Br-An-Ch / Setting

Ars Nova Workshop presents a unique double-bill acclaimed drummer Chad Taylor with his stellar new trio featuring pianist Angelica Sanchez and guitarist Brandon Ross and the new trio Setting, at Solar Myth on Friday, December 8.

A composer, scholar and educator as well as a capaciously inventive percussionist now living in Philadelphia, Chad Taylor is best known as co-founder of the Chicago Underground Duo (and the numerous Underground iterations that have spun off of that original partnership) with trumpeter Rob Mazurek, and as drummer for the late jaimie branch’s Fly Or Die. A professional on the Chicago scene from the age of 16, he became a rhythmic muse for many of the most celebrated artists in improvised music, including Fred Anderson, Pharoah Sanders, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, Darius Jones, James Brandon Lewis, Derek Bailey, Marc Ribot, and Peter Brötzmann. His latest trio features pianist Angelica Sanchez (Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian) and guitarist Brandon Ross (Harriet Tubman, Henry Threadgill).

Setting is a trio comprising Nathan Bowles (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on strings, keys, and percussion; Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors, Peeesseye) on harmoniums, synthesizers, and piano zither; and Joe Westerlund (Califone, Sylvan Esso, Jake Xerxes Fussell) on drums, percussion, and metallophones.  Their debut album “Shone a Rainbow Light On” on Paradise of Bachelors traverses textural, phosphorescent topography with a certified organic folk-engine. Fueled by a vibratory hybrid of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, the four stately longform pieces sound like a UFO slowly sinking into a peat bog.