Sat, Oct 19
|Elastic Arts
AIRMW at Elastic Arts: Jamie Kempkers CD Release
AIRMW celebrates the release of frequent collaborator Jamie Kempker's newest album with a release show. $15 / $10 with Student ID Tickets available at the Door
Time & Location
Oct 19, 2024, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Elastic Arts , 3429 W Diversey Ave #208, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
About this event
From the organizers:
We’re thrilled to welcome cellist Jamie Kempkers as he celebrates his new album Amazing Music of Jamie Kempkers where he joins creative forces with bassist Tatsu. The two have a long running history of collaborations through various improvisational outlets including the great MIYUMI Project. Tonight we’ll hear the two stripped down to their core string instruments, amplified. Music at 8:30pm!
Jamie Kempkers was a former student of classical cello repertoire who finds creative fulfillment in improvisation and compositional experimentation in collaborative and solo work. He studied cello with Dr. Robert Ritsema and recorded with John Erskine at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has been living in Chicago, playing improvised and/or experimental music since 2001. Past and current collaborators include, Tatsu Aoki, Jonathan Chen, Grandmaster Yoshinojo Fujima, and Dawei Wang.
He studied cello with Dr. Robert Ritsema and recorded with John Erskine at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has been living in Chicago, playing improvised and/or experimental music since 2001. Currently, he is a member of Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project and is also a frequent collaborator on the experimental dance projects of Yoshinojo Fujima.
Tatsu Aoki, is a prolific composer, a performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a filmmaker, and an educator. He was born in 1958 into the Toyoakimoto artisan family, and performing by the age of four. In the early 1970s, Aoki was active in Tokyo’s underground arts movement with experimental arts and music. In 1977, Aoki left Tokyo and is now one of the most in-demand performers of bass, shamisen, and taiko, contributing to more than ninety recording projects and touring internationally over the last 35 years. He is noted for being the longest associated bassist for the late Chicago legend Fred Anderson. Aoki is a Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, which celebrated its silver anniversary in 2020. His sustained and intensified endeavors have resulted in many awards from multiple cultural and musical organizations for his cross-cultural collaborations. Of note, in 2007 he received the Milestone Award by the Asian American Institute. In 2010, he received the Chicago’s Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan America Society. And in 2014 he received the “Living in our Culture” Award from the Japanese American Service Committee. In addition to receiving the Illinois Arts Council Ethnic and Folk Arts Master Apprentice Grant for over 10 years, he has received the Illinois Secretary of State Community Service Award by Asian American Advisory Council and also a Commendation for Promotion of Japanese Culture by the Foreign Ministry of Japan in 2017.
His Miyumi Project ensemble was chosen as the official musical presenters for the unveiling of Yoko Ono's installation, "SKYLANDING" in Chicago's own Jackson Park; which also resulted in the group recording the album "SKYLANDING", produced by Yoko Ono. And in 2017, the group contributed their unique vibe to the soundtrack of the Japanese American Incarceration film documentary: "And Then They Came for Us", and released the corresponding album. In May of 2018, Aoki was honored as the first recipient of the “George Award”, for his years of support, recording, and performance with renowned American Jazz and soul guitarist George Freeman.
$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door