SPACE is a Minneapolis-based, modern jazz cooperative that seeks to bring the spontaneity and creative complexity of improvised music into playful collision with the performative intensity of rock-and-roll. SPACE’s all-original music immerses listeners in a radically egalitarian, ever-evolving sound story. This show celebrates the completion of their second studio recording of original music “The Approaching Coast”. Their first recording “Non-Trivial Problem” from a few years back was critically acclaimed and signaled the emergence of another serious Jazz composer’s collective from Minnesota.

Ivan Cunningham has been an active member of the Twin Cities music scene since high school. During a four-year stint at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where in 2021 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, he remained involved with his Minneapolis/Saint Paul roots while also connecting with musicians in Wisconsin. Alongside leading ensembles as composer/bandleader, he has performed and recorded with numerous artists and groups such as Freaque, Black Market Brass, Charlie Lincoln, and Nicholas Christenson. While the bulk of his foundational training is in jazz improvisation and composition, Ivan has found inspiration in a very wide selection of music from all over the world, especially traditions that incorporate improvisation.

8:00 Opening Set

Ivan Cunningham Quartet

Ivan Cunningham - Saxes

Matty Harris - Saxes

Michelle Kinney - Cello

Cory Healey - Drums

9:30pm SPACE - CD Celebration

Jack Courtright - Trombone

Will Schmid - Guitar

Patrick Adkins - Piano, Rhodes

Alma Engebretson - Bass, Cello

Luke Peterson - Drums