Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (USA, 1964) is a renowned avant-garde composer, improviser, saxophonist/clarinetist, curator, and writer. He has collaborated and recorded with key figures from the AACM (Fred Anderson), New York’s Downtown scene (Ikue Mori), FMP (Peter Brötzmann), British improvisation (Paul Lytton), post-punk (Terrie Ex), Ethiopian music (Getachew Mekuria), and Japanese free jazz (Akira Sakata). Since 2012, he has directed the Catalytic Sound cooperative and runs Audiographic Records (founded 2014). In 1999, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his contributions to music.
Calendar
7:30 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: Monks, Austin, show one: 7:30pm
On Friday, August 14th, the Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble will reconvene at Monks for two shows: one at 7:30pm and one at 9:30pm. The performances by this quintet with Kory Cook […]
9:30 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: Monks, Austin, show two: 9:30pm
On Friday, August 14th, the Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble will reconvene at Monks for two shows: one at 7:30pm and one at 9:30pm. The performances by this quintet with Kory Cook […]
Latest Recordings & Releases
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October Flowers for Joe McPhee
Ken Vandermark
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El Infierno Musical II
Christof Kurzmann, Katinka Kleijn, Lia Kohl, Dave Rempis, Ken Vandermark
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Pivot
Mats Gustafsson, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor, Ken Vandermark
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Fourth Atlas
Ken Vandermark & Tim Daisy
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Broadcast Transformer
Edition Redux
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This Is Not A Holiday!
Terrie Ex & Ken Vandermark
Recent Posts
Midwest School 2026 (August)
Though there is much work ahead for the collaborations I have with Ben Hall, a milestone was achieved by the Field Kitchen Uptown Orchestra & Poets concerts at the Green […]
New Detroit Recording Session: June 19, 2026
Ben Hall has called it a residency, and that seems true. Since I got to Detroit on Sunday, June 14th, the time has been filled with rehearsals, performances, recording sessions, […]
Experiments 2026: #3 & #4/work with Ben Hall
Experiments 2026: #3 & #4/work with Ben Hall. 2026 has included a number of shifts in creative strategy for me. Starting in reverse from this spring to the beginning of […]
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Musician (improviser/composer) who plays saxophones and clarinets, and works with a variety of styles and artists.
![Midwest School 2026 pt. 2: I am so indebted to the creative paths music takes me, often unexpectedly and often in ways that might not seem directly connected to music. Case in point was early afternoon of August 1st when I visited the Corbett vs. Dempsey gallery with John Yau to talk to John and Jim and see the Rodney Graham and Steven Urry exhibits. The painter, Celeste Rapone, was there looking at Graham’s work and marveling at it. I had never met Celeste but was blown away by her show, “Big Chess”, held at CvD at the end of 2024, so I didn’t know it was her until we were introduced. Getting the opportunity to listen to one great painter talk about another great painter’s work with awe was incredibly inspiring. As was the time spent with Ben Hall, Indira Edwards, and John Yau while they stayed at the house leading up to the Green Mill performances; along with the possibility to talk to Ed Roberson, Kai Ihns, and Ken Taylor (and John Yau) at the shows. The mutual respect and celebration of someone doing exceptional work that these artists have for each other- and that I felt between the musicians working on the Field Kitchen Uptown Orchestra project- transcends popular success. It is the ultimate acknowledgement, the ultimate recognition.
[photo: John Corbett, John Yau, painting, “Untitled”, by Rodney Graham]
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