Friday April 15 * 7pm * TICKETS

Dave Rempis - saxophones
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
PNL (Norway) - drums

plus special guest Luke Stewart (bass)

Ballister is a transatlantic powerhouse. This free-wheeling trio first came together at a closed session in 2009, and as any fan of improvised music can imagine, the band hit hard from the first note and hasn’t looked back since. The unabashed energy of Rempis and PNL, coupled with the electrified cello antics of Lonberg-Holm, make for a powerful listening experience that combines driving grooves with noisy textures and occasional melodic interjections. These sliding and overlapping rhythms often give the music a feeling as if a rug is slowly being pulled out from underneath the listener while the music still maintains a strong forward momentum. Reference points include the Julius Hemphill groups of the 70's and 80's featuring Abdul Wadud, Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, and the early-70's explorations of Miles Davis' electric bands.

Sunday April 17 * 2pm * RSVP

Join the DC Poor People’s Campaign for our second art build of the season!

Street Art 101: we will have a short presentation on street art focusing on stenciling, wheat pasting and green graffiti as well as a banner to finish!

Come spend an afternoon building art with the DC Poor People’s Campaign in preparation for June 18th, 2022.

2pm-4pm

Donations for art materials accepted but not required, being a can of food so we can restock the neighborhood’s tiny pantries!

Sunday, April 17 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Tracy Lisk is a drummer, painter, and curator who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although she has a reputation as a percussionist, a large amount of her creative output has been visual art, which has been a strong source for her free compositions on the drum set. Ms. Lisk’s history as a painter and background in Brazilian percussion inform the substance of her improvisations which contain references to rhythmic structures while maintaining a fluid, suspended continuity. In addition to solo performances, she has performed with the London Improvisors Orchestra, and collaborates frequently with Butoh dancer Ryuzo Fukuhara (JP, SI), Andrea Pensado (US), Mia Zabelka (AU) and Gary Hassay (US).

Nik Francis is an improvising musician based in the D.C. area. His music focuses on the drum kit, often incorporating electronics and small acoustic instruments.

Nate Scheible is a DC-based drummer who has performed and recorded in a variety of bands and ensembles spanning multiple genres over the past 25 years. Collaborators in recent years include Sarah Hughes, Nik Francis, Layne Garrett, visual artist Rosemary Hall, and the bands Zara, Mock Identity, and the CMW Players. While his background is largely based in improvisation, his recent solo work has also focused on the manipulation of magnetic audio tape as featured in recent releases by ACR, Never Anything, and Unifactor. His album Fairfax recently received a vinyl reissue by Warm Winters Ltd in March, 2022.

Tuesday April 19 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * to register email schoolofnoprogress@gmail.com

What is learning? Who gets to learn, and what, and when? Conventional education teaches that learning is hard work, teacher-dependent, and forgettable. Something is amiss, but what exactly? This series is for anyone interested in examining and exploring learning– our children’s and also our own.We will be reading texts that question our current approach to children and education.

FORTNIGHTS - Rhizome's communal learning series is untaught and unled. Our discussion/action groups are an opportunity for people to learn about a topic by reading, discussing, and then experimenting with the ideas that grow out of our discussions. We gather around an idea or a skill we'd like to learn or explore, and turn our ideas into experiences and actions. Fortnights are always free and open to everybody. How often do we meet? You guessed it—once a fortnight.

Wednesday April 20 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Meditations On Mingus:

Brad Linde - alto saxophone
Abe Mamet - horn
Bags Davis - trumpet/flugelhorn
Leo Maxey - trumpet
Joe Herrera - trumpet
Liz Prince - tuba
Luke Stewart - bass
Keith Butler, Jr. - drums

In celebration on Charles Mingus’s 100th birthday on April 22, Brad Linde combines his alto with a brass chamber ensemble to perform music from the 1965 concerts at Monterey and UCLA.

