The Jazz Gallery Presents: Peter Evans

Photo courtesy of the artist.

This Friday, September 30, trumpeter Peter Evans returns to The Jazz Gallery with his ensemble. This weekend’s lineup reflects Evans’s straddling of the improvisation and contemporary classical communities in New York. While saxophonist Caroline Davis and bassist Nick Jozwiak are jazz scene stalwarts, Evans met flutist Alice Teyssier, percussionist Levy Lorenzo, and composer Sam Pluta through playing in groups like the International Contemporary Ensemble and Wet Ink.

In an interview with Jazz Speaks last year, Evans spoke about composing music both highly detailed and open for exploratory improvisation.

I'm trying to foreground in the music something about improvisation that speaks to this idea of jumping off the cliff and actually being comfortable with that. The paradox with that idea is that the better you know the music, the more easily you can access that space as a band. It’s like being able to make something a slam dunk, but willfully trying something else that could fail, and just enjoying how that feels. 

Something I noticed from playing [Anthony] Braxton's music for instance—I did a thing with Wet Ink Ensemble where we played his Composition… I think it was 56. You get all this secondary material and there's paper all over the stage and at a certain point, you're floating away on your little raft and you don't know what everybody else is doing. There can be these magical moments where like 35 minutes later, you're in the weeds, trying to get through something, and you realize that you're in unison with the whole band now. How did this happen!?

That’s a way Braxton has found a use of notation and composition to guide you into a certain space of spontaneity in life, and I think that's great. 

Before checking out Evans’s varied set of music at the Gallery, check out his other band “Being and Becoming” performing live last summer at Cologne Jazz Week in Germany.

The Peter Evans Ensemble plays The Jazz Gallery on Friday, September 30, 2022. The group features Mr. Evans on trumpet, Alice Teyssier on flutes & voice, Caroline Davis on saxophone, Nick Jozwiak on bass, Levy Lorenzo on percussion, and Sam Pluta on live electronics. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. $20 general admission (FREE for members), $30 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members), for each set. $20 for livestream access (FREE for members). Purchase tickets here.