Perowsky / Torn / Medeski / Ultan

TEMPO Concert Hall
Doors: 6:30 PM | Show: 7:30 PM

A rare, high-voltage gathering of fearless musical innovators.

Shake off the Thanksgiving tryptophan on Black Friday with an unforgettable performance featuring acclaimed drummer and percussionist Ben Perowsky, sonic pioneer guitarist David Torn, visionary keyboard titan John Medeski, and fiercely inventive cellist Aliya Ultan. The quartet comes together for an intimate, dynamic evening of boundary-pushing jams.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

David Torn is a self-described “textural guitarist,” producer, film composer, recording artist, and sideman. He is known for an innovative playing style that employs a self-developed digital looping system. His urgent, atmospheric, effects-drenched sound blurs the lines between rock, jazz, and avant music. A New York native, Torn was a member of the Everyman Band, whose two ’80s recordings on ECM are foundational documents in his transition from jazz fusion to avant and abstract jazz-rock. On 1987’s Cloud About Mercury (ECM), he led a band that included Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, and Mark Isham. His work with bassist and clarinetist Mick Karn began on 1992’s Door X and led to a years-long collaboration and the recording of Polytown (1994) with drummer Terry Bozzio. As a sideman, Torn has worked with David Bowie and David Sylvian, Madonna, Laurie Anderson, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Tori Amos, among others. His textural work has flavored scores by Carter Burwell, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Howard Shore, and Isham, as well as his own scores for Friday Night Lights and Drumline: A New Beat.

John Medeski is an adventurous pianist and organist, best known as one-third of the genre-bending trio Medeski, Martin & Wood. Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ, or vintage keyboards, he is a sought-after improviser and band leader. His projects and collaborations include work with John Zorn, The Word, Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and David Byrne. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he played with Jaco Pastorius as a teenager before attending the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013. Current projects include an album in the works with his band MadSkillet and HUDSON, a collaboration with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, and Larry Grenadier, as well as a documentary on Medeski Martin & Wood.

Aliya Ultan, also known as the Nocturnal Cellist, is a composer-performer and multimedia artist from Brooklyn, New York. Her career spans contemporary and avant-garde music, theater, circus, and immersive electroacoustic installations. Her sound has been described as a shape-shifting voice moving between orchestral lyricism, cathartic noise, and personal storytelling. She has collaborated with John Lurie, David Behrman, Aaron Dilloway, Tim Berne, Craig Taborn, Tyshawn Sorey, David Torn, and George Lewis, among others. Her interdisciplinary work has also brought her together with puppeteers, dancers, and circus acrobats associated with Cirque du Soleil, Bread and Puppet, and Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater. She toured with the Puerto Rican performance collective Poncili Creación. Following her self-released album Witch Hunt and a 40-date tour of artist-run spaces across the US and Canada, she released Looks Far Woman on Kou Records. Produced by Randall Dunn, the project explores the acoustic cello as a vibrational and healing phenomenon. She is pursuing a PhD in Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia and serves as Artistic Director for The Creative Music Studio, a nonprofit organization founded by Ornette Coleman and Karl Berger.

Ben Perowsky is a drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He performs on stage in the eight-Tony Award-winning, Grammy-winning Broadway musical Hadestown. He is a founding member of the electric jazz group Lost Tribe and leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra, and Upstream Trio with Chris Speed and John Medeski. As a sideman, he has performed and recorded with artists including Roy Ayers, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Joan As Police Woman, Elysian Fields, Darryl Jenifer, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Rickie Lee Jones, Iggy Pop, Walter Becker, Steven Bernstein, John Cale, Loudon Wainwright III, James Moody, Mike Mainieri’s Steps Ahead, David Tronzo, and John Zorn. His releases include three collaborations with saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Speed: the 1999 Ben Perowsky Trio, featured in Will Ferrell’s 2006 film Talladega Nights; 2009’s Esopus Opus; and 2019’s Upstream with John Medeski. Perowsky also played on the 2008 dance hit “Blind” by Hercules & Love Affair.

TICKETS

$25 community (limited amount available) / $35 standard / $50 supporter

All tickets are general admission seating. A beer, wine, and cider bar is available.

Choose the ticket that feels right for you. Every option supports Tempo in its own way, and we’re grateful to have you with us.