s top jazz musicians including Greg Ward, Nicole Mitchell, Isaiah Collier, and David Boykin.

Pianist Mabel Kwan is a founding member of Ensemble Dal Niente. She tours with improvised music group Restroy, synthesizer duo Mega Laverne and Shirley, and electronic/instrumental trio Uluuul. Mabel is a 2018 High Concept Labs Artist and 2017 3Arts Awardee. She is recognized for her work in classical, improvised, and experimental music. Her self-produced work is a meditation on sound, contradictions, and our perceptions of what is familiar or strange.Mabel’s 2016 debut solo album, one poetic switch (Milk Factory Productions) features works written for her on piano and clavichord. In the same year she released a solo clavichord album, Inventions (Parlour Tapes+) in collaboration with composer Danny Clay and artist Andrew Barco. In 2018 Mabel released the premiere recording of the complete Trois Hommages (New Focus) by Georg Friedrich Haas. Mabel plays on Ensemble Dal Niente’s albums Balter/Saunier (New Amsterdam) with rock band Deerhoof, and on the George Lewis portrait album Assemblage (New World).