upcoming 2011 |
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| Oct 6 | Elastic | Solo Set Ideas |
| Oct 7 | Kerrytown House Ann Arbor, MI |
Starlicker |
| Oct 8 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 9 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 14 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 15 | Crozon, France |
Starlicker |
| Oct 16 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 17 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 18 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 21 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 22 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 23 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 24 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 26 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 27 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 28 | Starlicker | |
| Oct 29 | Starlicker | |
| Nov 2 | Umbrella Music Festival Ab Baars Quartet |Baars, Jeb Bishop, Mike Reed, Adasiewicz| | |
| Nov 5 @2pm | Wels, Austria |
Unlimited Festival Peter Brotzmann, Sabu Toyozumi, Adasiewicz |
| Nov 5 @7pm | Wels, Austria |
Unlimited Festival Jeb Bishop, Joe McPhee, Mars Williams, Kent Kessler, Tamaya Honda, Adasiewicz |
| Nov 12&13 | Sao Paulo, Brazil | Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Nicole Mitchell, Thomas Roher, Mauricio Takara, Guilherme Grando, Adasiewicz |
| Nov 17 | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| | |
| Nov 18 | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| | |
| Nov 19 | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| | |
| Nov 20 | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| | |
| All Shows are in Chicago unless notated | past 2011 |
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| Oct 2 | Simons | Steve Dawson with with Diane Christiansen, Alton Smith, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz |
| Oct 1 | Cliff Bells Detroit, MI |
SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| Sept 30 | Cliff Bells Detroit, MI |
SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| Sept 29 | Empty Bottle |
Wire Festival Starlicker |
| Sept 27 | The Whistler | Wheelhouse |Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| Sept 7 | The Hideout | Wheelhouse |Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| Sept 4 | Chicago Jazz Festival | Myth/Science Assembly |Mike Reed, Adasiewicz, Greg Ward, Tomeka Reid, Josh Abrams, Taylor Ho Bynum, Ingrid Laubrock, Tomas Fujiwara, Nick Butcher| |
| August 27 | JazzFestival Saalfelden, Austria | Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Chicago Sextet|Håker Flaten, Dave Rempis, Ola Kvernberg, Jeff Parker, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| August 20 | The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee WI | Assex |Adrienne Pierluissi, Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| August 20 @8am!! | Millennium Park | Duo with Frank Rosaly for Millennium Park Workouts |
| August 15 @11am | Millennium Park | Josh Berman and His Gang |Berman, Keefe Jackson, Jason Stein, Guillermo Georgio, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| August 14 | The Hungry Brain | Josh Berman and His Gang |Berman, Keefe Jackson, Jason Stein, Guillermo Georgio, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| August 13 | The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee WI | Josh Berman and His Gang |Berman, Keefe Jackson, Jason Stein, Guillermo Georgio, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| August 13 @8am!! | Millennium Park | Duo with Frank Rosaly for Millennium Park Workouts |
| August 8 | The Skylark | Klang |James Flazone, Tim Daisy, Jason Roebke, Adasiewicz| |
| August 6 @7:30 | Lansing Jazz Festival | Nicole Mitchell's Ice Crystal Quartet |Mitchell, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| August 6 @8am!! | Millennium Park | Duo with Frank Rosaly for Millennium Park Workouts |
| August 5 | Uncommon Ground | Sun Rooms |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| June 28 | MCA | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| |
| June 26 | The Hungry Brain | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| |
| June 11 | OkkaFest, The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, WI | Duo with Mats Gustafsson!! |
| June 10 | OkkaFest, The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, WI | SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| June 8 | The Vision Festival, NYC | Duo with Peter Brotzmann!! |
| June 2 | Elastic | Topology |Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Josh Berman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Tim Daisy, Adasiewicz |
