Archive
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present a performance by Philadelphia saxophonist Odean Pope and Brooklyn drummer Andrew Cyrille, two avant-garde jazz giants who will play in duo tonight for the... more
Monday, May 13, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia debut of this trio led by the pianist Craig Taborn featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Gerald Cleaver.
“If there’s any... more
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present Australia’s Oren Ambarchi, an experimental guitarist who effortlessly blurs the lines between drone, metal, noise, ambient, rock and... more
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the first Philadelphia performance since 2007 by Chicago improvising unit The Engines, featuring the saxophonist Dave Rempis, the trombonist Jeb Bishop, the... more
Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to welcome the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra back to Philadelphia for the first time since 2011, when we presented the legendary Dutch ensemble for three... more
Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present the Philadelphia debut of the Billy Hart Quartet. Led by the drummer Billy Hart, the group includes the tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, the pianist Ethan... more
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present Ches Smith & These Arches. Led by the drummer Ches Smith, the group includes the saxophonists Tim Berne and Tony Malaby, the guitarist Mary Halvorson and... more
Friday, March 1, 2013 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia debut of Capricorn Climber, the new ensemble led by the pianist Kris Davis featuring the saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, the violist Mat Maneri, the... more
Saturday, February 9, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to present the first Philadelphia performance by The Whammies, an all-star sextet featuring leading voices from the improvised music scenes of Amsterdam, Chicago and... more
Friday, January 18, 2013 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for our first concert of the New Year as we present the Philadelphia debut of the drummer Barry Altschul's 3dom Factor featuring the tenor saxophonist Jon Irabagon and... more
Monday, January 14, 2013 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present a double-bill featuring ensembles led by prominent Norwegian voices: Frode Gjerstad's all-Norwegian trio and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's The... more
Friday, December 14, 2012 - 8:00pm
+Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's The Young Mothers
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to announce the Philadelphia debut of Unfold Ordinary Mind, the new quintet led by Ben Goldberg, featuring Ellery Eskelin, Rob Sudduth, Nels Cline and Ches Smith.
The... more
Sunday, December 9, 2012 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for an incredibly rare solo performance by the Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, one of the pioneers of European Free-Jazz music.
The pianist, accordionist, organist and... more
Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia debut of Duo Baars-Henneman, featuring the Dutch musicians Ab Baars and Ig Henneman.
“There’s a breathless tension and expectation in these... more
Saturday, November 3, 2012 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a performance by the Michael Formanek Quartet as we celebrate the release of the group's new ECM record, Small Places.
The bassist Michael Formanek got his... more
Sunday, October 7, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to announce this incredibly rare performance by the Willem Breuker Kollektief. The Dutch composer Breuker died in 2010, and his will stated that this 10-piece ensemble... more
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia debut of Pretty Monsters, the new quartet led by the bassoonist Katherine Young.
Katherine Young’s dynamic and mercurial four-piece Pretty... more
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop celebrates the start of its Fall Season with two extremely rare duo performances. Headlining this double-header is a duo with the legendary German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann... more
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 - 8:00pm
+Bill Orcutt + Chris Corsano
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a double-header with Chicago Underground Duo and Congs For Brums, the solo project of percussionist Ches Smith.
“Mazurek is a player of great poise and elegance,... more
Monday, May 14, 2012 - 8:00pm
+Congs For Brums
On April 28 at Montgomery County Community College, Philadelphia saxophonist/bandleader Bobby Zankel’s big band the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound will premiere a new piece written expressly... more
Saturday, April 28, 2012 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a special performance by Steve Coleman and Five Elements.
"Steve Coleman comes up with some of the most original song structures in jazz," writes NPR.... more
Saturday, April 21, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the first Philadelphia concert by the Steve Lehman Trio since 2009, and Lehman's first local appearance since ANW's three-night Composer Portrait: Fieldwork... more
Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia debut of Endangered Blood!
“They play fast, looping, dynamically even and entwining lines, laying bebop over clanky grooves,” The New York... more
Saturday, April 14, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia debut of heavy-hitting power-trio Ballister, and a rare solo performance by Norwegian noise artist Lasse Marhaug.
“They use their instruments... more
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - 8:00pm
+Lasse Marhaug
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a free double-header at The Rotunda featuring a performance by the duo Aster and a solo set by guitarist/electronicist Mario Diaz de Leon.
“Once in a while... more
Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 8:00pm
+Mario Diaz de Leon
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia debut of the Matthew Shipp Trio. Following 2011's spectacular The Art Of The Improviser LP, tonight Shipp's Trio celebrates the upcoming... more
Friday, March 9, 2012 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a performance by the Two Rivers Ensemble led by Iraqi-American composer-performer Amir ElSaffar, whose unique compositions bring together traditional Iraqi and jazz... more
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the first duo performance ever by two legendary musicians: Philadelphian pianist Dave Burrell and Dutch drummer Han Bennink.
“Dave Burrell crams a century... more
Monday, January 30, 2012 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia debut of the Nate Wooley Quintet Alpha. Led by the mighty trumpeter Wooley, the ensemble unites five young musicians representing the forefront of... more
Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present a performance by John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet, with special guests Theo Bleckmann and Philadelphian Matt Mitchell, and an opening set by Jason... more
Saturday, November 19, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a night of music at Johnny Brenda's as unrivaled guitarist Marc Ribot brings his Ceramic Dog trio for an incredibly rare Philadelphia concert.
Ceramic Dog is a post-... more
Thursday, November 17, 2011 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a free concert at The Rotunda by the Natural Information Society, Chicago multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams's latest duo project with drummer Chad Taylor.
“A... more
Thursday, October 20, 2011 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a free performance at The Rotunda as we present the Philadelphia debut of Mikrokolektyw, a duo featuring Polish musicians Kuba Suchar and Artur Majewski.
Mikrokolektyw... more
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for a special performance at Philadelphia Art Alliance as we present the Angelica Sanchez Quintet featuring a very rare stateside appearance by French guitarist Marc Ducret... more
Friday, September 16, 2011 - 8:00pm
Join Ars Nova Workshop for the first event in our 12th season with a duo performance by vocalist Jen Shyu and bassist Mark Dresser.
