Michael Toland

Bassist/composer Ingebrigt Håker Flaten may technically be a former Austinite (though he maintains his ATX address), but he’s here so often that it’s easy to forget. Case in point: Håker Flaten’s long-running avant-garde/improvisational music fest Sonic Transmissions returns to our city limits. With representation from Texas, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Amsterdam, Norway, Brazil, and Bolivia, the festival welcomes iconoclasts like Ben LaMar Gay, Damon Locks and the Gratefuls, MESTIZX, Andreas Røysum Ensemble and Marvin Tate, Trio Glossia, Cameron/Chou/Thomson/Ng, Signe Emmeluth, the Viva Palestina Orchestra, Thor & Friends, the Young Mothers, and more. Co-presented by Epistrophy Arts. – Michael Toland

Pavement, Built to Spill, TV on the Radio, and Mastodon – Austin Psych Fest’s fall companion is sticking with longstanding headliners this year and switching up the rest of the setup. Ditching their Halloween weekend spot (don’t worry, Resound’s Halloween Freakend will take over) and moving from the streets of Downtown to the Palmer Events Center, Levitation 2025 promises the same rock-based lineup in new surroundings with highly anticipated acts like Wednesday, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, La Femme, and Model/Actriz plus a series of separately ticketed night shows featuring visits from Beach Fossils, Mdou Moctar, Teen Suicide, and more. – Caroline Drew

Jazz and beyond is set to fill the Rosette this fall. The 3908 Avenue B venue launches its ATX Music Series this Thursday with a performance by vibraphonist Carolyn Trowbridge’s Quintet. An 85-seat state of the art theatre best known as the home of Austin Classical Guitar, the Rosette – named for the soundhole decorations […]

Palindromlar Intense highs and lows color experimental jazz quartet’s latest offering

Parker Jazz and Elephant Room team’s new bar has become a “gateway drug” to the genre

Raised on church music, trained in jazz, and blooded by the psychedelic soul of the Black Pumas, of which he’s been a member since they started touring, keyboardist JaRon Marshall has a deep creative well from which to drink. While earth sounds, his 2023 debut with his band the Collective, leaned most heavily on both […]

Free improvisation lives in infamy as often as it basks in glory. Many people think it can be done by anyone, no skill or creativity needed. But, much like Jackson Pollock’s paintings, spontaneous composition requires not only technical dexterity but also the ability to listen to and complement the other participants’ work as you express […]

A regular member of Hard Proof, the Azmaris, and the Alex Coke/Carl Michel Sextet, vibraphonist and percussionist Carolyn Trowbridge has amassed credits with Adrian Quesada’s Boleros Psicodélicos, Black Pumas, Graham Reynolds, Conspirare, and the bizarre steel pans cover band Pan Rocks. Finally leading her own band, the omnivorous Trowbridge uses her debut album Found Memories […]

In Austin, jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham (1924-1972) is a superstar – a pioneer who helped bridge bebop and hard bop, forged ties to jazz greats, and boasted deep local roots from L.C. Anderson High School, where he first picked up his horn. Outside of Austin, Dorham is well-respected by his peers as author of the […]

Guitarist Don Cento has been a subtle mover and shaker in the Austin scene for years, producing or performing with everyone from Jerry DeCicca and