Ravi Padmanabha - drums/percussion
Alex Glenfield - trumpet, voice

Ravi Padmanabha is a dedicated music artist and student of traditional sound, rooted in the study of ancient rhythms, instruments, and spiritual expression. Deeply influenced by classical and folk traditions—particularly those connected to meditative and ceremonial practices—his work reflects a commitment to preserving and honoring the origins of music as a sacred and communal experience.

With a strong foundation in traditional studies, Ravi explores the tonal depth and rhythmic complexity of many instruments, drawing from principles found in classical systems and indigenous musical forms. His approach emphasizes discipline, repetition, and deep listening—treating music not just as performance, but as a lifelong practice. He has studied with many Masters including Pt. Sharda Sahai , Pt. Samar Saha, and Pt. Pankaj Misra.

While grounded in tradition, Ravi allows subtle modern elements to emerge naturally, creating a bridge between past and present without losing authenticity. His compositions and performances are centered on resonance, intention, and emotional clarity, inviting listeners into a space ranging from reflection to estatic improvisation. Through ongoing study and practice, Ravi Padmanabha continues to develop a musical voice that honors lineage, respects tradition, and carries forward the timeless power of sound. He regularly performs with his brothers in Family FUNKtion and the Sitar jams, BPD trio and the 12/8 path band.

Alex Glenfield is an artist whose sonic landscape spans continents and traditions, a true cartographer of sound. With a PhD in Ethnomusicology from York University, his academic rigor underpins a deeply personal and globally informed musical practice ...

Emily Beisel - bass clarinet, flute, voice, electronics
&
Bill Sack - electric guitar, electronics

Emily Rach Beisel is a Chicago-based improviser, composer, educator, curator, and woodwind specialist whose work is celebrated for its visceral intensity and innovative blend of techniques. Beisel's 2023 solo album, Particle of Organs, has been described as "heavy stuff, sounds retrieved from the deeper places - the underworlds, the lightless subterranea... a raw, abrasive, oppressive, and thrilling journey."

"Beisel's unique approach to the bass clarinet is beautifully brutal... 'timbral effects' that push the clarinet to its tonal and sonic limits, at times sounding like a guitar feeding back, an overamped cello, a set of bagpipes, even a clarinet..." - Dave Foxall - A Jazz Noise

Beisel's music centers on the bass clarinet and incorporates voice, electronics, extended techniques, and other wind instruments creating a complex and nuanced soundscape in which the origins of sounds are often obscured.

More info at:
www.emilybeisel.com
https://emilyrachbeisel.bandcamp.com/album/particle-of-organs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMZsEr9pJUg

Bill Sack is a multimedia and electronic artist, musician, guitarist, composer, computer manipulator, and programmer ...

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 ...

Jason Stein - bass clarinet
Damon Smith - double bass
Adam Shead - drums, percussion

Stein / Smith / Shead Trio is a Chicago-rooted improvising trio uniting bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and percussionist Adam Shead. Since forming in late 2021, the group has toured extensively across the Midwest and beyond, becoming a fixture in the creative music circuit and collaborating with influential figures such as Roscoe Mitchell. Their recorded work documents a remarkably productive period, encompassing four releases: Volumes & Surfaces (2022), Hum (2023), spi-raling horn with Marilyn Crispell (2024), and Live at the Hungry Brain with Marilyn Crispell (2025). Together, these albums trace the group's evolution from kinetic, small-ensemble interplay toward expansive collaborations that bridge generations of avant-jazz practice.

Critics have consistently praised the trio's fearless energy and deep listening ...

Tormentor
Tiny Vipers - Dreamer (Live on KEXP)

Seattle's Jesy Fortino has performed under the name Tiny Vipers since her teen years. Honing her craft in punk houses and squats, Fortino's haunting folk elegies are as sparse as they are dense. People and times past wander through her songs like ghosts looking for a home, appearing and then vanishing into deft guitar playing that is reminiscent of John Fahey and Ry Cooder. Her first two full-length records, Hands Across the Void and Life On Earth (Sub Pop, 2007 and 2009, respectively) were masterworks of delicate, deliberate composition and instrumentation. Rarely has music this minimal made such a massive statement. Years of touring and critical acclaim brought Tiny Vipers a cult following. Despite this, she largely operates outside of the world of mainstream music. A series of incendiary experimental releases preceded her third LP Laughter (Ba Da Bing!, 2017). A collection of electronic tracks buried beneath a pane of frosted-glass tape hiss, Laughter shone a light on yet another facet of Fortino's prismatic musical identity. 2021's American Prayer EP saw a return to the acoustic music of her early releases, its three tracks setting an outstanding groundwork for her next full-length record. While Tiny Vipers has shared a stage with the likes of Patti Smith and Damo Suzuki, and has collaborated with Liz Harris (Grouper) as Mirrorring (releasing Foreign Body on Kranky Records in 2012), her artistic identity has remained as elusive and mysterious as her music. It is seldom that we encounter an artist as unique and singular as Tiny Vipers ...