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Dave Rempis
Saxophonist, improviser, and composer Dave Rempis has been an integral part of the thriving Chicago jazz and improvised music scene since 1997. With a background in ethnomusicology and African studies at Northwestern University, including a year spent at the University of Ghana, Rempis burst onto the creative music scene at the age of 22 when he was asked to join the now-legendary Chicago jazz outfit The Vandermark Five. This opportunity catapulted him to notoriety as he began to tour regularly throughout the US and Europe, an active schedule that he still maintains to the present day. At the same time, Rempis began to develop the many Chicago-based groups for which he’s currently known, including The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, Rempis/Abrams/Ra, Wheelhouse, Triage, The Rempis/Rosaly Duo, and The Rempis/Daisy Duo. Other collaborations have included work with Paul Lytton, Fred Anderson, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Tomeka Reid, Steve Swell, Elisabeth Harnik, John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Nate Wooley, Jaimie Branch, Kevin Drumm, Paal Nilssen-Love, Nels Cline, and Joe McPhee. In 2013, he started his own record label, Aerophonic Records, to document this ongoing work. Rempis has been named regularly since 2006 in the annual Downbeat Critics’s Poll as a “rising star” on both alto and baritone saxophone, a category that he won in 2017. He’s received funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jazz Road Touring sponsored by the Doris Duke and Andrew Mellon Foundations, the City of Chicago Individual Artist Program, and was the recipient of a Ragdale Fellowship from the Herb Alpert Foundation in 2017.
Rempis’ musical expression draws on a number of touchstones. While heavily improvisational in nature, his Greek ethnicity, studies in jazz and ethnomusicology, an appreciation for the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary composition, and a love for unforgivingly strident yelps, screeches, and squeals that can encompass the ever-evolving state of human depravity all inform his work.
Aside from his work as a musician and composer, Rempis has worked tirelessly as a presenter. Since 2002, he’s curated and produced a weekly series of improvised music at Chicago’s Elastic Arts Foundation, where he’s also served as Board President since 2015. He was a founding member of the presenters’ collective Umbrella Music, and one of the lead producers and curators of its annual festival of improvised music from 2006-2014. He was business manager of the world renowned Pitchfork Music Festival from 2005-2016, and now works as Operations Manager with the neighborhood-based Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago.
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The Outskirts - Rempis/Flaten/Rosaly + Marta Warelis: Orbital
by Mark Corroto
The trio known as The Outskirts, comprised of saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Frank Rosaly, was formed during Flaten's three-year tenure in Chicago from 2005 to 2008. Since then, geography has scattered the group: Flaten moved on to Texas before returning to his native Norway, while Rosaly relocated to Amsterdam, where he has become deeply embedded in its creative music scene. During the trio's long hiatus, the three musicians continued to cross paths in other contexts, ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Glenn Astarita
When German alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier first explored jny: Chicago jazz a few years ago--teaming with cellist Tomeka Reid on the striking Beyond Dragons (Intakt, 2023)--the collaboration sparked something unmistakably electric. Now comes Chicago Tapes,, recorded live at Transient Sound Studio. Here, Niescier dives headlong into the improvisational deep end of the city, enlisting an all-star lineup drawn from the restless creative core of Chicago's boundary-pushers. Niescier wields her alto alongside Dave Rempis, who toggles between alto and ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Troy Dostert
Continuing to solidify her reputation as a double-threat composer and improviser, alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier shines once again with Chicago Tapes, a superlative effort which sees her uniting with a number of the leading figures in the Windy City scene. The results are consistently riveting, showcasing these musicians in myriad ways and generating infectious synergy throughout. Niescier thrives in small-combo configurations, as she demonstrated convincingly on earlier outings like Beyond Dragons (Intakt, 2023) with cellist Tomeka Reid and ...
Continue ReadingAngelika Niescier: Chicago Tapes
by Mark Corroto
German saxophonist Angelika Niescier first connected with her musical compatriots during a visit to the U.S. Midwest in 2012, though it would take more than a decade for that relationship to fully crystallize on record. Even that timeline needs qualification. In 2023, she recorded Beyond Dragons in jny: Chicago with cellist Tomeka Reid and California-born jny: New York City>> drummer {{m: Savannah Harris. Still, her 2025 return to the Windy City for Chicago Tapes feels like both a culmination and ...
Continue ReadingRempis / Adasiewicz / Corsano: Dial Up
by Mark Corroto
Chicago has long been a magnet for creative musicians. Louis Armstrong left New Orleans for the Windy City in 1922, and Sun Ra arrived in 1945 to begin reshaping its musical landscape. Fast-forward to the 1990s, and Chicago welcomed saxophonist Dave Rempis, who quickly became a central force in the city's improvised-music scene. After emerging in the Vandermark 5, he established his voice through numerous groups, including The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Kuzu, Ballister, and a vast network of ...
Continue ReadingEarscratcher - Rempis/Harnik/Lonberg-Holm/Daisy: Otoliths
by Mark Corroto
How do these four musicians--individually and collectively--manage to create music that is consistently compelling? Part of the answer lies in their versatility. Each is a formidable soloist, an accomplished bandleader and a sought-after collaborator in improvising ensembles. For Earscratcher, Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik joins forces with three longtime stalwarts of the Chicago scene: saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Tim Daisy. The Chicago contingent first forged their bond in the trailblazing Vandermark 5 and have since collaborated across ...
Continue ReadingWheelhouse: House and Home
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist, producer, composer, event organizer and label chief Dave Rempis circles back to one of his most essential ensembles. In 2012, Aerophonic Records released Boss of the Plains by the drummer-less trio of Rempis, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and bassist Nate McBride. Formed in 2005, when McBride moved to Chicago from Boston, the trio spent a decade exploring the possibilities of a free-improvising chamber sound. But in 2013, Wheelhouse went on hiatus after McBride returned to his hometown. In ...
Continue ReadingStLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Improvising trio Kuzu set for St. Louis debut
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring the musicians in Kuzu, an improvising trio who will be coming to St. Louis to perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Wednesday, March 11 at Joe's Cafe. Saxophonist Dave Rempis, guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer Tyler Damon all are veterans of the improvised music scene, with Rempis and Damon based in Chicago and Dorji living in Asheville, NC. They formed Kuzu in the fall of 2017, ...
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The Rempis Percussion Quartet's Hunter-Gatherers Available Now on 482 Music
Source:
Improvised Communications
Hunter-Gatherers (482-1056), the new two-disc live set from Chicago's The Rempis Percussion Quartet, featuring saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Anton Hatwich and drummers Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisy, is now available on 482 Music. This is the band's third release and the 13th entry in label's ongoing Document Chicago series. Named after the Columbia, South Carolina venue where it was recorded in April 2006, Hunter-Gatherers hits the streets amidst the band's early October tour of the Southeast and Midwest.
Critics called ...
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Available Today: The Dave Rempis Quartet's Out of Season (482 Music)
Source:
All About Jazz
Dave Rempis Quartet Out of Season (Document Chicago Series #5) 482 Music 482-1021 Street Date: April 20th, 2004 http://www.482music.com/albums/482-1021.html
Dave Rempis :: alto and tenor saxophones Jim Baker :: piano, analog synthesizer, and violin Jason Roebke :: bass Tim Daisy :: drums
After nearly four years of developing their voice as an improvising collective, Rempis (Triage, Vandermark Five, Thread Quintet, Territory Band) ...
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Dave Rempis
Location: Chicago
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
Born: March 24, 1975
