Ken Wessel: News

A band I really love to play with, that hasn't performed in a while. Badal Roy on tabla and percussion, Jerome Harris will be joining us on acoustic bass guitar and myself. We recorded a CD, Daybreak (with Stomu Takeishi on bass) and its always moving to play this music together. The concert is part of a music series in Washington Heights run by Artists Unite. (Its at the KB Gallery at
875 West 181st St. and Riverside Drive. Take A train to 181st St. Walk west 3 blocks west.)

I’m doing a short tour with Adam Rudolph & Moving Pictures in the Northeast in Feb/March that I’m excited about. Its a great band w/ Graham Haynes - cornet, flugelhorn; Ned Rothenberg - woodwinds, shakuhachi; Steve Gorn - bansuri, woodwinds; KW - guitars/strings; Brahim Fribgane - oud/percussion; Shanir Blumenkranz - bass, sintir; Hamid Drake - drums, percussion; and Adam Rudolph - percussion.
Adam has worked with Don Cherry and Yusef Lateef and his well-heeled travels have informed his playing and compositions. His musical concepts, including ‘cyclic verticalism’ are pretty compelling (check out his book, “Pure Rhythm”) and as a bandleader he provides a great mix of openness and structure for the players. The band’s new CD, “Dream Gardens” will be released around the time of these concerts.

Moving Pictures will be in NYC on Feb. 29 at Roulette and March 26 at Joe’s Pub. Check gigs page for more detailed listings. Also, Adam’s Organic Orchestra will be in residence at Roulette - 3 Mondays in March (3/10, 3/17, 3/31).

I'm looking forward to performing with one of my favorite guitarists, John Abercrombie. We'll be playing duo
on January 26th at the Arts Exchange in White Plains, NY at 7 pm. I've always enjoyed playing with other guitarists and this should be a fun evening.

A rare NYC performance of Vibraphonist/Pianist/Composer Karl Berger. In addition to co-founding the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock a number of years ago, Karl's a great musician and spririt and I'll be playing with his quintet at the Stone on January 19. The group features, his wife, Ingrid Setso - vocals, Tim McLafferty - drums, Mark Helias - bass, KW - guitar, and Karl - vibes, piano, compositions. We recorded a CD last year (w/ Kermit Driscoll on bass) that Tim and Karl will be releasing soon.