Happening at AIRMW: Seajun Kwon 4tet

Seajun Kwon 4tet

Bassist Seajun Kwon leads a quartet of dynamic improvisers for his Chicago debut! Known for his innovative approach to the bass, Kwon guides this group of talented musicians through an exploration of spontaneous musical expression. With collaborative spirit in mind, join us for an unforgettable evening of musical innovation and raw, unscripted artistry. Featuring Beth McDonald on tuba, Erez Dessel on keyboard, and Tyler Damon on drums.

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Seajun Kwon - SeaJun Kwon is a composer and bassist who focuses on exploring boundaries. His music draws from the jazz and avant-garde music traditions of Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill as well as contemporary classical composers György Ligeti, Tristan Murail, and Morton Feldman. Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Kwon graduated from Boston’s New England Conservatory and is currently based in Brooklyn. He has been leading his group Walking Cliché Sextet since 2019. The ensemble released its debut album, Suite Chase Reflex, in 2021.

Beth McDonald - Beth McDonald is a classically trained tuba player gone awry.  She performs mostly as an improviser, using the tuba acoustically or in conjunction with electronic processing. Beth performs with Edition 55 & Edition Redux, the Duck Brain Ragtime Band, and other projects.  She enjoys collaborating on cross-disciplinary performance projects, and has collaborated in works by Becky Grajeda, Nathanael Lee Jones, Sasha de Koninick, and Mark Booth. Previous projects include No Trust, the Lindenbomber Fleet, Boston Modern Brass.

Erez Dessel - Erez Dessel (USA 1998) is an improvising pianist and composer. After graduating from the New England Conservatory in Boston in 2020, Dessel moved to Savannah, GA, where he served as music director at the Savannah Music Festival Jazz Academy, Savannah’s first and only free after-school youth jazz program. He also kept up an active performing career in the southeast, including presenting an hour-long improvised work for piano, pastel, and paper at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center. He moved to Chicago in 2022, and has worked continuously both as a performer and organizer, recording in an array of contexts with many internationally renowned musicians (including Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, Dustin Laurenzi, Maria Elena Silva, and Seajun Kwon). His current group activity includes the bands Edition Redux, Walking Cliche Sextet, and the Thwartet, Maria Elena Silva; duos with Scott Taylor and Tyler Wagner; and work as a solo performer.  Dessel created and curates the Night School series at Agitator gallery, which presents film/photo artists and improvising musicians in a spontaneous performance context.  Dessel has toured nationally and internationally, including performances in Europe and Korea, and his concerts and recordings have received critical acclaim.

Tyler Damon - TYLER DAMON (b. 1987, Cincinnati, OH USA) is a Midwestern American artist whose syncretic approach aims to reveal mercurial, impressionistic narratives via drums/percussion & free improvisation. In addition to solo work, Tyler has earned recognition for extended duo exhibitions with saxophonist Dave Rempis and guitarist Tashi Dorji. The three formed the trio Kuzu in 2017, leading All About Jazz to insist that their work “is for audacious listeners and it isn’t like anything else.” Other contemporary outfits include a Chicago triad featuring Gerrit Hatcher & Joshua Abrams, a percussion duo with Jacob Fawcett, as well as two new trios, one comprised of Andrew Scott Young & Ishmael Ali, the other featuring Erez Dessel & Beth McDonald. Tyler is also often found drumming with Chicago-via-Houston guitarist Eli Winter in trio alongside Sam Wagster on pedal steel, as well as the Mars Williams-led quartet, Exit Plan, with Brian Sandstrom & Steve Marquette, and has been recognized for his past work with the chameleonic Circuit Des Yeux. Tyler has toured extensively in North America, Europe, Vietnam, & Colombia and is also regularly engaged with other artists, musicians and heads of various sorts across the American Midwest. His recorded output has been offered by myriad labels including Family Vineyard, Astral Spirits, Aerophonic, Trost, Magnetic South, Feeding Tube, Drag City, Matador, Auris Apothecary, Sophomore Lounge, Amalgam, Medium Sound, Long Gone Sound System, Let’s Pretend, Park 70 & his own Yoke (currently on a temporary hiatus).