Thursday April 21 * 8pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Joel Harrison and Free Country

Guitarist/ composer Joel Harrison reunites his groundbreaking jazz group Free Country to tour the mid-Atlantic and Southern regions of the U.S. in April 2022. The concept for the band started two decades ago in 2002 with the release of two Free Country records on the Act label. In visionary arrangements of country and Appalachian tunes, Harrison gave new width and depth to the word Americana. The success of the first record, which included a then barely known singer named Norah Jones, brought Harrison acclaim throughout Europe and the U.S. In 2018 Harrison recorded the 3rd Free Country record with luminaries such as David Binney (his longtime ally), Brian Blade, and Jon Cowherd.

The touring band includes a powerful cast, all of whom Harrison has worked with on and off for two decades: David Binney (saxophone), Stephan Crump (bass), and Jordan Perlson (drums). The group will perform music from all three of their Free Country records. The timeless, haunting melodies of this music anchor the flights of improvisation that the band creates anew every night. The tour is funded in part by South Arts through the auspices of the Doris Duke Fund and the Jazz Road initiative.

Friday April 22 * 6:30pm * OUTDOORS, weather permitting * TICKETS

JEFFREY ALEXANDER has been making music for over 25 years, in a variety of groups and ensembles, beginning with the freak folk of The Iditarod and leading into collaborations with Providence-based Black Forest/Black Sea and Dire Wolves out of California. Influenced equally by Krautrock and his personal experiences following the Grateful Dead around in the 80s, Alexander has assembled a fine selection of musicians to make up the Heavy Lidders: Jesse Shepard and Drew Gardner from Elkhorn as well as former 611 Florida Avenue concert impresario and DC percussionist Scott Verrastro (of Kohoutek). During the pandemic, Alexander and the Heavy Lidders released two dazzling albums on the Arrowhawk label: a self-titled debut LP made up of lyrical songs and "Elixor of Life," an instrumental selection of psych improvisations. The Heavy Lidders are trekking down from Philadelphia to blow out Earth Day 2022 in Takoma Park with cosmic jams and psychedelic incarnations.

GENERATION GAP is a multi-generational band consisting of two Wilson High School students (Julia Schroeder on vocals/keyboards and Jillian Upshaw on drums) plus two Wilson teachers (Michele Bolinger on guitar and Marc Minsker on bass). In addition to performing original songs by Schroeder, The group will perform original songs by Schroeder and other "environmentally related" tunes.

Sunday April 24 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Baltimore musicologist Ian Nagoski will present his latest project in the form of a talk and listening session.

Zabelle Panosian - I Am Servant of Your Voice book & CD, to be published April 7, 2022 by Canary Books & Records, Baltimore MD; by Harout Arakelian, Harry Kezelian, and Ian Nagoski

Among the most significant Armenian singers in the early twentieth century, Zabelle Panosian made a small group of recordings in New York City in 1917-’18. Unaccountably, she was then largely neglected as an artist for more than half a century. This volume by three dedicated researchers is the first effort to reconstruct the life and work of a woman who had an exceptional and cultivated voice — who toured the world as a performer and made a significant contribution to the cultural lives of the Armenian diaspora, the elevation of Armenian art song, and the relief of survivors of the Armenian genocide.

Panosian’s music is derived from a syncretic experience of the Western Armenian village near the sea of Marmara where she was born and a passion for the coloratura sopranos she encountered in Boston. As an immigrant carrying the traumas of dislocation and the loss of her home, she transformed her grief into action, dedicated her life to an expression of the greatest art she could imagine, both from her former life and her new life in America, and she created a path in her wake for her daughter to become a renowned dancer.

Tracing her story from the Ottoman Empire to New England, from the concert halls of Italy, Egypt, and France to California, Florida, and South America through two World Wars, the story of Zabelle Panosian is that of a serious talent recognized and celebrated, dismissed and forgotten, year by year, waiting only to be known and loved again.

