About
artists who will be featured in the festival
Ken Butler
Brooklyn, NY-based Ken Butler, has been performing since 1978 on hybrid musical instrumentscreated primarily from urban detritus such as tennis rackets, hockey sticks, umbrellas, axes, snow shovels, rakes and discarded metal. Doubling as assemblage sculptures, these “anxious objects” are amplified with contact microphones, transforming them into touch-sensitive instruments. Ken Butler performs original music influenced by Indian Raga, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music mixed with a “downtown NYC” improvisation aesthetic, held together by African-American jazz, rock, funk,and blues.
Ken Butler’s sculptural “hybrid instruments” will be featured as an exhibition at the Illini Union Board Art Gallery.
Douglas Ewart
Passionate about environmental issues, Ewart performs on flutes, reeds and didjeridu, all handcrafted from found materials, and often incorporates earth conscience poetry with his brand of cross-cultural, avant-jazz. As an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians founded in 1965, including Ewart in Fall 2015 programming also celebrates 50 years of the of the most influential organizations to rise out of Chicago’s Black Arts Movement.
Tom Nunn
In his late 60’s, Nunn rarely performs outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 1976, he has been building and performing on handcrafted instruments utilizing recycled and repurpose materials. An example of this can be found in his amplified Skatch boxes made of cardboard boxes with objects such as washers, combs, toothpicks, bronze rod, dowel, etc. taped or glued to the exterior that are played with various modified combs.
Berimbau Bandit and the Caxixikid
Percussion Duo featuring local musicians Chad Dunn and Jason Finkelman. They perform on handcrafted Brazilian and African instruments made from recycled
materials.
Tony Taylor from Ascendent Instruments
Builder of handmade cigar box guitars, tube amps, and accessories for musicians. Works include cigar box guitars,banjos,mandolins,ukeleles,and bass instruments.
