Music & Performance

JazzPOP: Empty Cage Quartet

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JazzPOP enters its sixth year of jazz without borders at the Hammer, bringing three wildly inventive and daringly original groups to perform in the courtyard on the first three Thursdays in August. Curated by San Francisco bassist Lisa Mezzacappa.

Empty Cage Quartet

"This music is a sinuous dance, but one where every move, every exit and entry, every bob and weave, is made with razor-sharp precision." —Signal to Noise

The omnivorous and wily music of the Empty Cage Quartet combines an experimentalist‘s curiosity with the rowdy mischievousness of the best improvised music—navigating shuffle swing and free jazz blowouts, minimalist percussion loops and complex modernist gestures, funky stomps, and angular grooves. The band revels in chemistry and sound—saxophonist Jason Mears, trumpeter Kris Tiner, bassist Ivan Johnson, and drummer Paul Kikuchi have been at it together for nearly 10 years, scattered around the country in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles.

Public programs are made possible by Hammer Members and the generosity of Bronya and Andrew Galef, Good Works Foundation and Laura Donnelley, and an anonymous donor.