Tuesday April 26 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Alma Laprida (1985, San Miguel, Argentina). After living and working in Buenos Aires for ten years, she's based in Maryland, USA, since 2021. Alma composes and plays pieces for trumpet marine, synthesizers, lyre and other non-conventional instruments and objects such as megaphones, nylon bags, home appliances and toys. She works with sound using an intimate, contemporary language and explores the territories among composition, improvisation, performance and installation. She played and performed at all major museums in Buenos Aires. She made sound installations at Teatro Verdi (La Boca, Buenos Aires), the art gallery Valenzuela Kremmer (Bogotá, Colombia) and CasaPlan for Festival Tsonami (Valparaíso, Chile). She was a guest artist at the International Festival of Experimental Music of Sao Paulo, Brazil (FIME, 2015) and made a residency at GIS Studio of Audition Records (Mexico City, 2016). She released a solo album (Audition Records) and several pieces in compilations in labels such as Adaptador Records, Ratordog, Sisters Triangla, Isla Visión, También Dormimos, Carbono Proyecto Records and Sub Rosa.

Jorge Bañales - An electric bass player for various bands in the DC area and who has toured major East Coast cities as well as abroad, Jorge E. Bañales explores the stochastic and generative nature of modular synthesizers via noise, drones, loops, randomness and repetition. He is interested in art made by systems, mechanisms, networks, principles or procedures. As an avid photographer, he is inspired by the New Topographics movement and psychogeography, and his work has been exhibited in galleries and has been featured in the DCist and the Washington City Paper. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Jorge E. Bañales has lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Caracas, Venezuela currently lives and works in the Washington, DC area. In 2021 he obtained his MFA in Photography from George Mason University.

TL0741 - Pat Gillis (b. 1965, USA) began performing as TL0741 in January 2005, presenting structured improvisations for analogue modular synthesizer and effects combined with pre-recorded material. Drones, unstable automata and inharmonic gestures are harvested from the electrons to create a transient universe of unreliable premonitions and fragile possibilities.

Friday April 29 * 7pm * OUTDOORS * TICKETS

The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid is the debut release by ---__--__ composed of Mari Maurice (More Eaze) and Seth Graham. It is the expression of Midwestern sadness, the entrapment of class and inexpressible discontent. The opener “When you're hot around the narcs” showcases shoegaze-like whisper vocals with simple classical arrangements weaving blips of free jazz sax; this track sets the mood for The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid: a near death experience from narcotics addiction (a common and personal story of Ohio). There is clear vulnerability with phrases barely holding on to minimal arrangements. Mari's falsetto voice floats above breathing woodwinds, atonal classical expression with a consistent melancholy mood of crotale melody throughout The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid. A swirl of frustration and hopelessness lead by crooner opera, akin to Harmony Korine’s works and Tilt by Scott Walker, or Blemish by David Sylvian.

Analog Tara / Dr. Tara Rodgers is a multi-instrumentalist composer and producer who works across genres. Her electronic music is described as "regal and atmospheric" (Resident Advisor), "a full-body experience" (Bandcamp Daily), and "bold in the precision and subtlety it takes to mix such signals with thrill and grace and restraint" (NPR Music). Recent releases include the techno EPs Dimensions (2021) and Fundamentals (2018) on 1432 R, a remix for Beauty Pill, and experimental/ambient EPs on Zeromoon and VF Industrial.

Future Times' Max D returns to Rhizome for a set of soundbath dub versions of some current works in progress.

Saturday April 30 * 10am -12 pm- mask required * REGISTER

Join Takoma Park artist and art therapist, Sally Brucker, to create Ukrainian Pysanky style eggs, a tool for peace. Contribute to the ongoing peace wall, by painting, or collaging your message.

Donation of $10-30 suggested to cover supplies and fees. Additional donations accepted for the International Rescue Foundation.

Saturday April 30 * 4-6pm * REGISTER

In this workshop with April artist-in-residence Alanna Reeves, participants will be challenged to explore personal narratives by resisting rigid structures. Within a simple grid, we will draw objects of importance: tools, toys, structures, monuments, and even memories tied to our various identities. In a grid format these objects may be rendered pixelated and otherwise abstracted and it is natural that some (and maybe the most important) components will be lost to outside viewers. It is in these obscured elements that we may find what is most important to our own personal histories and details we find imperative to share with others. This practice is used as a tool for facilitating discussion and resistance, and is part of Alanna's development and investigation of grounding practices.

