Emily Beisel and Bill Harris at Rozz-Tox -- March 29.
Friday, March 29, 8 p.m.
Rozz-Rox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Performing together on a tour of the United States and Canada that finds the artists employing electronics, amplification, and feedback to augment their acoustic sounds, Chicago-based improvisers Emily Beisel (bass clarinet, electronics) and Bill Harris (drums, electronics) join forces for a March 29 concert event at Rock Island's Roxx-Tox venue, creating a sonic space that can at times be aggressive, dense, and massive, as well as subtle, spacious, and sensitive.
Beisel, who also serves as a composer, educator, curator, and woodwind specialist in Chicagio, is known for visceral performances combining extended instrumental techniques with heavy amplification and timbral effects. Their solo work frequently explores the intersection between avant-garde art music and extreme metal genres such as mathcore, doom, and death metal, and as a curator, Beisel seeks to increase the visibility and involvement of femme, trans, and nonbinary artists in the creative music community. They founded the Pleiades Series at Elastic Arts, presenting monthly performances along with a community-based free improvisation jam for femme and nonbinary performers.
Also a member of the contemporary ensemble Fonema Consort, Beisel recently toured in Brazil, Mexico, Minneapolis, and New York, premiering works of living composers including James Dillon, Richard Barrett, and Julio Estrada. Beisel also works as a woodwind doubler at Chicago-land theaters including the Marriott Theater, Paramount Theater, and multiple productions with Chicago's feminist Firebrand Theater Company. As an educator, they maintain a private studio in addition to teaching positions at Harold Washington College and Oak Park School of Music. Beisel holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 10-208.
A percussionist, improviser, and audio engineer Harris also operates and produces for Amalgam, a Chicago-based label and collective, and co-operates Chicago recording studio Marmalade. Some of his primary groups are: Je'raf, a psychadelic funk/free jazz/hip-hop group from the future; KAH, an improvising trio with Jeff Kimmel and Ishmael Ali; Hearsay, with Allen Moore and Ishmael Ali; Joybird, with Jess McIntosh and Aaron Smith; and Errata, with Ishmael Ali and Eli Namay. Additionally, Harris focuses on solo work incorporating acoustic and electronic material, using feedback and timbral manipulation, and has recorded two solo records: Blinking Glue and ONOMAT. Some of his most frequent collaborators include: Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Carol Genetti, Emily Beisel, Allen Moore, Timothee Quost, Dave Rempis, Jim Baker, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Peter Maunu, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Jess McIntosh, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Molly Jones, and Keefe Jackson.
In 2015, Harris started Amalgam, a 100-percent artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago and elsewhere, and one that presents a bi-monthly series at Cafe Mustache. Harris is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live contexts, and operates an independent studio in Chicago with engineering, mixing, mastering, and production credits on labels such as Amalgam, Astral Spirits, No Index, 577 Records, and Ears&Eyes. In 2020 he started and co-operates the recording studio Marmalade, and his percussions skills have earned raves from critics, with the Chicago Reader's Peter Margasak stating that Harris maintains "a firm pulse while jabbing his partners with sputtering lines that suggest he could keep time even as he and his kit tumbled down a flight of stairs."
Emily Beisel and Bill Harris, performing both duets and individual pieces, play their Rock Island engagement on March 29 with an additional set by Iowa City's experimental percussionist David Hurlin, admission to the 8 p.m. all-ages show is $10, and more information is available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzToz.com.
