Kyle Bruckmann's Wrack
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe/English horn; Jen Clare Paulson, viola; Jason Stein, bass clarinet; Anton Hatwich, contrabass; and Timothy Daisy, percussion.
Oboist
Kyle Bruckmann founded Wrack in Chicago in 2002. The debut record (with trombonist Jeb Bishop and bassist Kurt Johnson, omitting Hatwich and Stein) on Red Toucan demonstrated the band's "ability to combine turned-up flame with clear-headed attention to texture and space" and was hailed as "a document of exciting new directions from some of Chicago's best players." Bruckmann moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003, but has maintained ties to Chicago's vibrant avant-jazz and improvised music community ever since. The currently active lineup solidified during a 2005 homecoming visit. The resulting album on 482 Music, Intents & Purposes, provides "dazzling proof that intricately arranged, angular modern jazz can be accessible and enjoyable." (The Wire)
Press
"Bruckmann effortlessly occupies the space between jazz and classical music, generating movements of somber reflection one minute, turbulent intensity the next. From Morton Feldman-esque minimalism to Charles Ives-like bluster, Wrack has few equals." (All About Jazz)
". . . Bruckmann is an excellent composer, striking the right balance between form and freedom, setting up abundant opportunities for his mates to express themselves." (Signal to Noise)
"For a highly unusual instrumentation . . . Bruckmann has constructed tunes . . . which combine two seemingly improbable approaches: the post-Vandermark Chicagoan tendency to lace together shifting rhythmic bases and free sections, and a decided New Music influence . . . Bruckmann's pieces are patient constructs that morph slowly and ask the improvisers (who he's very generous about featuring) to build along with the composition rather than blow over or through it. . . Highly recommended." (Dusted Magazine)
". . . Bruckmann has played oboe, English horn, and/or electronics in a wide variety of contexts . . . but it's still possible to find a single sentence to describe his entire body of his work: he makes creative use of the tension between seemingly irreconcilable musical elements." (Chicago Reader)
"Historically, attempts to combine classical music with jazz often tend toward the programmatic and cerebral. Bruckmann's writing sounds wholly organic and natural. With Intents & Purposes, he delivers an album rich with tricky contrapuntal writing, bolstered by unusual arrangements and intricate interplay. Whether Wrack qualifies as free jazz, chamber jazz or some other hybrid is irrelevant: this is music made by artists unafraid of genre constraints." (All About Jazz)
More information and MP3s available at: www.kylebruckmann.com/wrack.htm
These concerts are made possible in part thanks to the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music’s Musical Grant Program, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the W & F Hewlett Foundation, and Subito, the quick advancement grant program of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the the American Composers Forum.
$10; $5 student/senior
Cost: $10/5