The Mike Conrad Trio at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities -- October 15.
Sunday, October 15, 5 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities, 3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport IA
As the organization continues to mourn the loss of its founder Nate Lawrence, who passed away on August 15, staffers with the Polyrhythms Third Sunday Jazz Series are delighted to host an October 15 concert featuring Polyrhythms favorites The Mike Conrad Trio, with the team of pianist Conrad, bass player Katie Ernst, and drummer Cassius Goens III delivering an enthralling blend of improvisation, interaction, and expression at Davenport's Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities.
Conrad is a composer and improviser currently serving as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. His compositions have earned him four ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards, a SONIC Award from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers, the 2023 Sammy Nestico Award, and many other accolades. Conrad’s music has been performed all over the world, including a 2017 concert by the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands, a 2014 Carnegie Hall Premiere, and a performance at Barack Obama's second presidential inauguration in 2013. The artist's wide-ranging creative projects include a suite of four Iowa-inspired big band pieces recorded by the Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra, an ambitious reimagination of Beethoven’s third symphony in collaboration with the Berlin-based Stegreif Orchester, and his mixed chamber jazz ensemble the All Angles Orchestra, which released an album of original music featuring Alex Sipiagin in 2017. Conrad regularly performs regionally on piano and trombone with the Chris Merz Quartet, the Bob Washut "Emeritet," and the Max Wellman Big Band, as well as several other groups, and has also performed and recorded with musicians such as Louis Hayes, Alexa Tarantino, and Greg Gisbert.
Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a versatile young bassist who plays in far-flung bands and sings with uncommon delicacy and authenticity," bassist/vocalist Katie Ernst is co-leader of the adventurous Chicago-based jazz trio Twin Talk and has received widespread critical acclaim for her Dorothy Parker poetry song cycle Little Words, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2015. Ernst is also an active side musician in the jazz and improvised music communities of Chicago and surrounding areas. Some recent notable performances and awards include performing in Mexico City for a Chicago/CDMX Improvised Music Exchange in 2020; multiple performances at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and Chicago Jazz Festival; performing with MacArthur Fellow and renowned pianist/composer Jason Moran at the Chicago Symphony Center; and appearing at the prestigious Kennedy Center.
A native of Muncie, Indiana, Cassius Goens III began playing percussion at age 11, and has subsequently toured throughout the Midwest, New York, Brazil, and Europe, where he performed at the Montreux, Vienne, and Perugia Jazz Festivals. In addition, Goens plays throughout Indiana and Iowa with a host of local jazz artists, including the Indianapolis-based groups Kool's Bazaar, the Matt Wilson Band, the Marlin McKay Group, and Premium Blend.
The Mike Conrad Trio performs their Third Sunday matinee concert at Davenport's Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities on October 15, admission to the 5 p.m. event is $15 cash at the door, and more information is available by visiting Polyrhythms.org.
