Doors Open at 7pm
Concert at 8pm
Artist donations requested
BOBY
Christopher Dammann - bass
Matt Piet - piano
Avreeayl Ra - drums
The duo of Christopher Dammann and Matt Piet invite master percussionist, Avreeayl Ra, for a night of improvised music.
Christopher Dammann is a composer/bassist who lives in Chicago. He considers himself indebted to the generosity and knowledge of those he collaborates, studies, and performs with, including Jim Baker, Avreeayl Ra, Steve Hunt, Vincent Davis, Brian Sandstrom, Edward Wilkerson Jr, Jon Irabagon, Mabel Kwan, James Davis, and Brian Gephart. Recent work includes the debut recording of his current sextet (Scott Clark, Jon Irabagon, Edward Wilkerson, Mabel Kwan, James Davis) and an upcoming quintet release expected July 2026 of a new quintet (Jim Baker, Mike Reed, Jon Irabagon, James Davis) on the Shifting Paradigm label. Christopher is a 2025 Illinois Arts Council Creative Catalyst Grant recipient and a 2025 3arts Make a Wave Awardee.
In addition to his work as a performer, Christopher is also proud to be a teaching artist with The People’s Music School of Chicago, Chicago’s largest tuition free music school.
Matt Piet is a pianist and educator who grew up in South Suburban Chicago. Following his early training as a chorister and classical pianist, he moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music. Upon his return to Chicago, Piet “rapidly achieved an exalted status among a younger generation of musicians through his abiding sense of curiosity, drive to collaborate, and raw talent” according to the Chicago Reader. This effort was heard notably in bands like Four Letter Words (with Bill Harris and Jake Wark) and in a collaborative trio with Dave Rempis and Tim Daisy. In 2021, his Amalgam Music release (pentimento) offered a novel take on solo piano improvisation via a series of overdubs. Piet works as a music educator in suburban Chicago.
Drummer/percussionist Avreeayl Ra grew up in Chicago in a house full of music: his father, Arthur “Swinglee” O’Neil, was a tenor saxophonist who mentored many young Chicago musicians, including John Gilmore. He studied drums with Kelan Philip Cohran, one of the cofounders of the AACM, and has since remained a member of that organization. Ra has performed and/or recorded with Fred Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Ari Brown, Oscar Brown, Jr., Charles Gayle, Henry Grimes, Billy Harper, Joseph Jarman, Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Nicole Mitchell, Sun Ra, Malachi Thompson, and many others.
According to the Chicago Tribune he is “an indispensable Chicago innovator, Avreeayl Ra shapes the music-making swirling around him with remarkable precision and poise… extraordinarily sensitive percussion.”
