8 pm | HAMID DRAKE & AVRAM FEFER
Avram Fefer alto and tenor, saxophones
Hamid Drake drums, percussion
Avram Fefer first encountered mystic rhythm wizard Hamid Drake at the Gnawa Festival in Essaouira, Morocco in 2001, but only started playing together recently touring with him as part of the Juba Lee Quartet. It was a match made in heaven and their duo clearly shows their musical kindred spirits in the deepest possible sense.
Avram Fefer is a New York-based composer, improviser, bandleader, educator, and player of multiple woodwinds. He has written over 80 compositions for a variety of groups and instrumentations — from solos and acoustic duos to eight-piece electric ensembles, as well as incidental music for theater, film, poetry, and dance.He has recorded thirteen albums as a leader, many more as a sideman, and has performed in clubs and festivals throughout Europe, Japan, Africa, and the Middle East. He has performed with legends like Archie Shepp, Bobby Few, the Last Poets, and the David Murray Big Band and in renowned off-Broadway productions such as Ivo Van Hove’s “Streetcar Named Desire” and Melvin Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback’s Badassss Song”.
Hamid Drake is widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free-jazz improvisers. Drake has worked with pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp, David Murray, and bassists Reggie Workman and William Parker. Drake shared deeply in Don Cherry's grasp of music's spiritually infinite transformational possibilities and worked extensively with him from 1978 until Cherry died in 1995. Drake studied drums extensively, including Eastern and Caribbean styles. He frequently plays without sticks, using his hands to develop subtle commanding undertones. His tabla playing is notable; his questing nature and interest in Caribbean percussion led to a deep involvement with reggae.
9 pm | DÁLAVA
Julia Úlehla vocals
Aram Bajakian guitar, bass, oud, piano
Peggy Lee cello
Josh Zubot violin
Dálava, the genre-defying ensemble led by vocalist Julia Úlehla with guitarist Aram Bajakian (Lou Reed, John Zorn, Diana Krall), returns with Understories, a deeply evocative new album that explores uncharted territories of sound. Seamlessly weaving Moravian folk traditions with an experimental, improvisational approach, Understories takes the listener on a journey through captivating sonic worlds.
They are joined by Peggy Lee on cello and Josh Zubot on violin, both of whom recently appeared on Darius Jones’s fLuXkit Vancouver (ı̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred), and are important parts of the fertile creative music scenes in Vancouver and Montreal. Their music is by turns ethereal and ferocious, the sound of whispering winds and the crunch of dirt underfoot as one descends into a deep, unknowable chasm.
Dálava’s music has received critical acclaim for its expressive depth: fRoots extolled their prior release as “so overwhelming and so intense that it is hard to put into any category…. Saying that The Book of Transfigurations is a masterpiece is not an exaggeration.”
Most of the pieces in Dálava’s repertoire are inspired by a collection of folk songs compiled in the book Živá Píseň (Living Song) written by Úlehla’s great-grandfather. A biologist and ethnomusicologist, Vladimír Úlehla (1888-1947) meticulously transcribed hundreds of folk songs from his hometown, the Moravian village of Strážnice in southeast Czechia.
“It’s astonishing music and the story behind its creation is emblematic of how Old World traditions can be born again, thousands of miles and several generations away from their roots.”
– Alex Varty, The Georgia Straight
“An exciting collision of tradition with experimentation.”
– Jo Frost, Songlines Magazine
10 pm | OTHERLANDS TRIO
Stephan Crump acoustic bass
Darius Jones alto 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 / composer Stephan 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.
Saturday Evening Ticket:
$33 advance/ $40 door (1 event, 3 sets)
Saturday Pass:
$65 advance / $75 door (3 events, 11 acts)
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
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 partner Hamilton Public Library for their kind support and enthusiasm. As well, much gratitude goes to our diligent media partners Musicworks, Music Buddy, and CFMU.