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Dave Rempis

Country: United States

Dave Rempis is an American saxophonist, improviser and composer, active in Chicago since 1997. He works in free jazz and improvised music. He first became known as a member of Ken Vandermark's Vandermark 5, which he joined in 1998, and he now leads several groups of his own and runs his own label, Aerophonic. Rempis studied at Northwestern University, where his saxophone teacher was Frederick Hemke, and spent a year at the University of Ghana.

The Walls Of The Temple Are Made Of Sound
On March 19th, 1999, legendary soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy played with his working trio at The Velvet Lounge at 2128 ½ S. Indiana Avenue in Chicago. Owned and operated by tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson, The Velvet Lounge was the central hub for a…
Clocking The Wheel
In June of 2013, a new label for improvised music was born. After years of working with other labels in the “business,” saxophonist and label founder Dave Rempis saw the writing on the wall that many of those outlets for underground music would soon …
Orbital
The Outskirts came together as a working band during bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten’s three-year stint as a Chicagoan from 2005-2008. They played regularly at all of the working venues for improvised music in Chicago at that time, including The Hungr…
Dial Up
There are super groups, and then there are Supergroups.  This trio, comprised of three prolific journeymen improvisers whose work has been recognized across the globe, is neither.  This is a band of down-to-earth, hard-working musicians, whose focus …
Otoliths
Otoliths is the second album by the transatlantic quartet Earscratcher, which brings together Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik with three of her US-based cohorts – Dave Rempis on saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, and Tim Daisy on drums. Record…
Truss
It’s not often that Aerophonic Records has put out recordings by bands that are first-time groupings. There are a few notable ones, including AR024 and 026 – Of Things Beyond Thule Volume 1 and 2 featuring Joe McPhee, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez, and …
El Infierno Musical II
By inevitable coincidence, a street vendor in Buenos Aires became an instrument of providence, when he compelled attention of Christof Kurzmann, sitting outside a coffeehouse. His merchandise were small books of Hispanic writers, and the chosen one t…
House and Home
Wheelhouse reunites as a trio after a decade apart. Their new work, "House and the Home," reflects years of artistic growth, personal change, and enduring bonds, capturing the essence of shared musical evolution and community.
Sudden Dusk
Sudden Dusk is the recorded debut of Archer, a working band comprised of four singular voices on the international improvised music scene.
Propulsion
Propulsion is the debut album by a stellar quartet of journeymen Chicago improvisers assembled by saxophonist and Aerophonic Records founder Dave Rempis. Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz is known for his extensive work with the late Peter Brötzmann, Ham…
GNASH
"This overdue duo record by longtime colleagues Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Dave Rempis (saxophones) is a monument to the endless musical curiosity that links them. These two come at it from remarkably different backgrounds – Dorji combining his Bhutane…
Truss
It’s not often that Aerophonic Records has put out recordings by bands that are first-time groupings. There are a few notable ones, including AR024 and 026 – Of Things Beyond Thule Volume 1 and 2 featuring Joe McPhee, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez, and …
On The Blink
Tip! This brand new transatlantic collaboration unites three renowned improvisers in a stellar first time matchup. Electric bassist Farida Amadou’s stratospheric rise over the last several years has been shaking the roofbeams of the European improvis…
Scirocco
Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy are two musicians whose work together over the last 25 years has been the cornerstone of countless improvising bands: Triage, Vandermark Five, Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Earscratcher, and their longstanding duo,…
Allium
Allium is the second recording by this chamber trio, a follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2018 release Ithra. On that record they made a singularly powerful statement delving into non-soloistic group interaction and compositional development in …
Scylla
This fourth record by the long-standing improvising ensemble Rempis/Abrams/Ra, and the third featuring now-regular band member Jim Baker, was recorded in a watershed moment for these musicians during a pandemic that had gutted lives across the planet…