| June 1 | The Hideout | Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Michael Zerang, Adasiewicz |
| May 31 | The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, WI | Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Adasiewicz |
| May 27 | The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, WI | Klang |James Flazone, Tim Daisy, Nate McBride, Adasiewicz| |
| May 26 | Elastic | Playing DRUMS with Anton Hatwich |
| May 25 | The Hideout | Klang CD Release for 'Other Doors' |James Flazone, Tim Daisy, Nate McBride, Adasiewicz| |
| May 23 | Chicago Cultural Center | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 21 | Dubuque, IA | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 20 | Cliff Bells, Detroit, MI | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 19 | Ann Arbor, MI | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 15 | Lakeside Inn, MI | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 14 | Nashville, TN | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 11 | BoBo Gallery, Asheville, NC | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 10 | 701 CCA, Columbia, SC | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 9 | Richmond, VA | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 8 | Washington DC | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 7 | Ars Nova Workshop, Philadelphia | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 6 | Nublu, NYC | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 5 | Issue Project Room, NYC | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| May 1 | Hungry Brain | SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| April 27 | The Hideout | Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble |Mitchell, David Boykin, David Young, Tomeka Reid, Alex Wing, Marcus Evans, Adasiewicz| |
| April 26 | The Whistler | |Adasiewicz, Mike Reed, Devin Hoff| |
| April 19 | The Whistler | SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| April 12 | The Whistler | SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| April 5 | The Whistler | SUN ROOMS |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| March 18 | Bergamo, Italy | Stefano Bollani with Josh Roseman, Larry Grenadier, Jim Black, Adasiewicz |
| March 20 | Perugia, Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| March 22 | Poggibonsi, Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| March 24 | Antwerp, Beligum | Stefano Bollani |
| March 25&26 | Roma, Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| March 27 | Azzano Decimo , Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| March 28 | Livorno, Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| March 29 | Cesena, Italy | Stefano Bollani |
| Feb 12&13 | Sao Paulo, Brazil | Yusef Lateef!!! with Rob Mazurek, William Parker, Thomas Roher, Mauricio Takara, Adasiewicz |
| Feb 7 | The Skylark | with Aram Shelton |
| Feb 4 | Transistor | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 2 | The Hideout | DUO with Jeff Parker |
| Jan 28 | The Hideout | Steve Dawson with with Diane Christiansen, Alton Smith, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz |
| Jan 26 | The Hideout | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 21&22 | Cliff Bell's Detroit, MI | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 20 | The Sugar Maple Milwaukee, WI | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 16 | Hungry Brain | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 15 | Loft Society Cincinnati, OH | Starlicker |Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 12 | The Hideout | Josh Berman's Old Idea with Keefe Jackson, Anton Hatwich, Marc Riordan, Adasiewicz |
| Jan 11 | The Whistler | Solo |
| Jan 7&8 | The Green Mill | Exploding Star Orchestra |Rob Mazurek, Nicole Mitchell, Matt Bauder, Jeb Bishop, Jeff Parker, Adasiewicz, Matt Lux, Josh Abrams, Mike Reed, John Herndon, Damon Locks| |
| Jan 3 | Myopic Books | DUO with Devin Hoff | past 2010 |
| Nov 21 | Hungry Brain | DUO with Joe McPhee |
| Nov 20 | Millennium Park Pritzker Pavilion | Mike Reed's Loose Assembly featuring Roscoe Mitchell with Gred Ward, Tomeka Reid, Josh Abrams, Adasiewicz |
| Nov 5 | Tenerife, Spain | Rob Mazurek, John Herndon, Adasiewicz |
| Oct 6 | The Hideout | Sun Rooms Record Release!!! |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| Sept 25 | Rijkevorsel, Belgian | Boerenbond |Eric Boeren, Tobias Delius, Peter Evans, Adasiewicz| |
| Sept 24 | Boerenbond |Eric Boeren, Tobias Delius, Peter Evans, Adasiewicz| | |
| Sept 5 @1:10 | Chicago Jazz Festival | Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble |
