8:30pm. $20 ADV / $25 DOS.
Lineup:
Bex Burch
Macie Stewart
Lia Kohl
Whitney Johnson
Rob Frye
Sam Scranton
Anton Hatwich
- - -
'Bex Burch – As yet untitled
as part of “Four nights” across Berlin, London, Chicago and New York
A one-time, all-Chicago ensemble performs "as yet untitled," a work in progress by Bex Burch. Players include Rob Frye, Anton Hatwich, Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Sam Scranton and Macie Stewart.
Following her residency-style recording in Chicago – which resulted in There is only love or fear, released on International Anthem in 2023 – this is Bex's Windy City live debut, a special moment that celebrates a new ensemble composition played by old friends and members of the community.
A composition in collaboration, "As yet untitled" balances composed material with freedom of individual expression; its performance is a lived and shared experience, reaching for the feeling that music and the sum of its parts lift all those present into a shared, connected place.
This event too is just one part of Four nights, a series unfolding across four cities and two continents at silent green, Berlin (15 June), Cafe OTO, London (29 June) and with FourOneOne, New York (31 July). Each iteration reconfigures the piece through its local context, creating a constellation of encounters that extend beyond a single moment or place.
"As yet untitled", a conversation between nature sounds, audience voices, and each ensemble, inhabits the space between structure and improvisation, repetition and disruption. Bex heavily relies on expanding the artform of trust beyond just the music, embracing sonic texture, unpredictability, and a deeply collaborative spirit. Making art that brings people together, for each other.
- - -
About Bex Burch: (By Paul Bowler)
Whether combining the rhythmic timbres of wood, metal and audience claps or duetting with the atmospheric and elegiac echoed sounds of water dripping into a metal basin, Bex Burch is a composer, percussionist, instrument maker and improviser who emphasises space, repetition and aspects of chaos. These themes characterise an ongoing approach she describes as “messy minimalism”.
Burch’s critically acclaimed 2023 debut solo album, 'There is only love and fear' was released via Chicago avant-garde label International Anthem and named The Guardian's Contemporary Album of the Month. She was nominated for the Deutscher Jazzpreis 2025, and has previously released music as part of Boing! with Leafcutter John, the Strut-released cosmic, boundary pushing quintet, Flock and critically acclaimed Vula Viel. She set up her own DIY label, runs the community music event, Kantine Musik, and has collaborated with influential artists like Peter Zummo, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ben LaMar Gay, Dan Bitney and Macie Stewart.
Bex was invited to Ghana for an 18-month apprenticeship from 2008 in instrument-making with master gyil player Thomas Sekgura, a strong early influence and experience that gave her a deep-seated respect for the powerful Dagaare music as well as the confidence to pursue a path that reflected her own voice and the myriad strands and tastes of her creativity. A restless, questing spirit has informed her career since, from the open-hearted collaborations of her constantly shapeshifting musical releases to the creation of a new xylophone, a non-traditional instrument she handmade under Jamie Linwood’s mentorship.
bexburch.com
instagram.com/bex_burch
