EVENTS
Photo by David Gilbert
Dorians with Alejandro Salazar
Come hang with us at Dorians as we gear up to release Alejandro’s debut album in the fall!
BananaAcid + Improvised comedy troop!
An evening of music and theater! One suggestion from the audience will set up a cascading series of vinyets in which the band Banana Acid will perform music inspired by the suggestion, which will inspire scenes from some of Chicago's best improvisors, which will in turn inspire more music, and so and so forth until we ... solve all the worlds problems??? (Tim Felton).
Duo with Caroline Jesalva at Marmalade
Throwing down with Caroline. One of my favorite improvisers and collaborators. Come hear us!
Bearduo at Bridgeport Music Collective
BEARDUO IS BACK. Our first show after an illustrious east coast tour. Come hear telepathic contrapuntal improvised saxophone glory!
Bearduo is Aaron Kaufman-Levine on Alto Sax and Garrett Frees on Tenor Sax.
BananaAcid at Elastic Arts
BananaAcid is back at the Thursday Series. Enjoy your Banana Scripture!
Proverb 403:808 pages 3-45
Much like the earth, bananas can vibrate which allows for the possibility of disaster ala the bananaquake or other subsequent vibration based disruptions.
Just remember, when the “vibes are good” for you, they might be detrimental to another banana.
The banana’s produce counterpart the beet also has a vibration about it, but it often causes more dancing than destruction unless you’re in a state of being where dancing is destruction and that would vehemently oppose the cohort of beets and bananas who vibrate or the “banana beets!”
WE THE BEST MUSIC!
BananaAcid is:
Aaron Kaufman-Levine
Caroline Jesalva
Erez Dessel
Garrett Frees
Tyler Wagner
Dorians with Alejandro Salazar
Come hang with us at Dorians as we gear up to release Alejandro’s debut album in the fall!
Francis Bassett-Dilley Quintet at Stola
Playing with the great Francis Bassett-Dilley at Stola Contemporary. Come hear some beautiful tunes.
Francis Bassett-Dilley Quintet at the Chicago Jazz Fest
I am joining Francis Bassett-Dilley once again to play his wonderful compositions. Come see us for free at the Chicago Jazz Fest Rooftoop Stage!
AKL Quartet at Lemon
Aaron leads the Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet (AKL Quartet) consisting of guitarist Charlie Reichert Powell, bassist Leo Buczkowski and drummer Frank Morrison. The group plays all original music by Aaron that uses heavy improvisational elements and lots of groove possibilities.
Tickets here: https://dice.fm/event/oe7xbr-aaron-kaufmanlevine-quartet-3rd-jul-lemon-chicago-tickets
Treyf at the Hideout
Treyf is back for your viewing and listening pleasure. Funk meets klezmer meets saxophone fun with our fearless leader Dr. Dessel. All proceeds go to the Human Fund (money for people).
Erez Dessel's Something Special at the Hungry Brain
Back with another Erez Dessel Concoction at the Brain, this time 4 saxophones and Erez. Lets get to it!
BananaAcid and Ro Lundberg at ProMusica
Potassium is back on the menu and we are collaborating with Ro again! This time we will each play a set so come get your nutrients :).
Now a proverb for your spiritual guidance.
Proverb 87:88 pages 963-968
Curves and lines and edges are fine except when the fiber gets mushy and the integrity gets gushy and all falls to the wayside of the inevatable baked good massacre and subsequent $10 matcha on the side, oh my!
Francis Bassett-Dilley Group at What's Blooming on Harrison
I will be joining my dear friend Francis Bassett-Dilley and his group at the What’s Blooming on Harrison Street Festival in our native Oak Park. Come see us play (its free and outside)!
AKL Quartet at Stola Contemporary
Aaron leads the Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet (AKL Quartet) consisting of guitarist Charlie Reichert-Powell, bassist Leo Buczkowski and drummer Frank Morrison. The group plays all original music by Aaron that uses heavy improvisational elements and lots of groove possibilities. These include swing, marches, odd-meters and more. The group will often jump between forms or sections and sometimes play multiple songs or sections at a time. The impetus of the group is freedom, clarity and decisiveness which is achieved by mixing clear modular composition with free improvisation.