| Sept 1 | The Whistler | The Hats |Dave McDonnell, Josh Berman, Anton Hatwich, Dylan Ryan, Adasiewicz| |
| August 28 | Saalfelden, Austria | Exploding Star Orchestra |
| August 22 @4pm | Lakeside, MI | Portoluz presents Nicole Mitchell's Ice Crystal Quartet AND Josh Abrams Quartet |
| August 17 @5:30 | MCA | Sun Rooms |Adasiewicz, Mike Reed, Nate McBride| |
| August 12 @6:30 | Millennium Park Pritzker Pavilion | Toumani Diabate and the Chicago Transilience Ensemble |
| August 8 | Hungry Brain | ROLLDOWN!! |
| August 5 | Sugar Maple-Milwaukee, WI | ROLLDOWN!! |
| August 4 | The Hideout | ROLLDOWN!! |Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly| |
| July 25 | Sugar Maple-Milwaukee, WI | OkkaFest II Ken Vandermark's Topology featuring Joe McPhee |with Dave Rempis, Josh Berman, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holn, Tim Daisy, Kent Kessler, Adasiewicz| |
| July 21 | The Hideout | Darren Johnston Group |with Jeb Bishop, Nate McBride, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| July 5 | The Skylark | Jason Roebke Combination |with Jason Stein, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| May 31 | The Skylark | Steve Dawson |with Diane Christiansen, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| May 20 | Elastic | Sun Rooms |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| May 16 | Old Town School of Folk Music | Steve Dawson Record Release for I Will Miss The Trumpets and Drums |
| May 12 | The Hideout | Wheelhouse |Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| May 2 | Elastic | Assex |Adrienne Pierluissi, Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| April 25 | Hungry Brain | Rob Mazurek's Sound Is |Mazurek, Matt Lux, Josh Abrams, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| April 24 | The Hideout | Josh Berman and His Gang |Berman, Guillermo Gregorio, Jason Stein, Keefe Jackson, Jeb Bishop, Josh Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| April 23 | Whitney Muesuem, NYC | Black Monks of Mississippi |Theaster Gates, LeRoy Bach, Josh Abrams, Matt Lux, Adasiewicz| |
| April 22 | Elastic | Klang |James Falzone, Jason Roebke, Tim Daisy, Adasiewicz| |
| April 21 | The Hideout | Frank Rosaly's Cicada Music |Rosaly, Jason Stein, James Falzone, Keefe Jackson, Jason Roebke, Adasiewicz| |
| March 7 | Warsaw, Poland | Sound Is |
| march 6 | Poznan, Poland | Sound Is |
| March 5 | Wroclaw, Poland | Sound Is |
| March 4 | Zurich, Switzerland | Sound Is |
| March 3 | Lugano, Switzerland | Sound Is |
| Feb 28 | Rome, Italy | Sound Is |
| Feb 27 | Forli, Italy | Sound Is |
| Feb 26 | Padova, Italy | Sound Is |Rob Mazurek, Matt Lux, Josh Abrams, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 21 | Hungry Brain | Set 1:Josh Abrams Group |Abrams, David Boykin, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| Set 2:Wheelhouse |Dave Rempis, Nate Mcbride, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 20 | The Velvet Lounge | Josh Abrams Group |Abrams, David Boykin, Frank Rosaly, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 17 | The Hideout | OverOva |Jason Roebke, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 11 @6:30 | Chicago Cultral Center | Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble with Edmar Castaneda |Mitchell, Castaneda, David Boykin, David Young, Marcus Evans, Adasiewicz| |
| Feb 5 | The Velvet Lounge | Nicole Mitchell Ice Crystal Quartet |Mitchell, Marcus Evans, Darius Savage, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 22 | International House Philadelphia, PA | Ken Vandermark's Don Cherry Project |with Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Pandelis Karayorgis, Nate Mcbride, Chad Taylor, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 21 | Elastic | Ken Vandermark's Don Cherry Project |with Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Pandelis Karayorgis, Nate Mcbride, Chad Taylor, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 20 | The Hideout | Ken Vandermark's Don Cherry Project |with Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Pandelis Karayorgis, Nate Mcbride, Chad Taylor, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 16 | The Sugar Maple Milwaukee, WI | Assex |Adrienne Pierluissi, Nate McBride, Dave Rempis, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 14 | Elastic | Sun Rooms |Adasiewicz, Nate McBride, Mike Reed| |
| Jan 13 | The Hideout | Sound Is |Rob Mazurek, Matt Lux, Josh Abrams, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 12 | Rodan | Sound Is |Rob Mazurek, Matt Lux, Josh Abrams, John Herndon, Adasiewicz| |
| Jan 8 &9 | The Green Mill | Exploding Star Orchestra |Rob Mazurek, Nicole Mitchell, Jeb Bishop, Matt Bauder, Matt Lux, John Herndon, Damon Locks, Adasiewicz| |
