An improviser, composer, writer and trumpeter of boundless talent, Nate Wooley has, throughout this century, been one of the most celebrated, non-conformist and even visionary artists working within an unrestricted landscape which, starting from the already vast territory of jazz and improvisation, has spread to areas disconnected from that umbilical cord, such as modern composition, drone and noise. Always with the same verve and thirst for exploration, carrying the tradition of American experimentalism forward into the present day. From his involvement in ensembles such as the Elliot Sharp Aggregat or the Ingebrigt Håker Flaten New York Quartet, to working with artists as diverse and formidable as Anthony Braxton and Éliane Radigue, through countless more or less ad hoc group collaborations to a solo practice that encompasses both solitary creation on the trumpet, in a treatise on lyricism and techniques that break with its canonical use, as well as through the composition of pieces for ensembles such as Apartment House or Yarn/Wire and, conversely, as a performer of works by Sarah Hennies and Christian Wolff, there is a whole world unfolding. On Henry House, a solo album released last year on Ideologic Organ — a label curated by Stephen O’Malley — Wooley sets aside performance, instead conceiving a five-part journey based on his own texts, which crystallises the durational nature of his ongoing work with the hypnotic song cycle Seven Storey Mountain in a torrent of voices, piano, vibraphone and wind instruments. With a long-standing and deeply cherished connection to this country, having released several albums on Clean Feed and Creative Sources and collaborated with the Red Trio and Hugo Antunes, Wooley returns to the ZDB stage for a solo performance and in a format that has suited him well throughout his career: the duo.

As well as collaborating with other instruments such as the guitar — with Joe Morris and Chris Forsyth —, the saxophone — Ken Vandermark and Ivo Perelman — and percussion — Paul Lytton —, Wooley has also demonstrated a flair and ingenuity in trumpet duos, particularly with Peter Evans and Taylor Ho Binum, and it is in this very format that he joins forces tonight, on an equal footing and following a collaboration in 2024, as reported in *Reuma* by João Almeida. Still a young figure yet already having left an indelible mark on the contemporary jazz and improvisation scene, he is equally adept at crossing boundaries to embrace the noise of Hocus — and fusion acts such as Peachfuzz — on a journey built upon a vast knowledge of the instrument’s techniques, potential and history, whilst seeking out new forms and ways of playing it.

BS