“Calling contrabassist Mark Dresser a virtuoso is like... more
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a special double-header featuring New York City's Collide Saxophone Quartet performing early AACM member Henry Threadgill's work, "Background,"... more
Monday, June 13, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Public Discussion with David Adler
“When he’s in a certain mood, his improvisations can match any noise artist or metal band on the planet for sheer perverse abrasiveness. But the beauty of an impending Roscoe Mitchell... more
Sunday, June 12, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Pre-Concert Public Discussion with Nate Chinen (6pm)
“Even in the jazz avant-garde, Roscoe Mitchell qualifies as an iconoclast. He uses ideas from Western and non-Western classical music, as well as the jazz tradition, to write music that... more
Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 8:00pm
+S.E.M Ensemble
+Joseph Kubera
+Thomas Buckner
+
Roscoe Mitchell-Evan Parker Duo
“Henry Threadgill has long been one of the most thrillingly elusive composers in and around the jazz idiom: a sly maestro of unconventional timbres, bristling counterpoint and tough but... more
Sunday, June 5, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Pre-Concert Public Discussion with Francis Davis
"As a leading general in free jazz's post-Fire Music surge, Wadada Leo Smith continues to show an omni-musical openness to new forms and compositional languages...there's a spacious... more
Saturday, June 4, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Pre-Concert Public Discussion with John Szwed (6pm)
“Coming at free jazz from psych rock, Jooklo Duo hones in on the mystical sound of Coltrane and Ayler, and plays its own enthusiastic, lo-fi version.” - East Bay Express
Ars Nova... more
Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 8:00pm
“You'll either be enthralled by Flat Earth Society’s seemingly bottomless creativity or else you'll feel like you just spent an afternoon on the Tilt-A-Whirl.” –... more
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Inzinzac
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia debut of the Tom Rainey Trio featuring drummer Tom Rainey, guitarist Mary Halvorson and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock. The trio recently released... more
Saturday, May 7, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Rob Mazurek's Starlicker
"A smart ensemble that harnesses the forward thrust of rock in the service of an almost chamber-like group cohesiveness.” - Nate Chinen, New York Times
Ars Nova... more
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - 8:00pm
“At turns icy and serene, at others frenetic and twisted, it feels like a modern sci-fi remake of minimalism and kosmiche - there are long, repetitious builds with big openings between notes... more
Friday, April 22, 2011 - 8:30pm
+Bee Mask
"Jazz keeps slowly widening, and the young trumpeter Shane Endsley is working calmly and effectively at the perimeter." - The New York Times
Ars Nova Workshop presents the Philadelphia... more
Thursday, April 21, 2011 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present this special duo performance with guitarist and banjoist Eugene Chadbourne and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani. These two sonic adventurers have been... more
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for our third and final night with the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, featuring Han Bennink, Woller Wierbos, Michael Moore, Misha Mengelberg, Ab Baars, Tobias... more
Sunday, April 3, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Pre-Concert Public Discussion (6pm)
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the second of three special nights of performances with the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, featuring Han Bennink, Michael Moore, Misha Mengelberg, and seven... more
Saturday, April 2, 2011 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the first of three nights of performances with the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, who for over 40 years have been engaging international audiences with their... more
Friday, April 1, 2011 - 8:00pm
“I think improvising helps you discover your spontaneous self, the one that actually likes surprises and takes delight in free falling, free association, and caterwauling. The longer... more
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 8:00pm
On March 21 at the Clef Club, jazz luminaries will unite for a benefit concert for Philadelphia saxophonist and composer Odean Pope. A vital fixture of Philadelphia’s jazz community since the... more
Monday, March 21, 2011 - 6:30pm
As part of our Composer Portrait: Roscoe Mitchell series, Ars Nova Workshop presents Philadelphia’s Archer Spade with woodwindist Drew Ceccato. These three emerging musicians will perform... more
Thursday, March 17, 2011 - 8:00pm
Join us for the finale of Composer Portrait: Fieldwork for which Steve Lehman and Vijay Iyer will present pieces written for string quartet. For this very special evening of Philadelphia... more
Sunday, March 13, 2011 - 8:00pm
+JACK Quartet
+Pre-concert Public Discussion (6pm)
"A jazz power trio for the new century!" - NPR's Fresh Air on Fieldwork
As part two of our three part Composer Portrait: Fieldwork, Ars Nova Workshop invites you for a night of... more
Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 8:00pm
“I see my instrument as being an extension of me. There are so many colors I can get out of the snare drum, or any one component of the drum set. For me it’s more about awareness of my... more
Friday, March 11, 2011 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents the first Philadelphia performance by this exciting new quartet featuring four artists who explore the tensions, commonalities, and new possibilities across the jazz,... more
Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 8:00pm
“Anat Fort has a charming way of dispensing pastoralism and an insightful way of lining that pastoralism with depth. Her trio has the kind of poise that lets her move from terra firma to the... more
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to present the Celestial Septet: a massive ensemble featuring the Nels Cline Singers and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. After 4 concerts in 2008 and releasing Celestial... more
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for an evening of music by William Hooker's Two Sides of Now and an opening performance by Vertex, a Norwegian electroacoustic duo that will be making their... more
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Thursday, February 17, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Vertex
“While my roots as a trumpet player are coming out of jazz and big band music, my roots as a composer are coming out of post-minimalist and contemporary music and many of these influences... more
Sunday, February 13, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Chris Forsyth
"Beyond the passion is remarkable complexity when each performer, a master in their own right, combines to express feelings that are not of this earth. Nothing short of fantastic." -Chris... more
Friday, February 4, 2011 - 8:00pm
+Planet Y
“A virtuoso pianist and organist whose work is presented internationally and appears on scores of recordings, Myers draws upon her backgrounds in classical music and the music of the black... more
Friday, January 28, 2011 - 8:00pm
“Moondoc can evoke the bluesy openness of Ornette Coleman, the articulateness of Jimmy Lyons and the harsh tones of Albert Ayler. He can fire off pyrotechnics, but he doesn't just shriek... more
Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 8:00pm
"Mike Pride is the kind of musician that makes the current NYC underground so vital. He's always challenging himself with new situations and breaking down barriers between different scenes... more
Thursday, January 13, 2011 - 8:00pm
“Andrew D'Angelo has been known for pushing creative limits and challenging stylistic boundaries. A formidable improviser, he's as likely to spit incendiary lines from his alto... more
Friday, January 7, 2011 - 8:00pm
"Tomas Fujiwara works with rhythm as a pliable substance, solid but ever shifting. Over the last five years he has established a busy profile on the experimental end of the jazz spectrum,... more
Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Ideal Bread: The music of Steve Lacy
"Pavone's agreeable music should hold appeal for listeners of both inside and outside persuasions, from those enamored of hard bop and post bop through to those favoring more open-ended... more
Sunday, December 12, 2010 - 8:00pm
"The finest composition, like improvisation, ultimately relies on intuition, and these players seem to have an innate grasp of the right combination of sounds and textures. Dans les arbres... more
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present this performance by the Gerald Cleaver Group, featuring Jean Carla Rodea, Dave Ballou, Andrew Bishop, and Michael Formanek.
Gerald Cleaver, born in Detroit... more
Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 8:00pm
"Finally Out Of My Hands is one of the year's most intriguing releases. The debut recording of Ches Smith & These Arches, this visceral studio session features an unorthodox... more
Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 8:00pm
"In 2001 I released a live album together with Misha. Just like then I have tried to interpret his music in my own way. His work is so well composed that interpretations of any kind are... more
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - 8:00pm
"The ensemble brings vitality, sensitivity and, in many instances, astounding brute force to their impassioned interpretations." -All About Jazz on John King and the Crucible Quartet... more
Friday, November 5, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Jessica Pavone's Songs of Synastry and Solitude
We regret to announce that Zs was forced to cancel due to an emergency situation.
