Ben Billington presents Whisker, a project with longtime collaborator Andrew Scott Young.
Walk-ins welcome; reservations recommended
Ben Billington's Whisker is a project with longtime collaborator Andrew Scott Young focusing on synthesizer and double bass improvisations. Their first LP Moon Mood was released on Ryley Walker's Husky Pants imprint in 2021 and they continue to perform regularly in Chicago today. It's first and foremost a duo collaboration, but often times friends are invited in to collaborate for live performances including Tyler Damon, Mai Sugimoto, Bill Harris, Carol Genetti, and more.
This performance and interview are presented in the ESS garden, and will be premiered online on ESS's YouTube.
The OPTION series is curated by Ken Vandermark, Lily Finnegan, and Andrew Clinkman.
About Ben Billington
Central to the Chicago experimental scene and its various veins across the midwest and national DIY circuit, Ben Billington has been championing freak music of all stripes for over a decade at this point. He has performed as a member of numerous ensembles including ONO, ADT, Circuit Des Yeux, Tiger Hatchery, Traysh, and Ryley Walker’s band. In an improvised setting, he has collaborated with a stable of musicians including John Olson (solo and with Wolf Eyes), Rhys Chatham, Mark Shippy (US Maple), Owen Gardner (Horse Lords), and Paul Flaherty. Billington’s role as Assistant Director at Chicago avant epicenter Elastic Arts and his co-curation of the venue The Hideout’s long-running Resonance Series has paired future-facing acts from around the world with Chicago’s finest to enrich the city’s thriving progressive music scene with stimuli of the highest order
About OPTION
OPTION is an ongoing music salon curated by Chicago musicians Andrew Clinkman, Lily Finnegan, and Ken Vandermark and presented by Experimental Sound Studio. Its programming explores contemporary perspectives on improvisation and composition in a 'salon' format, enabling local, national, and international artists to publicly discuss their practice and ideas as well as perform.
Parking
Street parking can be found easily around ESS on streets such as W. Thorndale. There are three parking spots directly in front of ESS on Ravenswood. On weekends, parking is also available along the front of Weber Furniture; please do not block the garage doors. Behind ESS through the alley, there are also two parking spots which we are happy to reserve for anyone with accessibility needs. Please get in touch with info@ess.org to reserve a spot.
During the OPTION series this summer, diagonal parking is available in the alley directly south of ESS and Weber Furniture Service.
Accessibility
ESS has wheelchair seating and accessible bathrooms on both floors.
Please note that once on one floor, there is no ADA-accessible path inside the building to switch between floors; you will have to exit the building and reenter from the respective floor entrance. Our front entrance on Ravenswood leads you to our 1st floor (Audible Gallery, Studio A, Live Room), while our alley entrance leads you to the basement/garden (garden shows, Creative Audio Archive, Studio B).
To reserve accessible seating or parking, request other accommodations, or ask us any accessibility-related questions, please email info@ess.org.
The performance is sponsored in part by WDCB
