Dave Rempis

• Name — Dave Rempis • Born — 24 March 1975 • Origin — Wellesley, Massachusetts • Instrument — Soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax • Genre — Jazz free jazz avant-garde jazz free improvisation • Occupation — Musician • Years Active — 1998–present • Label — OkkaDisk, 482 Music, Clean Feed, Not Two, Aerophonic • Website — Official Website

Dave was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8. While caddying in the Boston area, Rempis was given a deep collection of jazz LPs, in exchange for transferring them to cassette tape. In 1993, Rempis began a degree in classical saxophone at Northwestern University with Frederick Hemke. As part of his studies in anthropology, he spent a year at the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana in Legon, studying African music and ethnomusicology. After graduating from Northwestern in 1997, Rempis decided to focus on performing, and in March 1998 was asked to replace saxophonist Mars Williams in the Chicago jazz band The Vandermark 5, led by saxophonist Ken Vandermark. During his tenure with The Vandermark Five, Rempis also began to develop many Chicago-based groups and cooperative units as Triage, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, and The Rempis/Daisy Duo. He recorded for labels such as Okka Disk, 482 Music, Clean Feed, Not Two, and Aerophonic, an artist-run label that Rempis founded in the winter of 2013. His collaborations include a wide variety of creative improvised music legends, ranging from Peter Brötzmann and John Tchicai to Joe McPhee, Marshall Allen, and Roscoe Mitchell. Rempis also works as a music programmer in the Chicago area. He curated the weekly "Improvised Music" concert series at Elastic Arts (2002-2023), helped establish the Umbrella Music collective and its annual music festival, worked as lead organizer of the Downtown Sound Gallery concert series at Gallery 37, and organized the yearly Pitchfork Music Festival. Rempis added the soprano saxophone to his arsenal of instruments after his friend and mentor Mars Williams (d. November 2023) left his soprano saxophone to Rempis after years of battling cancer.

• Release year — Title — Label — Personnel/Notes • 2001 — Premiun Plastics — Solitaire Records — As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2003 — Twenty Minute Cliff — Okka Disk — As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2004 — Out of Season — 482 Music — Quartet with Jim Baker (musician) (piano), Jason Roebke (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2004 — American Mythology — Okka Disk — As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2005 — Back to the Circle — Okka Disk — Duo with Tim Daisy (drums) • 2005 — Circular Logic — Utech Records — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2006 — Rip Tear Crunch — 482 Music — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2006 — Stagger — Utech Records — As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2007 — Hunter-Gatherers — 482 Music — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2007 — The Engines — Okka Disk — As The Engines; with Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2009 — The Disappointment of Parsley — Not Two — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2010 — Cyrillic — 482 Music — Duo with Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2010 — Wire and Brass — Okka Disk — As The Engines; with Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2010 — Bastard String — Self-released — As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) • 2011 — Montreal Parade — 482 Music — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2012 — Instruments of Change — Not Two — As the band Construction Party; quartet with Forbes Graham (trumpet), Pandelis Karayorgis (piano), Luther Gray (drums) • 2012 — Mechanisms — Clean Feed — As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) • 2013 — Other Violets — Not Two — As The Engines; with John Tchicai (tenor sax and flute), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) • 2013 — Mi Casa es en Fuego — Self-released — As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) • 2013 — Phalanx — Aerophonic — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2013 — Boss of the Plains — Aerophonic — As the band Wheelhouse; with Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Nate McBride (bass) • 2014 — Both Ends — Bocian — As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) • 2014 — Second Spring — Aerophonic — Duo with Tim Daisy (drums) • 2014 — Aphelion — Aerophonic — Trio with Joshua Abrams (bass), Avreeayl Ra (percussion) • 2014 — Spectral — Aerophonic — Trio with Darren Johnston (trumpet), Larry Osch (tenor/sopranino saxophone) • 2015 — From Wolves to Whales — Aerophonic — Quartet with Nate Wooley (trumpet), Pascal Niggenkemper (bass), Chris Corsano (drums) • 2015 — Worse for the Wear — Aerophonic — As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) • 2015 — Western Automatic — Aerophonic — As The Chicago Reed Quartet; with Nick Mazzarella (alto sax), Mars Williams (sopranino/soprano/alto/tenor saxophone), Ken Vandermark (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto/tenor saxophone) • 2015 — Cash and Carry — Aerophonic — As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) • 2018 — Hiljaisuus — Astral Spirits, Monofonus Press — As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (musician) (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) • 2018 — Ithra — Aerophonic — Trio with Tomeka Reid (cello) and Joshua Abrams (bass) • 2019 — Lift to Drag — Medium Sound — As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) • 2020 — Purple Dark Opal — Aerophonic — As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) • 2020 — Of Things Beyond Thule Vol. 1 — Aerophonic • 2020 — The COVID Tapes: Solos, Duos & Trios — Aerophonic • 2021 — The Glass Delusion — Astral Spirits, Aerophonic — As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) • 2021 — All Your Ghosts In One Corner — Aerophonic — As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) • 2023 — Bennu — Aerophonic — Duo with Avreeayl Ra • 2023 — Sirocco — Aerophonic — Trio with Tim Daisy (d) and Mark Feldman (violin) • 2023 — Earscratcher — Aerophonic — Quartet with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Tim Daisy (d), and Elizabeth Harnik (p) (recorded at Alte Gerberei, mixed by Markus Massinger) • 2024 — Lip — Aerophonic — Duo with gabby fluke-mogul (strings) • 2024 — Propulsion — Aerophonic — Jason Adasiewicz (v), Joshua Abrams (b), and Tyler Damon (d) • 2024 — Gnash — Aerophonic — Duo with Tashi Dorji (g) (recorded at Sugar Maple, mixed by David Zuchowski) • 2024 — Truss — Aerophonic — Quartet with Jakob Heinemann (b), Bill Harris (d), and Pandelis Karayorgis (recorded at Elastic Arts, mixed by David Zuchowski) • 2024 — Near Mint Minus — Aerophonic — The Brunt, with Gerrit Hatcher (ts), Kent Kessler (b), and Bill Harris (d) (recorded and mixed live in Chicago) • 2025 — Sudden Dusk — Aerophonic — Archer, with Terrie Ex (g), Jon Rune Strøm (b), and Tollef Østvang (d). (Recorded at Constellation & the Sugar Maple) • 2025 — House and Home — Aerophonic — Wheelhouse, with Nate McBride (b) and Jason Adasiewicz (vb) (recorded at Constellation) • 2025 — Embers and Ash — Aerophonic — Quartet with Russ Johnson (tr), Jakob Heinemann (b), and Jeremy Cunningham (d) (recorded at The Hungry Brain by Dave Zuchowski) • 2025 — Dial Up — Aerophonic — Trio with Jason Adasiewicz (vb) and Chris Corsano (d) (recorded at Constellation & the Sugar Maple) • 2026 — Three From The Vault — Aerophonic — Trio with Katinka Kleijn (c) and Lia Kohl (c) (recorded at May Chapel). • 2026 — Orbital — Aerophonic — The Outskirts, with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b) and Frank Rosaly (d) (recorded at Teatro Torresino). Marta Warelis (p) joins the trio on disc two (recorded at Rataplan). • 2026 — Clocking the Wheel — Aerophonic — Ballister + Luke Stewart (b)

