Damon Locks & Ken Vandermark

Jazz in Narodni dom + Druga godba

Ticket price: 8,00 - 10,00 EUR

Two major protagonists of Chicago’s music scene

Ken Vandermark probably doesn’t need any special introduction. He’s been one of the key figures of Chicago’s music scene for more than 30 years, active both in jazz and improvisation and the alternative rock, soul, and funk music scene. There are few who can claim to have had such a major influence on the creation of music scenes as Ken; we wouldn’t be out of line by saying that he co-created the eclectic and colourful scene in Chicago, Poland, and, last but not least, Slovenia. He played nine gigs in Maribor alone: with the band Vandermark 5 (2001 and 2009), the DKV trio (2002 and 2015), Spaceways Inc (2003), Made to Break (2013), as guest in the AALY trio (2001) and Ab Baars trio (2007), and in the band of the Slovene-US collaboration Transatlantic Bridge (2002). In 1999, he was the youngest winner of the prestigious MacArthur genius grant award and spent most of the the quarter million grant to play as many concerts as possible – even up to 300 per year. Today, at 59, he can easily be regarded as one of the most influential music artists of his generation, who brings a new hue to his inexhaustible well of creativity with every project of his.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we’ll get to hear him this time with another of Chicago’s major protagonists at the moment. Damon Locks transcended virtually all boundaries of the art form with his work: he’s a visual artist, teacher, singer, poet, musician, and deejay. His music draws from the rich local tradition of soul, funk, hip-hop, and other popular music that he combines with Afro-centric and psychedelic elements.

The spontaneous interaction between the two artists brings a combination of sound recordings mixed live on stage, electronics, and woodwinds in a fresh, previously unheard way, and conjures up the rich tradition of American music.

The concert is a collaboration with Druga godba festival.

Admission fee: 10 €, 8 € (students)