2008 | ||
2-14 |
Elastic |
Josh Berman and His Gang (Berman, Guillermo Gregorio, Jason Stein, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz) |
2-10 |
Hungry Brain |
Stephen Gauci, Anton Hatwich, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz |
2-5 |
The Hideout |
Klang (James Falzone, Jason Roebke, Tim Daisy, Adasiewicz) |
2-3 |
Hungry Brain |
The Hats (Dave McDonnell, Josh Berman, Anton Hatwich, Dylan Ryan, Adasiewicz) |
2-2 |
Millennium Park Museum of Modern Ice |
New Millennium Orchestra |
1- 25/26 |
The Velvet Lounge |
Nicole Mitchell Quartet (Mitchell, Josh Abrams, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz) |
2007 | ||
12-29 |
The Velvet Lounge |
Nicole Mitchell Quartet (Mitchell, Josh Abrams, Marcus Evans, Adasiewicz) |
12-28 |
The Charleston |
The Hats (Dave McDonnell, Josh Berman, Anton Hatwich, Dylan Ryan, Adasiewicz) |
12-20 |
Elastic |
Arrive (Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Tim Daisy, Adasiewicz) |
12-17 |
Skylark |
Softs Pow (Josh Berman, Jeff Parker, Anton Hatwich, John Herndon, Adasiewicz) |
12-13 |
Elastic |
Jason Stein/Guillermo Gregorio Group (Stein, Gregorio, Jeff Parker, Jason Roebke, Adasiewicz) |
Exploding Star Orchestra European Tour | ||
12-8 |
Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
12-6 |
Manggha-Japanese Art and Technic Center (Krakow, Poland) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
12-5 |
Jazzga (Lodz , Poland) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
12-4 |
Jazzga (Lodz, Poland) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
12-3 |
Aurora (Warszawa, Poland) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
12-2 |
Kino Lwow (Wroclaw, Poland) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Artur Majewski, Kuba Suchar, Ray Harmon |
11-27 |
Student Center (Zagreb, Croatia) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Ray Harmon |
11-21 |
Cabaret Vauban (Brest, France) |
Rob Mazurek, Jason Ajemian, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Ray Harmon |
11-19 |
Gallery 37s Storefront Theatre |
Nicole Mitchell “Qualities of my Father” (Mitchell, Kegdrick Pollum, Jennifer Swansen, Renee Baker, Todd Mathews, James Sanders, David Boykin, Jeb Bishop, Tyler Nelson, Anton Hatwich, Adasiewicz) |
A prolific and visible member of Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene, Jason Adasiewicz is quickly gaining widespread recognition from his extensive work as a sideman as well as such high-profile honors as his strong showing in the Rising Star Vibes category of DownBeat's 2007 Critics' Poll. Critics have called him "a remarkably adroit colorist" (Jay Collins, Cadence) and "a welcome new voice" (Chris Kelsey, JazzTimes), noting his "probing sound" (Michael McCaw, AllAboutJazz.com) and ability "to create cunning and subtle rhythmic suspensions" (Derek Taylor, Dusted).
Adasiewicz is a member of more than 20 working bands, including Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, the Nicole Mitchell Quartet, the Guillermo Gregorio Trio, and Fred Lonberg-Holm's Valentine Trio + 1.
About Rolldown
Rolldown takes its title from Adasiewicz's four year-old working band of the same name featuring Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke and Frank Rosaly."Composing pieces for Rolldown started with free improvisation on the piano," explains Adasiewicz, who wrote all the music during a year in Madison, Wisconsin in which he supported his wife's academic pursuits and re-evaluated his life while working on a vegetable farm. "The melodies usually comprise more than one voice and the tunes do not follow a chord progression, but were constructed using conventional ABA song form. Harmony is created spontaneously during the group's improvisation, and the rhythm, while deeply rooted in the jazz tradition, at times pulls away from any suggestion of pulse."
Chicago Reader – July 16, 2006
ROLLDOWN
Since returning from Madison a few years ago, vibist Jason Adasiewicz has become an integral part of the local jazz scene, bringing his aggressive yet lyric style to the likes of Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra and the quartet Arrive. He emphasizes his terrific originals in Rolldown, a quintet with cornetist Josh Berman, alto saxophonist Aram Shelton, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Frank Rosaly. Many songs on the group's still-unreleased debut album recall the brilliantly oblique postbop material Bobby Hutcherson recorded for Blue Note in the late 60s, but others are based on gently rippling, coloristic passages. Adasiewicz lays down spiky, sweet-and-sour harmonies behind the solos, and his own improvisations are jagged tangles that make unexpected turns and recapitulations. Shelton lives in Oakland now, but he's back for the summer--hence this rare gig, and the performance by his duo Grey Ghost on Tuesday. Block and Tackle headlines. 10 PM, Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, donation requested. --Peter Margasak
Chicago Reader - March 22, 2007
Lean and Mean
Depending on how you look at it, the local jazz and improvised music scene is either annoyingly incestuous or deeply collaborative. I prefer the second option. In Chicago, more often than not, mixing up the combinations of players doesn’t just yield varied ensemble sounds, but reveals different sides of individual musicians. Tomorrow night, May 23, a new trio with bassist Josh Abrams, vibist Jason Adasiewicz, and drummer Nori Tanaka makes its debut at the Hideout (cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm will also do a solo set). Based on the four demo tracks I’ve heard, AAT unleashes a stunningly spare, measured sound strongly at odds with the more frenetic and aggressive approach Chicago is known for.
The nominal foreground star and key melodist is Adasiewicz, a constantly improving talent who’s never sounded so restrained. Over loose, spacious grooves, he clearly revels in the gorgeous vibrato of his instrument. It’s not as wide and warm as the tone of someone like Milt Jackson, but it’s there, in all of its stark glory, both in slowly unfolding melodic phrases or in coolly hydroplaning vamps, as on "Cold in Spring." (That song also features a highly tuneful midpiece solo by Tanaka, one of the most unheralded and flexible percussionists in town.) Elsewhere, when Abrams lays down high velocity walking lines, the light touch of the vibist reminds me of the great Walt Dickerson. On “Trance #2,” Abrams plays the bass-like Moroccan string instrument called the guembri, carving out a hypnotic groove over which Adasiewicz unfurls metallic lines by playing the vibes with the wooded end of his mallets. New groups come and go quickly, but based on what I’ve heard, I hope this one sticks around for a while.
--Peter Margasak
