Ryan Blotnick Quartet
Ryan Blotnick - Guitar
Danny Fox - Piano
Adam Chilenski - Bass
Otto Hauser - Drums
Maine-based guitarist Ryan Blotnick presents a concert of all new jazz compositions. His group features pianist Danny Fox, who has been revered for “changing the sound and expectation of a jazz piano trio (John Schaefer, WNYC’s New Sounds)." He is also joined by longtime collaborator Adam Chilenski and Hudson Valley-based drummer Otto Hauser, who has been the propulsive force on over a hundred recordings, working with Jeff Tweedy, Sharon Von Etten, Vetiver, Cass McCombs and Meshell Ndegeocello.
When writing for improvisers, Blotnick's tries to dictate as little as possible. A simple melody, some interesting chords, a few tonal shifts. He believes that a jazz composition should be more like a thoughtful question than a dissertation. As a composer of music for half-a-dozen award-winning films he has found that if the goal is the communication of subtle feelings, the notes are sometimes not as important as the timbre, the dynamics, or the intention of the music. Tonight's concert presents his first set of new tunes since he became a father. The music evokes the feeling of joy, endless imagination and emotional honesty that he witnesses daily in his five-year-old son Nico.
Guitarist Ryan Blotnick has been called “a vital contemporary voice” by Time Out New York, “engagingly pensive” by the New York Times, “an authentic, compelling player” by Cadence Magazine. His music is soulful, melodic, and a bit quirky. His studies in New York with '60s era masters like Gene Bertoncini, Harold Mabern, Yusef Lateef, Billy Taylor and Andrew Cyrille gave him a deep respect for the depth and breadth of jazz, and sparked a desire to contribute to its evolution. In Copenhagen, he attended the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, where young players like Jakob Anderskov, Jakob Bro and Kresten Osgood were trying to disrupt the city's cozy museum-jazz night clubs with vibrant and original sounds. His interest in contemporary jazz has led him to work with musical thought-leaders like Michael Blake, Mat Maneri, Thomas Morgan and 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey. He now lives on Mount Desert Island in Maine, where writes music for film, teaches at College of the Atlantic, and plays in a soul band. He hikes in Acadia National Park every day and occasionally leaves the island for groceries.
Danny Fox is a Brooklyn-based pianist and composer. After graduating with a degree in psychology from Harvard University, Danny moved back to his hometown of NYC to study classical piano with John Kamitsuka. Since 2008 he has led the Danny Fox Trio, hailed as “changing the sound and expectation of a jazz piano trio” (WNYC’s New Sounds). The trio has released the critically acclaimed albums "The One Constant,” "Wide Eyed,” and “The Great Nostalgist. He has also founded the genre-bending chamber quintet “Bubble Feed.” Called a "pianist of diverse accomplishment" (NY Times), Danny is active in a wide variety of settings, co-founding the New Orleans rock and roll group Tubby, playing in the Brooklyn roots and bluegrass scene, as well as performing on Broadway and TV/Film sessions. He has performed with artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Cassandra Wilson, Emmylou Harris, and Christina Courtin and the Knights. Most recently, he composed the music for the documentary "Searchers" which premiered at the Sundance Festival.
Bassist Adam Chilenski, coming from New York, keeps it fresh, performing with a wide variety of the talented musicians who abound in the city (Groove Collective, Frank LoCrasto, Jonah Smith and others). His recorded work includes performances, production, and writing with Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic), Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco), Emilie Simon, and others.
Musician Otto Hauser, also from New York, is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator best known for his work as a drummer. In addition to solo performances, Hauser directs the ensemble Expectations and co-leads the groups Etheric Currents, Half Hearts, and the Gamble/Hauser/Wood Trio. Over the past twenty years, he has performed on over one hundred studio albums and innumerable concerts across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, working with diverse artists such as folk legends Kath Bloom, Vashti Bunyan, Mike Heron, Michael Hurley, and Bert Jansch; rockers The Black Crowes, Gary Louris, Philip Selway, Jeff Tweedy, and Tony Visconti; drum legends Steve Gadd and Bobby Previte; the unclassifiable Meshell Ndegeocello; and many contemporary indie and folk acts, including Nat Baldwin, Devendra Banhart, Richard Buckner, Espers, Josephine Foster, Fruit Bats, Cass McCombs, Juana Molina, Elvis Perkins, Luke Temple, Sharon Van Etten, Vetiver, The War on Drugs, and Jonathan Wilson.
Doors at 7pm, Music at 7:30
$20 Suggested donation at the door
donation cash bar sponsored by Fogtown
Come early to get dinner downstairs in the beer garden!
