Proudly presenting the Chicago Rhythm Allstars
Welcome to August friends!
It's wild to think--this time last year Calculated Discomfort was preparing for our performance at the Grant Park summer dance series and five years ago we were about to release the first Calculated Discomfort album.
This year brings something new and just as exciting...
Earlier this year, during the monthly jam I host at the Golden Dagger, I noticed we had a great West African djembe player, a great Puertorican guiro player, a grooving cajon player and an awesome tap dancer in the house. I brought all those people up to the stage, got behind the drum kit, and announced the next jam would feature the Chicago Rhythm Allstars.
I was kind of kidding around at the time--it's a lofty title--but the idea stuck with me. The language of rhythm both connects and differentiates all musical styles. Percussion itself encompasses such a broad and deep family of instruments, yet it's often the least explored or celebrated. Moreover, percussionists by nature are expected to adapt to so many styles, which makes us very creative when it comes to putting together our own original music.
With that in mind, I'm happy to announce the first iteration of Chicago Rhythm Allstars, a periodic series of shows featuring groups lead by percussionists.
My goal with these shows is to put on display how truly broad the definition of a percussionst is, and to highlight the innovative work Chicago-based percussionists are making now.
The show will take place Thursday August 24th at 8pm. It will feature JaylinZ--a percussionist combining her experience with folkloric and modern dance accompaniment on acoustic instruments with electronics and her voice to create highly groovey modern dance music--and Chandler Brown--a tap dancer / rapper who is well versed in the history of tap and is now showcasing it in the context of modern and creative music. Calculated Discomfort will perform as well. We'll be playing a new group of compositions I'm working on for guitar, cello, voice, drums and percussion.
This is sure to be an eclectic and seriously grooving evening.
Hope to catch you there,
Tommy