Events

6/13 Eardrum Series: Keefe Jackson/Anton Hatwich, Eric Sowa

$15 suggested donation

7:30 doors

[What is Eardrum?]
BMC’s Eardrum series focuses on bringing improvised music to the south side. The series aims to feature diverse artists and types of improvisation and to celebrate Chicago’s rich culture of creative and experimental scenes.

Set 1: Erik Sowa (Solo)

Erik Sowa is a Chicago based drummer/percussionist whose musical directions are informed by free improvization, jazz, ambient/noise, post rock, and afro-beat traditions.  In recent years, Erik has collaborated with a wide range of performers of varied musical genres including Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Jeb Bishop, Mai Sugimoto, Thomas Comerford, and Snek Trio.  In 2022, Erik released a self-titled solo album of instrumental compositions titled "Cedar Lake Recordings Vol. 1" which was reviewed in Dusted Magazine.

Set 2: Keefe Jackson / Anton Hatwich 

Keefe Jackson and Anton Hatwich have been regular collaborators since the early aughts, with a long history of Chicago jazz and improvised music and many miles on the road together. Commonality and contrariness are two of the many Cs that will be on display during this rare duo performance. Compositions by both, and selected other peoples' tunes will be the vehicle for this foray into fissures of the unknown. A taste and a test of the continuity constant that is the lifeblood of music.

Sunday June 14: Bearduo & Kleijn/Jeslava

Doors 6:30

Show 7PM

$15 Suggested donation

Bearduo:

Bearduo is a saxophone duo consisting of Aaron Kaufman-Levine on Alto Saxophone and Garrett Frees on Tenor Saxophone. Dear friends and collaborators since 2015, Aaron and Garrett started improvising together as a duo in their first semester together at New England Conservatory (Fall 2019). What began as a fun practice routine became a daily rehearsing group that vowed to push each other and themselves to find their own way to approach improvised music on the saxophone. Bearduo brings a unique and spontaneous creation to each performance that reflects their shared musical language and deep connection. Their first self-titled record Bearduo released in July 2025 with a focus on long form improvisation, scale and interaction between the two performers.

Kleijn/Jesalva:

Jesalva and Kleijn have carved out a shared practice that continuously morphs their beings, bodies, presents, and pasts—both as women and as string players—into a mix of heavy instrumentalism, conceptual theater, and experimental sound worlds. Seemingly tethered to their instruments as extended creative limbs, both welcome and loaded, they clearly consider their entire selves as the source of their creative practice.

An intergenerational collaboration based in Chicago, Jesalva/Kleijn will present Eclipsed Bodies at the International Museum of Surgical Science on March 14 and 16, 2025. The piece is a devised interdisciplinary work that explores post-structuralist theories on female identity and (dis)embodiment in female sexuality and gender.

Sunday, June 28 

Doors 7:30

Show 8 PM

$15 suggested donation

Andrew Sudhibhasilp Trio ft. Clark Sommers & Drobka 

In Andrew Sudhibhasilp’s free jazz trio, melody takes priority over form. His spare guitar lines—ancient, meditative, almost madrigal-like—float over drums and bass that favor texture over groove. The music conjures twilit, shadowy landscapes, as in “Weaving,” which moves with the steady drift of an endlessly winding path.