Kahn is one of those musicians who is deliciously difficult to describe in a single sentence, or even a paragraph. His work exists largely in the context of improvised music, and encompasses his unique approaches to drums & percussion, analog synthesizers, voice, and more recently, the guitar.
He's known for collaborations with an astounding variety of musicians from the very top shelves of the avant-garde music worlds; he has long-running, ongoing collaborations with Nörbert Moslang (of legendary junk-improv duo Voicecrack) and early EAI pioneer Günther Müller; he released an excellent LP of duets by himself and Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth in 2020; he's worked on numerous occasions with US underground guitar hero Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust, Mike Watt, and Minutemen acolyte); in 2012 he released a trio disc on Consumer Waste with Matt Earle and Adam Sussman, two members of Australia's fertile noise underground; and (rapid-fire style) he's also also played alongside Axel Dörner, Tim Olive, Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura, Christian Weber, Bryan Eubanks.... the list does indeed go on.
If one is truly interested in delving into the world of Jason Kahn, it might be advisable to explore his label, Editions, an outlet for his work with large ensembles, solo voice and percussion investigations, field recordings, text, and more. The masterfully produced LPs on this label feature beautifully simple artwork, usually pattern-based uses of paint against thick wrap-around cardboard sleeves, and often contain wonderful extras like thorough, thoughtful liner notes, and in the case of 2013's label highlight Open Space, stunning score for the wonderfully restrained and thought-provoking music contained within. Check out the label's offerings here.
Jason Kahn will be joined on this rare Monday night High Line Brewing performance by percussionist and Bug Incision founder Chris Dadge, who has not performed solo percussion for quite some time now. He is known for work in both the indie pop/rock world with artists such as Chad Van Gaalen, Alvvays, Lab Coast, and Samantha Savage Smith, and has also performed extensively in free improvising contexts with musicians like Tim Olive, Eric Chenaux, Peter Evans, John Oswald, and Eugene Chadbourne. View his website here.
Dadge will play solo, followed by Kahn, and then they will convene for a duo performance. For more information on Jason Kahn, it is highly recommend that you spend a few minutes poking around his website, and also checking out the video below, to get a taste of what this excellent evening has to offer:
Jason Kahn from Jason Kahn on Vimeo.
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