9 PM | OTHERLANDS TRIO
Stephan Crumpacoustic bass
Darius Jonesalto saxophone
Eric McPherson drums
Following last fall’s release of Star Mountain, their album on Intakt Records, Otherlands Trio is touring as a remarkable creative formation featuring veteran instrumentalist/composers Stephan Crump, Darius Jones, and Eric McPherson. Their dynamic, ever-evolving, magnetically charged music emerges from a pursuit of ego dissolution and spiritual communion.
“A massive veteran trio…bassist Stephan Crump and alto saxophonist Darius Jones are not just immense players, they’re also two of the city’s great creative music composers, pushing it into wondrous, unexpected but also inviting spaces.” - DadaStrain
“Otherlands Trio is magic” - All About Jazz
“As a bassist and composer, Mr. Crump avoids obvious routes but manages never to lose his way” - The New York Times
Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning New York bassist / composerStephan Crump is an active bandleader with sixteen critically-acclaimed album releases in addition to numerous film scoring contributions. Known for transforming his instrument into a speaking entity of magnetic pull, his focus on creative instrumental music has led to collaborations with many of the leading lights of his generation, most notably Vijay Iyer, in whose trio and sextet Crump played a dynamic, founding role.
A native of NYC, Eric McPherson came to prominence apprenticing with legendary saxophonist and educator, Jackie Mclean, and innovative pianist and composer Andrew Hill. Those foundational experiences cultivated Eric into one of the leading drummers in contemporary creative music. Eric continues the legacy of the musical giants who came before him. As well as performing and teaching internationally with an array of today’s leading contemporary creative musicians, Eric teaches privately and at the University of Hartford’s, Jackie Mclean institute.
Darius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of African-American music. Jones has been awarded the Van Lier Fellowship, Jerome Foundation Commission, Jerome Artist-in-Residence at Roulette, French-American Jazz Exchange Award, and the Fromm Music Foundation commission at Harvard University. Jones has released a string of diverse recordings featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism.
10 PM | ELISA THORN
Elisa Thorn (pronounced eh-lee-sah) is a versatile harpist, vocalist and composer known for her distinctive and contemporary approach to the harp. Her music weaves together elements of folk, indie, jazz, experimental, and ambient music, and she aims to create music that balances the abstract and accessible, and sensitivity with boldness.performs in many contemporary contexts from pop to jazz to experimental. Interested in the intersection between composed and improvised music, she is involved with many projects including HUE, The Giving Shapes, and Gentle Party, and works alongside many artists such as Mauvey, Tonye Aganaba, Loscil and Mother Mother. Finding genre labels sometimes lacking, she jokingly calls her work “minstrel-core.”
10:30 PM | AVRAM FEFER’S JUBA LEE 4TET
Avram Fefer alto and tenor saxophones, composition
Anders Nilsson electric guitar
Hilliard Greene double bass
Hamid Drake drums, percussion
“Inspired by the musical worlds of Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Ali Farka Toure, Ethiopian Jazz, Gnawa, and Charles Mingus, Avram Fefer has forged a highly original sound within a modern jazz context.” - All About Jazz
“Global spiritual music — embracing a concept of jazz that highlights the transcendental power of groove, the narrative power of melody, and the intellectual power of improvisation.”
Avram Fefer began his jazz life as an expat in Paris, where he played with Archie Shepp, The Last Poets, Sunny Murray, Rasul Siddik, Graham Haynes, and John Betsch. It was also in Paris that he first became interested in West African and Arabic music, playing with a variety of musicians from Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, and Morocco.
This all-star lineup of the Juba Lee 4tet draws on Fefer’s work with a diverse range of ensembles – African, Latin, Indian, Eastern European, modern classical, funk, drum ‘n’ bass, and every type of jazz under the sun, as a long-term member of large groups like Greg Tate’s Burnt Sugar Arkestra and Adam Rudolph’s Go:Organic Orchestra and in small groups or solo, as in the Resonant Sculpture Project – Fefer’s series of improvisational interactions with the monumental sculptures of Richard Serra.
“Compositionally, I tend to use the guitar as a front-line foil, a kind of punk alter-ego to my jazzy saxophone, often playing lyrical unison lines, slightly off from each other. We usually try to hone in on the narrative, storytelling aspect of the tune, while the bass and drums create a constant underpinning of implied dance rhythms, bubbling up occasionally to overtake the guitar/sax with their own energy and story to tell.
We play music with a wide emotional range, conveying diverse imagery—heartfelt ballads, late-night urban streets, the vastness and longing of the desert or sea, and powerful, groove-based, melodic improvisation.
Our repertoire is definitely modern and reflects the contemporary landscape of our times, but it's also deeply rooted in our personal stories, reflecting the intertwining narratives of our prodigious cultures. Deeply rooted in blues, spirituals, and songs of Liberation, I often juxtapose strong sensations --- joy and grief, simplicity and complexity, hope and desperation, structure and freedom, lyricism and chaos. Soothing rhythmic or melodic gestures create a safe space for the musical intensity ahead. The audience is drawn in, immersed, challenged, provoked, and transformed.
– Avram Fefer
Friday Evening (Early Show):
$29 advance/ $35 door (1 event, 3 sets)
Friday Evening (Late Show):
$33 advance/ 40 door (1 event, 3 sets)
Friday Evening Pass:
$50 advance/ $60 door (2 event2, 6 sets)
Festival Pass:
$135 (6 ticketed events, 21 sets, up to $225 value)
Discounted Advance Tickets & Passes:
E-transfer (no fee) tix@zulapresents.org or EVENTBRITE (+fee)
No one will be refused admission for lack of funds
2026 Something Else! Festival at-a-glance
In our 13th year of operation, as Zula Presents Something Else!, we are most grateful to 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 for their kind support and enthusiasm. As well, much gratitude goes to our diligent media partners Musicworks, Music Buddy, CFRU 93.3 FMand CFMU.