Chrysopoeia
*In process of stocking* "Ballister is a transatlantic powerhouse. This free-wheeling trio first came together at a closed session in 2009, and as any fan of improvised music can imagine, the band hit hard from the first note and hasn't looked back s…
Astragaloi
This trio didn’t know how lucky they had it. They were certainly happy to perform again when this concert was recorded at the ArtActs Festival in St Johan Austria in early March 2020. Although their first outing was back in 2013 in Harnik’s hometown …
Bennu
Rempis and Ra have worked together for about fifteen years.  Most regularly since 2012 in their trio with Joshua Abrams, which expanded into a quartet in 2016 with the addition of pianist Jim Baker.  That band is a real working unit, having performed…
The Covid Tapes
Aerophonic Records presents The Covid Tapes by Dave Rempis, Tomeka Reid, Joshua Abrams, Tim Daisy and Tyler Damon. All music recorded between May and September 2020 during the COVID era. Solo tracks recorded by Dave Rempis at Unity Lutheran Church, C…
Spectral
** 2021 Stock ** Aerophonic Records presents Spectral by Dave Rempis, Darren Johnston and Larry Ochs. This free-improvising trio came together in the fall of 2011, when Rempis journeyed to the West Coast to discover some things about his compatriots …
ICOCI
This transatlantic trio combines musical sensibilities derived from their experiences in two world capitals of improvised music, Chicago and Amsterdam. Rempis and Rosaly, both longtime staples of the Chicago scene, have partnered for more than 15 yea…
Lattice
** In Process of Stocking ** Dave Rempis is a mid-career artist whose deep roots in the Chicago improvised music scene have by now stretched themselves out across the world through his multiple ongoing collaborations. But he waited a long time to put…
Cochonnerie
** In Process of Stocking ** Aerophonic Records presents Cochonnerie by The Rempis Percussion Quartet. With a band that’s been around for thirteen years, one might reasonably ask with a new recording, what’s new here? Are there now dance beats superi…
Perihelion
** In Process of Stocking ** This sophomore release by the working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra shows a band doubling down on the slow, patient approach to improvising that characterized their first release, 2014’s Aphelion. Th…
Cash and Carry
** In Process of Stocking ** On August 31st, 2014, The Rempis Percussion Quartet celebrated its tenth year in existence with an increasingly rare hometown concert at Chicago’s venerable Hungry Brain, a bar whose dark, relaxed, and frequently hard-dri…
From Wolves to Whales
** In Process of Stocking ** Having crossed paths around the world many times over the years, Nate Wooley and Dave Rempis finally realized their long-time intention of forming a band together in the winter of 2014, with a lineup that can only be desc…
Aphelion
This debut release by the regular working trio of Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra is a perfect example of what makes Chicago such a fertile breeding ground for improvised music; three musicians of widely varying ages, backgrounds, playing…
Second Spring
Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy are two musicians whose work has helped to define an entire generation of Chicago improvisers. Having performed together since they both hit the Chicago scene in the fall of 1997, these two have joined forces on hundreds of …
Codes​ / ​Myths
** In Process of Stocking ** Saxophonist Dave Rempis and percussionist Frank Rosaly share a musical relationship of the once-in-a-generation variety. These two improvisers have worked together for almost twenty years, beginning in 2001 when they met …
Sud Des Alpes
** In Process of Stocking ** This record is the tenth release by The Rempis Percussion Quartet, recorded during a 2019 European tour that celebrated their fifteenth anniversary as a working ensemble. Those are some pretty hefty milestones. So how do …
Stringers & Struts
Aerophonic Records presents Stringers & Struts by Dave Rempis – alto/tenor/baritone saxophone, Jeff Parker – guitar, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – bass, Jeremy Cunningham - drums. If you know Chicago jazz, you know the tendons beneath the surface run deep…
Triple Tube
Recorded live in concert by Iztok Zupan at tube’s, Graz/Austria on 24th March 2019
Throw Tomatoes
**300 copies, 2019 stock** Contrary to the fabled image, they didn’t really throw rotten tomatoes during Shakespeare’s time at The Globe Theatre. Vegetables, yes, but there are no tomatoes on record in Britain for another seven-score years after Shak…
Phalanx
Dave Rempis, alto, tenor, baritone saxophone. Ingebrigt Hoeker Flaten, bass. Frank Rosaly, drums. Tim Daisy, drums. The Rempis Percussion Quartet is a free - improvising whirlwind that draws inspiration from a shared interest in West African and Lati…