The workshop will take place outside (weather permitting), and over the course of approximately 45 minutes, with an open studio to follow. Paper and some drawing materials will be provided. Bringing additional colored pencils, markers, etc. is appreciated!

Sunday May 1 * 2pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Diane Cluck is a singer-songwriter who leans on classical piano training in approaching guitar, dance as an inspiration for rediscovering piano, and voice as a rhythm instrument and paintbrush. Florence Welch, Laura Marling and Sharon Van Etten have each cited Diane's music as an early influence on their own. “Bell-clear and hotly austere, her lithe, dynamic voice hasn’t much kin. Categorizing her as folk is simplistic. (Cluck) emanates something humble but mythic. Appalachia or ancient Athens?” – Time Out New York

Kelly Servick is an Atlanta-born songwriter based in Washington D.C. Trained on violin, she has expanded to cello to accompany her lyrically dense, folk-inspired compositions. She sings and plays bowed strings in the four-piece experimental folk/rock band Near Northeast.

Frontperson of D.C. rock band Rosie Cima & What She Dreamed, Rosie Cima is a singer-songwriter. She supports her vulnerable and poetic lyricism with ranging, textured vocals and warm accoustic guitar. "Unhinged in the best possible way" – American Songwriter

Sunday May 8 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents The Nu Band, a dynamic jazz ensemble featuring some of the most unique, compelling and in-demand voices in creative music today. The band was formed in 1999, and since then has released 10 recordings, completed 9 European tours and several US tours, bringing forward-leaning, provocative and evocative music to the world. The Nu Band is Joe Fonda on bass, Lou Grassi on drums (both founding members of the group), Thomas Heberer on cornet and Kenny Wessel on guitar. Each member of the ensemble composes and brings a fresh and individual take on dealing with improvised music, combining structure and freedom. The group’s artists, all of whom lead their own groups, play and record with a variety of world-class musicians. The ensemble has found a voice together, collectively expressing years of experience and collaboration. The band has an illustrious musical lineage and history. Past members of the Nu Band include saxophonist, Mark Whitecage and trumpet player, Roy Campbell. The current edition of the Nu Band retains the core of the group’s concept, while forging ahead musically into the future.

Saturday May 14 * 7pm sharp * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Amirtha Kidambi and Matteo Liberatore’s duo of voice and guitar creates improvised aural landscapes that are glacial and highly evocative, unfurling through dynamic gestures that are at once spacious and restrained. Juxtaposed against the frenetic pace characteristic of the New York improv scene, the pair applies the compositional aesthetics of Feldman or Oliveros to a free environment. The project is set apart from Kidambi’s work with Lea Bertucci, Mary Halvorson or Elder Ones and Liberatore’s collaborations with musicians including Elliott Sharp, Mark Kelley and Catherine Sikora. Each piece explores the unique possibility space created by the union of voice and guitar, delving deep into specific permutations including registral extremes, detuning and quiet mouth sounds. The music is nuanced, patiently developing as the subtleties of gradual seasonal change or the awareness of sound in meditation. Like shifting color gradients and patterns on a canvas of Agnes Martin, timbral shading and repetition form large scale impressions. The duo’s interactions simmer beneath an anti-climax, begging the listener to observe one’s surroundings, turn inward, and confront the self.

A longtime fixture on the North Carolina noise circuit, Bryce Eiman creates good old-fashioned noise and grizzled plunderphonics.

nil. (former members of Chester Hawkins)

NVS Trio is Daniel Barbiero: double bass, prepared double bass, etc; Gary Rouzer: cello, objects, etc; Jeff Surak: The Impaler. Non-idiomatic improvisation informed by 20th/21st c. classical compositions.

Stander is a 3-piece heavy band from Chicago, IL. Their compositions unfurl beyond the more rigid confines of genre and subvert tropes with surprising shifts in phrasing, meter, and tone. Dramatic peaks give way to cavernous space before reigniting into serrated tendrils of feedback and chaotic surge. Guitarist Mike Boyd, bassist Derek Shlepr, and drummer Stephen Waller invoke and infuse their curiosity and an abundance of stylistic touchstones into idiosyncratic pieces tempered by keen, deliberate musicianship. Vulnerable is an unflinching reflection on emotional volatility and fragility, from existential dread to stagnance, incalculable grief to unbridled bliss.

Sunday May 15 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

...of Late, is the third release for the J. Pavone String Ensemble, an unconventional trio consisting of Pavone on viola, Abby Swidler on violin and viola, and Aimée Niemann on violin. Founded in 2017, they present original compositions that expand on the themes of Pavone’s extensive solo work for viola while incorporating recent research into the effects of sonic vibration on human physiology and emotional health. The ensemble approach focuses on a vision of collective improvisation that prioritizes a collaboratively sewn musical fabric, in contrast to the traditional improvisatory method that prizes the individuality and uniqueness of the soloist. The rehearsal method, influenced by her solo work, attends to how the body plays a role in sound and intention. Chris Ingalls from Pop Matters described their music as "too stunning to lump into genres."

"a vital part [of] New York's music scene" - The Wire Magazine

Monday May 30 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

On his compulsive own, Eugene Chadbourne has spewed forth a ceaseless stream of records and cassettes that easily represent the oddest version of country and folk music ever. While the notable left-winger's guitar playing is looser than clams, it harbors wildly unique energy. He also plays banjo, electric rake, and balloon. The North Carolinian is the master of several different voices, some of them deceptively sincere. Harsh, funny, irritating and packed with ideas, Chadbourne often suggests a politically correct Frank Zappa. Since his first recordings in 1976 on the Parachute label, Chadbourne has played and recorded with many of the greats from the free jazz scene (including Frank Lowe, John Zorn, Paul Lovens) as well as musicians from the indie rock and alternative music scenes (Sun City Girls, Camper Van Beethoven, Evan Johns). His prolific career includes over 200 releases on vinyl, CD, or cassettes wrapped in socks and there’s no sign this workaholic will be stopping anytime soon.

David Menestres is a bassist, composer, and writer currently living in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. David is the founder/leader of the Polyorchard ensemble and is the host/producer of Tone Science, a weekly two-hour radio show on taintradio.org since 2010.

Sunday June 12 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Bill MacKay is a Chicago-based composer, improvisor, guitarist and writer. He has created an extensive body of original work, while energizing the folk, avant-garde, and experimental diaspora. MacKay is also a poet, visual artist and polyglot, and is a member of both the avant-garde rock outfit Black Duck (with Doug McCombs) and the experimental groove-drone project BCMC (with Cooper Crain). Nathan Bowles is a musician and teacher living in Durham, North Carolina. His work, both as an accomplished solo artist and as a sought-after ensemble player, explores the rugged country between the poles of Appalachian old-time traditions and ecstatic, minimalist drone. Although his recent solo recordings prominently feature banjo, Bowles is also widely recognized as a masterful and versatile drummer, and he considers himself first and foremost a percussionist, with banjo (and piano) as a natural extension of his percussive practice. Current projects include his trio with Casey Toll (Mount Moriah) and Rex McMurry (CAVE) along with membership in long-running projects Black Twig Pickers and Pelt. Keys, the debut album from Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles, is, on the surface, a collection of guitar and banjo duets – but from the opening moment, it is clear that Bill and Nathan’s agreed-upon duo is a living organism, growing as it goes.

TALsounds (Hausu Mountain | Chicago, IL) is the lush, synthesizer-driven, ambient project of Natalie Chami (Goodwill Smith.) Equipped with an organic mix of ethereal loops and interstellar arpeggiation, Chami explores the vast light and darkness of the universe with a hauntingly beautiful vocal caress.