MARCH IN LA + MIDWEST

Hello community,

It's been a brutally rough start to this year, especially for those who are most vulnerable. In the overwhelm of constant attacks on communities and dismantling of the most basic systems (some of which were barely working for us to begin with), I've been asking myself daily, what is my role? It's become almost a mantra and upon reflection I’ve realized that it is not really a matter of individual roles or responsibilities, but building up the strength of our communities together, in solidarity that transcends the identity politics, which has been co-opted by the ruling class to divide us.

As I continue to meditate on this question, of how to build, even with people who don't want to build with us; whose grievances from their own exploitation turns on the most marginalized people, I look to ancestors such as Huey P. Newton who said: "I could not understand why people were blind to what I saw so clearly. Then I realized that their understanding had to be developed."

A lot of my work as a musician, improviser and community member right now is focused on developing understanding. I'm mostly in the research phase for a lot of my work in the Pioneer Works fellowship, reading, exploring and planting the seeds to write. In February, I played a lot of wonderful NYC improv gigs, many with folks I've never played with. We were surprised with a review from DownBeat magazine of an intimate house show I curated and played on in a duo with saxophonist Maria Grand. The thread running through all the sets from a solo set by Justine Lee Hooper and duo with Kwami Winfield and Adam Turay, was grappling with our current moment, looking to our elders who have passed down survival strategies, and trying to understand how we, especially as artists, can imagine collective liberation moving forward.

This month, I head to Los Angeles where so much of my community is still reeling from the aftermath of the wildfires. I'm so glad to be reunited in a group with Jeff Parker, Max Jaffe and Patrick Shiroishi, for a rescheduled gig from January at Venice Townhouse on March 8th. Toward the end of the month, Elder Ones heads to New Music Circle in St. Louis to debut some new material, and then I'll meet my dear friend/comrade/sister Angel Bat Dawid for a show/gathering in Chicago.

Hope to see you out there somewhere.

Love and solidarity,

Amirtha

Dates + Details

Saturday, March 8th @ Venice Townhouse, Los Angeles with Jeff Parker, Max Jaffe and Patrick Shiroishi with Sara Sithi-Amnuai solo

Friday, March 28th @ New Music Circle, St. Louis with Elder Ones

Saturday, March 29th @ The Blk Room, Chicago with Angel Bat Dawid

February Gigs in NYC

Hello dear community,

Although 2025 has been off to a very rough start, I feel somehow delusional in my optimism of what we might be able to do together collectively to transform this world, now that we can see our systems mask off, with painful clarity.

My first shows of the year were actually supposed to take place in the first week of January in Los Angeles, just days before the devastating fires, but had to be canceled because I had the flu. I still haven't been able to wrap my head around the devastation of my former town, where I have so much community and family. Those shows with Jeff Parker, Patrick Shiroishi and Max Jaffe will be rescheduled for March. In the meantime, there is so much rebuilding to be done in the music community and beyond. I've included a list of links below to donate to various fundraisers to help support those efforts.

In January, I've mostly been focused on getting started with the Working Artist Fellowship at the incredible Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. My project is focused on improvisation as a tool for collective liberation, and strengthening local and global networks of solidarity as we see how interconnected our struggles are. Right now I'm in a research/composing phase, but there will be shows, a podcast, workshops and a new Elder Ones album in the works. There is much to say about the simultaneous ongoing crises we are dealing with in the States and beyond, but for now, I'll just say I'm grateful to focus my work on how we can use our skills and creativity as artists to build something new from the ashes.

February, I get back to playing with some really nice local offerings. After a year being on the road, I'm very happy to be back in New York among my community. The first show feels meaningful as it is the Tarka benefit for Palestine. Seeing images of people returning to the North after 15 months has been unbelievably emotional, though we know there is a long and complicated road ahead.

All show details below (and more TBD).

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Solidarity!

Amirtha

February Shows:

February 1, 6pm-12am - Tarka Benefit for Palestine @ Secret Location in Brooklyn (DM or email me for the address) Duo with gabby fluke-mogul, Roshni Samlal, Dynoman, Geng PTP and Zara Dekho *there will be vegetarian biryani!

