Ars Nova Workshop celebrates the 70th birthday of one of our favorite artists, the trailblazing saxophonist-composer Tim Berne, with the return of his lauded ensemble Snakeoil at Solar Myth on October 9 and 10.

The ever inventive saxophonist and composer Tim Berne has been a key figure in the history of Ars Nova Workshop, appearing countless times in Philadelphia over the past 2+ decades and gracing the stage of Solar Myth several times with a revolving cast of brilliant collaborators. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of his birth, Berne reconvenes one of his most acclaimed ensembles, the expansive all-star quintet Snakeoil. Introduced on its eponymous 2012 ECM debut, Snakeoil features clarinetist Oscar Noriega, pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith, later joined by Ryan Ferreira or Marc Ducret on guitar. The Guardian wrote that the band “strikes the composition/improv balance with expressive elegance… It can make your brain hurt, but it warms the heart at the same time.”