7 pm | EARTH WIND & CHOIR

Sarah Good conductor
+ vocalists: Shannon Aitken • David Bird • Mike Caminiti • Tee Caterini • lan Challenger • Adrienne Connelly • Claire D • Jon Dalton • Bailey Duff • Allison Griffin • Amanda Jansen • Siobhan Murphy • Chris Palmer • Katie Penrose • Emily Sattler • Jac de Schutter • Annie Shaw • Magda Tigchelaar • Grace Tovah • Gaby Tuba • Anne Varasso • Hope Wicket

Their 8th year joining us, usually opening the festival, out of the 13 iterations of Something Else!, the ever-evolving local vocal institution Earth Wind & Choir first introduced their fun, adventurous sound some 15 years ago. Conductor Sarah Good plays the choir of 12-20 dedicated creative vocalists like an instrument, presenting idiosyncratic takes on the most beautiful, ugly and/or interesting music the group can find—from early polyphony to avant-pop.

7:45 pm | GHOST VARIABLES

Ghost Variables is an improvising ensemble based in Hamilton, Ontario. Do they play jazz? The US scholar Thomas Brothers calls “jazz music” the interaction of the fixed, and the variable. Ghost Variables, as a musical ensemble, inhabit the region between the fixed – what is known, and the variable – what is yet to be played.

Connor Bennett is known as a saxophonist with such ensembles as Blue Moss, Ylang Ylang, and Tidal Pool, and as a designer of custom mouthpieces. Author David Lee is a veteran bassist in Canadian ensembles for many years, reedsman Gary Barwin is a performance poet with a PhD in musical composition, and percussionist Mike Hansen is a sound and installation artist, painter who has recorded with Michael Snow, Glen Hall, and John Butcher. Chris Palmer, a guitar teacher and choral soloist, has played with Lee as onstage musicians in the acclaimed Sky Gilbert play “Pat and Skee”, and as ⅓ of Lee-Palmer-Bennett on their CD “The Phantom Hunter.”

8:30 PM | AGALAWATTE-BENNETT-THORN

A first time meeting of three disparate worlds that is sure to be a treat!

Nimal Agalawatte performs in a wide range of projects and joins us for a palate-cleansing, bone-rattling, intense contribution on no-input mixing board. Nim is a sound technician for local venues, events, and runs regular events for featuring 2SLGBTQIA+ musicians in Hamilton and Southern Ontario while not touring with various projects.

Hamilton resident reeds player Connor Bennett starts from a strictly instrumental base, he augments his palette of unfamiliar acoustic colours with electronic treatments or simple amplification. As a musician, craftsperson, and arts organizer, Bennett is as ubiquitous as he is indispensable within the local arts ecosystem. He played saxophone in Haolin Munk, Eschaton, Lee/Palmer/Bennett and was a founding member of HAVN, as well as currently performing in Blue Moss, Black Moss, and Ghost Variables.

Harpist Elisa Thorn 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.

9 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

Thursday Evening Ticket:
$33 advance/ $40 door (1 event, 4 sets)

Festival Pass:
$135 (6 ticketed events, 21 sets, $185-225 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

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, and CFMU.

6 pm | STEPHAN CRUMP

Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning New York bassist / composer Stephan Crump (photo by Peter Gannushkin) is an active bandleader with fifteen 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.

He can also be heard as long-standing member of Jen Chapin Trio, Ches Smith Trio, Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, Liberty Ellman Sextet, Secret Keeper (duo with Mary Halvorson), his own Rosetta Trio (with Jamie Fox, Liberty Ellman), his Rhombal quartet (with Ellery Eskelin, Adam O’Farrill, Tyshawn Sorey), as well as co-led ensembles with Kris Davis, Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe, Eric McPherson, Mat Maneri, and Okkyung Lee.

6:30 pm | HAMID DRAKE & BRODIE WEST w/ PEGGY LEE

Following two turbulent and beautiful West Coast encounters a decade ago and a burning outdoor performance at Whitehern Garden in Hamilton at the 2019 Something Else! Festival, the duo of lauded Canadian saxophonist Brodie West (Eucalyptus, the Ex, Han Bennink) and beloved Chicagoan, Milano resident, master percussionist Hamid Drake (Don Cherry, Fred Anderson, William Parker, Peter Brötzmann, David Murray) continue their inspired, multifaceted dialogue in a special trio with revered Vancouver/Melbourne cellist Peggy Lee (Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, EDAM Dance, NOW Orchestra, Standing Wave) joining in! Though there are various historic plays and ties among this trio’s members, the trio is brand new, and the possibilities, the jelling of personalities, the unusual chemistry are all very exciting!

7:30 PM | GORD GRDINA & CHRISTIAN LILLINGER

The phenomenal, genre-mashing juggernaut duo Grdina/Lillinger mixes electronica, drum and bass, metal, punk, and free jazz into their explosively self-expressive sound. A force of nature on guitar and oud, Gordon Grdina and virtuosic powerhouse drummer Christian Lillinger intersperse intense, complex, spacious, heavily grooving free improv with modular composition ideas. Equal parts rock, punk, and exploratory atonality, these next-level innovators take unexpected turns at every corner, while taking their wildfire chemistry to the next level in this duo setting.

Gordon Grdina is a Vancouver-based JUNO Award-winner who has collaborated with an array of field-leading artists, including Gary Peacock, Paul Motion, Marc Ribot, Mats Gustafsson, Matt Shipp, Colin Stetson, Joëlle Léandre, and Jim Black.

Deutscher Jazzpreis Artist of the Year winner Christian Lillinger is a Berlin-based German drummer, composer and percussionist who has played with Wadada Leo Smith, William Parker, Evan Parker, Louis Sclavis, Joe Lovano, Peter Brötzmann and Tony Malaby.

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 events, 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

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 FM and CFMU.

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

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.