February 5, 7:30pm & 9pm - Quartet with Henry Fraser (bass), Lesley Mok (drums) and David Leon (sax) @ Close-Up (154 Orchard St., Manhattan)

February 15, 7:30 - Please Ys @ Secret Location in Brooklyn (DM or email for address), an evening I am pleased to have curated! Duo with Maria Grand (sax), Adam Turay (guitar) & Kwami Winfield (trumpet/electronics) and Justine Lee Hooper (flute/electronics)

February 19, 8pm - Free Dimensions: VOICES produced by PocketWatch @ Nublu (62 Loisaida Ave, Manhattan)

Feb 23, 7pm - With Nathan Chamberlain (guitar) & Friends @ Brothers Wash and Dry (54-20 Nurge Ave, Queens)

Fundraiser links for LA Wildfires:

Black Music Action Coalition Fund

Los Angeles Fire Relief to Support Music Professionals

GoFundMe list for Displaced Black Families in Altadena

Fundraiser Update!

For those of you who supported our Elder Ones/Nu Jazz concert fundraiser for Gazan Musicians:

The Al Kamandjâti Association extends its best wishes to you for this new year.

We are finally taking the time to inform you of the arrival, a few days ago, of the Gazan musicians and their families in Angers, Bordeaux, and Montpellier, in the framework of the PAUSE Program and in partnership with Rocher de Palmer and Uni'sons.

The final moments before their arrival kept us very busy as we worked to complete the preparations for their homes, ensuring they could settle in under dignified and comfortable conditions.

Their arrival was an intensely emotional moment for everyone, whether at the train station in Angers, Bordeaux, or Montpellier. They were then accompanied to their homes, where they can finally begin a more serene life.

Studio at Pioneer Works

UK + EU Fall Dates with Elder Ones and special collaborations

It is a bit unfathomable that it’s already Fall, marking one-year of a genocide as we’re on the cusp of another in Lebanon. It feels more important than ever to build awareness, connection and community locally and globally, which is what I’m focused on right now as an artist.

I had the honor recently of performing with Ethan Philbrick, Joanna Mattrey and Sugar Vendil at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the Creative Time Summit which brought together artists and activists from around the globe, discussing the abolition of property and Land Back. We had an incredible organizing meeting on Monday of musicians and music workers who want to take concrete and material action on Palestine, that is leaving me feeling inspired in dark times.

This upcoming tour is all about fostering global solidarity through community. London’s show is a very special meeting of artists from NYC to London and Palestine with Dirar Kalash (Sonic Liberation Front) coming from the West Bank and Saint Abdullah, with London musicians Alabaster DePlume, Dan Nicholls and Momoko Gill. Everyone involved is a fierce supporter of Palestine and all global anti-oppressive struggles. From there I’ll head to Glasgow for an international Desi connection with Ravish Momin of Sunken Cages and Kapil Seshasayee, who interviewed me for his Desi Futurism publication back in 2020. We’ll be improvising also with musicians from Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. Then, Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music for a collaboration with Irish harpist Manon McCoy. These shows are extra exciting because they are my UK debut!

For the EU leg, I’ll be all over the map with more collaborations and a packed Elder Ones tour. I’m honored to be joining the brilliant Polish guitarist Raphael Roginski at the legendary Unsound Festival, before meeting my bandmate Lester St. Louis in Vienna for a collaboration with the killer drummer Lukas Koenig and synthesist Isabella Forciniti.

This will be the last Elder Ones EU tour of the year after so many incredible trips to Rewire, Moers, Saalfelden, Meteo Festival and a mind blowing tour in Latin America. This time we head further east to CZ, Latvia and Lithuania!

Coming up on this grim anniversary I will continue to speak out onstage. I’ve noticed everywhere that the people are not their governments and overwhelmingly want an end to the genocide and what could be a catastrophic a war in the region. A ceasefire is not enough, we must have an Arms Embargo from the US and Western powers.

All power to all Liberation struggles from Palestine to Haiti, the Sudan, Congo, the incarcerated peoples of the United States and around the world.

Viva, lucha.

In solidarity,

Amirtha

Poster by Rohan Chander

Upcoming Events

Hey friends,

The season is in full swing and I have some upcoming events that I’m really excited about. This weekend, I’ll be joined by two of my favorite musicians, Qasim Naqvi and Rafiq Bhatia to perform at the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works. I’m excited about this collaboration not only musically, but also in terms of our capacity to build solidarity with our Pakistani family in the diaspora, challenging the hard lines drawn in our respective motherlands. For me ‘Raga’ is an impossible to define and expansive concept, ever evolving and ever changing as nature itself. In this collaboration, I hope we can soften pre-existing notions of tradition and borders.