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Jason Adasiewicz is a vibraphonist, drummer, and composer. He is an integral member of Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene, bringing his aggressive yet lyrical style to over 10 working Chicago groups, including Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra and Starlicker, The Nicole Mitchell Ice Crystal Quartet, Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, Josh Berman and His Gang, and Ken Vandermark's Topology. Adasiewicz performs frequently in Europe and is a member of groups lead by Peter Brotzmann, Stefano Bollani, and Mats Gustafsson. Adasiewicz won the 2011 Downbeat Annual Critic's Poll in the Rising Star Vibes category, and for the last 3 years has placed in the Vibes category. For the last two years Jason has been nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association as a finalist for 'Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year'. His quintet Rolldown, with Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Jason Roebke, and Frank Rosaly, formed in 2004 and have released two records, Rolldown (482 Music, 2008) and Varmint (Cuneiform Records, 2009). His trio Sun Rooms, with Mike Reed and Nate McBride, formed in 2009 and have released one record, Sun Rooms (Delmark, 2010). The critical attention that Sun Rooms received includes: the New York Times Top 10 Pop and Jazz Records of 2010, The Village Voice Top 50 Jazz Records of 2010, The Chicago Tribune Top 10 Jazz Records of 2010, Dusted Magazine Top Jazz Records of 2010, and The Chicago Reader Top Albums of 2010. Sun Rooms will release their second record, Spacer, for Delmark in October of 2011.
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|Jason Adasiewicz| Sun Rooms Released September 21st, 2010 with Nate McBride Mike Reed |
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|Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown| Varmint Released September 29th, 2009 with Josh Berman Aram Shelton Jason Roebke Frank Rosaly |
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|Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown| Varmint 180g Vinyl Version Released September 29th, 2009 with Josh Berman Aram Shelton Jason Roebke Frank Rosaly |
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|Jason Adasiewicz| Rolldown with Josh Berman Aram Shelton Jason Roebke Frank Rosaly |
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|Jason Adasiewicz| Rolldown 140g Vinyl Version! Contains tunes from the CD, one alternate take, and one 'vinyl only' track |
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featuring Roscoe Mitchell |
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|Exploding Star Orchestra| Stars Have Shapes with Rob Mazurek Nicole Mitchell Matt Bauder Jeb Bishop Jason Stein Greg Ward Josh Abrams Adasiewicz Carrie Biolo Jeff Kowalkowski Matt Lux Mike Reed Damon Locks John Herndon |
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|Joshua Abrams| Natural Information with Emmett Kelly Frank Rosaly Noritake Tanaka Adasiewicz |
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|Klang| Tea Music with James Falzone Jason Roebke Tim Daisy Adasiewicz |
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|Josh Berman| Old Idea with Keefe Jackson Anton Hatwich Nori Tanaka Adasiewicz |
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|Rob Mazurek Quintet| Sound Is with Matt Lux Josh Abrams John Herndon Adasiewicz |
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|Lucky 7s| Pluto Junkyard Jeb Bishop Jeff Albert Josh Berman Keefe Jackson Matt Golombisky Quin Kirchner Adasiewicz |
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|Mike Reed's Loose Assembly| The Speed of Change with Greg Ward Tomeka Reid Josh Abrams Adasiewicz |
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|Chris Connelly| Forgiveness and Exile with Tim Kinsella Ben Vida Josh Abrams Adam Vida Nate Kinsella Ben Massarella Adasiewicz |
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|Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra| with Rob Mazurek Nicole Mitchell Matt Bauder Jeb Bishop Josh Berman Jeff Parker Jim Baker Adasiewicz Matthew Lux Jason Ajemian Mike Reed John Herndon Damon Locks |
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|Exploding Star Orchestra| We are All From Somewhere Else Rob Mazurek Nicole Mitchell Jeb Bishop Corey Wilkes Josh Berman Matt Bauder Jeff Parker Jim Baker Adasiewicz John McEntire Matthew Lux Jason Ajemian Mike Reed John Herndon |
