September 30, 2019
Doors At 7. Music At 7:30pm
“Chicago bassist and composer Nick Macri has led a prolific and highly varied career as both a leader and a sideman, making contributions on both electric and acoustic bass for ensembles and musicians as varied as The Zincs (Thrill Jockey), Ken Vandermark’s Audio One, The Horses Ha, and Stirrup with Fred Lonberg Holm and Charles Rumback. Tonight marks Nick’s debut on the Option stage.” -tim daisy/Option curator
Bassist Nick Macri has been exploring Chicago’s slipstream of creative music for decades from collaborative, creative groups and ad hoc improvised pairings, to notable sideman gigs and the rare solo excursion. He is a founding member of the collective trio Stirrup with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Charles Rumback and was a contributing member to many, varied groups including Ken Vandermark’s Audio One and Momentum 3: Monster Roster groups, instrumental explorers Euphone and Heroic Doses, art-pop quartet The Zincs, and the pastoral, psych-folk of The Horse's Ha (with Janet Bean and James Elkington). He has performed and toured as a sideman and recorded sessions with an eclectic list of artists including Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, The Sea and Cake, Nina Nastasia, Azita, Tim Kinsella, James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg, Wanees Zarour Ensemble, and visual artist Bruce Licher of Savage Republic. Additionally, he has improvised in duo or group settings with various musicians including Angel Bat Dawid, Bill MacKay, Eve Risser, Isaiah Collier, Avreeayl Ra, Sylvaine Hélary, Katherine Young, and many more. He has performed across Europe, Asia, South America, and North America including concerts at Saalfelden Jazz Festival (Austria), Festival de Musique Actuelle Victoriaville (Canada), Reading Festival and Leeds Festival (U.K.), World Music Festival Chicago, All Tomorrow's Parties (U.K.), the London Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Logan Center, and the Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago).