photo: Greg Cristman

Friday January 18 * 8pm * $20 * ADVANCE TICKETS

Dave Sewelson / William Parker / Steve Swell / Nik Francis
Jim Ryan / Nik Francis

Dave Sewelson settled into the East Village NYC scene in 1977 and played in many local bands including the 25 O’Clock Band, Jemeel Moondoc’s Jus Grew Orchestra, Saheb Sarbib’s Multinational Big Band, Noise R Us, Mofungo, Freedomland and Fast ‘n Bulbous, and he is a lifetime member of William Parker’s Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra. He has played with Billy Bang, John Zorn, Peter Kuhn, Alex Cline, Roy Campbell, Sonny Murray, Kidd Jordan, Daniel Carter, Will Connell and Stephanie Stone. Recently he has been working extensively with his free-style improv quartet : William Parker bass, Steve Swell trombone and various drummers. Dave has just released an album Music for a Free World with Marvin Bugalu Smith on kit. It can be found and purchased on Bandcamp and at the Downtown Music Gallery in Manhattan.

William Parker is a bassist, improviser, composer, writer, and educator from New York City, heralded by The Village Voice as, “the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time.” In addition to recording over 150 albums, he has published six books and taught and mentored hundreds of young musicians and artists. A vital force in The Music.

Steve Swell has long abandoned the traditional approch to the trombone but his work with the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, and Jackie Byard has grounded him in the fundamentals of the horn. He has made over 50 recordings as a leader and played on more than 125 releases as a sideman; and has worked in the groups of Ken Vandermark and William Parker. He also teaches and presents workshops.

Jim Ryan began making music in earnest during the late 60s Free Jazz craze in Paris, France. At the time he created the Free Music Formation, a band that played Paris and Amsterdam. He appeared in D.C. during the early 80s with the Art Performance Group and then in the late 90s on the S.F. Bay Area experimental scene with his group Forward Energy. He plays winds, reeds, brass, and amplified kalimba.

Nik Francis grew up in the Midwest while privately studying classical and computer music. Today he performs improvised music on electronics and drums. Since Jim moved back to D.C. he and Nik have been working together for two years.