Outside The Spotlight presents Ballister and Sparks Color Time

Ballister is a free-wheeling trio of Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, Fred Lonberg-Holm on amplified cello, and Dave Rempis on saxophone. First convened in 2009, these OTS favorites combines driving grooves with noisy textures and occasional melodic interjections. Reference points include the Julius Hemphill groups of the 70's and 80's featuring Abdul Wadud, Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, and the early-70's explorations of Miles Davis' electric bands.

SPARKS COLOR TIME responds to preoccupations with Possibility, as 'grateful' rather than 'avant garde' or gymnastic. Inspired by Trane's mid-career axiology, an inversion of Raleigh Daleigh's 'masterless effort' banter, and the vigil called music (in which care-filled listening attends care-filled listening) - Color Time here features the great local listener and drummer Nicholaus Diedrichsen. Kirby Davis, Zach Brock, and Kevin join Nick on about seven instruments to cultivate a non-frenetic free "somewhere between Ornette and Burt B." A suite of five tunes respectively in 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (called THE UNANSWERED ANSWER / "Ornate Back Rack") will be exposed and developed.

OTS #234

Ballister w/ Sparks Color Time

April 8, 2025 - 7:00pm

Lexington Art League at the Loudoun House