Okka Fest 7 Lineup Announced!

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE – OKKA FEST 7

OKKA FEST, an annual and international festival of improvised music, returns to Milwaukee June 5 through June 7, 2015 for its 7th edition, featuring another brilliant line up of musicians who will perform 17 sets of music over the course of the event. Legendary multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee (Poughkeepsie, NY) and the trumpet innovator Peter Evans (New York, NY) kick off the festival with a duo set at 7:00 Friday night at the Sugar Maple in Bay View. They will be followed by three more groups, also comprised of some of the most outstanding contemporary musicians working today. In addition to McPhee and Evans- and many of Chicago’s finest improvisational artists- this year’s festival will include visiting musicians Johannes Bauer (trombone/Germany), Helen Gillet (cello/New Orleans, LA), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass/Norway), Paul Lytton (drums/England), Mat Maneri (violin/New York, NY), and Jeb Bishop (trombone/Durham, NC).

The concerts continue Saturday with an intimate afternoon set by Paul Lytton and Mat Maneri (solos & duo) at the Palm Tavern (2989 S. Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee) at 2:30pm. This first time meeting will be followed by a free community Music Walk of solo performances that start at Anodyne café “Bay View” with Jason Adasiewicz (vibraphone) at 4:00. Listeners will then proceed down Kinnickinnic Avenue to the Rush-Mor record store for a set by Helen Gillet on cello and on to ACME Records for music by the bassist, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. The music begins again at the Sugar Maple at 7pm with Håker Flaten in a duo with Joe McPhee, who will be followed by trio, quartet, and quintet lineups to round out the evening.

Sunday starts at 3pm with a solo performance by Johannes Bauer on trombone at ACME. Then the music continues with a series of 4 sets at the Sugar Maple which follow the inspired programming approach of this year’s Okka Fest: a duo featuring Joe McPhee (electronics with Jim Baker), unique formats (string trio with percussion- Gillet, Håker Flaten, Maneri with Lytton), new compositions (Tim Daisy’s Vox Arcana), and sensational finales to close out each evening (the exceptional lineup of Johannes Bauer, Paul Lytton, Tim Daisy, Helen Gillet, and Fred Lonberg-Holm playing together for the first time as a quintet).

DJ sets by Ken Vandermark (Friday), Tim Daisy (Saturday) and Robert Szocik (Sunday) will follow the live performances each night.

Advance passes for the festival will go on sale soon at http://okkadisk.com and the time of their online usa availability will be announced shortly. A limited number of 25 Gold Passes will be sold, these include reserved seating for all the sets at the Sugar Maple and advance seating at the Palm Tavern, and an Okka Fest 7 poster and T-Shirt, for $150. The Weekend Pass will include early admission to all shows for $120. The Sugar Maple sessions will be $40 at the door, and $20 to attend the second half of the evening. The Saturday Palm session will be $20 with limited space available. Students with a valid ID will get a 25% discount at the door. The Music Walk is free to all.

Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record label founded by Bruno Johnson who, along with Adrienne Pierluissi, also owns and operates the Sugar Maple and Palm Tavern in Bay View. The Okka Disk label has been documenting improvised and free jazz music since 1994 and has amassed a huge catalog featuring artists from around the world. Since 2009, Johnson and Pierluissi have been working in collaboration with renowned jazz composer and improviser, Ken Vandermark, to develop Okka Fest as a way to celebrate the range of contemporary improvised music for listeners and musicians from around the world. Without question, all three plus their team of volunteers have worked to ensure that Okka Fest 7 will be the most exciting edition of the festival yet.

For more information please contact Adrienne Pierluissi at adriennepierluissi@yahoo.com and Ken Vandermark at kenvandermark@gmail.com.

Schedule of events:

Friday, June 5

7:00 Joe McPhee & Peter Evans Duo

8:00 Paul Lytton, Jeb Bishop, and Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio

9:00 Kent Kessler, Avreeayl Ra, and Dave Rempis Trio

10:00 Johannes Bauer, Tim Daisy, Helen Gillet, and Mars Williams Quartet

DJ Ken Vandermark 11pm to close

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Saturday afternoon, June 6

2:30 Palm: Paul Lytton & Mat Maneri (solos & duo)

MUSIC WALK, free to public

4:00 Anodyne: Ingebrigt Håker Flaten solo

5:00 Rush-Mor: Helen Gillet solo.

6:00 ACME: Jason Adasiewicz solo

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Saturday, June 6

7:00 Joe McPhee and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Duo

8:00 Jason Adasiewicz, Helen Gillet, and Mars Williams Trio

9:00 Jeb Bishop Quartet, with Russ Johnson, Jason Roebke, and Frank Rosaly

10:00 Johannes Bauer, Jason Adasiewicz, Jeb Bishop, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Frank Rosaly Quintet

DJ Tim Daisy 11pm to close

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Sunday, June 7

3:00 ACME: Johannes Bauer solo

4:00 Joe McPhee & Jim Baker electronics duo

5:00 Paul Lytton, Helen Gillet, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Mat Maneri Quartet

6:00 VOX ARCANA: Tim Daisy, James Falzone, and Fred Lonberg-Holm

7:00 Paul Lytton, Johannes Bauer, Tim Daisy, Helen Gillet, and Fred Lonberg-Holm Quintet

DJ Robert Szocik