Thursday, October 20, 2011 - 8:00pm
Joshua Abrams's Natural Information Society
Joshua Abrams, bass + guimbri
Chad Taylor, drums
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 super psychedelic and ultimately beautiful journey,” Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker wrote for Waxpoetics about multi-instrumentalist Joshua Abrams's Natural Information (Eremite; 2010). Abrams's debut album under the Natural Information moniker—which featured a quintet with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, guitarist Emmet Kelly, drummers Frank Rosaly and Noritaka Tanaka, and Abrams primarily playing a North African bass lute called a guimbri—earned a spot on the year-end lists of The Wire, Dusted, and Foxy Digitalis, and The New York Times's Ben Ratliff called it “one of the rough gems of the post-everything musical era.”
Abrams, a native of Philadelphia, has been a heavy-hitter on the Chicago scene for over 15 years. He has worked with experimental jazz legends like Roscoe Mitchell and Bill Dixon, up-and-comers like Nate Wooley and Craig Taborn, indie artists like Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Sam Prekop (The Sea & Cake), and hip hop artists such as Prefuse 73 and Philly's The Roots. He's also the co-founder of Town & Country and has released four albums under his own name, including 2006's highly celebrated Reminder.
For this performance, the Natural Information Society will feature a duo with Abrams and drummer Chad Taylor, who's a member of the Chicago Underground Duo and has worked with Marc Ribot, Ken Vandermark, and Pharoah Sanders. Abrams and Taylor have partnered many times over the years, most notably in their trio with saxophonist Matana Roberts, Sticks & Stones.
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.