OPTION: Nick Dunston

For his OPTION debut Nick Dunston performs “banjer,“ an experimental electro-acoustic solo project that seeks to explore alternative approaches and contexts to the banjo.

‘banjer’ reimagines the historically Afro-diasporic instrument by resonating it with live sound via audio transducers, and then using tools and techniques such as feedback, live sampling, and the human voice as a means of reclaiming and reembodying this widely misunderstood and nuanced instrument.

This performance and interview are presented in the ESS garden, and will be premiered online on ESS's YouTube.

The OPTION series is curated by Ken Vandermark, Lily Finnegan, and Andrew Clinkman.

Sunday, June 30

Doors at 2pm, Music at 3pm

Experimental Sound Studio Garden
5925 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago

Nick Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist. Called an “indispensable player on the New York avant-garde" (New York Times), his performances have spanned a variety of venues and festivals across North America and Europe. His work explores notions of ancestral memory, embodiment, and Afro-surrealism.

As a collaborator he has worked with artists such as Marc Ribot, Ches Smith, Vijay Iyer, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey, Moor Mother, JACK Quartet, Son Lux, Ingrid Laubrock, Wet Ink Ensemble, Craig Taborn, Dave Douglas, Allison Miller, Wendy Eisenberg, Lotte Anker, Darius Jones, Mette Rasmussen, Elliott Sharp, Sofia Jernberg, Jim Black, Achim Kaufmann, Lucrecia Dalt, Joy Guidry, Imani Uzuri, Anna Webber, and Amirtha Kidambi.

In addition to seven albums released under his name, as a composer Dunston has been commissioned by artists and organizations such as Wet Ink Ensemble, Bang on a Can, JACK Quartet, A L'ARME! Festival, Ex-Aequo, Bass Players for Black Composers, Tenth Intervention, Johnny Gandelsman, T R O M P O, Gaudeamus Festival, PULSE String Quartet, and Ekmeles. In 2019 he was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship by Roulette, which supported the creation of the trans-media song cycle La Operación, the double bass quintet piece The Floor is Lava!, and his debut studio album, Atlantic Extraction, which was referred to as “the debut of 2019” (JazzTimes Magazine). In 2020 in collaboration with Dogbotic Labs, he co-created “Ear Re-training”, a music composition course focusing on media-bending experimental techniques and concepts. Dunston was featured as the inaugural Artists-in-Residence with Wet Ink Ensemble for the 2021-2022 season, where he created his 14-piece ensemble work Reverse Broadcast, himself performing on double bass, live-processed radio, and improvised Conduction.

He released his trio album Spider Season in 2022 in which Pitchfork Magazine noted “Even in a trio setting, Dunston’s curiosity creates a plethora of possibilities. No two songs of his ever sound alike.” His performing and improvising can also be heard on the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All At Once, which won the Oscar that year for Best Original Score. His most recent album, COLLA VOCE was released in 2024, and regarded “As strong as his previous work has been, this new juggernaut, which he bills as an “Afro-Surrealist Anti-Opera,” achieves new heights. I’ve never heard anything like it .” Nick Dunston has given artist talks and presented his works at academic institutions such as The University of Southern California, California Institute of the Arts, The University of Iowa, and Stony Brook University. He was nominated for the Deutscher Jazzpreis (German Jazz Prize) in 2023 and 2024. Dunston currently resides and maintains an active presence in both the Berlin and New York experimental music scenes.

http://www.nickdunston.info/

OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a 'salon' format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform. Click here for past OPTION performances.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Experimental Sound Studio, 5925 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, United States