Renku – the kindred-spirit New York trio of saxophonist Michaël Attias, bassist John Hébert and drummer Satoshi Takeishi – was named after a collaborative, improvised form of Japanese poetry that balances freedom and precision. The trio makes music like its name: searching and empathetic, thoroughly in the moment, resonant with meaning. Founded in 2003, Renku has released three albums, toured Europe several times, and formed the core of other bands including Attias' Twines of Colesion, Nine, and Hébert's Bizantine Monkey. This concert will be the first to celebrate the 20th year of Renku's existence.
Michaël Attias has earned a reputation as one of the most questing and keenly collaborative figures on the 21st-century New York jazz scene, with a background and outlook that make him “an emphatically cosmopolitan saxophonist and composer,” according to The New York Times. Migrations spanning North Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe and the American Midwest ultimately brought Attias to New York City in 1994, where he continues to pursue his muse as improviser, composer and bandleader. As a leader, he has released eight albums, including the 2019 Out Of Your Head release échos la nuit (featuring Attias solo on alto saxophone and piano), and the 2017 Clean Feed debut of his Nerve Dance quartet with Aruán Ortiz, John Hébert and Nasheet Waits. His other projects include the longstanding collaborative trio RENKU with John Hébert and Satoshi Takeishi; Spun Tree with Ralph Alessi, Matt Mitchell, Sean Conly and Tom Rainey; and the new Lumisong Quartet with Santi Leibson, Matt Pavolka, and Mark Ferber. As a sideman, he has worked such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, Paul Motian, Oliver Lake, Masabumi Kikuchi, Anthony Coleman, Ralph Alessi, Tony Malaby, Kris Davis, Andy Milne, Fay Victor, and a host of others.
Michaël Attias: alto saxophone
John Hébert: bass
Satoshi Takeishi: drums
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