On the evening of Friday, April 4th, we are delighted to present double bassist Henry Fraser (NYC), sonic artist Brett Masteller (NY), Reon Moebius’ and Drew Sherrick’s duo project Collector of Dust (CMH) and the Cox/Putnam duo (CMH). Doors 7:30pm, show begins at 8:00pm sharp. $9.25 prepaid, $10 at the door.
Supporters of our 2024-2025 season include the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Columbus Foundation. Our April 2025 show is organized in partnership with A Tribe for Jazz.
About the artists:
Born in Boston, MA in 1991, Henry Fraser moved to NYC in 2014, and has been actively working on a diverse array of projects since. Collaborating with such artists as John Zorn, Ka Baird, Uniform, Mary Halvorson, Lea Bertucci, and Ryan Power, he has toured throughout the US and abroad, playing venues including the Panama Jazz Festival, Moers Festival, Unsound Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Lincoln Center. Fraser’s raw working materials – the ultimate treatment of which can vary greatly – emerge through collaboration and by engaging with myriad musical forms unto which an improvisational framework can be mapped; these are often communal, ceremonial, psychedelic, and/or religious forms. This dialogical approach privileges no particular sound world or aesthetic, but rather implies a value system whereby the musician(s) themselves – their personal history – are salient in the work. Since 2019, Fraser has focused heavily on solo music for the double bass, culminating in three releases and establishing him as a technical and creative force among his generation of bassists – the latest, Breath Line, was released in the fall of 2024. Fraser was selected as a fellow for the Art OMI Music residency (2021), was named a NYSCA/NYFA Finalist in the category of Music/Sound (2022) and was invited to participate in the SWR NEWJazz Meeting (2022). In 2023, he joined Carnegie Hall’s Future Music Project as a Teaching Artist, facilitating music workshops with incarcerated youth in NYC, and in 2025 he will be one of Pioneer Works’ music residents and have his first residency at The Stone in NYC.
Brett Masteller is a sonic artist whose work merges the roles of composer, audio engineer, sound designer, performer, programmer, hacker, and maker. Drawing from algorithmic processes, chance procedures, and structured improvisation, he creates intricate and chaotic soundscapes employing technology to play a vital role in his work. Acting as both a tool and a collaborator, technology enables him to explore the dynamic interplay between structure and spontaneity. Brett studied music composition and electro-acoustic computer music at The State University of New York at Buffalo and Northwestern University where his principle teachers were Cort Lippe and Christopher Mercer. With more than 20 years of teaching experience at various colleges and universities, Brett is an Assistant Professor in the Music and Theater Department at SUNY Broome in Binghamton, NY. There, he teaches courses in audio engineering and beat production. Brett has had concert performances of his works in North America, Europe and Australia at conferences, festivals, galleries, universities, concert halls, black-box theaters, gymnasiums, dive bars, cul de sacs, and some other less notable places. Some noteworthy performances took place at the Birchfield Penney Art Center, The International Computer Music Conference, The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, The Australian Computer Music Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, the Missouri Experimental Sonic Arts Festival, and June In Buffalo.
Collector Of Dust is the flagship project of Reon Moebius: multi instrumentalist and co founder of the independent label Argali Records whom he has shared operating duties with Nathan James Carter (Nihil Obstat/John Lithium) since the late 2000s. Originally conceived in South Thomaston, Maine during the winter of 2014: Collector Of Dust began as a cultivated outgrowth of Reon’s older band outfit The Jesus Fish Experience until that project was formerly retired in 2019 with it’s final digital release ‘Baptized By The Void’ having reached the limits of it’s shelf life. Since debuting live for The Fuse Factory in September of 2024, Reon is joined by former Dirty Dungarees owner and journeyman multi instrumentalist Drew Sherrick on electric upright bass, both of them having performed in ad-hoc lineups and ensembles in the past. Drew’s heavily effects laden bass playing provides a powerful but sensitive counterpoint for Reon’s similarly treated bowed guitar playing as they weave together soaring melodies anchored by the only inorganic component to Collector Of Dust: Reon’s reverb coated Alesis SR-18 drum machine. Whether it’s hauntingly hypnotic songcraft, intense feedback driven crescendos, or overlapping drones created by electric bowed strings: Collector Of Dust brings to stages an immense and immersive experience to those attending their performances. And regardless of the lineup: each performance is meant to be memorable.
Gerard Cox and Aaron Putnam, two talented musicians from Columbus, Ohio, form a dynamic duo known for their eclectic blend of genres and innovative sound. Combining their skills in various instruments and production, they craft music that seamlessly weaves elements of jazz improv and electronic influences. Their collaborative efforts bring a fresh, experimental energy to the Columbus music scene, creating a unique and captivating experience for their listeners. With a shared passion for pushing musical boundaries, Cox and Putnam continue to evolve and redefine their sound. Gerard is a pianist, trumpeter, and percussionist from Columbus with a keen interest in musical surrealism and the percussive nature of the piano. Born to a piano teacher Mom and a jazz saxophone hobbyist father, clear “rockstar” inclinations were shown at age 8 in an appearance as J.S. Bach at an OMTA music festival and at 10 as Billy Idol in a look-a-like contest for the national pop/rock magazine Star Hits. Cox developed a love for jazz in high school on through college, studying both jazz piano and B3 organ. While initially taken with the straight-ahead jazz of Art Blakey and Clifford Brown, he followed John Coltrane’s discography into his later period music and this proved to be the gateway for a fascination with free jazz and all kinds of other outsider/experimental music.