Ken Vandermark
USA 1964, He is an avant-garde composer, improviser, saxophonist/clarinetist, curator, and writer; in 1999 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in music.
He moved to Chicago from Boston in 1989 and has worked continuously from the early 1990s onward, both as a performer and organizer in North America, Europe, Latin America, Japan, and Ethiopia, recording in a large array of contexts, with many internationally renowned musicians.
His current group activity includes the bands Edition Redux, Lean Left, The DKV Trio, DEK, his large ensemble Entr’acte, the ongoing Momentum projects; duos with Terrie Ex, Christof Kurzmann, Damon Locks, Paal Nilssen-Love, Mars Williams, and Nate Wooley; and work as a solo performer. Ken co-founded Catalytic Sound in 2012, an organization dedicated to the economic sustainability of creative improvising musicians and has been its director since then. In 2014 he began Audiographic Records, an independent music label. Since June of 2015 Ken has been co-curator of Option, a music and interview series held at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. Half of each year is spent touring in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Japan; his concerts and numerous recordings have been critically acclaimed at home and abroad.
Discography
35mm
by The Frame Quartet
4 Corners
by 4 Corners
A Discontinuous Line
by The Vandermark 5
A Meeting in Chicago
by Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark / Kent Kessler
A New Margin
by Side A
Acoustic Machine
by The Vandermark 5
Airports For Light
by The Vandermark 5
Alchemia
by The Vandermark 5
All Directions Home
by Nate Wooley & Ken Vandermark
All Night Burner
by The Crown Royals
American Landscapes 1
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
American Landscapes 2
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
AMR
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
Amsterdam Funk
by Free Fall
An International Report
by Audio One
Annular Gift
by The Vandermark 5
Artifact: Live In St. Johann
by iTi
At Molde 2007
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
Atlas
by Territory Band-2
Atomic/School Days at the Green Mill
from Dan Grzeca
Audio One Tour Poster
from Cricket Press
August Music
by Tim Daisy & Ken Vandermark
Back In the Game
by Syl Johnson and Hi Rhythm
Baraka
by DKV Trio
Be Music, Night
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
Beat Reader
by The Vandermark 5
Before the Code
by Made to Break
Before the Code: Live
by Made to Break
Bejazzo Gets a Facelift
by NRG Ensemble
Better A Rook Than a Pawn
by Edition Redux
Big Head Eddie
by The Vandermark Quartet
Black-and-Red Immediate Sound Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Blonk, Mallozzi & Vandermark
by Jaap Blonk / Lou Mallozzi / Ken Vandermark
Blow Horn
by FJF
BO NY CH Festival 2019
from Ken Vandermark
Broken English
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet Plus Two
Broken Music
by Fire Room
Brooklyn Cantos
by Gold Sparkle Trio With Ken Vandermark
Burn the Incline
by The Vandermark 5
Burning River Melting Sea (Égő Folyó Olvadó Tenger)
by Ken Vandermark / István Grencsó / Róbert Benkő
Cafe Oto / London
by Sonore
Caffeine
by Jim Baker / Steve Hunt / Ken Vandermark
Call Before You Dig
by Sonore
Calling All Mothers
by NRG Ensemble
Cement
by Double Tandem
Cherchez La Femme
by Made to Break
Chicago Tentet Woodcut Poster
from Brotzmann Chicago Tentet
Chicago Volume
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
CINC
by Paul Lytton / Ken Vandermark / Phillipp Wachsmann
Cinc Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Close Up (For Abbas Kiarostami)
by Ken Vandermark & Lasse Marhaug
Collected Fiction
by Ken Vandermark with Kent Kessler, Nate McBride, Wilbert De Joode & Ingebrigt Haker Flaten
Collide
by Territory Band-6 with Fred Anderson
Collider
by The DKV Thing Trio
Company Switch
by Territory Band-4
Consequent Duos: series 2a
by Tim Daisy & Ken Vandermark
Consequent Duos: series 2b
by Joe Morris & Ken Vandermark
Consequent Duos: series 2c
by Ikue Mori & Ken Vandermark
Consequent Duos: series 2d
by Fred Lonberg-Holm & Ken Vandermark
Consequent Duos: series 2e
by Ken Vandermark & Christof Kurzmann
Consequent Duos: series 2f
by Jaap Blonk & Lou Mallozzi with Ken Vandermark
Construct 1 : Stone
by DEK Trio
Construct 2 : Artacts
by DEK Trio
Construct 3 : Divadlo 29
by DEK Trio
Crossing Division
by School Days
Cuts
by FME
Deep Telling
by DKV Trio with Joe Morris
Deeply Discounted II / Sequences of Snow
by Ken Vandermark & Nate Wooley
Dimensional Stack Up [CAA-013]
by Ben Hall / Joe Morris / Ken Vandermark
Dispatch to the Sea
by Made to Break
Distant Cousins
by Paul Lytton & Ken Vandermark
Distil
by Atomic / School Days
Do Not Slam The Door!