BananaAcid and Ro Lundberg at Bridgeport Music Collective
Enjoy the brilliant piece “By Passing Upon” with us!
BananaAcid at Subterranean
Happy St Patricks Day! Celebrate with your Potassium Pals :)
Twilight Choir at Collider
Twilight Choir is:
Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Garrett Frees, Caroline Jesalva, Tyler Wagner, Erez Dessel
Bearduo at Stola Contemporary 2 year Anniversary show!
Bearduo is back for the first time in 2026. Come check out some of our new sounds at Stola Contemporary’s 2 year anniversary celebration! BYOB and you can reserve a spot here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/one-time-out-wsg-bearduo-registration-1979556140705?aff=oddtdtcreator
AKL Solo at Tangible Books
I will be playing solo saxophone as part of the Tangible Books Music series! Come check out my solo explorations!
Andys w Alejandro Salazar Quintet
We are back at Andy’s Jazz Club! Come get some food, some drinks, and hang out to watch us! Sets at 6pm and 8:15pm both nights!
Andys w Alejandro Salazar Quintet
We are back at Andy’s Jazz Club! Come get some food, some drinks, and hang out to watch us! Sets at 6pm and 8:15pm both nights!
BananaAcid at Stola Contemporary
BananaAcid back for your monthly Potassium needs.
Now we read from the Book of Peel Proverb 16:168 34-38
Bananas are hot and bananas are cold but of course Bananas are quite cool.
When you freeze a banana, do not expect a transformation because no matter the temperature, a Banana keeps its structural integrity.
Bananas can be a surface for a number of sweet coatings like Chocolate, Caramel, Ice Cream and more. Importantly though, even if life blends or slices or coats a Banana, it is still a Banana! We must remember this when we feel the blades of life come for our mushy insides.
BananaAcid is a Chicago based music collective consisting of Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, Tyler Wagner
Treyf at the Whistler
Hitting it hard with Erez Dessel’s Groove/Dance Band TREYF.
Come hang and dance with us. Sure to be not Kosher!
Bearduo at Comfort Station
Bearduo is back from our post-album hibernation! Come check us out at Comfort Station!
Bearduo is:
Aaron Kaufman-Levine and Garrett Frees on Saxophones.
Music in the Garden Season 4 (Night 1)
Join us at the Music in the Garden Festival Season 4 at Elastic Arts Foundation!
Music in the Garden presents a 2-day music festival with Chicago-based improvisers and creative musicians, featuring a light and projection installation by Ruby Que.
Come enjoy a night or two of music, art and community.
November 1st
7pm Emily Rach Beisel
8pm Microplastique
Artist: Adam Shead, Ben Zucker, Molly Jones, Josh Harlow
9pm Purikoko
Artist: Ariel Vera, Alex Yoo
Music in the Garden Season 4 (Night 2)
Join us at the Music in the Garden Festival Season 4 at Elastic Arts Foundation!
Music in the Garden presents a 2-day music festival with Chicago-based improvisers and creative musicians, featuring a light and projection installation by Ruby Que.
Come enjoy a night or two of music, art and community.
November 2nd
7pm Sandpusher
Artist: Nick Meryhew, Sam Scranton, Andrew Tham
8pm Mabel Kwan
9pm BananaAcid
Artist: Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, Tyler Wagner
BananaAcid Halloween Live Film Scoring (A Page of Madness)
Join us for a screening of the 1926 Japanese silent experimental horror film A Page of Madness, featuring a live original score by Chicago-based group BananaAcid. You won’t want to miss BananaAcid, featuring piano, electronics, saxophones, toy whistles, strings, and voice, live alongside the silent, surreal and visually arresting film that descends into madness.
BananaAcid is Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, and Tyler Wagner.
BananaAcid is an improvising ensemble made up of Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, and Tyler Wagner. Banana Acid is committed to the practice of spontaneous composition, influenced and shaped by their studies at New England Conservatory of Music. Their unique sonic language synthesizes deep individual studies of various music traditions, including early jazz, free jazz, classical, electro-acoustic, and folk music. Their recording and performance techniques draw on modernist and postmodernist cultural movements, including surrealism and deconstructivism. A creative and adventurous force in the world of the avant-garde, their sound is uncompromising, and their musical approach pushes at the boundaries of free jazz.
