$15 (No Cover for NIVA Conference Badgeholders)
7:00pm Show
Drummer Emma Garau, bassist Erik Fratzke, and pianist Bryan Nichols reunite for an evening of tasteful improvisation, original music, and reimagined jazz standards.
NIVA badgeholders may enter free of charge (subject to capacity).
Bryan Nichols is a pianist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis. Often found playing jazz and improvised music, but at home in a variety of musical worlds, he leads and composes for his own trio, quintet, and nonet, in addition to performing, recording, and touring with a variety of forward-thinking artists. The Star Tribune has called him “a versatile, daring and inventive keyboardist...one of the Twin Cities' most respected jazz players.” He is a recipient of a prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists and a residency at the Kennedy Center for Betty Carter's Jazz Aheadprogram. Nichols has released two albums as a leader to critical and audience acclaim; an original solo piano work, Looking North;and a suite of originals for his quintet, Bright Places.
Erik Fratzke is a composer, performer, and educator based in St. Paul, MN. Best known as the bassist of Happy Apple, he also leads his own quartet, Fake Accent. He is also a member of Craig Taborn’s Junk Magic and Cory Healey’s Beautiful Sunshine Band. As a guitarist, Fratzke is a member of The Dave King Trucking Company, the avant-metal group Abhorrent Expanse, Scott Miller’s Fifth Column Ensemble, The Gang Font feat. Greg Norton, and the instrumental rock group Zebulon Pike. His compositions have been performed and recorded by the new music group Zeitgeist. Fratzke has performed and/or recorded with Tim Berne, Ethan Iverson, Adam Levy, Michel Portal, Rhys Chatham, Airto, Benoit Delbec, and Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins).
Emma Garau is a drummer and composer based in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated with a BFA in jazz and contemporary music from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2022 while independently studying with Dave King of The Bad Plus and touring extensively with Fortezza. Emma has toured and/or recorded with artists including Powderhorns, Grace Christian X, and Geologist (of Animal Collective). She currently tours and records with the art punk duo ¿WATCHES? and as a solo artist.
