The Gods of Thunder!

PETER BRÖTZMANN (Germany) reeds
HAMID DRAKE (Chicago) drums, percussion

Advance tickets available April 12 at End of An Ear, Waterloo Records, Trailer Space Records and www.epistrophyarts.org
$16 advance, $20 door

Epistrophy Arts is proud to present one of the landmark collaborations in free music in Austin's historic home of blues and jazz.

This very special engagement will mark the first time that Peter and Hamid have worked together extensively in over five years, and it has been nearly a decade since they toured as a Duo. Their unique bond was at the root of some of the Nineties and early 2000s finest improvised music through projects such as the original line up of the Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, the Albert Ayler tribute project Die Like A Dog, and numerous trios featuring the likes of the legendary Moroccan guembri player Mahmoud Gania, and bassists William Parker and the late Fred Hopkins. The one record that they released as a Duo, 1995's The Dried Rat-Dog on Okka Disk, received four stars in both the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD and The All Music Guide, and is widely regarded as a cornerstone of the Chicago improvised-music resurgence that has garnished the city worldwide attention since the mid-nineties. Simply put, these two masters have affected an entire generation of improvisers all over the world through the unique language that they share, and they are long overdue to re-investigate that dialog.

Some additional information on the artists:
PETER BRÖTZMANN - Over the course of his forty-plus year career, German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann has never compromised his distinct aesthetics. As one of the true founders of what has become known as European Improvised Music, and through his revolutionary trio of the seventies with Han Bennink and Fred Van Hove, right up to the present day and his continued work with his large ensemble: The Brötzmann Chicago Tentet; he continues to reinvent himself, his music, and the approaches of every artist around him every time he takes the stage. Possessing an instantly recognizable sound that has almost certainly affected every reedist that has ever encountered it, Brötzmann is legendary for reaching climactic heights on whatever instrument he picks up, but he is also the rare improviser equally capable of an original, introspective and near-blues sound. Throughout his storied career, Brötzmann has appeared on well over 150 recordings, and performed all over the world in a myriad of settings with such legendary musicians as Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Sonny Sharrock, Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, Derek Bailey, Peter Kowald, and Alexander von Schlippenbach, to name a select few.

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.