• Release year — Leader — Title — Label • 2014 — Audio One — An International Report — Audiographic • 2014 — Audio One — The Midwest School — Audiographic • 2015 — Audio One — What Thomas Bernhard Saw — Audiographic

• Release year — Leader — Title — Label • 2011 — The — Kafka In Flight — Not Two • 2012 — The — What Country Is This — Not Two • 2013 — The — Head Above Water, Feet out of the Fire — Not Two • 2015 — The — Double Arc — Not Two

• Release year — Leader — Title — Label • 2000 — The-1 — Transatlantic Bridge — Okka Disk • 2002 — The-2 — Atlas — Okka Disk • 2004 — The-3 — Map Theory — Okka Disk • 2005 — The-4 — Company Switch — Okka Disk • 2006 — The-5 — New Horse for the White House — Okka sisk • 2007 — The-6 — Collide — Okka Disk

• Release year — Leader — Title — Label • 1999 — The — Simpatico — Atavistic • 2000 — The — Burn the Incline — Atavistic • 2001 — The — Acoustic Machine — Atavistic • 2003 — The — Free Jazz Classics 1 & 2 — Atavistic • 2003 — The — Airports for Light — Atavistic • 2004 — The — Elements of Style — Atavistic • 2005 — The — The Color of Memory — Atavistic • 2006 — The — Free Jazz Classics 3 & 4 — Atavistic • 2006 — The — A Discontinuous Line — Atavistic • 2008 — The — Beat Reader — Atavistic • 2009 — The — Annular Gift — Not Two • 2010 — The — The Horse Jumps and the Ship Is Gone — Not Two • 2013 — The — Impressions of Po Music — Okka Disk

• Release year — Leader — Title — Label • 2008 — Ingebrigt — Year of the Board — Jazzland • 2008 — Keefe Jackson — Just Like This — Delmark • 2009 — Paul — Get In to Go Out — 482 Music • 2009 — Waclaw — Four Walls — Multikulti • 2013 — Pandelis — Circuitous — Driff • 2014 — Pandelis — Afterimage — Driff • 2015 — Tim — Seven Compositions for Duet — Relay