UB Music at Hallwalls is a collaborative concert series between the University at Buffalo Department of Music and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Featuring UB performance faculty and students, the series presents bold and innovative performances that connect the university's vibrant music community with Buffalo's broader cultural scene. From experimental new works to fresh interpretations of chamber repertoire, these concerts showcase the creativity and vision of artists committed to expanding the possibilities of contemporary music. Join us for an exciting evening of new music! https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/music.html

Dave Rempis - saxophones
Jason Adasiewicz - vibraphone
Chris Corsano - drums, percussion

This trio, comprised of three prolific journeymen improvisers whose work has been recognized across the globe, is a band of down-to-earth, hard-working musicians, whose focus and dedication to the music is exceptional. That's not to say that these three don't have a combined CV that straddles a who's who list of contemporary music across multiple scenes. But their ethos is one that emanates from their midwestern locale – a heads down approach to collaborative work.

The trio first came together at Chicago's Hungry Brain during a month-long Thursday residency that Rempis organized in September 2024. Corsano's recent relocation to Chicago was an overdue opportunity for them to collaborate again, after regular work with the quartet From Wolves to Whales alongside Nate Wooley and Pascal Niggenkemper in the mid-teens. And Adasiewicz's recent return to the music following a multi-year hiatus has meant he's at the top of the list for any new groups Rempis puts together, after many years of work together earlier in their careers. That first Hungry Brain concert proved too compelling to leave as a one-off. So they organized several more hits in Chicago and Milwaukee in the winter of 2025, out of which sprang their recorded debut Dial Up on Rempis' Aerophonic Records imprint, to be released in December 2025.

On the record, you get instantly wrapped into the sinews of the band's shared aesthetic. There's no ego here, simply a collaborative ethos that powers the music forward. While that's a noted feature of the Chicago improvised music scene historically, it's also one that Corsano has embraced in his own work for decades ...

Joshua Abrams - guembri
Lisa Alvarado - harmonium
Jason Stein - bass clarinet
Mikel Patrick Avery - drums, percussion

Hallwalls welcomes the hypnotic "ecstatic minimalism" of Natural Information Society back to Buffalo for a very special evening of transcendental music in the 9th Ward!

"Aficionados of transcendental music often have to choose between spiritual jazz & minimalist drone for their perfect hit, but the records of Joshua Abrams and his Natural Information Society essentially unite the best of both worlds." -Mojo

Natural Information Society (NIS) represents a convergence of musicians & artists to create sonic harbor, meditative space & kinetic momentum music. Realizing compositions by composer Joshua Abrams, the group's core quartet includes Abrams, Lisa Alvarado, Mikel Patrick Avery & Jason Stein. Working the seams between minimalism, jazz & experimental practice, the band has become a reference for contemporary non-idiomatic creative music. They have recorded 7 albums for eremite records & 2 collaborations with Bitchin Bajas for Drag City Records. The group has toured extensively in North America, Europe & Brazil using Alvarado's free hanging paintings as stage settings in concert. In 2021 Abrams formed an expanded version of NIS called the Natural Information Society Community Ensemble, adding winds & Chicago tenor saxophone legend Ari Brown to the group as heard on 2023's Since Time Is Gravity.

"An outstanding Chicago bassist, Joshua Abrams regularly contributes to a host of bands, drawing on roots from hip-hop to free jazz ...