Icepick at Philadelphia Art Alliance

Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the Philadelphia debut of Icepick, the new trio featuring prolific improvisers Nate Wooley, Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten and Chris Corsano.

Bringing together three of the most venturesome and imaginative musicians in modern creative music, Icepick crafts epic-scale, wide-ranging improvisations that draw on its members’ extensive experience across the gamut of styles and approaches. The two pieces on the group’s debut cassette release, Hexane (Astral Spirits), veer between Ayler-esque free jazz combustion and richly detailed textural constructions, while their follow-up, Amaranth, builds on that foundation, with the trio sculpting pointed and succinct songs out of free jazz improvisations....

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Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the Philadelphia debut of Icepick, the new trio featuring prolific improvisers Nate Wooley, Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten and Chris Corsano.

Bringing together three of the most venturesome and imaginative musicians in modern creative music, Icepick crafts epic-scale, wide-ranging improvisations that draw on its members’ extensive experience across the gamut of styles and approaches. The two pieces on the group’s debut cassette release, Hexane (Astral Spirits), veer between Ayler-esque free jazz combustion and richly detailed textural constructions, while their follow-up, Amaranth, builds on that foundation, with the trio sculpting pointed and succinct songs out of free jazz improvisations.

In his review for Dusted magazine, Bill Meyer said, “These players are equally adept at wild man freak-outs, severely hushed textural examinations, and the unstable zone in between, and they make full use of the freedom inherent in such a wide range of possibilities.”

Nate Wooley has become recognized for his equally virtuosic and subversive approach to the trumpet through his own solo and ensemble work as well as collaborations with John Zorn, Ken Vandermark, Peter Evans, Mary Halvorson, Evan Parker and Anthony Braxton, among many others. Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten maintains a dizzyingly hectic schedule as a member of the groups Atomic, The Thing and Scorch Trio, as well as maintain long-running associations with the likes of Ken Vandermark, Joe McPhee, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Drummer Chris Corsano is best known for his 15-year partnership with saxophonist Paul Flaherty, but has also worked with Nels Cline, Björk, Thurston Moore, Evan Parker, and with the bands Sunburned Hand of the Man and Rangda.

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