482 Music - Jason Roebke

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Jason Roebke

Rapid Croche is Aram Shelton, Tim Daisy and Jason Roebke. Jason Roebke is a bassist and composer living in Chicago. He is active in the groups tigersmilk (Rob Mazurek and Dylan van der Schyff), The Valentine Trio (Fred Lonberg-Holm and Glenn Kotche), Terminal 4 (Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jeb Bishop, Ben Vida), and his own Rapid Croche (Aram Shelton and Tim Daisy). In 2002, the Vancouver International Jazz Festival invited him to perform with Francois Houle, Han Bennink, Marc Ducret, Gail Brand's Lunge, and others. Roebke collaborates with dancer Ayako Kato in the group Art Union Humanscape. While in Japan, he has also performed with musicians Taku Sugimoto, Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura, Masahiko Okura, and Utah Kawasaki. Roebke has recorded for Atavistic, CRI, Family Vineyard, Improvised Music From Japan, nuscope, and Truckstop. Aram Shelton started playing tenor saxophone when he was ten years old, repeatedly enduring the comment "that thing is as big as you are". Later switching to alto, Shelton moved to Chicago in 1999 and has been an active member of the creative music scene. In the past four years he has added clarinet to his arsenal, and as a composer has begun to incorporate electronics into his music. In addition to Rapid Croche, Aram performs with Daisy and Jason Ajemian in Dragons 1976, and with Johnathan Crawford in the duo Grey Ghost. He has performed with Matt Bauder's Weary Already of the Way, The Chicago Improvisers Group, Keefe Jackson's Project Project and Scott Rosenberg's Large Ensemble. He has performed with Guillermo Gregorio, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Matt Lux, Jacopo Andreini, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Jeff Parker, Ernst Karel, Doug Scharin, Steven Bernstein, Chris Jonas, Dave Pavkovic, Marc Unternauer, Jim Baker, Josh Abrams, and Todd Margasak. Tim Daisy has been very busy on the Chicago improvised music scene since 1997. Current projects he is involved in include: the Vandermark 5, Triage, Dragons 1976, Wrack, The Chicago Improvisers Group, and Unclocked. He has performed and/or collaborated with, among others: Joe McPhee, Jeb Bishop, Daniel D'agaro, Ernst Karel, Jason Ajemian, Matt Bauder, and Fred Lonberg-Holm.

Rapid Croche (2003)
"...a dominant statement...overflows with ultra-rich textures...an exciting challenge to seekers of what's new under the sun." -AAJ

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"... a strong and supple player... carrying the AACM legacy forward into the post-rock milieu." — Nate Doward, Cadence

"Roebke's sound is up there with the greatest improvisers -- players like William Parker, Barry Guy and the late Peter Kowald." — Omar Khalid, Creative Loafing

"...he gets a plosive jazz attack when he wants to and a fat writhing tone once the string is set vibrating. Sensitive to sudden changes in speed or texture, he burrows into the middle of things and makes the other improvised lines seem like offshoots of his. He takes the same approach in Rapid Croche, a trio with drummer Tim Daisy and Aram Shelton on alto sax and E-flat clarinet that shows how the old south-side AACM avant-garde continues to influence north-side progressives. Anthony Braxton's leapy melodies and wide voicings are in there, as is Air's equilateral approach---the scored frames suggest rhythmic or thematic motifs to pursue, and anyone can steer or take the foreground." — Kevin Whitehead, Chicago Reader

Jason Roebke on 482 Music

Jason Roebke website

Kathodik interview