I’m thrilled to be part of Suneil Sanzgiri’s exhibition “Here the Earth Grows Gold” opening at Brooklyn Museum from October 27-May 5. Booker Stardrum and I scored his latest film Two Refusals which will will be premiered as part of this solo exhibition, which examines “the complexities of anti-colonialism, nationalism, and diasporic identity”. This collaboration with Suneil is near and dear to me, after working with him now on four films!

Decolonization is not theoretical and theory means nothing without practice. There can be no peace without justice. No peace without the dismantling of apartheid, genocide and colonialism.

Thanks for reading.

In solidarity,

Amirtha

Upcoming Events…

10/14 - Ragas Live Festival with Rafiq Bhatia and Qasim Naqvi at Pioneer Works (10-10:45pm set)

10/24 - Duo with Luke Stewart at Bennington College, Carriage Barn 8pm

10/27-5/5 - Exhibition of Suneil Sanzigiri's Films featuring music by Amirtha Kidambi and Booker Stardrum at Brooklyn Museum

11/16 - Neti-Neti, Fire Museum Presents, Philadelphia

12/2 - ellen o "Sparrows and Doves" Vinyl Re-Release and Tribute Concert at Public Records

12/9 - Angels & Demons (Kidambi/Darius Jones) at The Kitchen

Fall 2023 Shows

Photo by Jan Rusek/Jazz Jantar Festival in Poland

Hi friends

I truly cannot believe it is already Fall. As Seal once sang on the Space Jam soundtrack “time keeps on slipping, into the future”.

I want to invite you to a very special show this week on Friday September 1st with my band Elder Ones at Public Records. It is the first time we're playing in NYC in two years, after working on a bunch of new music with a very exciting line-up in preparation for our third album out in Spring 2024! Yes, I am still railing against the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy, but I promise it will be a good time.

The new line-up includes Lester St. Louis on bass, Jason Nazary on drums, Matt Nelson on soprano saxophone and Alfredo Colon on tenor saxophone, with an array of electronics. The bill is a really good one, with the excellent musicians of Darlin', the group of Wendy Eisenberg, Ryan Sawyer and Lester on cello!

We’re also super thrilled to have joined the No Earplugs fam for our European booking. Malwina is super passionate and dedicated, the next generation of fan turned industry, who we met through her super fan parents in Poland!

I've also got some nice gigs coming up including a CECIL TAYLOR OPERA, a benefit for The Freedom Theater, an arts organization for refugees in Jenin, occupied Palestine, and later in the fall a new trio project with Qasim Naqvi and Rafiq Bhatia for the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works, a mini-tour with Neti-Neti my duo with Matt Evans, and more!

In addition to gigs I'm excited to return to teach at Brooklyn College next week and later in the season, as a first-time visiting professor at Bennington College!

Thanks for reading if you got this far :)

In solidarity,

Amirtha

DETAILS + TICKETS

Friday September 1st @ Public Records, 8pm: Elder Ones & Darlin'

Darlin’ (Wendy Eisenberg, Ryan Sawyer, Lester St. Louis) and Elder Ones (Matt Nelson, Alfredo Colon, Lester St. Louis and Jason Nazary). This is an brand-new Elder Ones line-up and the first show in NYC since 2021!

Saturday September 9th @ The Morgan Library, 2/3pm FREE with Museum Admission

Touching Leaves Woman by Brent Michael Davids honoring Lenape teacher and herbalist Nora Thompson Dean, with Gelsey Bell, Isabel Crespo Pardo, Ashley Perez Flanagan, Ethan Philbrick, Eddy Kwon, Erin Rogers and Sugar Vendil

Friday September 22nd @ Starr Barr, 7pm

Benefit for The Freedom Theatre, a theatre and cultural centre in Jenin refugee camp, occupied Palestine. More than 200 Palestinians, many of them children, have been killed in 2023.

Thursday September 28th @ CUNY Grad Center, 6:30pm

A Rat's Mass an opera by Cecil Taylor is an operatic re-staging of Adrienne Kennedy’s one-act play, premiered at La Mama Experimental Theater club in 1976.