by Grenscó Collective Special 5 with Ken Vandermark
Double Arc
by The Resonance Ensemble
Double Or Nothing
by AALY Trio / DKV Trio
Drink, Don’t Drown
by The Vandermark 5
Dual Pleasure
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
Dual Pleasure 2
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
East by Northwest
by by Nate Wooley & Ken Vandermark
Eightball
by The Vandermark Quartet
Elements of Style… Exercises in Surprise
by The Vandermark 5
English Suites
by Ken Vandermark & Paul Lytton
Enormous Door
by The Ex & Brass Unbound
Escalator
by Ken Vandermark / Klaus Kugel / Mark Tokar
Exit...Stage Left! [CAA-035]
by Cinghiale
Expansion Slang
by Tripleplay
Exposure Quintet
by Luke Stewart
Extended Duos
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
F4 Fake
by Made to Break
FME North America Tour, 2005
from Ken Vandermark
Foreground Music
by Ken Vandermark & Pandelis Karayorgis
Fox Fire
by Ken Vandermark / Barry Guy / Mark Sanders
Fred Anderson / DKV Trio
by DKV Trio
Free Jazz Classics Vol. 1 & 2
by The Vandermark 5
Free Jazz Classics Vol. 3 & 4
by The Vandermark 5
Furnace
by Free Fall
Furniture Music
by Ken Vandermark
Gambit
by Tripleplay
Gate
by Sound in Action Trio
Goofy June Bug
by Ab Baars Trio + Ken Vandermark
Gray Scale
by Free Fall
Head Above Water/Feet Out Of The Fire
by The Resonance Ensemble
Hidden In The Stomach
by AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark
Homework 1: (For Muhal Richard Abrams, Curtis Mayfield & Dinah Washington)
by Marker
Hoofbeats of the Snorting Swine
by Cinghiale
Ideas
by Ken Vandermark feat Marcin Oleś & Bartłomiej Brat Oleś
Images
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
Immediate Sound
by The Thing & Ken Vandermark
Immediate Sound “Cyclone” Poster
from Cricket Press
Immediate Sound Poster
from Dan Gzerca
Impressions of Po Music
by Ken Vandermark's Topology Nonet Featuring Joe McPhee
In Our Times
by School Days
In the Abstract
by Side A
International Front
by Steelwool Trio
Invitation To a Dream
by Susan Alcorn / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark
Japan 2019
by Paal Nilssen-Love & Ken Vandermark
Japan Tour 2024: Live in Osaka [CAA-064]
by Paal Nilssen-Love & Ken Vandermark Duo
Jon Vanderlander Trio
by Jon Vanderlander Trio
Journal
by Bridge 61
Kafka In Flight
by The Resonance Ensemble
Koniec
by Sebastiaan Janssen, Hubert Kostkiewicz, Ken Vandermark & Marta Warelis
Kozmik Bazaar
by Konstrukt / Ken Vandermark
Last Train To The First Station
by Reed Trio
Latitude 41.88
by DKV Trio
Letter to a Stranger
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
Light on the Wall
by Ken Vandermark & Tim Daisy
Like Rays
by Joe Morris / Ken Vandermark / Hans Poppel
Line 26
by Hoxha
Live
by DKV Trio
Live at Area Sismica
by Lean Left
Live at Cafe Oto
by Lean Left
Live at Glenn Miller Cafe
by FME
Live at the Empty Bottle
by Witches & Devils
Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe
by AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark
Live in Sant’ Anna Arresi
by Summit Quartet
Made To Break Buenos Aires 2018 Poster
from Federico Peñalva
Map Theory
by Territory Band-3
Mark In the Water
by Ken Vandermark
Medemer
by Lean Left
Milwaukee Volume
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
Momentum 1 : Stone
by Ken Vandermark
Momentum 2 & 3: Brüllt and Monster Roster
by Ken Vandermark
Momentum 4: Consequent Duos 2015>2019
by Ken Vandermark
Momentum 5: Stammer (triptych)
by Ken Vandermark
Montage
by FME
Moulin Vert Improvisations [CAA-014]
by VWCR
Mutations/Multicellulars Mutations
by Rara Avis
N N N
by Made to Break
Neutrons
by DK3
New Horse For the White House
by Territory Band-5
New Industries
by Marker
Nine Ways to Read a Bridge
by Ken Vandermark
No One Ever Works Alone
by Sonore
No-Exit Corner
by Ken Vandermark / Klaus Kugel / Mark Tokar
Nuclear Assembly Hall
by Atomic / School Days
Occasional Poems
by Barry Guy & Ken Vandermark
Open Border
by Ken Vandermark / Hamid Drake / Gianni Trovalusci / Luigi Ceccarelli
Oslo / Chicago: Breaks
by Powerhouse Sound
Overlap
by Powerhouse Sound
OX
by Double Tandem
Past Present
by DKV Trio
Peace and Fire
by Mats Gustafsson
Pescado
by The Margots
Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet – Small woodcut Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet 10th Anniversary Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Pink and Black Vandermark 5 Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy
by c.o.d.e.
