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
7:00 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: San Antonio, Slab Cinema Arthouse
In late May of 2025, Chris Cogburn in partnership with No Idea Festival hosted Ken Vandermark at Monk’s Jazz Club in Austin for a weekend residency. Cogburn and […]
7:30 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: Austin, Monk’s Jazz Club (show 1)
In late May of 2025, Chris Cogburn in partnership with No Idea Festival hosted Ken Vandermark at Monk’s Jazz Club in Austin for a weekend residency. Cogburn and […]
9:30 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: Austin, Monk’s Jazz Club (show 2)
In late May of 2025, Chris Cogburn in partnership with No Idea Festival hosted Ken Vandermark at Monk’s Jazz Club in Austin for a weekend residency. Cogburn and […]
7:00 pm
Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble: Dallas, The Wild Detectives
In late May of 2025, Chris Cogburn in partnership with No Idea Festival hosted Ken Vandermark at Monk’s Jazz Club in Austin for a weekend residency. Cogburn and […]
Latest Releases
October Flowers for Joe McPhee
Ken Vandermark
El Infierno Musical II
Christof Kurzmann, Katinka Kleijn, Lia Kohl, Dave Rempis, Ken Vandermark
Pivot
Mats Gustafsson, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor, Ken Vandermark
Fourth Atlas
Ken Vandermark & Tim Daisy
Broadcast Transformer
Edition Redux
This Is Not A Holiday!
Terrie Ex & Ken Vandermark
Recent Posts
Autumn 2025-Spring 2026: Influences & Impacts
Though the last half year has focused on the performance of lots of exciting music at home and abroad, much inspiration came from other art sources and focused listening to […]
Prime Cuts #5: To Live and Die in L.A. & Weekend
William Friedkin was an extraordinary film director. The French Connection (1971) is one of my favorite movies and Sorcerer (1977) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) are […]
Collaborators in 2025
Gigs with the DKV Trio concluded the music of 2025 for me, and I’d like to thank the people I was able to collaborate with last year. All of you […]
Instagram Feed
Musician (improviser/composer) who plays saxophones and clarinets, and works with a variety of styles and artists.
![Autumn 2025-Spring 2026 pt. 19: IN ROTATION:
Various Artists, “Burkina Faso: Rhythms of the Grasslands” (Nonesuch).
Various Artists, “Burkina Faso: Savanna Rhythms” (Nonesuch).
Various Artists, “Caprices: Sciarrino, Carter, Nunes, Boulez” [performed by Irvine Arditti] (aeon).
Various Artists, “Afro Baby: The Evolution of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria 1970-79” (Soundway).
Various Artists, “Mossi du Burkina Faso: Musiques de cour et de village” (Prophet).
Various Artists, “Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos” (Afro Strut).
Various Artists, “The Original Sound of Burkina Faso” (Mr Bongo).](https://kenvandermark.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)