Trumpeters Aaron Shragge and Ellwood Epps have a lot in common. Besides the common instrument, they are both Montrealers making music in New York City, are co-founders and directors of the Festival of New Trumpet Music Canada,and both are practicing Zen Buddhists.
Please join us both for our first concert together! We will be presenting improvised trumpet solos and duets in a beautiful and intimate SoHo loft. The music we have been working on attempts to balance the spontaneous moment with our individual trajectories as composer-improvisers, and touches on American, Japanese, Canadian, and Indian traditions. We are both engaged with the microtonal aspects and very flexible nature of the trumpet, with a dedication to the nature of sound within a space.
Music starts at 8pm. $10 suggested donation.
You must RSVP for the address.
(Please contact Ellwood Epps vai facebook or at [email protected])
Aaron Shragge (dragon mouth trumpet, shakuhachi, composition) has been greatly inspired from the practice and study of the ancient musical traditions of North India and Japan. Shragge has a BFA in Jazz and Contemporary Music from New School University has a Master's in Music therapy at New York University. Aaron Shragge has performed with multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, Ben Monder, Jon Gibson, The Sam Roberts Band, Akim Funk Buddha, and Medeski Martin and Wood's Billy Martin at such venues as Symphony Space, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, The Blue Note, CBGB's and The Tenri Cultural Institute. He has studied improvisation with Kenny Werner, and is currently studies shakuhachi with Grand Master’s Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin, Japanese Master Yodo Kurahashi II and North Indian vocals with Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. His current projects include a duo with Ben Monder, a Jazz quintet that plays the music of Tom Waits.
Ellwood Epps (Montreal/New York City) is an improvising trumpet player, and one of the leading lights of Canada’s creative music scene. He has performed with Steve Lacy, William Parker, Josh Zubot, Henry Grimes, Jean Derome, Le Quan Ninh, Joe McPhee, Butch Morris, John Butcher, and Marshall Allen, and appears on more than 50 recordings. He has appeared internationally at the Stone, CBGB’s and The Jazz Gallery (all in New York), the Guelph, Vancouver, Halifax, and Toronto Jazz Festivals, FIMAV, Festival of New Trumpet (NYC), Earshot (Seattle), Suoni Per Il Popolo, and the Off Festival de Jazz (Montreal).
Epps cofounded l'Envers in 2008, through which he has presented over 500 concerts. In the same year he also cofounded the Mardi Spaghetti series at Le Cagibi. He is also the director and principal teacher at the Studio d'Improvisation de Montréal since 2009, presenting an ongoing series of improvised music workshops, including guest teachers like Henry Grimes, Lori Freedman, and Jean Derome.
Ellwood is active with several working groups: the longstanding Pink Saliva (an electric band with Michel F Côté and Alexandre St-Onge), Land of Marigold (with Josh Zubot), the acoustic Ellwood Epps Quartet (with Scott Thomson, Nicolas Caloia, and Ivan Bamford), the Ratchet Orchestra, and in duet with saxophonist Yves Charuest.