Edition XL (Berman, Dessel, Finnigan, Macri, McDonald, Vandermark) – Day 1

Edition XL is a new ensemble built on the foundation of Ken Vandermark’s critically acclaimed band, Edition Redux (with Erez Dessel: keyboards, Lily Finnegan: drums, Beth McDonald: tuba/electronics); which has toured both the States and Europe two times, was a featured group on the Festival Internacional Jazz Madrid and Music Unlimited 38 festival in Wels, Austria during November of 2024, will be performing at the Sound & Gravity music festival in Chicago this September and the OCT-LOFT Jazz Festival in Shenzhen, China in October; the quartet has released two albums, both with many accolades from music journalists: Better A Rook Than A Pawn (2023) and Broadcast Transformer (2025), both on Audiographic Records.

This larger group adds Josh Berman (cornet) and Nick Macri (acoustic & electric bass) to the fold, and is much more than an expanded version of the quartet. Vandermark has created a completely new compositional system for this ensemble- it’s not only modular but also has the ability to superimpose parts. This has created the possibility for each piece to stand alone, be collaged and/or stacked, giving an extraordinary number of permutations to the written material. In addition, all the musicians involved have extensive history with each other as improvisers, working together in many different configurations through the years. That experience and knowledge is brought to the table with Edition XL. Rehearsals began in February to prepare for this weekend residency at the legendary Green Mill of Chicago, an opportunity that Vandermark and the entire group takes with the highest regard- sure to be a very memorable two nights of music!