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|Mike Reed's Loose Assembly| Last Year's Ghost with Greg Ward Tomeka Reid Josh Abrams Adasieiwcz |
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|Chris Connelly| The Episodes with Tim Kinsella Ben Vida Josh Abrams Adam Vida Nate Kinsella Ben Massarella Adasiewicz |
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|Overova| Cockroaches Are 100% Virgin Fred Lonberg-Holm Jason Roebke Adasiewicz |
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|Lucky 7s| Farragut Jeb Bishop Jeff Albert Josh Berman Keefe Jackson Matt Golombisky Quin Kirchner Adasiewicz |
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|Harris Eisenstadt| The Soul and Gone with Jeb Bishop Jason Mears Jeff Parker Jason Roebke Adasiewicz |
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|Steve Dawson| Sweet is The Anchor |
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|Aram Shelton| Arrive with Tim Daisy Jason Roebke Adasiewicz |
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|Central Falls| Love and Easy Living Adam Vida Ben Vida Ryan Hembrey Andy Uhrich Adasiewicz |
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|Document Chicago| New Jazz and Improvisation |
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|Simon Joyner| Blue Melody:Live From the South with Michael Krassner Fred Lonberg-Holm Jessica Billey Adasiewicz |
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|Central Falls| Latitude Adam Vida Ben Vida Steve Dorocke Noel Kupersmith Adasiewicz |
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|Manishevitz| Private Lines EP Adam Busch Via Nuon Ryan Hembrey Fred Lonberg-Holm Nate Lepine Jim Baker Adasiewicz |
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|Manishevitz| Rollover |
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|Bablicon| In A Different City |
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|Andiamo| |
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|Through an Open Window| -Order Through Me- Adasiewicz John Dolye |
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The New York Times- September 2010
What is it about the plainspokenness in Chicago jazz? If “Sun Rooms,” the terse, nonvirtuosic and soulful new album from a trio led by the vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, were a film, it would be black-and-white with high contrasts. If it were an outdoor scene it would be a medium-busy urban street with squat, butch prewar buildings.
“Sun Rooms” — the name of the album and the name of the band — is just vibraphone, bass and drums, the rough plucking and the jagged cymbal triplets offsetting the vibraphone’s eaves of calm, the dry studio sound offsetting the metallic shimmer. It isn’t noir — it doesn’t have those pretensions — but it’s definitely gunmetal.
Over the last five years or so, Mr. Adasiewicz’s name has kept coming up in the context of an industrious and aesthetically tamped-down crew of Chicago players: the cornetist Josh Berman, the bassists Jason Roebke and Joshua Abrams — and, on this album, the bassist Nate McBride and the drummer Mike Reed. He writes lovely tunes, the better to play through dryly. (On this album, the easy-swinging “Life” and the ballad “Rose Garden” are some of the better songs I’ve heard recently written by jazz musicians.) And he knows their dimensions. Nobody here grandstands, fusses over details, or wastes time. Solos take their place in an arrangement and then disappear. There’s no problem of scale or mismatch of affect to material. It’s a modest and affecting band, in control of its mood.
The music here is very early-60s and imitates the temper of some jazz from that period: swinging-vanguardist records like Duke Ellington’s “Money Jungle,” Eric Dolphy’s “Out There,” Andrew Hill’s “Smoke Stack.” Thelonious Monk is in there, too, in off-beat grace notes and whipped-up streaks of dissonant melodic improvising. And so, perhaps, are the lingering, ambient harmonies of instrumental Chicago rock bands like Tortoise and Isotope 217: Mr. Adasiewicz likes to let you feel his harmonies by ringing out his chords for a bar or two.
The album’s last three tunes are cover versions with various kinds of emotional kicks: Hassan Ibn Ali’s dark and querulous “Off My Back Jack,” slowed down to half speed; Sun Ra’s moody piece of chinoiserie, “Overtones of China”; and Duke Ellington’s devastating ballad “Warm Valley,” which is arranged simply as two solos over drums, a short one for bass and a longer one for vibraphone. Mr. Adasiewicz, in his turn, enacts the smart jazz musician’s trick of not revealing the melody until he’s well into the song. It’s a good idea, but there’s almost nothing on this record that isn’t.
BEN RATLIFF
