The centerpiece of the show will be the world premiere of a new piece written for Dal Niente and Ken Vandermark by Roscoe Mitchell, a fearless musical pioneer and seminal figure in avant-garde music whose work has, over the last half-century, changed the very definition of what is possible. This work is co-presented by the Birdhouse, an organization dedicated to honoring the legacy of Fred Andersen, in celebration of the 55th anniversary of the AACM.

The show opens with the second-ever performance of Katinka Kleijn’s Echo Forward, a semi-improvised piece originally written for the Instigation Festival Orchestra, which features musicians moving throughout the balcony and on the ground, calling and responding to each other with musical battle cries that are by turns ghostly, nostalgic, cacophonous, chaotic, and joyful.

Vandermark will play a solo set before sitting in with Dal Niente for a performance of George Lewis’ bustling, energetic Assemblage, a through-composed work which encourages listeners to improvise with their ears, to “stay in the moment and be ready for everything,” — or, as George says, to “catch the bus and go along for the ride, unburdened by expectations.”

This is a show about what it means to improvise, a practice that has a colorful and storied history in Chicago. Performers in experimental, classical, and jazz traditions have different ways of doing this – but this evening, we all come together in a collective celebration of sound.

Doors at 7:00pm.