"Mick Barr is the most focused and uncompromising composer in the current rock underground." -Weasel... more
Thursday, November 4, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Phillip Greenlief-Trevor Dunn Duo
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for this performance by the Michael Formanek Quartet, featuring the stellar line-up of Craig Taborn, Tim Berne, and Gerald Cleaver. Come celebrate the release of... more
Thursday, October 28, 2010 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present this special performance by Andy Laster's Sounds of Cairo, an all-star quartet with Alex Waterman, Kermit Driscoll, and Curtis Hasselbring that performs... more
Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 8:00pm
"Watching Matthew Shipp play the piano is a bit like sitting ringside. Lefts and rights hit the keyboard's midsection in steady jabs, finding a rhythm that alternately lulls and stings. Or... more
Friday, October 15, 2010 - 8:00pm
"Merzbow's position is as the ultimate example, the reference point, for Japanese noise music, and for the consumption of and writing on noise." -Paul Hegarty, Noise/Music: A History
Please join Ars... more
Monday, September 27, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Charles Cohen
"Mr. Ribot is a deceptively articulate artist who uses inarticulateness as an expressive device." - The New York Times
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a special and intimate solo performance by... more
Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 8:00pm
+The Kid
"One of the best free bop bands of the moment is without a doubt The Nu Band, with four seasoned musicians who are as comfortable in the most complex jazz traditions as in the [most] adventurous... more
Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 8:00pm
"Dave Burrell, a consistently insightful pianist who writes engaging melodies (a rare talent)...is a scintillating solo performer." -Gary Giddins, Village Voice
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to... more
Friday, September 10, 2010 - 8:00pm
"Veteran pianist Dave Burrell personifies the best of neoclassicism, uncompromising individuality and in-the-moment gusto." -The New Yorker
Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to present the first of two... more
Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 8:00pm
"[Sleepthief] makes for demanding listening [and is] a declaration of the abiding value of collective, spontaneous music making." -Nic Jones, All About Jazz
Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present... more
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 8:00pm
"I have a feeling that long after many of the experimental electronic records from the past ten years disappear we'll continue to reach for the works of Fennesz." Mark Richardson, Pitchfork
Ars Nova... more
Sunday, September 5, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Jesse Kudler + Ian Fraser
Formed in the Summer of 2000, after performing together with Jim O’Rourke at the Melt Down Festival in London, acoustic upright bass and percussion duo ON FILLMORE creates original music that... more
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Rachel Grimes
“The World’s Most Dangerous Guitarist.” -JazzTimes
The concept of duality has been a defining characteristic of guitarist Nels Cline since he first emerged in the late 1970s. On one hand, there’s the... more
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Richard Crandell
+Good for Cows
Los Totopos, Tim Berne's new touring band, is a potent blend of new voices and new ideas. Oscar Noriega (woodwinds), Matt Mitchell (keyboards) and Ches Smith (percussion) bring fresh sounds and... more
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 8:00pm
Lotte Anker, Craig Taborn, and Gerald Cleaver have been performing and recording as a trio since 2003. In addition to performing across the globe, they have released three critically acclaimed... more
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Michael Formanek's Cautious Optimism
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the US debut of Norwegian/Japanese quintet Koboku Senju, meaning "selection of dead trees."
Toshimaru Nakamura is one of the most distinguished and original voices... more
Friday, May 28, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Eric Carbonara
Ars Nova Workshop presents a very special performance of the Sun Ra Arkestra in celebration of the 86th birthday of Marshall Allen and the 96th anniversary of Sun Ra’s arrival on Earth.
As a young... more
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 8:00pm
In their own words: "The set-up and breakdown of grooves and improvisational material is an attempt at melding many of our musical influences, both jazz and non-jazz, all while firmly remaining in... more
Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 8:00pm
Pianist/vibraphonist Karl Berger, a long-time associate of Cherry’s and founder of the Creative Music Studio where Cherry developed many of his musical treasures, will present an all-star ensemble... more
Sunday, May 9, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Pre-concert discussion (6-7pm) with John Szwed, Karl Berger, Mark Helias and Peter Apfelbaum
Please join us for this very special engagement marking the first time in nearly a decade since Peter Brötzman and Hamid Drake have toured. Their unique bond was at the root of some of the 90s and... more
Friday, April 16, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Congs for Brums
Konk Pack is a trio of exceptional improvisers whose music is often dense, propulsive, and highly dynamic. At times the band may operate at the threshold of silence, but such moments are usually... more
Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 8:00pm
Central Chain represents Matt Mitchell's first venture into bandleading after several years of solo, collective, and sideman work. Drawing on his interests in music drawn from both jazz and non-jazz... more
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 8:00pm
Originally from Philadelphia, Giuseppi Logan (b. 1935) began playing with Earl Bostic at age 15 and later studied at the New England Conservatory. In 1964 he relocated to New York City and became... more
Thursday, April 1, 2010 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the record release celebration of Allison Miller's latest recording, BOOM TIC BOOM (Foxhaven Records).
NYC-based drummer Allison Miller defies all boundaries... more
Friday, March 26, 2010 - 8:00pm
Please join us for this very special 10th anniversary celebration featuring the first ensemble presented by Ars Nova Workshop (in March 2000), Chris Speed's Yeah No. For this special night, we'll be... more
Friday, March 19, 2010 - 8:00pm
Formed in 2001, The Respect Sextet is a powerhouse ensemble dedicated to performing a wide variety of improvisational musics. Relying on their explosive energy, rare telepathy, outstanding... more
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 8:00pm
Founded in 1969, the Art Ensemble of Chicago is the flagship ensemble of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and one of the most influential collectives in jazz history.... more
Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 8:00pm
"If the Miles Davis Quintet with Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter And Herbie Hancock could have rocked, they would have been the brilliant and ass-kicking Atomic.” -All About Jazz
Please... more
Monday, March 1, 2010 - 8:00pm
Germany trombonist Konrad "Conny" Bauer (b. 1943) started his career in 1969 as guitarist and singer in Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky's band. But, by the second half of the 1970s, Bauer became a prominent... more
Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 8:00pm
Close friends since the mid 1960's, Burton Greene (b.1937) and Perry Robinson (b.1938) are two of the most infamous and legendary pioneers of free jazz and the downtown scene. Performing together in... more
Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 8:00pm
Please join us for night one in Ars Nova Workshop's Radical Jewish Music Festival 2010.
