$15 at the door 7:30pm Show
Drummer/composer Devin Gray, violinist Mark Feldman, and trumpeter Russ Johnson return to Berlin to share their cerebral yet mesmerizing jazz collaboration.
Brooklyn- and Berlin-based drummer/composer Devin Gray made his widely lauded leader debut in 2012 with the release Dirigo Rataplan, which included a crew of heavyweight veterans Ellery Eskelin, Michael Formanek, and Dave Ballou. JazzTimes said Gray’s debut represented “the work of a young artist who knows who he is.” Free Jazz blog encapsulated the album this way: “...one of the best debut albums in years.” In 2015, Gray released Relative Resonance, a band of close New York associates: Chris Speed, Kris Davis and Chris Tordini. All About Jazz noted, “...the questing, inquisitive, risky nature of the compositions is no less bracing than Anthony Braxton's finest work.” In 2018, Gray reconvened his all-star group for Dirigo Rataplan II, with the establishment of the record label Rataplan Records. The album shines with rich harmony, and earworm melodies. Fans of artists from Alice Coltrane and Henry Threadgill to Dave Holland and Craig Taborn will dig this organic, engrossing mix of composition and improvisation. As a sideman, Gray has worked with Nate Wooley, Tony Malaby, Andrea Parkins, Satoko Fujii, Marc Ducret, and Eve Risser.
Mark Feldman has performed with John Zorn, John Abercrombie, the Masada String Trio, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, and Billy Hart. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played in many bar bands in Chicago. He played on over 200 recordings in Nashville as a studio musician, was a member of the Nashville Symphony, and was a member of the touring groups of country/Western entertainers Loretta Lynn and Ray Price. In 2003, he soloed with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Guus Janssen's Violin Concerto and with the WDR Jazz Orchestra in Concerto for Violin and Jazz Orchestra by Bill Dobbins. At New York's Lincoln Center, he performed in duo with pianists Paul Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams. He has recorded with Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter and has played on over 100 recordings in New York City as a soloist in contemporary music and modern jazz. Feldman has released several albums, including Music for Violin Alone (Tzadik, 1995); Book of Tells (Enja, 2000); What Exit (ECM, 2006 with British pianist John Taylor; and To Fly to Steal (Intakt, 2010) with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway.
After spending 23 years as an important member of New York City’s jazz community, Russ Johnson has seven recordings as a leader or co-leader and has performed on more than 75 recordings as a sideman. Johnson has worked alongside many legendary figures in jazz, including Lee Konitz, Steve Swallow, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano. He has also recorded and/or performed with a long list of the most prominent musicians on the international jazz scene, including Myra Melford, Ken Vandermark, and Tony Malaby. His most recent recordings, Meeting Point (Relay Recordings) and Still Out To Lunch! (Enja Records) received 4.5 and 4 stars, respectively, from DownBeat magazine and appeared on many “Best Recordings of 2014/5” lists including DownBeat, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, New York City Jazz Record, and Magnet magazine.
