In collaboration with HPL – Central Library
12 Noon | SAKINA ABDOU & DAVID REMPIS
Lille-based saxophonist Sakina Abdou and Chicago free-jazz reedsman Dave Rempis have performed with Peter Orrins’ post-rock/ jazzcore band Toc, but Hamilton audiences get to hear them as a duo for the first time.
French saxophonist/flutist Sakina Abdou explores free improvisation and broadly experimental contemporary music with the likes of Eve Risser’s Red Desert Orchestra, Raymond Boni, Satoko Fujii, Dedalus, and the daring experimental collective, Muzzix. Of Franco-Nigerian origin, an upcoming collaboration will feature drummers from Niger and flutist Yacouba Moumouni, under the auspices of CNCM Athénor. Her multifaceted sound is sometimes caustic, sometimes full of grace and quietude, and always full of suspense and surprise, as evidenced on Goodbye Ground, her debut album for the cutting edge New York label Relative Pitch Records. “She can be as fiery as she is fierce, but what has impressed me is Abdou’s ability to bring moments of swing-derived blowing to the equation, evoking Lee Konitz as much as Peter Brötzmann” (The Quietus).
Saxophonist, improviser, and composer Dave Rempis has been an integral part of the thriving Chicago jazz and improvised music scene since 1997. With a background in ethnomusicology and African studies at Northwestern University, including a year spent at the University of Ghana, Rempis burst onto the creative music scene at the age of 22 when he was asked to join the now-legendary Chicago jazz outfit The Vandermark Five. This opportunity catapulted him to notoriety as he began to tour regularly throughout the US and Europe, an active schedule that he still maintains to the present day. At the same time, Rempis began to develop the many Chicago-based groups for which he’s currently known, including The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, Kuzu, Rempis/Abrams/Ra + Baker, and longstanding duos with drummers Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisy.
Sakina Abdou photo by HG
Dave Rempis photo by Peter Gannushkin
1 pm | ALINE’S ÉTOILE MAGIQUE
Montreal-born Toronto violinist Aline Homzy's Étoile magique is a collective that paints the sonic canvas with celestial strokes, captivating audiences with their unique artistry in the contemporary jazz scene …with Michael Davidson on vibraphone, Dan Fortin on double bass, Thom Gill on electric guitar and Marito Marques on drums.
Aline Homzy is an award-winning violinist and composer. Originally from Montreal, born to a Québécois mom and an American dad with Eastern-European roots, Aline’s original music reflects her culturally-diverse background.
Beyond composing music, Aline is a regular violinist in the studios of Toronto, recording other artists’ original music. Aline is sought out for her lightning-fast sightreading skills, her deep knowledge of jazz and improvisation and her musicality and upbeat personality. Some artists that she has recorded for include David Occhipinti, Andrew Downing, Iskwé, The Weather Station, Amanda Tosoff and many more. She is also the leader of the string section for SymphRONica (2019 Juno-nominated), Maurizio Guarini’s “A Goblin’s Chamber Music”, De Bouche à oreille – série de spectacles francophone, and many other Toronto- based projects that record and perform in the city.
Aline has also performed and/ or recorded with international artists such as Munir Hossn (Brazil), Emma Smith (Edinburgh), Jake Sherman (USA), Leah Michelle (USA), Ed Sheeran (Great Britain), Danilo Perez (Panama), Cho Yongwon (South Korea), Mikko Hildèn (Sweden), amongst others. Aline has performed in halls and venues such as Koerner Hall, Massey Hall, The Glenn Gould Studio, the Burdock, the Great Hall, various stages for the TD International Toronto Jazz Festival, Festival international de jazz de Montréal, Stockholm International jazz festival and many chamber-music and jazz-related concert series.
2 pm | CAROLINE DAVIS & WENDY EISENBERG
Revered New Yorkers, saxophonist Caroline Davis and guitarist Wendy Eisenberg have some rich history together. “A nucleus is supposed to be an especially essential form in eukaryotic cells. Their nuclei are surrounded by a membrane, which in that world permits them to be said to have “true nuclei.” Even their smallest parts, their organelles (incidentally also the name of Caroline’s keyboard heard throughout the record), are held by that membrane. The deepening of our musical friendship, the affordance of space we give to the possibility of synchronicity, the reminders we write of the preciousness of our existence - all of this we put into these songs for you, to help us all accept these miracles and metaphors, in our lifeboats”.
Mobile since her birth in Singapore, composer, saxophonist, vocalist Caroline Davis’s expression covers a wide range of styles, owed to her shifting environment as a child. From angular, melody-present instrumental outfits to soulful, quirky song writing, Caroline’s persona is recognizably present. As an improviser and saxophonist, she has released six albums under her name. She has won Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll Rising Star Alto-Saxophonist (2018) and has been included in numerous Reader and Critics Polls including in 2023. Her work has garnered much praise from NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Wire, DownBeat, and many international publications.
Wendy Eisenberg is an improviser and songwriter, performing on guitar, pedals, tenor banjo, computer, synthesizer and voice. Their work spans genres, from jazz to noise to avant-rock to delicate songs; their performances span venues, from international festivals to intimate basements. Though often working solo as both a songwriter and improviser, with acclaimed releases on Tzadik, VDSQ, Out of your Head, and Garden Portal, they also perform in the rock band Editrix, and in endless other combinations of their heroes and peers including Allison Miller, Carla Kihlstedt, John Zorn, Billy Martin, and Caroline Davis. They are also a writer on music and other things, with published essays on music in Sound American, Arcana, and the Contemporary Music Review.
FREE EVENT
Donations appreciated, not mandatory
