Josh Berman Quartet
Saturday | 16 March 2019Constellation - 8:30pm
Josh Berman – cornet
Darius Jones – alto saxophone
Jason Roebke – bass
Michael Vatcher – drums
Tonight Berman leads a quartet playing both new and nearly new compositions partnered with three unique voices in new jazz and improvised music. For more than fifteen years, cornetist, improviser, composer, and music presenter Josh Berman has been an essential contributor to Chicago’s active improvised music scene. His work encompasses both developing opportunities and forums for presenting improvised music – as co-founder of the critically acclaimed Umbrella Music Group and performing in a variety of highly collaborative formats — including as bandleader of his own groups, Josh Berman’s Old Idea and Josh Berman and His Gang, Josh Berman Trio, and as co-leader of the Chicago Luzern Exchange. Berman has been named regularly since 2010 in the annual DownBeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll as a Rising Star. In addition to his work as bandleader, Berman has performed and recorded with some of the most internationally respected musicians in jazz and improvised music. He has toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.
“Mr. Berman…is kind of a scholar…, but not by the letter; he’s an intuitive one, making collages or loose sketches out of history, connecting sounds from different eras and letting them bleed together.”
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
“Berman is a bold improviser with clear intention behind every note.”
Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times