Monday October 2nd + Tuesday October 3rd @ DC + Philly

Neti-Neti (me + Matt Evans) mini tour in DC + Philly, details TBA!

Saturday October 14th @ Pioneer Works

A new Trio with Qasim Naqvi and Rafiq Bhatia for the 24-hour Ragas Live Festival

Tuesday October 24th @ Bennington College

Duo with bassist Luke Stewart

Canada Shows with Angels & Demons and meimei (மெய்மெய்)

Extremely excited to escape the Blade Runner-esque hellscape of NYC and head to the very source of the smoke monster, Canada. Darius Jones and I return to Canada to play Suoni per il Popolo festival on the 13th with Angels & Demons, followed by the North American debut of my new duo meimei (மெய்மெய்) with pianist Ananya Ganesh on the 14th. This is one of my favorite festivals and I can’t wait to come back. After that, Ananya and I will head to Toronto for TONE Festival, curated by my dear friends Karen Ng and Tad Michalak. You can find show details under that tab. Tell all your Northern neighbors and remember, borders aren’t real and climate change is!

xoxo,

Amirtha

Summer Tour

Hey friends & fam,

Just a quick note to say I’m about to embark on an epic tour with a bunch of very exciting projects. It’ll be a long, mostly Canadian summer.

I’m truly “honored and humbled” to play three shows in Vermont, with William Parker’s Sutras Ensemble featuring Hamid Drake, Kyoko Kitamura, Morley Shanti-Kamen, Lisa Sokolov and Andrea Wolper. William is a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-generation (if you’re lucky) musician and human being, and it is always life changing to make music with him.

From Vermont I’ll head up to our northerly neighbors for two shows in Canada with Matt Evans in a new duo called Neti-Neti at the Suoni per il Popolo festival in Montreal and Tone Festival in Toronto.  After that, bouncing around the region with Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl at Ottawa Jazz Festival and Toronto, then onto Vancouver for a residency at Western Front in a duo with Darius Jones called Angels & Demons. While in Vancouver, I’ll play and do some workshops with the Coastal Jazz Festival, with our old collaborator Julia Ulehla. In July, Darius and I will head to my home state of California, to spread Sun Ra’s message across the Golden State. 

Please note the Berkeley show is SOLD OUT!

See you out there!

Go Dubs,

Amirtha

Elder Ones Spring Tour 2022

Saturday, March 26th 8 pm (Detroit): Elder Ones @ Trinosophes

Sunday, March 27th 7:30 pm (Chicago): Elder Ones @ The Empty Bottle

Monday, March 28th 7:30 pm (Iowa City): Elder Ones Feed Me Weird Things @ Trumpet Blossom Cafe

Tuesday, March 29th 8:00 pm (Omaha): Elder Ones LIVE @ Lowend

Wednesday, March 30th 7:00 pm (Rock Island): Elder Ones: @ Rozz-Tox/Outlet Series

Thursday, March 31st 7:00 pm (Madison): Elder Ones: @ Arts + Literature Laboratory

Elder Ones

Musicians
Amirtha Kidambi: Vocals, Harmonium, Synthesizer, Compositions
Matt Nelson: Soprano Saxophone
Eva Lawitts: Bass
Jason Nazary: Drums and Electronic Sensory Percussion

From Untruth builds upon the bedrock foundation of Kidambi's previous compositional and conceptual work with Elder Ones, while forging uncharted territory. After a journey into wordless abstraction on Holy Science, Kidambi felt the urgency of the political moment required a direct and verbal call to action. The lyric fragments critique power structures of capitalism, racism, colonialism and fascism, distilling theory into visceral battle cries of protest. The instrumentation adds a layer of technology, with Kidambi on analog synthesizer and Max Jaffe's drumming talents extended to electronic Sensory Percussion. The frenzied improvising of Matt Nelson on soprano sax and gravity of Nick Dunston on bass, anchor the music in the tradition of free jazz, while it pushes into new futurist realms. The aesthetic seamlessly reels from modal meditation, atonal expressionism, free improvisation and melodic invention, to unabashed bursts of punk rock energy. In its most recent incarnation featuring Eva Lawitts on bass and the addition of Lester St. Louis on cello, the compositions reflect the themes of the tumultuous years of the pandemic and global unrest of violence against Asian Americans, the crises of late capitalism and inequity exemplified by vaccine apartheid, the rise of global fascism and odes to the racial justice movement and labor movements.

