Coordinators

 

Mike Reed is a musician, composer and presenter based in Chicago.

As a drummer, Reed has been part of the vibrant Chicago jazz and improvised music community since 1997. He has performed regularly with David Boykin, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Axel Dörner, Josh Abrams, Jim Baker, Rob Mazurek, Tobias Delius and others. As a leader Reed has released two critically acclaimed albums by his cross-genre group The Treehouse Project, and 2006 will bring the debut recording by his quintet Loose Assembly as well as a record of improvised duets. He is currently a member of The David Boykin Expanse, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra and The Josh Berman Quartet.

For nearly a decade Reed has also established himself as a presenter of musical performances. In 2001 Reed founded the Emerging Improvisers' Organization, a not-for-profit whose weekly series of jazz and improvised music has been lauded as one of the finest in the Midwest. In December 2005 Reed was named one of Chicagoans of the Year by The Chicago Tribune for his work as lead organizer of the Intonation Music Festival.

 

Josh Berman is a cornetist, composer and presenter living in Chicago.

Performing on the cornet, he has collaborated with many of the great improvisers from Chicago and abroad, including: Fred Lonberg-Holm, Ab Baars, Guillermo Gregorio, Jeff Parker, Tobias Delius and Robert Barry. He has also performed as a member of Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Ken Vandermark's Crisis Ensemble and Jeb Bishop's Lucky 7s. He is co-leader of Chicago Luzern Exchange, whose debut on Delmark Records, "Several Lights", was chosen as one of the top ten local releases of 2005 in the Chicago Reader, and received three and a half stars in Downbeat. He composes for and leads the Josh Berman Quartet. As a member of many ensembles, he has toured widely in the US, Canada and Europe.

Berman is vice-president of the non-for-profit Emerging Improvisers' Organization that produces the Sunday Transmissions Series at the Hungry Brain. As co-curator of the series, he has produced over 200 concerts and five three-day festivals. He is also a founding member of Umbrella Music, a collective of musicians and presenters in Chicago that work together to provide concert opportunities for creative and improvising musicians.

 

Board of Directors