Crib Notes

Subtlety and restraint are two words that aren’t often used to describe the work of Chicago sax man Ken Vandermark. As a member of seminal free jazz and improvisational ensembles Vandermark 5, Spaceways Inc., Caffeine, and too many others to name, he’s done more to further jazz music over the last two decades than seems humanly possible.

The frenetic pace of his output traverses a wide range of sounds, reaching from a traditional European approach to spontaneous freakouts. Vandermark’s latest offering is a collaboration with Dutch counterpart Ab Baars of ICP Orchestra titled Goofy June Bug. It’s bound by a lingering tension that builds between every note and skronk, flourishing in whispered silence before breaking into wild, blood-boiling chaos.

Both Vandermark and Baars alternate between saxophone and clarinet over a careening rhythm section of Wilbert De Joode (double bass) and Martin Van Duynhoven (drums). The spaciousness of a tune like “Straws” makes its omnipotence clear from the onset. Other more ominous pieces, such as “Honest John” or the quivering confusion of “Then He Whirled About,” ebb with an aggressive sound, but the music walks on insect legs, scuttling out of the light before revealing its true form.

Chad Radford:  You’re a pretty busy guy.
Ken Vandermark:  Yeah, a little bit. There are a lot of interesting people out there to work with, so I try to keep busy by working with them all.

Goofy June Bug is a more restrained album than what I’m used to hearing from you.
There were some other pieces that didn’t end up on the record that are more aggressive sounding. What Ab did with the CD, which I thought was interesting, was focus on the group in a way that would keep it from being a free jazz blow-out album. I’m always challenging myself to work in different ways, and in working with Ab’s trio, which has a really strong identity, we dealt with the music in a more oblique and abstract way, rather than throw it right into your face. That was refreshing.

Ken Vandermark & Ab Baars Trio play Eyedrum on Wed., April 15. $15. 8 p.m. 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655.

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Since around Thanksgiving of this year the weekly Thursday night Kirkwood Ballers Club experimental open mic night has offered an early, online registration form to level the playing field for musicians who want to play each week, and to stimulate attendance.

This advancement in open-mic technology was hatched after a few disgruntled Ballers started balling about not being able to snag one of the eleven 15-minute slots available each week between 9 and 11:30 p.m.

“We used to have people coming out one week and singing up to come play the following week and we started getting a lot of flack for it,” says KBC founder Randy Castello.

The idea for online registration was spawned by his Tight Bros./Fifth Planet Press cohort Nisa Asokan who is using a similar means of RSVP for a group art show in Spring of 2009.

“It seemed like the right thing to do because not everyone wants to show up between 8:30 and 9 o’clock to sign up,” Randy adds. “Now they can do it from home and when they’re done they can start promoting right then and there. The response has been good and every week we only have about four or five slots left by the time we get there, and we’re seeing lots of new faces and lots of quality stuff.”

***NOTE:  The Kirkwood Ballers Club is canceled this week as it falls on New Year’s Day, but will resume next week at the Regular time and place.***

The Kirkwood Ballers Club takes place at the Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge on Thurs., nights. There’s no cover charge. Doors open 8 p.m. and the music begins at 9 p.m. 644 North Highland Ave. 404-874-5756. RSVP.

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