West Coast + NYC Dates

Although things are still weird and tentative, it seems like there's no putting the cat back into the bag. Shows are moving forward (thank god) and we're striving to make everything as safe and comfortable for folks as possible. I've got lots of outdoor and safe indoor gigs for you. Very excited for Elder Ones this Saturday at Lincoln Center (been reflecting a lot on the last 20 years, so that will be in the air). We're also hitting the West Coast later this month with shows in Southern California. Also, lots of other projects this month in NYC.

Hope to see you out there!

xoxo,
Amirtha

Fall Shows + Tour Dates

(All events require proof of vaccination or PCR. Please see event requirements)

Saturday, September 11th 6pm (NYC): Elder Ones with WeFreeStrings @ Lincoln Center (FREE with RSVP) Presented by Restart Stages and Soup & Sound

Saturday, September 18th 1pm (Brooklyn): Metropolis Ensemble, Biophony with Lesley Mok, Charlotte Greve and Marta Sanchez @ Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Sunday, September 19th 7:30pm (Brooklyn): Marta Sanchez group with Charlotte Greve, Lesley Mok, Kalia Vandever and Endea Owens @ BK Conservatory

Wednesday, September 22nd 7:00pm (Brooklyn): Green-Wood Cemetery Gala, Gelsey Bell's "Moonrise" with Fay Victor, Joy Guidry, Cleek Shrey, Sam Newsome, Jen Baker, Lester St. Louis and Fast Forward, Darius Jones, Pat Spadine

Wednesday, September 22nd 7:00pm (Brooklyn): Green-Wood Cemetery Gala, Gelsey Bell's "Moonrise" with Fay Victor, Joy Guidry, Cleek Shrey, Sam Newsome, Jen Baker, Lester St. Louis and Fast Forward

Wednesday, September 24th 5:00pm (Brooklyn): Urban Meadow (corner of President St & Van Brunt) at 5pm, free. Brooklyn, New York

Angels & Demons duo with Darius Jones + a special group from Peru/Mexico: Camilo Angeles (flutes)/Concepción Huerta (electronics)/Teteé Leguia (bass), Martin Escalante (sax)

West Coast

Thursday, September 30th (Irvine): 4pm Workshop, 7pm Pre-concert talk with Rajna Swaminathan, 8pm Elder Ones Concert @ UC Irvine

Saturday, October 2nd 8pm (Los Angeles): Elder Ones at Angel City Jazz Fest w/Corey Fogel Group

Elder Ones Premiere, NYC Shows and Tour in Italy

It feels both 100% normal and 1000% surreal to be writing about shows and touring again. I’m beyond thrilled to have a bunch of exciting events coming up with Elder Ones and my duo with Lea Bertucci.

June 5th - Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci, Sam Weinberg & Jason Nazary, Lele Dai, 2pm-5pm at Oliver Street Cafe (5 Oliver St)

June 10th - Amirtha Kidambi Elder Ones New Monuments with Darius Jones solo at Roulette, 8pm

June 21st - “In C” for Make Music New York, Brooklyn Bridge Park

July 4-July 16 - Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci Tour of Italy

July 29th - Elder Ones at Vision Festival (Pioneer Works)

May Day, Bandcamp No-Fee Day and Music in Quarantine

Hi dearest music community, fans, friends, family and comrades,

Needless to say, it has been a difficult adjustment for musicians and performing artists in the time of Corona. Personally, I haven’t felt much of the online live-stream exhibition impulse. Perhaps that will change, but for now I’m focused on turning inward, practicing, researching, studying and absorbing. Moving slowly, deliberately and with intention. I’ve been learning to play alto sax, which has been a joy in a rather dark period, and have gone back to studying Carnatic music regularly with my teacher in India online. I’ve been deeply enjoying reading, watching films on the Criterion Channel, and deep listening to records, sitting down and taking notes, watching interviews of my favorite artists, and just generally reflecting. Cooking game has definitely been on point, and grateful to be able to buy food and eat it, realizing it is such a privilege.

