9th Annual Something Else! Festival
Artist & Group Bios
June 16 – 19, 2022 (Core Weekend)
+ June 25, July 3 & 16, 2022

Individual advance tickets are on sale via Eventbrite.
Passes to the four-day core festival weekend are on sale for $130 via Eventbrite.

SOMETHING ELSE! FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES A STELLAR CAST FOR 2022

Since 2014—and undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic—Zula Presents' Something Else! Festival has steadily been evolving into a crucial node within the North American experimental music circuit. Jazz audiences will certainly recognize its name's reference to Ornette Coleman, however just like for Ornette himself, jazz is the foundation for the boundless, curious music-making found at the annual event, rather than a rigidly-defined category. Having previously featured everyone from Eve Egoyan to Tashi Dorji, Michael Snow to Mary Margaret O'Hara, and William Parker to Susan Alcorn this year's celebrations kick off with a jam-packed four days of activity from June 16th to June 19th and then continues with weekend programming up until July 16th.

As always, Something Else! boasts powerful, energetic performances by acclaimed international ensembles in unique settings including Cotton Factory, Bayfront Park, Hamilton Public Library, and Bridgeworks. In addition to showcasing established projects, the festival continues its longstanding tradition of curating one-of-a-kind improvised encounters that produce conversations between artists from various generations, geographical locations, musical backgrounds, and levels of visibility.

Passes to the four-day core festival weekend are on sale for $130 via Eventbrite. Advanced tickets go on sale soon.

Grammy nominated, Pulitzer Prize finalist and Guggenheim fellow Don Byron was part of Something Else's 2019 line-up and is returning to Hamilton for more riveting solo and collaborative engagements this year. NPR has aptly described the versatile clarinettist and composer as “one of the most inventive and compelling musicians of his generation.”

In 2013, Stereophile asserted that trumpet player Dave Douglas was “one of the most exciting and versatile musicians in jazz” and given the two projects he's showcasing at Something Else!, it seems as though this statement remains true. Marching Music sees him leading Rafiq Bhatia (guitar) plus Melvin Gibbs (bass) and Gene Lake (drums). Meanwhile, Mountain Passages comprises top-tier players such as Michael Moore (reeds) of Instant Composer's Pool, Marcus Rojas (tuba) and Vancouverites Peggy Lee (cello) and Dylan van der Schyff (drums).

Among brilliant reeds stalwart Michael Moore's additional appearances, he will be heard alongside Jodi Gilbert in Voice Is the Matter. Gilbert is a multi-faceted vocalist and theatre/ movement artist who's worked alongside the likes of Roscoe Mitchell, ICP, and Meredith Monk.  Gilbert will also be facilitating a vocal workshop during the festival.

Percussionist Michael Vatcher, like his collaborators Gilbert and Moore, is an American with deep ties to the Netherland's exploratory jazz scene. On one hand, he has nurtured deep professional bonds with the likes of John Handy, Terry Gibbs and wayward pop auteur Van Dyke Parks, on the other, his artistic circles have included experimentalists such as Tristan Honsinger, Luc Ex, Tom Cora, and Phil Minton.

Vocalist and composer Robin Holcomb is as enigmatic as she is acclaimed. A collaborator to Bill Frisell, the McGarrigles, Eyvind Kang, and many more, her body of work spans orchestral pieces to pensive songs. Her regular collaboration with celebrated composer, pianist and electronic musician Wayne Horvitz (Carla Bley, John Zorn, Michael Shrieve, Fred Frith) will be heard at this year's event and was dubbed “staggeringly beautiful” by the New York Times.

The return of Vancouver's Sick Boss to the Zula stage with an expanded lineup provides yet another invigorating highlight. Guitarist and composer Cole Schmidt leads fellow protagonists of the Vancouver scene such as Dan Gaucher (drums/ fx), James Meger (bass/ fx), Peggy Lee (cello), violin virtuoso Joshua Zubot, and JP Carter(trumpet/fx) in a panoramic blend of avant-rock, jazz, electronics, and spontaneous abstraction. From the same Vancouver cadre, Something Else! also hosts clarinet wizard François Houle, and stalwart bassist Torsten Müller.

According to Pitchfork's Andy Beta, Dave Rempis “has long served as a nexus for [Chicago's] influx of creative players.” One of such players is his duo partner at Something Else! Tyler Damon, a drummer whose expressive playing has been heard alongside artists such as Tashi Dorji, Mette Rasmussen, Circuit Des Yeux, Daniel Carter, and Joshua Abrams.

Joyfultalk has drawn critical acclaim for what PopMatters calls “a refreshingly organic approach and a unique sense of inspiration and bravado... full of passion, intensity, and unbridled joy.” Their third LP for the lauded Montreal imprint, Familiar Science acts as a unique and kaleidoscopic commentary on the funkier end of experimental jazz — referencing everything from M-Base to Ornette Coleman's harmolodic funk period.

Fêted Toronto-based composer and experimental performer Allison Cameron's improvised solo performances craft sonic environments using an idiosyncratic array of instruments, objects and electronics.

Moody Swedish-Canadian experimental rock outfit Thus Owls also visit from Montreal with their uniquely textural songs.

Following this initial burst of activity, Something Else! will be continuing its festivities with a series of additional concerts. First, there's celebrated Halifax ambient improv quartet New Hermitage alongside New Origin (Christophe Rocher (clarinets); Joe Fonda (bass); Harvey Sorgen (drums)) at the Hamilton Public Library on June 25th. 

July 3rd features the François Houle 4/ Recoder (with Gordon Grdina (guitar), and heavyweights Mark Helias (double bass, clarinet) and Gerry Hemingway (drums)) and Grdina's Nomad Trio which features him on guitar and 'oud alongside Matt Mitchell on piano and legendary drummer Jim Black at Bridgeworks.

Finally, July 16th features Canadian trumpet player and composer Lina Allemano leading her Berlin-based trio, Ohrenschmaus featuring Dan Peter Sundland on bass and Michael Griener on drums. They're joined by Numinosity featuring David Mott (saxophone), Jesse Stewart (drums) and bassist Justin Gray, at The Cotton Factory.

The schedule also includes screenings of Derek Bailey's pivotal documentary series On the Edge: Improvisation in Music, readings (including from writer-in-residence & musician Kim Zombik) and other cross-disciplinary programming. A number of additional guest artists will be revealed alongside the forthcoming full event schedule.

Passes to the four-day core festival weekend are on sale for $130 via Eventbrite. Advanced tickets to individual events are on sale at $20-25… or $20-35 at the door.

These concerts are made possible by kind support from Canada Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage, City of Hamilton, and Ontario Trillium Foundation. Big thanks to these funders for believing in what we aim to do.

Also a big thanks to The Cotton Factory, Bayfront Park, Bridgeworks and the Hamilton Public Library (for partnering with us and) for opening their doors to us …the Hamilton Spectator for their support.

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…with kind support from: