Nate Wooley Columbia Icefield

Ars Nova Workshop presents Columbia Icefield, the mesmerizing quartet led by the singular trumpeter-composer Nate Wooley, at Solar Myth on May 14.

Nate Wooley has often been cited as part of an international revolution in improvised trumpet; his combination of vocalization, extreme extended technique, noise and drone aesthetics, amplification and feedback, and compositional rigor has led one reviewer to call his solo recordings “exquisitely hostile.” He has performed regularly with such icons as John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Eliane Radigue, Ken Vandermark, Fred Frith, Evan Parker, and Yoshi Wada, as well as being a collaborator with some of the brightest lights of his generation, including Chris Corsano, C. Spencer Yeh, and Peter Evans. His breathtaking quartet Columbia Icefield features guitarist Mary Halvorson, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, and drummer Ryan Sawyer, whose distinctive voices contribute to Wooley’s sweeping vision. The atmospheric music draws inspiration from tracing the landscapes of the Columbia River from Wooley’s Oregon hometown to its glacial headwaters, sonically reckoning with the awe-inspiring beauty of the immense icefield.