Bragmilwaukee 20230810 213453 @ Sugar Maple Thollem McDonas, Matthew Lux & Avreeayl Ra Pt 3 of 3

Don't miss this rare opportunity to experience Thollem McDonas, Matthew Lux & Avreeayl Ra perform as a trio in the Sugar Maple back room doors 7:30 / show 8 pm. Bios: Thollem is a perpetually traveling pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, singer-songwriter, activist, author and teacher. He’s spent most of his life living on the road throughout North America and Europe. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with artists across idioms and disciplines along his travels. Thollem’s known inter-nationally as an acoustic piano player in the free jazz and post-classical worlds, as the lead vocalist for the Italian agit-punk band Tsigoti, as an electronic keyboardist through a multitude of projects and as the long-term temporary guida of the Sicilian Improvisers Orchestra. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Thollem began playing the piano, composing and improvising as a child, absorbing the sounds of his culturally diverse upbringing. As an adult he has continued to incorporate the breadth of musics he has experienced on his extensive travels. Since 2005, he has played over 2,500 concerts throughout N. America and Europe, releasing more than 100 albums on 26 different vanguard labels. A very brief cross section of his many collaborators include William Parker, Pauline Oliveros, Stefano Scodanibbio, Nels Cline, Rob Mazurek, Ravish Momin, Michael Wimberly, Mike Watt and Carmina Escobar. Thollem is a published author about art, politics and his travels in NewMusic Box, The Anthology of Essays On Deep Listening, Full Moon Magazine (Prague) and First American Art Magazine. Matthew Lux (b. Chicago, Illinois, USA, April 14, 1973) is a bassist who is internationally renowned for his work across a range of genres including jazz, experimental, electronic, rock, and R&B. Lux’s career is defined by his staunch belief that no style of music is more or less serious than any other. A founding member of the group Isotope 217 and student of W.A. Mathieu, Lux has collaborated with a wide range of musicians including Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Dixon, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Anderson, Fred Hopkins, Jimmy Cliff, Iron & Wine, Bill Callahan, Plush, Azita, Tranquility Bass, Peven Everett, Jack Black, Nobukazu Takemura, George Freeman, and Eddie Kirkland. Downbeat magazine’s Critics Poll repeatedly named Lux a “rising star on electric bass,” and in 2014 he was featured in Bass Player Magazine. In 2017 he released his debut album, Contra/Fact, on Astral Spirits. Avreeayl Ra (b. 1947) is a master drummer from Chicago and long term member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) who has performed and recorded with a dynamic range of leading artists in progressive and avant-garde jazz including Sun Ra, Fred Anderson, Lester Bowie, Oscar Brown, Jr., Ari Brown, Nicole Mitchell and Dave Rempis, among many others. Chicago Tribune music critic Howard Reich wrote, “An indispensable Chicago innovator, Avreeayl Ra shapes the music-making swirling around him with remarkable precision and poise... extraordinarily sensitive percussion.” See less Milwaukee, Wisconsin