Noon | TIM POSGATE & ANDREW DOWNING
More than twenty years ago these two artists started playing duets together. Being neighbours made it easy and fun to get together in their backyards and in local bars and play their instruments, including cello, bass, guitar, banjo and fiddle, while sharing their favourite songs and beverages. Both musicians have gone on to make numerous recordings and continue to play eclectic music that is informed by jazz, folk and world music. Andrew Downing’s most recent project is Utopia Ontario and Tim Posgate is part of the acoustic roots collective So Long Seven. He also performs with Ronley Teper’s Lipliners, Cluttertones and his Jazz Banjo Project.
1 pm | FARIDA AMADOU
The electric bass has been Farida Amadou’s main instrument since 2011. A self taught bass player based in Brussels, in 2013, she started to play across many genres, including blues, jazz and hip-hop. Then Farida discovered improvised music, a style and community she quickly embraced. In 2017, after spending a year playing bass for Belgian punk band Cocaine Piss, Farida decided to focus on her solo improvisation practice and collaborations. Since then, she’s played with folks like Steve Noble, Thurston Moore, Peter Brötzmann, Julien Desprez, Dave Rempis, Chris Corsano, Andy Moor, Pat Thomas, Lukas Koenig among other occasional features such as Jerusalem in My Heart and Moor Mother.
Photo © Niclas Weber
2 pm | COUNTERSTASIS with KATHRYN LADANO
Counterstasis is a collaborative improvising trio formed by Toronto pianist Bill Gilliam in 2016 featuring Glen Hall (woodwinds, electroacoustics) and Joe Sorbara (drums, percussion). The group works to counter stasis, to foster change, to create a music in which individual voices can be bent by and refracted through the sounds of co-conspirators. Since 2019, they have performed in Montréal with guest Lori Freedman and locally as a trio as well as with guests such as Doug Van Nort and Christine Duncan. Along with bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano, Gilliam, Hall, and Sorbara offered an exceptional performance at Kitchener 's Registry Theatre for Open Ears 23 festival. This performance for the 2025 Something Else! Festival will be the second appearance by this special edition of Counterstasis.
“Gilliam, Hall and Sorbara play with maturity, confidently committing themselves to the realization of a shared musical vision that privileges communication over individual athletics”. – Colin Story, The WholeNote, Sept 2019
Dr. Kathryn Ladano is a Canadian bass clarinetist and music educator recognized for her contributions to contemporary and experimental music. She holds a PhD in Musicology from York University. With mentorship from musicians like Lori Freedman and Casey Sokol, Kathryn has developed a unique approach that blends traditional techniques with experimental soundscapes, expanding the bass clarinet's role in modern music.
Bill Gilliam, originally from London UK, studied jazz and film composition at Berklee. His Gilliam, Milmine, Pottie trio was featured at the Toronto Jazz Festival, Something Else! Festival and the Ontario Place. He is currently active in improvising electroacoustic collaborations with Eugene Martynec, with his jazz ensemble Confluent Motion with Kayla Milmine, Rob Clutton and Joe Sorbara and also with Marbyllia, an improvising duo with cellist Margaret Maria.
Glen Hall has an international reputation as a composer, improviser and multi-instrumentalist, has studied jazz at Berklee College of Music and composition with Gyorgy Ligeti and Mauricio Kagel in Germany, did artistic residencies in live electronics at STEIM in Amsterdam and Kyma Symbolic Sound at the Electronic Music Foundation in New York, and Matralab at Concordia University in Montreal. He recorded with Joanne Brackeen, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart, legendary composer/ arranger Gil Evans, trombonist Roswell Rudd, has also played with Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo.
Canadian drummer and percussionist Joe Sorbara has spent decades developing a reputation as a dedicated and imaginative performer, composer, improviser, collaborator, organiser, listener, writer, and educator. A consummate sonic adventurer, Sorbara’s music draws on a vast array of influences, most notably the African American Creative Music tradition. Currently serving on the board of directors of local Guelph artspace, Silence, Sorbara has recently become the Artistic Director of the Guelph Jazz Festival.
HAMILTON ROOM
FREE Admission
Reserve seats via EVENTBRITE
(Donations appreciated but not mandatory)
In collaboration with HPL – Central Library
In our 12th year of operation, as Zula Presents Something Else!, we are most grateful to Canada Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage, and The City of Hamilton for their financial support to make these festival events possible. We would also like to acknowledge and thank our partners Hamilton Public Library and Open Streets for their kind support and enthusiasm.