Wednesday February 19 * 8pm * $10 * TICKETS

Thomas Johansson - trumpet
André Roligheten - sax/clarinet
Oscar Grönberg - piano
Jon Rune Strøm - double bass
Tollef Østvang - drums

The band plays rich original compositions which mixes improvisation with elastic arrangements. This is done in a way that gives the listener an expressive and holistic concert. The musicians are highly active on the Norwegian and european jazz scene, and contributes with their distinctive sounds in projects such as Trondheim Jazzorkester, Frode Gjerstad trio, Paal Nilssen Love Large Unit, Albatrosh and Cortex.

Elliott Levin grew up in Philly, but studied music and creative writing on the west coast at the University of Oregon. The weekend grocery list of Levin credits includes playing with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes for a decade as the saxophonist in the Sound of Philadelphia band, as well as with Odean Popes’ Saxophone Choir, Tyrone Hill, Don Preston, Scram!, New Ghost, Atzilut (Fourth World), Talking Free Bebop, and various collaborations with bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma. Levin’s gigs with Cecil Taylor included the groups Phthongas and Unit Core Ensemble, and he can be heard on the Taylor FMP album Live in Berlin. On the poetry scene he has performed with Miguel Algarin, Gloria Tropp, Mbali Umoja, Marty Watt, and Frank Messina. Levin has published several books of his verse, which also appears in publications such as L.A. Weekly, Blue Beat Jacket, The Painted Word, Po’ Fly, Vital Pulse, and Poets and Prophets. He has received awards from New American Radio in New York, The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and the California Endowment for the Humanities.

Nik Francis (b. 1981, Milwaukee, WI) is a percussionist, electronic musician, and auditory neuroscientist. Francis began taking lessons in classical piano as a child, while also teaching himself computer music and analog audio electronics. Having found an interest in the neuroscience of listening, Francis earned both a B.A. (UIowa) and Ph.D. (MIT) in Speech and Hearing Sciences. Today, Francis is a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and a performing artist living in Washington, D.C.. Francis’s electronic music has explored the use of granular synthesis and electro-acoustic instrumentation. For nearly two decades, Francis has focused on improvised music—initially with computers, and more recently concentrating on percussion. Francis has worked with artists such as Tyler Higgins, Jim Ryan, Layne Garrett, Dave Sewelson, William Parker, and Jamal Moore. Francis uses the study of sound and the practice of music to facilitate interpersonal exchanges of higher consciousness and well-being.