In the final months of 2004, John Zorn wrote over 300 new tunes for his popular Masada project, initiating a... more
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Erik Friedlander performs the music of John Zorn
+Jamie Saft performs the music of Zorn, Dylan and more
"Trevor Dunn, a bassist with one foot planted in experimental rock, takes a repertory approach with ProofReaders, his quartet with the trumpeter Nate Wooley, the saxophonist Darius Jones and the... more
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 8:00pm
Influenced by the work of Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane, Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad came to prominence as one of British drummer John Stevens' key collaborators. He's led a... more
Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 8:00pm
For this special appearance, MacArthur Fellow Ken Vandermark will premiere new arrangements of Don Cherry's "Brown Rice", which, in 1975, wedded Indian, African and Arabic music to the electrified... more
Friday, January 22, 2010 - 8:00pm
“This exploratory trio belongs to a social network of musicians who filter jazz protocols through an indie-rock lens.” -Nate Chinen, The New York Times
The Inbetweens emerged in the summer of 2002,... more
Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop, in partnership with the New York-based Festival of New Trumpet (FONT), is pleased to present the first annual FONT Philadelphia mini-festival showcasing three adventurous projects... more
Sunday, January 17, 2010 - 7:00pm
+Meridian Arts Ensemble + Dave Ballou
+Chicago Underground Duo
"Ben Perowsky is another drummer-composer who drifts in and out of jazz circles, though his style skews brawnier and more direct. On his absorbingly rugged new album, “Esopus Opus” (Skirl), he leads... more
Friday, January 8, 2010 - 8:00pm
It's been said that instrumental music is at its root an extension of the sounds we produce with our voices. In the title track of Daniel Levin's "Fuhuffah" (Clean Feed Records) the music began in... more
Thursday, December 17, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for part two of our two-night Composer Portrait: Tim Berne series, featuring a newly commissioned solo piano composition written for Philadelphian Matt Mitchell in... more
Saturday, December 12, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Tim Berne's Adobe Probe
+NEW DATE! Pre-concert discussion with Nate Chinen and Steve Byram (6:30-7:30pm)
+Matt Mitchell
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for part one of our two-night Composer Portrait: Tim Berne series, featuring two compositions for saxophone quartet - "Repulsion" and "Quicksand" (also with Berne and... more
Friday, December 11, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Tim Berne's Big Satan
+Collide Saxophone Quartet (with Tim Berne and Marc Ducret)
Please join us for what is sure to be a night of incendiary music. Two very unique improvising groups together for a special one-night extravaganza. more
Monday, December 7, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Wooley-Yeh-Corsano Trio
+Rempis-Rosaly Duo
“This is a true ensemble from top to bottom, a sonic equivalent to a hand-woven tapestry...Impressive.” -DownBeat
This brilliant New York band led by drummer and composer John Hollenbeck - a leader... more
Sunday, December 6, 2009 - 8:00pm
A crucial figure in the development of Free Jazz, trumpeter Bill Dixon (b. 1925) was first associated with the ensembles of Cecil Taylor and Archie Shepp, and was one of the main architects of the... more
Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 8:00pm
Ellery Eskelin (born 1959) was raised in Baltimore and began playing the tenor saxophone at age ten, inspired by his mother "Bobbie Lee" who played Hammond B3 organ professionally in the early... more
Sunday, November 29, 2009 - 8:00pm
Bloodcount stands as one of the highlights of saxophonist Tim Berne's multifaceted musical career. The band was one of Berne's principal creative outlets during the 1990s - resurrected again during... more
Monday, November 23, 2009 - 8:00pm
+A rare screening of "Eyenoises...the Paris Movie 1994"
+Bird Fly Yellow performs Julius Hemphill's "Flat Out Jump Suite"
+A special appearance from Tim Berne
The most prominent baritone saxophonist of his generation, Hamiet Bluiett (b. 1940) combines a blunt, modestly inflected attack with a fleet, aggressive technique, and a uniform hugeness of sound... more
Friday, November 20, 2009 - 8:00pm
Acclaimed slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein will lead his Millennial Territory Orchestra (in celebration of their 10th anniversary) through a performance of Don Cherry's ambitious "Relativity Suite,"... more
Friday, November 6, 2009 - 8:00pm
+DJ hi-res
This new co-operative trio brings together three artists who have developed strikingly individual voices on their respective instruments, both in their own music as leaders and as key collaborators... more
Monday, November 2, 2009 - 8:00pm
Join us for this special and spectacular Halloween performance of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Founded in 1958 under the leadership of Sun Ra, the Arkestra pioneered a unique brand of afro-futurism, forging... more
Saturday, October 31, 2009 - 8:00pm
Rashied Ali was a progenitor and leading exponent of multidirectional rhythms/polytonal percussion. A student of Philly Joe Jones and an admirer of Art Blakey, Ali developed the style known as "free... more
Sunday, October 25, 2009 - 3:00pm - 7:00pm
"A key figure in modern jazz" (Penguin Guide), Dave Douglas will present his newest ensemble Brass Ecstasy in a rare exploration of Cherry's dynamic body of work.
Two-time Grammy-nominated jazz... more
Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 8:00pm
Since the demise of the legendary and critically-acclaimed Trio Clusone - featuring Han Bennink, Michael Moore and Ernst Reijseger - in 1998, the jazz community has been anxiously awaiting a vehicle... more
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 8:00pm
Cuong Vu is widely recognized by jazz critics as a leader of a generation of innovative musicians. A truly unique musical voice, Cuong has lent his trumpet playing talents to a wide range of artists... more
Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Planet-Y
Since March 2008, the SciFiPhilly series - held nearly every Sunday at Gojjo in West Philadelphia - has presented many exceptional artists in Philadelphia's emerging (and otherwise) improvised music... more
Sunday, October 4, 2009 - 2:00pm
Named a Rising Star on the alto saxophone (2006-2009) by the Downbeat Magazine International Critics Poll, Steve Lehman is a saxophonist and composer whose work resides on the frontiers of... more
Saturday, October 3, 2009 - 8:00pm
Composer, saxophonist, poet and Guggenheim Fellow, Oliver Lake, is one of jazz's most prolific and eclectic artists of the last 40 years. Oliver Lake is known for everything from his solo saxophone... more
Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 8:00pm
As a composer, performer, instrument builder, storyteller, teacher, mentor, and organizer, Cooper-Moore has been a major, if somewhat behind-the-scenes, catalyst in the world of creative music for... more
Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 8:00pm
A veteran of the ensembles of esteemed saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton, guitarist and composer Mary Holvorson returns to Philadelphia with her new quintet. In addition to her acclaimed trio... more
Friday, September 11, 2009 - 8:00pm
"To save the planet, I had to go to the worst spot on Earth, and that was Philadelphia, which was death's headquarters." -Sun Ra
Please join Ars Nova Workshop and ICA for two very special... more
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Planet Y
"One of the celebrated players on the Dutch jazz scene, saxophonist Ab Baars is a member of the famed ICP Orchestra. He has also worked with Ig Henneman, George Lewis, and Anthony Braxton. Baars'... more
Friday, July 17, 2009 - 8:00pm
Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music today. The moniker of Japanese Masami Akita appears on hundreds of albums. The name comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' famous... more
Thursday, July 9, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Charles Cohen
Please join us for the record release celebration of AlasNoAxis' new studio album Houseplant (Winter and Winter).
