Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Trio April 29, 2010

Jordan / Drake / Håker-Flaten Trio

$16 advance tickets available at End of An Ear, Waterloo Records and Trailer Space Records. $20 Door

Epistrophy Arts is proud to present the debut performance of the collaborative trio of Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake and Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten. Nate Chinen of the New York Times says the legendary Kidd Jordan is "one of a handful of saxophonists of his generation to absorb the breakthroughs of his contemporaries Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, not just as a shock but also as a spur. His technique has the capacity to astonish, especially in the altissimo range. But he works to ensure that the technical takes a backseat to the soulful. " Kidd Jordan's mighty saxophone will soar over the elemental and potent rhythm section of Drake and Håker-Flaten.

KIDD JORDAN
The list of bands and artists legendary New Orleans tenor saxophonist and educator Edward ‘Kidd’ Jordan has performed with reads like a 40-year Grammy program--from Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder to Aretha Franklin and the Supremes. And the list of jazz musicians he has performed with is even longer. Today, this innovative, boundary-smashing artist has performed with Sun Ra, William Parker, Alvin Fielder, Hamiet Bluiett, Reggie Workman, David Murray, Alan Silva, Fred Anderson, Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Peter Kowald, Louis Moholo, Sunny Murray, Hamid Drake, Ed Blackwell, and Andrew Cyrille. amassed a discography of over 30 recordings of his own music, and has performed in jazz and music festivals around the world, including France, where he has received the title of Chevalier of Arts and Letters for his contribution to European performing arts. Americans seem to be catching up. Jordan was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in June 2008 at the Vision Festival in New York. ‘Kidd’ Jordan was born in Crowley, Louisiana, in 1935 and has spent his entire life in the New Orleans area, resisting the urge to move to a larger metropolis better suited to his avant-garde leanings. He recently relocated to Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina devastated his 9th Ward home.
Jordan's view of innovation, based on discipline and introspection, situates itself squarely in the tradition of black American music. As he himself modestly puts it, "Styles are born out of people's technique. When people have enough technique then they can do some things."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/arts/music/13visi.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91384626

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten
Ingebrigt studied Jazz at the Music Consevatory in Trondheim, Norway, from 1992-95 with bassplayer Odd Magne Gridseth. Since '95 he has been a professional musician, refining his sound by touring extensively all over the world with some of the most diverse and important improvisers on the international circuit today. He has participated on more than 100 recordings. Ingebrigt is currently focusing on his work in the Scandanavian ensembles Atomic and The Thing, both of which have energized Austin audiences in recent yearas. He also leads his own quintet and is a member of the bands Free Fall, The Electrics, The Outskirts, Dave Rempis Percussion Quartet, Scorch Trio, Trinity, IPA, Daniel Levin Trio and Atomic Schooldays. Ingebrigt also have ongoing projects with musicians from the undergrounds of Mexico City, New York, Chicago, Austin and Houston. Håker-Flaten represents a special era in Norwegian bass tradition. Inspired by Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis and William Parker, as well as European bassists such as Barry Guy, Dave Holland and Peter Kowald, he provides an historical continuity of the instrument's tradition, and as such, improvisation. Ingebrigt’s bass playing also draws inspiration and energy from his deep roots in the bustling Norwegian jazz scene. This can be summarized by placing him and his contemporaries in the great lineage of Norwegian progressive jazz musicians that include the famed Jan Garbarek, Arild Andersen and Terje Rypdal, as well as the less well-known pianist, Svein Finnerud, and bassist, Bjørnar Andresen, all of whom were key figures in shaping Norwegian avant garde jazz into the sound we have today.
Today, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is living in Austin and is one of the great ambassadors of the Norwegian sound, carrying this strong tradition further, both musically and geographically. He is constantly pushing and challenging himself, seeking out collaborations that hold a promise to lead to new and unheard territories.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/arts/music/13flat.html

HAMID DRAKE - Chicago's Hamid Drake is one of the most active percussionists working in the field of jazz, world, reggae, and improvised musics today. His unique style on the drum kit, frame drum, and tablas is simultaneously powerful, funky, and emotional; and has been heard all over the world with such singular talents as Don Cherry, Pharaoh Sanders, Archie Shepp, Fred Anderson, David Murray, Henry Grimes, and Ken Vandermark, to name a very few. He is featured on dozens of recordings, many of which find him in the rhythm section with his most consistent and revelatory partner, bassist William Parker of New York. Although he calls the Windy City home, Drake spends most of his time on the road touring with many of the finest ensembles working in jazz and improvised music today.

This is a sponsored project of the Vortex Repertory Company and is funded and supported by individual contributions and by the City of Austin Through the Cultural Arts Division.