December 6, 2020 at 1pm
The Bridge #2.04: Fanny Lasfargues, Macie Stewart and Damon Locks
French-American exchange network The Bridge was supposed to be in Chicago this fall but the current state of the world kept us "in lockdown" back in France. We are locked down but not locked away. During these strange times, we're working on imagining other forms of events and experiences.
The group that was to tour in Chicago this Fall is The Bridge #2.04, featuring Morgane Carnet, Jozef Dumoulin, Fanny Lasfargues, Damon Locks & Macie Stewart.
On Dec. 6, as part of our longtime partner Experimental Sound Studio's Quarantine Concert Series, Fanny Lasfargues, Macie Steward and Damon Locks will perform on Dec. 6th a short solo followed by a duo, like a foreword to a tour that will still place next year.
Fanny Lasfargues is a double bassist, bassist, improviser. Enriched by diverse experiences and multiple influences, her research work on sound and improvisation allows her to use today a wide range of sounds, both electric and acoustic. Thus, she goes from minimal improvisation to the powerful sounds of rock and noise, through grooves with hiphop connotations, and experiments on stage in numerous musical encounters with Noel Akchoté, Sophie Agnel, Jérôme Noetinger, Alexandra Grimal, Akosh S, and others...
Macie Stewart is a multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger, songwriter, and improviser based in Chicago, IL who Downbeat Magazine calls “a master of equilibrium.” She grew up taking formal lessons in piano and violin, but quickly gravitated towards any instrument she could, inspired by the rich variety of genres the city had to offer.
Her work as a session musician includes arranging and/or performing strings for artists ranging from SZA (For the Grammy Nominated Record, CTRL), to indie-rock groups like Lala Lala and Whitney to singer-songwriter Steve Gunn. She also has written music/lyrics for various artists, including a co-write with Chance the Rapper and Rebecca Sugar on the song “True Kind of Love” from the Steven Universe Movie Original Soundtrack.
As an improvised musician she has performed in concert with Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid, Makaya McCraven, and many others in the world of jazz and freely-improvised music. She currently also plays in an improvised duo alongside cellist Lia Kohl.
Stewart’s true passion lies in the cross-pollination of genre: taking inspiration from one field of work and applying it to another. This love of exploration has garnered praise from Downbeat Magazine, NPR, Pitchfork, Spin Magazine, and many more publications both nationally and internationally. May 2020 marks her band Ohmme's most recent release, Fantasize Your Ghost (Joyful Noise Recordings - June 2020). Stewart is a Hammond Organ USA Artist.
Photo by Maren Celest
Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist/musician. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago where he received his BFA in fine arts. Since 2014 he has been working with Prisons and Neighborhood Arts Project at Stateville Correctional Center teaching art. He is a recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Achievement Award in the Arts and the 2016 MAKER Grant. He operated as an Artist Mentor in the Chicago Artist Coalition program FIELD/WORK. In 2017 he became a Soros Justice Media Fellow. In 2019, he became a 3Arts Awardee. Currently he works as an artist in residence as a part of the Museum of Contemporary Arts' SPACE Program, introducing civically engaged art into the curriculum at the high school, Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. Damon leads a group entitled Black Monument Ensemble and is a founding member of the group The Eternals. He is also the vocalist of Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra.
Photo by Sebastián Hidalgo