Led by Jim Black, one of the most multi-faceted drummers today, AlasNoAxis is the... more
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - 8:00pm
Sunny Murray was one of the early avant-garde's most inventive and influential drummers, doing a great deal to establish the role of the drums in free improvisation. Although Murray could swing as... more
Friday, June 12, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join us for Re-Sounding, a very special two-night event in conjunction with Hidden City Philadelphia: a new arts festival that brings Philadelphia's best unknown historical and architectural... more
Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join us for Re-Sounding, a very special two-night event in conjunction with Hidden City Philadelphia, a new arts festival that brings Philadelphia's best unknown historical and architectural... more
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 (All day)
Vancouver-born, Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue directs Secret Society, a "powerful and well-stocked ensemble" (New York Times) featuring his "ambitious, sprawling, mesmerizing"... more
Friday, June 5, 2009 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop presents a very special performance of the Sun Ra Arkestra in celebration of the 85th birthday of Marshall Allen. Join us for complimentary Moon Pies, a special midnight toast and... more
Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 8:00pm
"She has become an eloquent, dramatic tone-warping free-jazz artist, right out of Ayler's anti-bebop tradition." -Guardian
Matana Roberts is a dynamic saxophonist, composer and improviser who exposes... more
Thursday, May 21, 2009 - 8:00pm
OffOnOff debuted in November 2006 following their collaboration in Original Silence with Jim O`Rourke, Thurston Moore and Mats Gustafsson. The trio has been described as an amalgamation of Last Exit... more
Sunday, May 10, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Gun Muffs
+Tim Albro + Forbes Graham
"The pairing of German saxophone titan Peter Brötzmann and American drummer Nasheet Waits isn't an obvious one. They're both adventurous musicians who play deeply in the jazz tradition - but that... more
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - 8:00pm
"A pioneering force behind the evolution of minimalism, violinist and composer Tony Conrad introduced the idea of ""Eternal Music,"" a droning, mesmerizing performance idiom which employs long... more
Sunday, April 26, 2009 - 8:00pm
"Free Jazz ecstasy meets Garage Rock intensity. Scandinavian action jazz ensemble The Thing visit Philadelphia for a rare intimate performance following the release of their limited edition box set... more
Friday, April 24, 2009 - 8:00pm
"Curtis Hasselbring's New Mellow Edwards is a group that was originally formed in 1988. Known back then as the Mellow Edwards, the trio of trombone, electric guitar and drums explored a unique... more
Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 8:00pm
"This is effervescent small-group jazz executed with wit and soul."-The New York Times
"Broken Arm Trio, a band and album that's at least as beholden to Alan Lomax as to Charlie Parker, is stunning-... more
Thursday, March 26, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop as we feature two leading Philadelphia ensembles revisiting two seminal Julius Hemphill Black Saint recordings: Raw Materials and Residuals (1977) and Five Chord Stud (... more
Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Shot x Shot
Joined by Whit Dickey on drums and Joe Morris on bass, Shipp's latest acoustic trio rings with fresh material that highlights his expansive musical vocabulary. In his distinct style, pianist Matthew... more
Friday, March 13, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for this special double-header featuring two of Philadelphia's quickly rising stars.
Bassist Evan Lipson (Normal Love, Satanized, Dynamite Club) is joined by New York's... more
Monday, March 9, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Matt Mitchell
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for part two of our celebration of Julius Hemphill's unique body of work: music for big band and saxophone sextet.
Julius Hemphill (1938-1995) was born in Fort Worth,... more
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 8:00pm
"Halvorson's sound is immediately distinctive, viscerally powerful and, yes, intriguingly 'anti-guitar'". -Brian Morton, Jazz Review
"Tom Rainey is a player who swerves between avant-garde notions... more
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the 35th anniversary celebration of Chicago's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
Founded by Kahil El'Zabar and Edward Wilkerson, Jr., the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble fuses... more
Monday, February 16, 2009 - 8:00pm
This event will also feature a public discussion with University of Pennsylvania professor and composer Jay Reise, who began his composition studies with Jimmy Giuffre.
"An unusual and striking trio... more
Thursday, February 12, 2009 - 8:00pm
25 years after his last ECM recording, the highly-influential Power Spot (recorded in 1983/84), Jon Hassell returns to the label with a new album - issued to coincide with the trumpeter's first US... more
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 8:00pm
"Mats is the most modern of players where the genre tags of jazz, noise, experimental, avant-whatever are finally transcended to a new millennium - where compositional concepts are at once in check... more
Saturday, January 31, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for this very special transatlantic collaboration between three top improvisers from the New York and Scandinavian scenes. The trio will celebrate the release of their... more
Thursday, January 29, 2009 - 8:00pm
Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the Swedish-Norwegian Sten Sandell Trio makes their first Philadelphia appearance.
"...absolute polyrhythmic directness (threes and twos overlaid like an absolute... more
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a special one-day exhibition of Han Bennink's works on paper and the first ever meeting of two of today's most influential improvisers, Marshall Allen and Han... more
Friday, January 16, 2009 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for part one in celebrating Julius Hemphill's unique body of work - music for piano, string quartet, saxophone quartet and mixed ensemble.
The program will feature One... more
Friday, January 9, 2009 - 8:00pm
+Rites Quartet I
+Daedalus Quartet
Tony Malaby's Cello Trio project features three great improvisers working with Malaby's fascinating melodies and structures to create highly integrated, multi-faceted avant-jazz. Malaby's... more
Thursday, December 18, 2008 - 8:00pm
Percussionist Steve Reid first recorded with Motown's Martha & Vandella's at age 17, working in the Apollo Theatre house band under the direction of Quincy Jones. Following a formal education,... more
Sunday, December 14, 2008 - 8:00pm
"The best jazz album of 2003 was recorded in 1969 - then shelved, lost, forgotten, rediscovered and finally released 34 years later," - The New York Times.
The reference is to Andrew Hill's... more
Friday, December 12, 2008 - 8:00pm
Born in Athens, Greece in 1962, Pandelis Karayorgis studied with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Dave Holland and Joe Maneri. He has studied and performed extensively the music of... more
Thursday, December 11, 2008 - 8:00pm
The Flatlands Collective brings together the remarkable Dutch alto saxophonist and composer Jorrit Dijkstra with some of Chicago's most interesting improvisers. In Chicago, one of the most important... more
Sunday, December 7, 2008 - 9:00pm
Originally from New Zealand, David Watson has lived and worked in New York City since 1987. An internationally respected musician and composer, he is a singular voice in experimental music. His... more
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the book release celebration of The New York Times critic Ben Ratliff's new book The Jazz Ear (Times Books/Henry Holt & Company). For this special event, Mr.... more
Monday, November 17, 2008 - 8:00pm
Since his emergence on the creative jazz and new music scene in the late 1960s, Joe McPhee has been a deeply emotional composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a thoughtful... more
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 8:00pm
"In the final reckoning, the pianist Paul Bley's influence over the last 50 years of jazz - and it continues - will be enormous...Mr. Bley's music runs on a mixture of deep historical knowledge and... more
Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 8:00pm
Bad Touch is a new music collective made up of alto saxophonist Loren Stillman, guitarist Nate Radley, organist Gary Versace and drummer Ted Poor. Originally formed under the highly unique, yet... more
Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Noah Kaplan-Marco Cappelli-Giacomo Merega Trio
Ars Nova Workshop is honored to present two major compositions for brass ensembles conducted by Anthony Braxton, one of the most innovative and acclaimed living composers.
Anthony Braxton is widely... more
Saturday, October 11, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Anthony Braxton conducts Composition N.169 (for Brass Quintet)
Please join us for the North American premiere of Anthony Braxton's Falling River Quartet.
"Falling River Musics is the name of a new structural prototype class of compositions in my music system... more
Friday, October 10, 2008 - 8:00pm
New York-based Paradox Trio creates original music inspired by Balkan traditions and driven by an improvisational Downtown New York edge. For over 12 years, the ensemble has been notorious for their... more
Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop and International House for the Philadelphia debut of Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, and the grand opening celebration of the Ibrahim Theater. Open bar preceeding the concert... more
Saturday, September 20, 2008 - 8:00pm
Weasel Walter founded the The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell. Over the years, the band has included noted Chicago musicians such as Ken Vandermark, Jeb... more
Thursday, September 18, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join us for the record release celebration of Tiny Resistors, Todd Sickafoose's new recording on Cryptogramophone.
"He builds grooves from the ground up, but that's no impediment to the flow... more
Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 8:00pm
Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer Satoko Fujii as one of the most original voices in jazz today. She's "a virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a band-leader who gets the... more
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 8:00pm
Frode Gjerstad draws upon the energy of the free-jazz continuum as defined by Ornette, Mingus, Dolphy and Coltrane. With over 20 recordings as a leader, Gjerstad has established himself as a major... more
Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 8:00pm
Altoist Sonny Simmons made a number of striking albums in the 1960's. Born in 1933, he was already a well-traveled Parkerian and a signaled innovator on the West Coast when he first came to national... more
Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia premiere of two extreme new projects - KTL and Beta Popes. A threatening new collaboration taking in parallel worlds of Extreme Computer Music... more
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Beta Popes
+The Peeesseye
Weasel Walter founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell. Over the years, the band has included noted Chicago musicians such as Ken Vandermark... more
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 8:00pm
William Parker, the famed bassist and preeminent figure in free jazz today, penetrates and draws inspiration from the songbook of Curtis Mayfield in an unprecedented exploration of what Parker terms... more
Saturday, May 3, 2008 - 7:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the record release celebration of Ships With Tattooed Sails, the new recording (featuring guitar icon Bill Frisell) from the all-star trio Jewels and Binoculars.... more
Monday, April 28, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a very special event featuring acclaimed writer Francis Davis, who will discuss his work-in-progress Sheets of Sound. Mr. Davis will read from his highly-anticipated... more
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for record release celebration of Tamarindo, Tony Malaby's all-star project on Clean Feed Records.
"He is sonic, he is time, he is gesture," writes contrabassist Mark... more
Sunday, March 30, 2008 - 8:00pm
James Fei (b. Taipei, Taiwan) moved to the US in 1992 to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. He has since been active as a composer, improviser and electronic musician. Works by Fei have been... more
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - 8:00pm
With over 15 years of performing together in various ensembles the powerful acoustic NYC based jazz ensemble features the music of bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens performing with... more
Monday, March 24, 2008 - 8:00pm
Wolter Wierbos is considered one of the world's leading trombone players. He has played throughout Europe, Canada, USA and Asia. Wierbos has many awards to his name, including the Podiumprijs for... more
Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Okkyung Lee-Peter Evans-Steve Beresford Trio
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for a rare performance from Phantom Orchard, the remarkable improvisational duo of Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori, at historic Bartram's Garden, America's oldest botanic... more
Thursday, March 6, 2008 - 8:00pm
+The Baird Sisters
Daniel Blacksberg is a Philadelphia-based trombonist whose work has been known to alternate among structured jazz, freely improvised music, new music and klezmer. Blacksberg received his Bachelor of... more
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - 8:00pm
This special performance is presented with Crossroads Music and Kol Tzedek.
Ayelet Rose Gottleib is a Swiss/Israeli singer based in New York. Born in Jerusalem, she studied at the New England... more
Monday, March 3, 2008 - 8:00pm
A true downtown supergroup, blending the raw power of Naked City with the improvisational madness of Cobra and the lyrical soul of the Masada songbook, Electric Masada is considered by many to be the... more
Sunday, March 2, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Jamie Saft Trio
+Erik Frieldander
Please join us for this matinee performance featuring two very different projects from composer John Zorn. Essential Cinema features the members of Electric Masada performing live scores to American... more
Sunday, March 2, 2008 - 2:00pm
Performing traditional and modern Jewish music as well as compositions from John Zorn's Masada Songbook, guitarists Jon Madof and Tim Sparks will perform acoustic guitar works both solo and in duo.... more
Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 8:30pm
The musical influences of the Klucevsek/Bern Duo range from Europe to the New World, from Eastern European folk songs to jazz, from ancient music all the way to contemporary music, from breathtaking... more
Friday, February 22, 2008 - 8:00pm
Mary Halvorson is a guitarist, composer and improviser living in Brooklyn. She grew up in Boston and studied jazz at Wesleyan University and the New School. Since 2000 she has been performing... more
Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Phillip Greenlief solo
+Jeremiah Cymerman's Silence and Solitude
Saxophonist John Tchicai is best known for his time in New York during the height of the 1960s free jazz explosion, but he actually spent the majority of his career advancing the cause of avant-garde... more
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 8:00pm
Acclaimed jazz writer Ben Ratliff leads a discussion regarding the content of his latest book, Coltrane, published in September 2007 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. In it, Ratliff tells the story of... more
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 6:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the return of Tim Berne's Bloodcount, making one of their first appearances in nearly 10 years. Alto saxophonist Tim Berne moved to New York in 1974, sought... more
Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 8:00pm
Please join us for this very special event showcasing the music of percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra. Tonight's concert will feature These Trees That Speak for percussion quartet, the world... more
Friday, February 8, 2008 - 8:00pm
Trio M is the collectively led ensemble of Mark Dresser (bass), Matt Wilson (drums), and Myra Melford (piano). After several years of working together in different contexts and talking about forming... more
Friday, February 1, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Tetuzi Akiyama + Josef van Wissem
Author Howard Mandel presents three avatars of the avant garde in performance video clips, reading excerpts of his new book Miles Ornette Cecil -- Jazz Beyond Jazz, engaging Ornette Coleman-... more
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 6:00pm
New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York are bona fide jazz capitals. You can add Minneapolis to that illustrious list, thanks to groups like Madhouse, The Bad Plus, and Happy Apple - that... more
Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 8:00pm
Dutch jazz pianist and composer Misha Mengelberg (b. 1935), son of the conductor Karel Mengelberg, studied music at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague where he won first prize at a jazz festival in... more
Friday, January 18, 2008 - 8:00pm
Little Women has a very genuine raucousness, though there's a gorgeous sense of structure. The band - two saxophones, guitar and drums - works a lot with these sorts of fanfare type themes, often... more
Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 8:00pm
+Where From Here
Jaimie Branch is a trumpeter working in the areas of composition and improvisation. In addition to leading her own bands, Jaimie is a member of many groups including Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox... more
Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to announce the CD release celebration of On Meaning (Pi Recordings), the highly anticipated new recording from Steve Lehman's critically acclaimed quintet. Widely... more
Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 8:00pm
Ivo Perlman is best known for performing in a heavily distorted, abstract-expressionist vein first tapped in the 1960s by the late Albert Ayler. His first album, Ivo (K2B2, 1989), featured an all-... more
Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Raoul Bjorkenheim + Toshi Makihara
Pianist/Composer Angelica Sanchez was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Sanchez moved to New York in 1995 and has since played with Susie Ibarra, Tim Berne, Mario Pavone, Trevor Dunn, Mark Dresser, Ed... more
Monday, December 17, 2007 - 8:00pm
An intriguing double-bill featuring two generations of Norway's remarkable jazz and experimental music legacy.