Point In a Line
by Free Fall
Poster of the Catalytic Sound Festival 2022, Chicago
from Dan Grzeca
Powerhouse Sound at The Empty Bottle, 2008
from Ken Vandermark
Prime Numbers [CAA-038]
by Paul Lytton, Joe McPhee & Ken Vandermark
Provoke
by Made to Break
Radiale
by Zu & Spaceways Inc.
Rara Avis
by Rara Avis
Real Time
by Steam
Rebus
by Joe Morris / Ken Vandermark / Luther Gray
Redux [CAA-001]
by Caffeine
Resistance
by Fred Lonberg-Holm & Ken Vandermark
Resonance Ensemble – Live at Chicago Jazz Festival 2012
from Dan Grzeca
Roadwork 1 / Roadwork 2 / Homework 1 (3CD Box Set)
by Marker
Roadwork 1: New Orleans (For Ed Blackwell, Irma Thomas & Allen Toussaint)
by Marker
Roadwork 2: Atlanta (For James Brown, Marion Brown and Mary Lou Williams)
by Marker
Scaffolding
by Ken Vandermark & Terrie Ex
Schlager
by C. Spencer Yeh & Ken Vandermark
Screen Off
by Paal Nilssen-Love & Ken Vandermark
Second Breath
by Fire Room
Seven
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
Shelter
by Shelter
Short Visit To Nowhere
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet Plus Two
Signal Otherwise [CAA-067]
by Jeff Arnal, Ken Vandermark & Bonnie Han Jones
Signs
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
Simpatico
by The Vandermark 5
Single Piece Flow
by he Vandermark 5
Site Specific
by Ken Vandermark
Sketches & Ballads
by Full Blast & Friends
Snapshots: Complete
by Ken Vandemark
Snapshots: Volume 1 | Japan
by Ken Vandermark
Snapshots: Volume 2 | Austria
by Ken Vandermark
Snapshots: Volume 3 | Brazil
by Ken Vandermark
Snapshots: Volume 4 | Poland
by Ken Vandermark
Soigne Ta Droite
by Entr'acte
Solid Action
by The Vandermark Quartet
Sonore poster
from Ken Vandermark
Sople
by The Margots
Sound American No. 27: The Life Issue
from Nate Wooley
Sound In Motion In Sound
by DKV Trio
Splinters
by Ken Vandermark & Terrie Hessels
Standards
by Ken Vandermark
Strade d’Acqua/Roads of Water
by Ken Vandermark
Straight Lines
by Ken Vandermark's Joe Harriott Project
Stumble
by AALY Trio + Ken Vandermark
Target Or Flag
by The Vandermark 5
The Chicago Octet/Tentet
by Peter Brötzmann
The Color Of Memory
by The Vandermark 5
The Conversation
by Ken Vandermark & Tim Daisy
The Ex “Saxophones” Poster
from Ken Vandermark
The Ex & Ken Vandermark at Lincoln Hall 2011 Poster
from Dan Grzeca
The Ex at Bimhuis (1991-2015)
by The Ex
The Fire Each Time
by DKV Trio + Joe McPhee
The Horse Jumps And The Ship Is Gone
by The Vandermark 5 Special Edition
The Lions Have Eaten One of the Guards
by Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love
The Midwest School
by Audio One
The Nows
by Paul Lytton / Nate Wooley + Ikue Mori & Ken Vandermark
The Resonance Ensemble
by The Resonance Ensemble
The Vandermark Five & Atomic
from Yeehaw Industries
The Vandermark Five, Green Mill, 2005
from Dan Grzeca
The Vandermark Five, Philadelphia, 2004
from Ken Vandermark
Thinking On One’s Feet
by The Vandermark 5
Thirteen Cosmic Standards
by Spaceways Incorporated
Totaal
by Details in the Air
Transatlantic Bridge
by Territory Band-1
Trébuchet
by Made To Break
Trigonometry
by DKV Trio
Triptych
by Tim Daisy / Michael Thieke / Ken Vandermark
Two Days in December
by Ken Vandermark
Underground
by FME
Utility Hitter
by Barrage Double Trio
Vandermark 5 – Sala Rossa 2009
from Ken Vandermark
Vandermark 5 – Sala Rossa 2010
from Ken Vandermark
Vandermark 5 at Onopa Brewing Company poster
from Ken Vandermark
Vandermark 5 at Underlying Themes
from Cricket Press
Vandermark 5 Silk-screened Concert Poster
from Dan Grzeca
Vandermark 5 Silver and Red Poster
from Ken Vandermark
Vandermark 5 Turf Club Poster (2002)
from The Vandermark 5
Vandermark 5 vs. Atomic Poster
from The Vandermark 5 / Atomic
Vandermark 5 Yellow and Blue Poster
from Dan Grzeca
Verses
by Ken Vandermark & Mats Gustafsson
Version Soul
by Spaceways Incorporated
Volume 1
by Lean Left
Volume 2
by Lean Left
Walk, Love, Sleep
by Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet
Wels / Chicago
by DKV Trio
Western Automatic
by The Chicago Reed Quartet
What Country Is This?
by The Resonance Ensemble
What Thomas Bernhard Saw
by Audio One
Wired For Sound
by Marker
Y’Anbessaw Tezeta
by Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Friends