The Back Room
1984 Bonita Ave Berkeley
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Gordon Grdina and KrisChen Lil’inger first collaborated in 2017 when creating the debut live album of Grdina's Project Square Peg. They have since developed a rapport that builds on their shared history. On their debut album Duo Work on AttaboyGirl Records, they have expanded their palette to include electronics, and MIDI-controlled instruments. The resulting sonic creations draw on influences from electronica, Persian and Arabic music, metal, freejazz, Alban Berg, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The overarching connecting theme being an intense dedication to improvisation.

Gordon Grdina is a JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy) winning oud/guitarist whose career has spanned continents, decades and constant genre exploration throughout avant-garde jazz, free form improvisation, contemporary indie rock, Persian and Arabic music. His singular approach to the instruments has earned him recognition from the highest ranks of the jazz/improv world. Grdina has performed and collaborated with a wide array of field-leading artists including Gary Peacock, Paul Motion, Marc Ribot, Mark Helias, Mats Gustafsson, Hank Roberts, Matt Shipp, Mark Feldman, Benoît Delbeq, Colin Stetson, Mat Maneri, Joëlle Léandre, Matt Mitchell, & Jim Black.

Deutscher Jazzpreis Artist of the Year winner KrisChen Lil’inger is a German drummer, composer, and percussionist. Based in Berlin since 2003, and working as a musician and composer, Christian has performed in concerts and at festivals in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the US. He has played with Joachim Kühn, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Beat Furrer, Miroslav Vitous, Dave Liebman, Wadada Leo Smith, William Parker, Evan Parker, Louis Sclavis, Joe Lovano, Peter Brötzmann and Tony Malaby.

Myra Melford
The pianist, composer, bandleader and educator Myra Melford—whom The New Yorker called “a stalwart of the new-jazz movement”—has spent the last three decades making brilliant original music that is equally challenging and engaging. Culling inspiration from a wide range of sources including Cecil Taylor, the blues and boogie-woogie of her native Chicago, the poetry of Rumi, the AACM and yoga, she’s explored an array of formats, among them ruminative solo-piano recitals, deeply interactive combos and ambitious multidisciplinary programs. Melford’s most recent release, The Other Side of Air (Firehouse 12), by her quintet Snowy Egret, is an extraordinary document of her unique creative language—a seamless, shifting blend of composition and improvisation, and a probing of the space shared between dynamic small-group jazz and contemporary chamber music.

Ben Goldberg
In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to produce three albums, and the free improvisation on Masks and Faces was described as having "kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music."

Recently Goldberg has branched out into songwriting. His Orphic Machine project, largely commissioned by Chamber Music America, was performed in Los Angeles. The song-cycle is based on the writings of Allen Grossman and, for one critic, "the piece's thoughtful, sprawling compositions course through such a variety of styles and open-ended impulses that it would be tempting to dub this a new kind of world music." Regarding songwriting and composing, in a 2010 profile piece in AllAboutJazz, Goldberg said, "I don't just want to give people something that they can appreciate or understand, or that makes them think, or something like that. I used to kind of feel that that's what I wanted to do, but that's not what I want anymore. I want to give people something that they can love."

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door general admission; $15 for students with ID. Children under 12 are free. Advance tickets are available here, or if the show is not sold out, you may purchase your tickets at the door before the show.

Doors open one half hour before show time. We accept cash or Venmo only at the door.

The Back Room is an all-ages, BYOB (for those 21+) space, dedicated to (mostly) acoustic music of all kinds. You are welcome to bring your own food and beverages. The venue is ADA accessible. If you need more information or have any questions, please call us: #510-381-1997.

Cost: $16-20

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