Dave Rempis

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader Ken Vandermark has led his flagship ensemble, the Vandermark 5, through a decade's worth of personnel changes. Despite the band's rotating roster, the ensemble's sound has remained remarkably consistent.

Until the formation of The Resonance Ensemble in 2007, Ken Vandermark's writing for large ensembles had been limited to his electro-acoustic Territory Band and Peter Brötzmann's sprawling free jazz Chicago Tentet. With this 10-man group, he succeeds in what he works so very hard at with the Vandermark 5.

Dave Rempis, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Paal Nilssen-Love present their association as a“free-wheeling trio” and that means everything. It means, for instance, aspecial attention to the process of music making, and this one deals with improvisation – jazz-flavored, for sure, but free in its creative resources.

The performance 12/27 at the Outpost by the Construction Party was as good a demonstration of what can happen when top-drawer jazz musicians get together from different planets. When the musicians have the right qualities and intentions, the result is music that has genuinely compelling connections.