This Friday May 1 (May Day), Bandcamp is again waiving their fees, which means 100% of what you spend goes directly to musicians. They actually care about independent musicians! They will do this again on June 5 and July 3, midnight-midnight Pacific time. Recorded music is so dope! Hear it how we meant for you to hear it, without the sad audio quality of live-streaming or the corporate intervention of Facebook, Instagram or Twitch (owned by Amazon). I would be so grateful if you purchased any of my recent releases, including Elder Ones’ From Untruth (Northern Spy, 2019) and Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci Duo Phase Eclipse (Astral Spirits, 2019). Since it is hard and expensive to ship from the post-office right now, I suggest going via Bandcamp instead. For the recent re-issue of Elder Ones Holy Science (Jazzman UK, 2016) on vinyl, please buy from my favorite record store on earth, Amoeba, or your local record store online.

https://amirthakidambi.bandcamp.com/album/from-untruth https://amirthakidambi.bandcamp.com/album/holy-science

https://kidambibertucci.bandcamp.com/album/phase-eclipse

https://www.amoeba.com/holy-science-lp-amirtha-kidambi/albums/4214209/

I’ve also just posted some incredible live videos of Elder Ones playing at Jazz Cerkno in Slovenia last year. I hope you enjoy them! I think it was one of our most burning sets. It truly reminds me of the power of live music and the very important social and communal aspects of music making. The eternally long and grueling travel day, the audience reaction, the hang after with musicians and fans…You can see them on my website or my Vimeo channel here: https://vimeo.com/user43136777

While I am safe and secure for the time being, my heart is with those who are on the front lines. Our health care workers, but also those who work for the city, sanitation, transit, infrastructure, domestic workers, in-home nursing, delivery, grocery, pharmacy, postal service, and of course those working in warehouses, factories and fulfillment centers. This May Day, a symbolic day acknowledging workers and their struggle, and we must stand in solidarity with those who are risking their lives, while corporations see sky-high profits without sharing them with those who make it possible. Please do not cross the picket lines this May Day, as workers strike around the world, at corporations including Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, Target, Walmart and others. Also, if you are able to stand in solidarity with those in your building, a rent strike is planned here in New York, as we have not seen any relief for renters, since this crisis started. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7j8zw/amazon-whole-foods-instacart-workers-organize-a-historic-mass-strike

Thanks for your continued support. I truly hope we will all be stronger in the ashes of this disaster. It is time to rise up, support one another, through radical love.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

xoxo,

Amirtha

Spring 2020 Tours in Europe and the U.S.

I'm excited to embark upon tour in the US and EU with Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, my duo with Lea Bertucci and Elder Ones, but first, some NYC shows! Tomorrow Friday 2.21, Lea and I will perform duo in our last NYC show for a while and I will also play duo with Matteo Liberatore at Microscope Gallery. Matteo and I have been experimenting with some long, slow, glacial textures, which I'm looking forward to exploring! Lea and I recently released a tape on Astral Spirits, which you can grab here! Next week on 2.26, I'll play duo with Luke Stewart, opening for my fellow Elder One Nick Dunston's Atlantic Extractions and then 2.28 with Elder Ones at Hunter College for the New Topologies series. Then I'm off to Europe, the Midwest and West Coast for many dates, so hope to see buddies in those territories. 

Dates:
Friday, 2.21 8pm at Microscope Gallery, BROOKLYN/duo with Lea Bertucci and duo with Matteo Liberatore
Wednesday, 2.26 8pm at Three's Brewing, BROOKLYN/duo with Luke Stewart, Nick Dunston's Atlantic Extractions, Myrtle
Friday, 2.28, 7pm at Hunter College, New Topologies FREE, MANHATTAN/Elder Ones

MARY HALVORSON’S CODE GIRL 
feat. Maria Grand (sax), Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
3.5 MÜNCHEN/Germany Jazzclub Unterfahrt
3.6 BERLIN/Germany Maschinenhaus der Kulturbrauerei
3.8  MANTOVA/Italy 4’33”
3.10 WELS/Austria Alter Schlachthof Wels
3.11 PUERTO REAL CADIZ/Spain ;Teatro Principal de Puerto Real
3.12 GENEVA/Switzerland AMR  Sud des Alpes
3.13 ZÜRICH/Switzerland Taktlos Festival Kunstraum Walcheturm
3.14 GDANSK/Poland Klub Zak

