Clarinetist/composer James Falzone founded KLANG for a pending January 2006 gig at a now-defunct improvised music series in Chicago. He used that opportunity to recruit three other mainstays of the city's creative music scene he had always wanted to work with: Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke and Tim Daisy. Driven by their common interests in the clarinetvibes sound and the vast musical legacy of the legendary Jimmy Giuffre, the quartet has worked together ever since, performing at prominent festivals, series and venues around the country. [Note: Due to health problems, Jason Adasiewicz will be unable to tour with KLANG this spring. Trombonist Jeb Bishop will appear in his place.]
The work of composer and clarinetist James Falzone exists at the intersection of divergent streams. Equally at home in classical, jazz, improvised, and various world music idioms, his career has garnered wide critical and peer respect for the way he traverses and connects these seemingly disparate paths. He has been featured on numerous public radio and television programs and has performed in concert halls, festivals and jazz clubs throughout North America and Europe. In addition to appearing on numerous recordings as ensemble member, he has released several critically acclaimed recordings as leader and his compositions have been performed by chamber and choral ensembles, orchestras and soloists throughout North America, Europe, and Russia. He has received numerous grants and awards for his work and is the Director of Music and Resident Composer at Grace Chicago Church. Educated at Northern Illinois University and New England Conservatory, James is a respected educator himself, currently on faculty at Columbia College Chicago where he teaches in the New Millennium Studies program, an innovative first-year interdisciplinary seminar. He is a frequent lecturer and workshop presenter at universities and colleges in the US and abroad.
"James Falzone is a tremendously likable, alert, no-nonsense improvising clarinetist from Chicago. Mr. Falzone's music is thoughtful and often quiescent, but he can play hard to the breaking point. He likes history, but he's not only repping for one tradition." - Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
James Falzone (clarinet)