Natural Information Society
   HOME
*





Natural Information Society
Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado. According to ''Musicworks'', Natural Information Society's performances place "a singular emphasis on the human and the humane in music in the midst of a galloping digitized industry". ''The Guardian'' gave the group's album ''Simultonality'' four out of five stars, ''The New York Times'' described it as "at once tensile and hypnotic", while ''Rolling Stone'' named it to their list of the "20 Best Avant Albums of 2017". ''Pitchfork'' named their double album ''Magnetoception'' #2 on their "Best Experimental Albums of 2015". '' The Stranger'' called the group's release ''Automaginary'' one of the "Top 10 Records of 2015" and it was also named by ''Spin'' as one of its " ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mandatory Reality
''Mandatory Reality'' is a 2019 album by guimbri player Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society. Background Featuring two long pieces totalling over an hour in duration, followed by two shorter works, the album was recorded on June 11, 2017, at Electrical Audio in Chicago, with each piece captured as a single take. It was released in 2019 on vinyl and CD by Eremite Records, based in the United States, and on vinyl by Aguirre Records, a Belgian label. On the album, Abrams is joined by saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, cornetist Ben Lamar Gay, pianist Ben Boye, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, and percussionists Mikel Patrick Avery and Hamid Drake. In an interview with Jason P. Woodbury of ''Aquarium Drunkard'', Abrams suggested that the music attempts to combine aspects of jazz and minimalism. He commented: "You often see collaborations between various figures—Don Cherry and Terry Riley, Harold Budd and Marion Brown. It's kind of shining a ligh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_type2 = Counties , subdivision_name1 = Illinois , subdivision_name2 = Cook and DuPage , established_title = Settled , established_date = , established_title2 = Incorporated (city) , established_date2 = , founder = Jean Baptiste Point du Sable , government_type = Mayor–council , governing_body = Chicago City Council , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Lori Lightfoot ( D) , leader_title1 = City Clerk , leader_name1 = Anna Valencia ( D) , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_tot ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Stranger (newspaper)
''The Stranger'' is an alternative biweekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, U.S. The paper's principal competitor is '' The Seattle Weekly'', owned by Sound Publishing, Inc. History ''The Stranger'' was founded in July 1991 by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper ''The Onion'', and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue was produced out of a home in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood and was released on September 23, 1991.Wilma, David''The Stranger'' begins publication in Seattle on September 23, 1991. HistoryLink.org, essay 3506, August 22, 2001. Web page also includes a facsimile of the front page of ''The Stranger's'' first issue. Accessed October 19, 2006. In 1993, ''The Stranger'' relocated to Seattle's Capitol Hill district, where its offices remained until 2020. ''The Stranger's'' tagline is "Seattle's Only Newspaper". It was chosen to express the newspaper's disdain for Seattle's then two dailies (the '' Seattle Times'' and the now-defun ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2010 Establishments In Illinois
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by  2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following  0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jazz Ensembles From Illinois
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African Americans, African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional music, traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swung note, swing and blue notes, complex Chord (music), chords, Call and response (music), call and response vocals, polyrhythms and Jazz improvisation, improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. Dixieland, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphony, polyphonic Musical improvisation, improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical traditi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Music Of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll), and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed. The "Great Migration (African American), Great Migration" of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland jazz. Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamson II, Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman and Bud Freeman. Chicago is also well known for its soul music. In the early 1930s, Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church. In the 1980s and 1990s, Hard rock, heavy rock, punk rock, punk and Hip hop music, hip hop also became popular in Chica ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ari Brown
Ari Brown (born February 1, 1944) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and pianist. Biography Brown grew up in Chicago and attended Wilson College, where he met musicians such as Jack DeJohnette, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, and Joseph Jarman. He played piano in R&B and soul outfits into the 1960s, then switched to saxophone in 1965. He joined the AACM in 1971, and also played with The Awakening in the early 1970s. In 1974 he lost several teeth in a car crash, and temporarily switched to piano again until he recovered. He played sax later in the 1970s with McCoy Tyner, Don Patterson, and Sonny Stitt. In the 1980s, he worked with Lester Bowie, Von Freeman, Bobby Watson, and Anthony Braxton, and in 1989 he became a member of Kahil El'Zabar's trio. Discography As leader * 1995: ''Ultimate Frontier'' (Delmark Records) * 1998: ''Venus'' (Delmark) * 2007: ''Live at the Green Mill'' (Delmark) * 2013: ''Groove Awakening'' (Delmark) As sideman With The Awakening *''Hear, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Since Time Is Gravity
''Since Time Is Gravity'' is an album by the Natural Information Society Community Ensemble, led by double bassist and guimbri player Joshua Abrams. It was recorded on May 18, 2021, at the Graham Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, and on August 24, 2021, at Electrical Audio in Chicago, and was released in 2023 as a double-LP set by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label. On the album, Abrams is joined by alto saxophonists Nick Mazzarella and Mai Sugimoto, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, cornetists Josh Berman and Ben Lamar Gay, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, harpist Kara Bershad, percussionists Mikel Patrick Avery and Hamid Drake, and a guest artist, tenor saxophonist Ari Brown. Regarding the expanded "Community Ensemble" heard on ''Since Time Is Gravity'', Abrams remarked: "There's a wealth of community we have in Chicago and throughout the world. There's room for everyone's personality and I want them to bring their sound to it... It ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Evan Parker
Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation. He has pioneered or substantially expanded an array of extended techniques. Critic Ron Wynn describes Parker as "among Europe's most innovative and intriguing saxophonists...his solo sax work isn't for the squeamish." Early influences Parker's original inspiration was Paul Desmond, and in recent years the influence of cool jazz saxophone players has again become apparent in his music — there are tributes to Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz on ''Time Will Tell'' (ECM, 1993) and ''Chicago Solo'' (Okka Disk, 1997). He soon discovered the music of John Coltrane, who would be the primary influence throughout his career. Other important early influences were Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler and Jimmy Guiffre. Early career ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Descension (Out Of Our Constrictions)
''Descension (Out of Our Constrictions)'' is a live album by Natural Information Society, featuring guimbri player Joshua Abrams, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, drummer Mikel Patrick Avery, and special guest soprano saxophonist Evan Parker. It was recorded on July 9, 2019, at Cafe Oto in London, and was released in 2021 by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "While NIS has gratified listeners and live audiences with their intricate meld of jazz, folk styles, and polyrhythmic improvisations drawn from a variety of world music traditions, this proceeding is unlike anything else in their catalog. ''Descension'' exists in the ecstatic sonic terrain between 21st century Western raga, free jazz, and a rave-like party album... a collaboration for the ages: It is ecstatic, improvised jazz that reverberates inside the human body like a heartbeat." ''T ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. History Origins The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, was the world's first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. 19th century In 180 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Uncut (magazine)
''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, and has been published by NME Networks since December 2021. ''Uncut'' (main magazine) ''Uncut'' was launched in May 1997 by IPC as "a monthly magazine aimed at 25- to 45-year-old men that focuses on music and movies", edited by Allan Jones (former editor of ''Melody Maker''). Jones has stated that " e idea for Uncut came from my own disenchantment about what I was doing with ''Melody Maker''. There was a publishing initiative to make the audience younger; I was getting older and they wanted to take the readers further away from me", specifically referring to the then dominant Britpop genre. According to IPC Media, 86% of the magazine's readers are mal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]