KIDAMBI + BERTUCCI DUO // PHASE ECLIPSE TOUR
3.17 COPENHAGEN/ALICE (opening for Thurston Moore + Mats Gustaffson)
3.18 BERLIN/KM-28
3.19 COLOGNE/Stadtgarten (Sounds Wrong, Feels Right Series)
3.20 BRUSSELS/Ancienne Belgique
3.21-3.22 MANTOVA/Italy 4’33”

ELDER ONES 
feat. Max Jaffe (drums/sensory), Matt Nelson (sax/pedals), Nick Dunston (bass)
3.27 OMAHA/Bemis Center
3.28 ST. LOUIS/New Music Circle
3.29 MADISON/MaiaHaus Project Space presented by Tone Madison
3.30 CHICAGO/Empty Bottle with Blacks' Myths (Luke Stewart, Trae Crudup III)

4.2 LOS ANGELES/Solo + Deradoorian presented by NORTHERN SPY
4.4 SAN FRANCISCO/Angels + Demons duo with Darius Jones at OTHER MINDS FESTIVAL

Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci 'Phase Eclipse' on Astral Spirits

"What results is a music that’s simultaneously visceral and cerebral, intellectual and spiritual, and unlike anything else you’ve heard." - Steve Smith on Phase Eclipse

Super excited to share this premiere on National Sawdust’s Log of my forthcoming duo record Phase Eclipse with Lea Bertucci out on Astral Spirits on November 8th! Our record release show will be on 11/21, at Fridman Gallery with the esteemed Luke Stewart (bass) and Miriam Parker (dance) opening. We're sorry to say that our show on 10/22 at Issue Project Room is postponed to the Spring, due to ASA-CHANG's tour cancellation.

You can check out the live video from our show at The Kitchen earlier this year and the preview track from the album on the Log and pre-order the tape by following the Astral Spirits Bandcamp page link.

Click Here for National Sawdust Log Preview

Code Girl European Tour - Fall 2019

Very excited for the upcoming tour with Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl sextet in Europe! We are all so proud of our MacArthur genius grant winning bandleader and couldn’t be happier for her. Come celebrate with us if you are in one of these cities!

October 2nd- 15th

Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl: European Tour

Mary Halvorson (guitar), Amirtha Kidambi (voice), María Grand (tenor saxophone & voice), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass) & Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
Wednesday, October 2nd @ Le Petit Faucheux (Tours, France)
Friday, October 4th @ Sunset Club (Paris, France)
Saturday, October 5th @ CBSO Centre (Birmingham, UK)
Wednesday, October 9th @ Jazzclub Fasching (Stockholm, Sweden)
Thursday, October 10th @ Teatro Victoria Eugenia Antzokia (San Sebastian, Spain)
Friday, October 11th @ Stadtgarten (Cologne, Germany)
Saturday, October 12th @ Jazz Club Ferrara (Ferrara, Italy)
Monday, October 14th @ Braga, Portugal
Tuesday, October 15th @ Elb Philarmonie (Hamburg, Germany)

Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl

Amirtha Kidambi - vocals

María Grand - saxophone, vocals

Adam O’Farrill - trumpet

Mary Halvorson - guitar

Michael Formanek - bass

Tomas Fujiwara - drums

Code Girl is the latest project of guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson, and her first project for which she has composed both lyrics and music. The band has been described as “...a bold experiment in song form” by The New York Times. Deftly interpreted by Amirtha Kidambi (vocals), María Grand (saxophone, vocals), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), the music synthesizes influences of jazz, folk and improvisation to create an original take on songwriting. Code Girl’s debut album was a top ten record in the annual NPR Jazz Critic’s Poll of 2018.

Halvorson's music has always had the capacity to surprise, but Code Girl amounts to the most startling move in her solo career.”

-Nate Chinen, NPR

“With strong compositions delivered by an excellent ensemble, the album's puzzles remain a treat to continually almost crack.”

-Justin Cober-Lake, PopMatters

“(Code Girl) is an album that touches upon various musical traditions in oblique fashion, but it’s most recognizable as yet another major step in Halvorson’s meteoric ascent.”

