The Anxious Sound 18th Anniversary Fall series kicked off Monday night with a Dragon’s Den show featuring James Singleton (bass), Rob Cambre (guitar), Mars Williams (of Chicago, saxophones) and Tim Daisy (also of Chicago, drums) that one audience member described as “sonically… like trying to watch a schitzo cracked-out butterfly whilst blitzed out on the morphine.”
Anxious Sound–a concert series celebrating innovative free jazz, punk, improvised music, and more–got its start in 1997 with a duo performance by renowned New York bassist William Parker and his wife, dancer and VisionFest founder Patricia Nicholson. It was quickly followed up by New Orleans debut performances by Mats Gustafsson and Peter Brotzmann, as well as a trio by Davey Williams, Dave Cappello, and Anxious Sound organizer Rob Cambre.
The series has grown steadily since then, expanding to include various musicians from near and far and various venues around town. The name is a reference to “Anxious Mo-Fo,” a song by Cambre’s number one inspiration, California punk rock band The Minutemen.
This year’s series continues with a three-show “Throwdown Thursdays” series at the AllWays Lounge (Sept. 17th, Sept. 24th, and Oct 1st), which will feature five musicians in various combinations from solo to full ensemble along with surprise guests.
The Throwdown lineups are as follows:
Sept.17: Rob Cambre with Simon Lott (drums/fx), Jesse Morrow (bass), Travis Blotsky (baritone sax), and Jay Steigner (drums).
Sept. 24: Rob Cambre with Donald Miller (guitar), Will Thompson (pianao/fx), Travis Blotsky (baritone sax), and Jay Steigner (drums).
Oct. 1: Rob Cambre with Helen Gillet (cello), Donald Miller (guitar), Doug Garrison (drums), and Jesse Morrow (bass).
In addition, there’ll be a rock and roll show on Friday, November 18th at the Saturn Bar (location to be confirmed) featuring Plastic Crimewave Syndicate and Mr. Odom & the Odom Poles, and a Rob Cambre/Chris Robert duo. According to Cambre, there’ll be “all sortsa psychedelic free action going down.”
The centerpiece of the series is a Gasa Gasa show on Monday, October 5th featuring The Thing (Mats Gustafsson on saxophones, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums) and Cambre’s group Death Posture (himself and Donald Miller on guitars, and Chris Robert on percussion.)
The Thing hails from Norway and Sweden and delivers a sonic cacophony that’s been dubbed garage-jazz-impro-punk. They perform all over the world, featuring guests such as Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O’Rourke, Thurston Moore, Terrie Ex, Peter Evans, Thurston Moore, and Neneh Cherry.
Doors for the Gasa Gasa show open at 9 p.m., and tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
(This piece was modified on September 18th to update the time/location of the Plastic Crimewave show.)