The all-Norwegian trio Huntsville has developed a striking and original sound world - a... more
Friday, December 14, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Frode Gjerstad Trio
The Engines, one of Chicago's strongest improvising bands, visits Philadelphia for the first time to coincide with the release of their self-titled debut on the Okkadisk imprint. This collaborative... more
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 8:00pm
Steven Bernstein is a trumpeter/slide trumpeter, bandleader, arranger, and composer who lives outside of musical convention. He formed Sex Mob in 1995 and since then, the band has been touring the... more
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Billy Martin-G. Calvin Weston Duo
+Andrew D'Angelo Trio
Schemes of Omission is a series of partially notated suites for varying ensembles that explore rhetorical devices, specifically those that omit sounds as opposed to including them. Essentially a map... more
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 8:00pm
+The Eastern Seaboard
Frode Haltli, acknowledged as one of the most outstanding accordion soloists in contemporary music, is also an exceptional improviser and an authority on folk music. His second and recently-released... more
Monday, November 12, 2007 - 8:00pm
+David Stackenäs + Tatsuya Nakatani
Pianist and composer Fred Hersch has earned his place among the foremost jazz artists and creative musicians in the world today. He is widely recognized for his ability to steadfastly create a unique... more
Saturday, November 10, 2007 - 7:00pm
TEST is a collective creative improvising quartet based out of the NYC Underground. In the 1990s, they performed on a weekly basis in the streets and subway stations of New York City (Grand Central;... more
Monday, November 5, 2007 - 8:00pm
Ticket buyers may join us for a pre-concert reception beginning at 6:30pm at Fleisher Art Memorial.
Pipa soloist and composer Min Xiao-Fen, internationally known for her virtuosity and... more
Sunday, November 4, 2007 - 8:00pm
Burton Greene figured prominently in New York's free jazz movement of the 1960s, performing with such major figures as Marion Brown, Sam Rivers, Gato Barbieri, Albert Ayler and Alan Silva. As a child... more
Monday, October 22, 2007 - 8:00pm
John Wiese is a solo artist and serial collaborator from Los Angeles, California. His ongoing projects include LHD and Sissy Spacek, with plenty of freelance work with many artists as diverse as Sunn... more
Sunday, October 21, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Newton + Antler Piss
Mostly Other People Do the Killing, or MOPDTK, is a quartet with the rare ability to think, act, create, and destroy as one consciousness. Rather than settling into one style or historical period,... more
Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Charles Evans-Erik Dutko Duo
+Jason Stein Trio
Edward 'Kidd' Jordan is probably the single most under-documented jazz musician of his generation, a fact that is even more remarkable when you consider that he is also one of the busiest musicians... more
Sunday, October 14, 2007 - 8:00pm
Please join us for the record release celebration for For (Cuneiform), the new CD by the Claudia Quintet, the genre-defying band led by Grammy-nominated composer John Hollenbeck.
Since Hollenbeck... more
Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 8:00pm
Marilyn Crispell is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied classical piano and composition, and has been a resident of Woodstock, New York since 1977 when she came to... more
Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Paul Lytton-Nate Wooley Duo
"This music is far from austere: a kind of gradually unfolding micro drama, comprising a series of tiny vulnerabilities, frayings, insinuations, and stretches of miniaturized song. Like so many of... more
Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 8:00pm
Please join us for the premeire of Bobby Zankel's four-part suite commemorating the 40th memorial of John Coltrane's death (7/17/67). This unique performance which celebrates Coltrane's remarkable... more
Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for this very rare double-header featuring the groups of guitarists Bern Nix and Charlie Ellerbee, known for their work together in Ornette Coleman's Prime Time band,... more
Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Charles Ellerbee Ensemble
Parisian cellist Vincent Courtois and New York saxophonist Ellery Eskelin met in Europe in 2000 while performing in a large ensemble project led by Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil. ... more
Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 8:00pm
"Somehow evocative of both Lalo Schifrin and Andrew Hill. Swirling action is [composer Rob Mazurek's] strong suit, even when the working conceit is a group improvisation against the recorded hum of... more
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - 8:00pm
Please join us in celebration of Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear Records' Blue Series), the new recording from Matthew Shipp's latest acoustic trio.
Stepping away from his electronic proclivities, Shipp... more
Thursday, September 6, 2007 - 8:00pm
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for an evening with critically-acclaimed violinist and emerging Americana vocalist Jenny Scheinman performing with her new quartet featuring Nels Cline, Jim Black and... more
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - 8:00pm
Fred Lonberg-Holm is a top cellist in creative music, active in a variety of projects in avant garde music, experimental rock, and modern composition. He studied cello with Ardyth Alton and Orlando... more
Friday, June 29, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Louis Tebugo Moholo-Moholo with Marshall Allen + Fred Lonberg-Holm
In The Country is a piano trio consisting of piano player Morten Qvenild, bass player Roger Arntzen and drummer Pål Hausken.
