Outside The Spotlight: Michael Foster's The Ghost

Outside The Spotlight, in conjunction with 2nd Story and WRFL 88.1 FM Lexington, features another fearless improvisational performance. NYC composer and saxophonist Michael Foster is joined by his chimaeric ensemble The Ghost which "focuses on unpacking and celebrating the free jazz tradition from a queer perspective."  OTS #225 // Friday April 26 // doors open 6:30pm, show starts 7pm admission = FREE, suggested donation $5-$10, all ages welcome

About

Michael Foster is a saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist working in the fields of free improvisation, noise, free jazz, graphic & video notation, performance art, and other forms of weird music.

Foster utilizes extensive instrumental preparations, augmenting his saxophone with amplification, objects, balloons, drum heads, vibrators, tapes, and samples as a method of subverting and queering the instrument’s history and traditional roles.

​In addition to his work as a performer he is also active as a curator throughout New York City, co-founding "Queer Trash," a curatorial collective focusing on providing visibility to LGBTQIA+ performers engaged in experimental performance practices. In 2018, "Queer Trash" was the Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow for Issue Project Room, producing a year's worth of performances that ranged from harsh noise to fashion.

His current ensembles include duos with cellist Leila Bordreuil, percussionist Ben Bennett, poet/vocalist Lydia Lunch, Richard Kamerman (as The New York Review of Cocksucking), Ted Byrnes, Dane Rousay, The Ghost (with Zach Rowden & Derek Baron), Barker Trio (with Tim Dahl, & Andrew Barker), While We Still Have Bodies (with Sean Ali, Ben Gerstein, & Flin van Hemmen), Weasel Walter Large Ensemble, and many others. In addition to these longstanding projects he often collaborates with Sarah Hennies, Marina Rosenfeld, Weasel Walter, Han Bennink, Joe McPhee, William Parker, Luke Stewart, Brandon Lopez, Dave Rempis, Katherine Young, Michael Zerang, James Ilgenfritz, Pascal Niggenkemper, Mette Rasmussen, and many others. 

Selected notable venues he's performed at include, MoMA PS1 (NYC), Bowling Green State University New Music Festival (Ohio), The Stone (NYC), Issue Project Room (NYC), Roulette (NYC), BimHuis (NL), Jazzfestival Groningen (NL), Fabrica Braço de Prata (PT), Death By Audio (NYC), Studio Loos (NL), Betalevel (Los Angeles), Webster Hall (NYC), XI20 (LT), Jazzclub Erfurt (DE), and many more.