Blacks’ Myths is a band founded by composer and bassist Luke Stewart with drummer Warren "Trae" Crudup, and has since developed into a sonic research and performance project concerned with the idea of History, of Memory, of the power of creating a tuned state of being. The journey through Sound lies the meditation on the history of blackness, the personal memory lens of an increasingly complex world full of alternate facts and rehashed stories. History thus becomes Mythology, in the ways in which we experience its weighty meanings in our lives. Through accessing the power of Sound, the story unfolds in physical frequencies that can re-tune the sub-conscious being otherwise known as the Spirit. The specific historical themes come from lived experience, stories told.

Toronto-based improviser Karen Ng has established herself as a unique musical force nationally and internationally, performing with some of Canada’s most prized artists such as The Weather Station, Andy Shauf, Do Make Say Think and many more. One of Canada’s leading improvisers “with a breathtakingly wide musical scope” (Musicworks) she also collaborates regularly with ad hoc ensembles in the wider improvising scene across Canada, in Europe and the US.

Years after the final chords of their old punk rock band, Vancouver guitarists and composers Alvaro Rojas and Cole Schmidt reunite and celebrate with a new LP and repertoire of guitar duets, Nondual.

Riffs, counterpoint, drones and improvisations twist and turn in the contemporary style. Songs, minimalism, collage and abstractions are all invited to the block party, and hang around in the park until the streetlights turn on.

Cole Schmidt composes music for multi-genre improvising psychedelic chamber jazz ensemble SICK BOSS, drone improv unit LETTR OPENR, and the collaborative project with cellist and composer Peggy Lee, FOREVER STORIES OF: MOVING PARTIES.

As a guitarist, he performs regularly with Marin Patenaude, KneeJerk, and Peggy Lee’s Echo Painting. Cole has been curating DIY shows in Vancouver for over 15 years. He was part of the multidisciplinary outfit Sawdust Collector, and works as an Artistic Director for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Barking Sphinx Performing Society.

Alvaro Rojas creates adventurous and colourful music that combines and recontextualizes the world around him. His diverse projects include Afro Peruvian prog - jazz (GRAN KASA), drippy electronic tinged guitar+string quartet soundscapes (MUSIC FOR 22), and an upcoming release on Susie Ibarra’s Habitat sounds label based on translating the patterns of nature.

His concert pieces have been performed by many of Canada’s finest new music groups, including the Turning Point Ensemble, Aventa Ensemble, Microcosmos String Quartet and others, and has collaborated with artists such as Susana Baca and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Presenting a mega-watt collab from local luminaries James Goddard (sax + more), Jahsun (percussion) Markus Lake (bass), Cabral Jacobs (saxophone) & Engone Endong (electronics). Hot!