AKL Quartet at The 2025 Chicago Jazz Festival
AKL Quartet is back! This time at the Chicago Jazz Fest. Tell your friends, your enemies, your neighbors, go shout it from the rooftops and the basements and everywhere in between!
Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet (AKL Quartet) features pianist Erez Dessel, Bassist Leo Buczkowski and Drummer Frank Morrison.
The group plays all original music by Aaron that uses his compositional language alongside improvisational elements to create dense, exploratory music often featuring many different grooves and styles. The group will often jump between forms or sections and sometimes play multiple songs or sections at a time. The impetus of the group is freedom, clarity, decisiveness, trust and malleability.
BananaAcid at Narloch Studios
BananaAcid re-emerges to the public eye at Narloch Studios.
BananaAcid is:
Aaron Kaufman-Levine, Caroline Jesalva, Erez Dessel, Garrett Frees, Tyler Wagner
Now your monthly scripture:
Proverb 28:18-5-33
Splits can be scary and Knives can be deadly and Peels can expose your soft, sweet insides but…
Splits can be yummy and sweet and feature nuts and cherries and fudge and Knives can be beautiful and reflective and precise and are essential to lining up your slices to make an instagram worthy celebration and Peels are stringent and fibrous and not always needed to get the nutrients you desire…
Fitzgeralds with Julian Pujols Quall and Mamey.
I will be joining Julian and their wonderful Dominico-Hatian project Mamey. Nothing quite like playing at the hometown venue with one of my favorite musicians and bandleaders! Where my Oak Park people at???
Counter Spectacle #3 with Joe Morris
Joe Morris comes to Chicago to lead one of his groups “Counter Spectacle.” He has made 3 different sets of music (1 per night) that we will be playing at various spots around Chicago with slightly different personnel each night. Night 3 is at The Hungry Brain!
Joe was one of my main teachers and mentors at NEC and we have stayed in touch post grad. I am so excited that Garrett and I could bring him out here to make music together in the real world YAY!
Counter Spectacle #2 with Joe Morris
Joe Morris comes to Chicago to lead one of his groups “Counter Spectacle.” He has made 3 different sets of music (1 per night) that we will be playing at various spots around Chicago with slightly different personnel each night. Night 2 is at Marmalade!
Joe was one of my main teachers and mentors at NEC and we have stayed in touch post grad. I am so excited that Garrett and I could bring him out here to make music together in the real world YAY!
Counter Spectacle #1 with Joe Morris
Joe Morris comes to Chicago to lead one of his groups “Counter Spectacle.” He has made 3 different sets of music (1 per night) that we will be playing at various spots around Chicago with slightly different personnel each night. Night 1 is at Elastic Arts!
Joe was one of my main teachers and mentors at NEC and we have stayed in touch post grad. I am so excited that Garrett and I could bring him out here to make music together in the real world YAY!
Bearduo Album Release at BimBom
The Long Awaited debut album of Bearduo titled “Bearduo” is HERE! Come party with us at BimBom Studios and be ready to make some NOISE.
Duo with Ben Zucker at Tangible Books
Enjoy an improvised show with the legendary Ben Zucker!
BananaAcid Fruit Stand 2nd edition
Us Bananas will be putting on our 2nd ever variety show with all sorts of fun from all over the food pyramid.
You will see all of us in different configurations and altogether at the end in addition to all sorts of fun art of different kinds.
Come take a bite out of life :O
BananaAcid is:
Aaron Kaufman-Levine - Many Woodwinds/Wind Instruments
Garrett Frees - Many Woodwinds/Wind Instruments
Caroline Jesalva - Violin, Voice, Electronics
Tyler Wagner - Bass, Electronics, Various Flutes, Assorted Percussion
Erez Dessel - Piano, Assorted Wind Instruments, Assorted Percussion
Duo with Erez Dessel at Elastic Arts
Duo project again yay! We play a mix of simple songs (on the surface) and intricate through composed pieces with a heavy dose of improvisation throughout. Come hear our compositions and concept and general demeanor!