Morten Qvenild is probably best known for being the orchestra in Susanna... more
Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 8:00pm - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 8:00pm
+Noah Howard-Muhammad Ali Duo
Lotte Anker was born 1958 in Copenhagen. She has studied with Joe Henderson, David Liebman, John Tchicai, David Murray, and Bob Brookmeyer. She has been a member of various Danish/Scandinavian groups... more
Friday, June 15, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Dave Burrell-Noah Howard Duo
Austrian saxophonist and composer Max Nagl has written works for theatre, dance, radio plays and chamber ensembles. In June 2004 his childrens opera "Felix oder die Geschichte von einem, der auszog,... more
Monday, June 11, 2007 - 8:00pm
Zanussi Five consists of five strong players from the new, fresh generation of Norwegian Jazz: three of the hottest sax players in Norway with one of the most exciting and interesting rhythm sections... more
Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - 8:00pm
"Mahanthappa displays a visceral tone and a grab-you-by-the-collar attack that dares the listener to turn away. [A] talent to keep a steady eye on." -The New Yorker
Named a Rising Star of the alto... more
Friday, June 1, 2007 - 8:00pm
+F.A.B. Trio
Please join Ars Nova Workshop as we present one of the first state-side performances of Z'EV in over 20 years. The return of Z'EV to the United States is highly anticipated in the wake of his recent... more
Friday, May 25, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Sikhara
+Dave Smolen
Please join us as Ars Nova Workshop presents the record release celebration of David Torn's Prezens (ECM Records). David Torn's Prezens is a collision of the organic and the synthetic, of technology... more
Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Michael Formanek-Tim Berne Duo
The duo of violist Tanya Kalmanovitch and pianist Myra Melford came together literally by accident. Both were performing separately at the 2003 Guelph Jazz Festival, but when circumstances prevented... more
Friday, May 11, 2007 - 8:00pm
James Plotkin has been involved in making difficult music for over half his life. Whether writing, performing, or producing, his recordings have been invariably unique and extreme. Each release is... more
Friday, April 27, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Normal Love
+Ettrick
Pianist Ethan Iverson's classically informed writing and playing claims influences as disparate as Stravinsky and Ornette Coleman. Best known as a member The Bad Plus, the Wisconsin-raised Iverson... more
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 8:00pm
SoundExchange, presented by the American Composers Forum <http://www.composersforum.org/>, Philadelphia Chapter, and Ars Nova Workshop is an annual event designed to bring leading composers... more
Sunday, April 22, 2007 - 8:00pm
SoundExchange, presented by the American Composers Forum <http://www.composersforum.org/>, Philadelphia Chapter, and Ars Nova Workshop is an annual event designed to bring leading composers... more
Friday, April 20, 2007 - 8:00pm
"A major new voice on his instrument and in improvised music" -Ed Hazell
Daniel Levin was born in 1974 in Burlington, Vermont. He began playing the cello at age six, and studied classical music... more
Thursday, April 19, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Taylor Ho Bynum Trio
"Tapping into rock's most primal forces with the fire and fury that's something to behold" -Mojo
The Thing was established in the spring of February 2000 when the three musicians met to play several... more
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Inzinzac
+Locksmith Isidore
"Pliakas and Wertmuller were equally assertive at filling every last bit of space in the thick canvas of sound and matched Brötzmann's fire with accompaniment worthy of an Ozzfest booking." -... more
Saturday, April 14, 2007 - 9:00pm
The ICP (Instant Composers Pool) Orchestra recorded relatively little, but achieved international acclaim for its sophisticated improvisations, ingenious interpretations of landmark composers such as... more
Monday, March 26, 2007 - 8:00pm
Chicago bred saxophonist /composer Matana Roberts presents Coin Coin: Installation 1, the third performance of her in-progress musical narratives which explore the defining moments of an... more
Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 8:00pm
The words loud and aggressive only begin to scratch the surface of this proto-punk free jazz band. Borbetomagus sets forth a sonic squall that obliterates and shocks the listener who comes to... more
Sunday, March 4, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Ravi Binning
"The idea is similar to what the action painters do in that it creates various surfaces of color which push into each other, creates tensions and counter tensions, and various fields of energy." -... more
Saturday, February 10, 2007 - 8:00pm
"Veteran pianist Dave Burrell personifies the best of neoclassicism, uncompromising individuality and in-the-moment gusto." -The New Yorker
Join us for an evening of amazing music as we premiere an... more
Saturday, February 10, 2007 - 8:00pm
Nels Cline is one of the most versatile, imaginative and original guitarists active today. Combining breathtaking technique with an informed musical intelligence, Cline displays a mastery of guitar... more
Friday, February 9, 2007 - 9:00pm
+Charles Cohen-Yanni Papadopoulos Duo
+Rick Iannacone-John Swana Duo
Rova was founded in October 1977 by Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Andrew Voigt, and Bruce Ackley. Its first concert was held at Mills College in Oakland in February of the next year. From the beginning,... more
Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 8:00pm
+The Pavones
+From Bacteria To Boys
Please join Ars Nova Workshop for the Philadelphia premeire of "one of the most exhilarating new groups on the European circuit!" (The Guardian). Atomic is a Scandinavian free jazz supergroup,... more
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 8:00pm
"Veteran pianist Dave Burrell personifies the best of neoclassicism, uncompromising individuality and in-the-moment gusto." -The New Yorker
Since the mid-1960s, Dave Burrell has contributed to nearly... more
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 6:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop and the Kelly Writers House are pleased to present Gary Giddins in conversation with his fellow JazzTimes columnist Nate Chinen, who is also a former assistant coordinator at the... more
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 - 5:30pm
Trio Tarana, formed in 2003, is led by percussionist/composer Ravish Momin, born in India and currently residing in New York City. The trio primarily uses Indian and East-Asian rhythms (... more
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 8:00pm
+Helena Espvall-Katt Hernandez-Sean Mattio
"The David S. Ware Quartet is the best small band in jazz today." - Gary Giddens, Village Voice
David S. Ware (b. 1949) has been performing for over 40 years - first as a youth in informal practice... more
Friday, January 12, 2007 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop and Kelly Writers House welcomes John Szwed and pianist Dave Burrell in a public discussion that hopes to shed more light on the significance of pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton... more
Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 6:00pm
"The Brooklyn avant-garde jazz scene has a lot going for it: world-class players such as Chris Speed, Trevor Dunn and John Hollenbeck and sympathetic venues like Barbès, Zebulon and the Center for... more
Friday, December 15, 2006 - 8:00pm
+The New Mellow Edwards
+Trevor Dunn-Shelley Burgon
A "free-form summit dominated by stratospheric eruptions." -Downbeat
Please join us for the east coast debut of Spaceship on the Highway, a new quartet of jazz masters and elder... more
Friday, December 8, 2006 - 8:00pm
Clarinetist Ben Goldberg grew up in Denver, Colorado and currently lives in Berkeley, California. He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo, and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe... more
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 8:00pm
+Paul Dunmall / Tony Levin / Paul Rogers
"Bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Nori Tanaka have been regular thursday-night fixtures at Rodan, sometimes in a trio with guitarist Jeff Parker but just as often in an idiosyncratic improv... more
Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 8:00pm
+Todd Margasak's Double Duo
+69b
Labeled as "The Creative Label for Creative Music" ICTUS Records was one of the leading independent labels during the late 1970's and early 1980’s. Founded in 1976 the company... more
Saturday, November 11, 2006 - 8:00pm
Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio is not about the return of the fire-breathing brigades of the 1960s come back to reclaim musical space inhabited by a young generation of buttoned-down post-bop... more
Friday, November 10, 2006 - 8:00pm
+Sonic Liberation Front
Hilmar Jensson graduated from Iceland’s FIH School of Music in 1987 and from the Berklee College of Music in 1991. In Boston he first met and began his longstanding collaborations with many... more
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - 8:00pm
+Stephan Crump's Rosetta Trio
Few musicians have explored the full tonal range of a keyboard the way that Cecil Taylor (b. 1930) has. Since his quartet in the mid-1950s (which originally included Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone... more
Saturday, November 4, 2006 - 8:00pm
Ars Nova Workshop is a Philadelphia nonprofit jazz and experimental music presenting organization. As a facilitator between artists and their audiences, Ars Nova Workshop works to inform, inspire and challenge listeners in order to elevate the role of jazz, improvisation and experimental music in contemporary culture.