The big event on this weekend’s bursting Columbus Jazz Calendar is Whatyouwill 8: An Improvised Experience! This 8th annual celebration of improvised music and jazz has relocated to organizer Gerard Cox’s home venue, Filament at the Vanderelli Room, and the gallery’s grounds. This all-weekend festival presents a diverse selection of talent from Columbus and beyond, with ample opportunity for the audience to immerse themselves in the experience. Event details here, keep reading for thoughts from Cox and the full festival schedule:
“This weekend is…WHATYOUWILL 8. It feels great that we’ve been able to keep it going for this long. This year required some last-minute adjustments in order to have a solid date and venue. We’re having it at The Vanderelli Room and Filament this year! 3 stages will be used, including the outdoor stage, and there will be several hours where music is happening on multiple stages.
Saturday is a full day of music- Friday is our opening night. Sunday is some loose jamming and goodbyes, and if there are any takers- the ‘improvisers triathlon’ (play one 5-10 min set on vibraphone, 1 on drums, and 1 on any instrument of your choosing…) Prizes for most fluid / most distinctive, etc.
There is no *cover* for this festival but we need everyone to understand that we do have overhead costs and that we want every travelling musician to be able to leave at least with gas + food money in hand. If you’re going to be there for the whole day, a $20 donation would be most appreciated. If you’re just dropping in for a couple of hours, $5-10 is great. We also accept in-kind donations of food. We will have a buffet table and side dishes, salads, fruit- would be most welcome. We should have plenty of chips and pop so that’s not necessary. Beer and ice are always heroic gestures.
Thanks everyone. Really hope to see a good healthy crowd out for this. The people on this program come from around the Midwest and are all very passionate about what they do, and Whatyouwill is a chance for them to both re-connect and present what they do to a larger audience.
Schedule is subject to some change but for the most part will remain the same. The ‘inter-city collabs’ are a unique feature of Whatyouwill where it’s a first encounter and all of the musicians hail from different parts around the Midwest.
Sets will generally be from 30-45 minutes long. When there are two sets for an hour time slot, they will continue until finished and the band on another stage will simply go on at the scheduled time. If we are running ahead of schedule we will generally move on to the next band if they are available instead of adhering to strict times so that we have more flexibility later.”
Whatyouwill 8 Schedule
FRIDAY September 27th, opening night in FILAMENT
9 pm: The Music of Frank Zappa with Paul Strawser- piano/synths, Steve Perakis- bass, Zakk Jones- guitar, Colin Wood- reeds, Austin Nill drums.
10:30 pm: Josh Strange-Aaron Putnam Interchange. Josh Strange (Cincinnati)- vibraphone, with Aaron Putnam- piano, Steve Perakis- bass, Gerard Cox- drums.
Saturday, September 28th [3 Stages at the Vanderelli Room]
(- In addition to all of the scheduled sets there will also be a sound installation in one of the hallway rooms by Ritwik Banerji, titled Yago the Maxinean’s Spiritual Arts of Motion-in-Stillness. It’s really cool, you’ll want to check it out. Running from approx. noon- 7 pm.)
10 am GALLERY: Soundbath led by Torin Jacobs. Bring mats and beanbags, and lose yourself in the sound of gongs, flutes, and ancient sounds. Not only relaxing but a really great way to get primed as a listener…Start the head trip HERE!
12 pm FILAMENT: Photons (Jeff Sutherland, Gerard Cox). Electroacoustic free improv. Sutherland- acoustic guitar / pedals, Cox- acoustic piano, percussion, trumpet.
1 pm GALLERY STAGE: Phil Maneri / LA Jenkins Duo. Melodic free improvised music. Maneri- upright bass, Jenkins- electric guitar.
2 pm FILAMENT: Jennifer Dutiel and Kevin Holland. Dutiel- vox, synth, melodica, Holland- electric guitar. With special impromptu guests!
3 pm GALLERY: Inter-city collab w. Don Volenik- trumpet, Andrew D. Meyer- saxophones/bass clarinet, Paul Strawser- piano, Ed Hallahan- bass, Ayman Abi Kheir- drums
4 pm FILAMENT: Inter-city collab w. Ritwik Banerjii- tenor, Hasan Abdur-Razzaq- saxophones, Owen Hopper- guitar, Steve Perakis- bass, Troy Kunkler- drums.
5 pm OUTDOOR STAGE: Doug Hare Trio. Doug- piano/organ, Steve Perakis- bass(es), Danny Aguiar- drums. Powerhouse, shredtastic piano trio music.
6 pm GALLERY STAGE: Sonikora. Chris Haas- Rhodes/Wurly, Jason Miles- bass, Robert White- drums. Cosmic jazz / free funk. With special guests Doug Neel- guitar, Christopher B. Appel- spoken word, Dale Johnson- storytelling.
7 pm GALLERY STAGE: Alicia Jean Vanderelli / Dale Johnson
8 pm (two stages)
GALLERY STAGE: Spectrum 3 (Detroit) Skeeter Shelton- tenor, Joel Peterson- bass, Kurt Prisbe- drums.
FILAMENT: Caleb Miller-Troy Kunkler Duo (Miller- keys/reeds, Kunkler- drums/vibes)
9 pm (2 stages)
FILAMENT: Prof Spira’s Improvisational Forum. Prof Spira has taken the challenge of creating a set entirely on the spot with whomever and whatever is available in the room at the time.
GALLERY: Reon Moebius (electric violin) with Chris Weldon (gong, cello)
10 pm (2 stages)
FILAMENT: “clean shirt” (Owen Hopper- gtr / Matt McCalister- dms)
GALLERY: Bbob Drake (synths) / Chris Weldon (gong, cello) / Chris Haas (keys, gtr) / Andrew Meyer (saxophones, bass clarinet)
11 pm FILAMENT: Envenomist (David Reed, dark ambient)
MIDNIGHT: Whatyouwill