-Peter Margasak, bandcamp daily

Elder Ones West Coast Tour 2019

Elder Ones is back on the road promoting our record From Untruth, which came out earlier this year on Northern Spy. It’s gotten huge praise from outlets including Downbeat, Wire Magazine, Jazzwise, Bandcamp and more. This time, we’ll be out on the West Coast, which is the home state of 3/4 of the band (me, Max and Matt). We are so excited to bring this music to our friends and family for the first time.

I will also play two shows with Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl on July 20-21 at SFJAZZ, followed by a week of teaching special classes at Stanford Jazz Workshop on jazz, protest, freedom songs and the Civil Rights movement.

In August, I’ll head to one of my favorite cities in the world, Lisbon, for Jazz em Agosto with Code Girl on August 11th!

Happy Summer!

<3 Amirtha

The Wire Magazine Letter + Summer Activities

After returning from a great Spring tour in Europe with Elder Ones, I’m back in NYC, practicing, writing and seeing a lot of music. The summer here is an unbelievably saturated and fertile time for being a listener, so I’m trying to take things in after A LOT of putting things out in the Spring.

In July, I’ll be in my home state of California for a West Coast tour, starting at SF Jazz on July 20 and 21 with Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl. I’ll also be teaching at Stanford Jazz Workshop and then starting an Elder Ones tour with dates in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Tijuana, Mexico!

Last but certainly not least…I recently wrote a letter to the editor for The Wire magazine, in response to their review of Elder One’s From Untruth. While the review was positive, the content was factually incorrect, grouping me ethnically with the Brooklyn Raga Massive association, which I am not affiliated with. You can read the original review here and the letter above. I’m grateful to not only do the fact check, but also explain why this type of conflation and mischaracterization is so damaging and exhausting for POC, women and other underrepresented groups.

Happy Summer! <3

Elder Ones From Untruth Review in Wire Magazine, April 2019

Elder Ones 'From Untruth' out now on Northern Spy

Elder Ones’ From Untruth is out now on Northern Spy on LP, CD and digital formats. We just completed an incredible tour and put these babies in the hands of a lot of hungry folks! I’m beyond excited to share this with the world. Order now at northernspyrecs.com, GO TO YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE, listen Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Bandcamp or grab at our record release show on April 25th at Union Pool in Brooklyn.

Elder Ones is Amirtha Kidambi, Max Jaffe, Nick Dunston, Matt Nelson. Artwork by Justin Hopkins. Engineered by Chris Weiss. Mixed and Mastered by Matt Mehlan.

Elder Ones at Big Ears 2019

Just announced! Elder Ones will be at North America’s best avant musical festival, Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee for 2019. The festival runs from 3/21-24, with Elder Ones playing on 3/21. I will also join Mary Halvorson’s band Code Girl for a performance on 3/22. The line-up this year is heavy, including Art Ensemble of Chicago, Alvin Lucier, Bill Frisell, Evan Parker, Irreversible Entanglements, Joan La Barbara, ICE, Jlin, Rafiq Bhatia, Moor Mother, Wadada Leo Smith, Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn, Schlippenbach Trio and many more!

Elder Ones will tour in support of our second album From Untruth, out March 2019 on Northern Spy Records. Stay tuned for tour dates! We are also currently booking dates in Europe for May 2019. Please reach out in the contact page if you are interested in bookings.

Summertime and Mexico City

Summer has been flying by and it was a busy one! After wrapping up a residency at Roulette with an inspiring performance of my dear vocalist compatriots Anais Maviel, Emilie Lesbros, Charmaine Lee and Jean-Carla Rodea in Lines of Light, I headed up to the woods with my boys to record Elder Ones' upcoming record. We're in the mixing/mastering phase now and all I can say is, it is going to be a wild one. Lea Bertucci and I had a nice duo tour, with some dates in the works for this Fall and plans to record, look out!

I have a very exciting debut performance at the historic Newport Jazz Festival, where so many of my heroes have played before me. I'll be with Mary Halvorson's Code Girl, Saturday August 4th!

I'll be in residence at Bucareli 69 in Mexico City this August, where I'll be playing a few shows.

August 18th - Improv with Jacob Wick + Amigos

August 19th - Improv with Generación Espontánea

August 25 - Solo + Improv with vocalists Sarmen Almond and Rodrigo Ambriz

Besos!

Amirtha