Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
Keeping the Flame at Van Gelder Studio
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Mike Reed is bringing a fresh concept to a live music festival in September with the inaugural Sound & Gravity.
(Photo: Courtesy Mike Reed)Chicago-based Constellation Performing Arts will present Sound & Gravity, a five-day musical event scheduled to take place Sept. 10–14 at multiple venues in the city’s vibrant Bricktown/Avondale area. Billed as an immersive experience, the inaugural festival will cater to adventurous, creative listeners and include a diverse roster of artists from a range of musical genres that span jazz, experimental, contemporary classical, electronic and indie music, according to organizer Mike Reed, a locally based musician and presenter who operates Constellation, a hub for innovative musical practices that produces approximately 200 shows per year.
Participating venues include Beat Kitchen, Hungry Brain, Constellation, Rockwell Patio, Judson & Moore, Guild Row and Rockwell on the River Event Space — all of which are located within a 15-minute walk of each other and span either side of the Chicago River. Performances will run each night from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. The easily navigable setup allows attendees to take in the local culture while enjoying cutting-edge music.
Scheduled Sound & Gravity performers include Tarbaby, Chicago Underground Duo, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Bill Callahan, Mdou Moctar, Third Coast Percussion, Darius Jones Trio, Ken Vandermark Edition Redux, Anna Webber’s Simple Trio, Cooper Moore, Helado Negro, Mary Lattimore, Irreversible Entanglements, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, Julianna Barwick, Mary Halvorson, Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Rafiq Bhatia, Elias Rønnenfelt, Glenn Kotche, Michael Zerang’s Puzzle House, Luke Stewart’s Chicago Quartet and numerous others, as well as surprise sets curated by Electrical Audio studios.
Sound & Gravity also serves as a fundraiser for Constellation Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organization Reed founded in 2013 that has become a cornerstone of Chicago’s forward-thinking music scene. Since its inception, Constellation has filled a void in Chicago’s cultural landscape by providing a reliable, high-end performance platform for avant-garde and experimental music. Sound & Gravity extends this mission, offering a concentrated dose of the venue’s innovative spirit across multiple locations in one of the city’s most creative neighborhoods.
Individual concert tickets and day passes are available, and all Sept. 14 events will be free to the public. The Sound & Gravity Festival Pass provides access to all festival events, subject to capacity. For tickets, scheduling information and a complete list of performers, visit soundandgravity.org. DB
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
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