Sunday, April 3 – IMOO # 139: Epps/Hartshorn-Walton/Stewart

Photo credits: Ellwood Epps – Marek Lazarski, Jesse Stewart – Nate Storring

Ellwood Epps – trumpet
Keith Hartshorn-Walton – tuba
Jesse Stewart – drums & percussion

Montreal trumpeter Ellwood Epps has assembled this new trio for a debut performance at the IMOO series. He and Jesse have perfomed together for many years as members of the David Mott Quintet, and Ellwood and Keith have both been members of Nicolas Caloia’s large ensemble, the Ratchet Orchestra, which has been mainstay of Montreal’s creative music scene for more than a decade. Three virtuoso improvisers unite to ignite a world of musical experience together in the moment!

Ellwood Epps: Born in Toronto in 1976, trumpeter Ellwood Epps lives and works in Montreal, where he is a leading light on the improvised music scene. In addition to playing often with Montrealers Josh Zubot (Land of Marigold), Michel F Côté and Alexandre St-Onge (Pink Saliva), Nicolas Caloia (Ratchet Orchestra), John Heward (Murray Street Band), Lori Freedman, and Jean Derome, Epps has made music with Steve Lacy, William Parker, John Butcher, Henry Grimes, Axel Dörner, and Marshall Allen. He is co-director of the Festival of New Trumpet Music Canada, founded in 2014. He also teaches a popular series of improvised music workshops through the Studio d’Improvisation de Montreal which he cofounded in 2009.

Dr. Keith Hartshorn-Walton continues to explore new sounds and venues for the tuba. An advocate for jazz and for improvisation on the instrument, he has played in a wide array of musical settings, including performances with Peter Turner, the Ratchet Orchestra, the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, The Boxcar Boys, Acid Brass, R. Murray Schafer’s outdoor opera “The Enchanted Forest” and his own small ensemble collaborations. Music exploration is the reason, tuba is the medium.

Jesse Stewart is an award-winning percussionist, composer, improviser, artist, instrument builder, educator, and writer. As a musician, he works primarily in the areas of jazz, new music, and free improvisation. Stewart has a remarkable ability to coax unexpected—even magical—sounds out of virtually any resonating object or material. He has performed and/or recorded with musical luminaries George Lewis, Roswell Rudd, Bill Dixon, William Parker, Evan Parker, Joe Mcphee, Jandek, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Malcolm Goldstein, David Mott, Michael Snow, and many others. He is currently a member of the David Mott Quintet and the Juno award winning Stretch Orchestra, a trio with Kevin Breit and Matt Brubeck. He has been widely commissioned as a composer. His music has been featured at festivals throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe and is documented on over 20 recordings.