Check out the new OPTION Report! It compiles all the videos and interviews from this year’s OPTION series along with various press mentions and other fun info!
Read MoreA Review of Ben Hall and Kaleigh Wilder at Experimental Sound Studio
Read MoreFollowing three years as a virtual series and in various partner venues throughout the city, in 2023 OPTION returns home to ESS’s studio and garden in Chicago’s far north side.
Read MoreIn this September 2017 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Ballake Sissoko & Nicole Mitchell discuss early experiences with music, improvising across musical traditions, and working in different languages.
Read MoreIn this June 2017 conversation with Seth Kim-Cohen, Lou Mallozzi improvises his way through an intertwined performance and interview.
Read MoreIn this September 2021 conversation with Andrew Clinkman, Jessica Ackerley talks about playing clean electric guitar, the role of enjoyment in playing music and collaborating with Shane Parish in Hawai'i.
Read MoreIn this August 2020 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Magda Mayas talks about her early musical influences from her family and seeing Cecil Taylor, shares her experience being a student of Misha Mengelberg, and discusses her techniques working with a prepared piano.
Read MoreThis week's Option Talks podcast episode features pianist and composer Mabel Kwan. In this conversation from 2019, Mabel talks with Tim Daisy about who and what influences her music, and how she works at the intersection of multiple musical genres.
Read MoreIn this October 2015 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Terrie Ex and Andy Moor discuss the several social, political and creative scenes in Amsterdam that shaped them, the longevity of The EX, and shines light on the bureaucracy of international artists to be in the United States to share their music.
Read MoreIn this March 2021 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Jim O'Rourke talks about 1980s and '90s Chicago music, the impact of studying on creativity, and his move to Japan. This episode features a playlist assembled by Jim.
Read MoreIn this November 2021 conversation with Andrew Clinkman, Karen Ng talks about her technical exploration as a saxophonist, her ups and downs of her musical education, and they both discuss the similarities and differences of the Chicago v. Toronto scenes.
Read MoreIn this October 2018 conversation with Andrew Clinkman, Greg Kelley talks about developing a palette of sounds for the trumpet, the importance of context and narrative to an improvised set, and seeing how much “music” can be taken out of music.
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