Craig Taborn solo at The Cooler
Jazz Views“Try not to understand, just surrender to the playing and sit back to revel in his creativity, his skill and his subtlety. Bursting with a new kind of jazz, glorying with invention. ”
EARLY SHOW - Doors 6:30pm / Music 7pm
LATE SHOW - Doors 9pm / Music 9:30pm
The Cooler at The Complex, 12 Mary's Abbey, Dublin 7
US pianist Craig Taborn will return to Ireland for an intimate show in the micro-venue at The Cooler, a unique opportunity for Irish audiences to come up close and personal to this extraordinary musician.
Born in Detroit in 1970, Craig Taborn studied at the University of Michigan. He first came to wider attention in the groups of saxophonist James Carter. His first ECM appearance was with Roscoe Mitchell’s Note Factory on the album Nine To Get Ready (recorded 1997).
Over the last decade Taborn has refined and developed his approach, attaining new high ground with his 2020 release Shadow Plays. For Craig the recording is “part of the same continuum as Avenging Angel. Where that was a studio recording, this one is live, but that process of spontaneous composition goes onward.” The new album is a stunning live recital from the Mozart-Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus, where the programme was headlined Avenging Angel II. In this fully improvised concert, Craig explores sounds and silences, swirling colours, densities and forms, creating new music with both poetic imagination and an iron grip on his material. His control of his craft as he unerringly creates narratives and structures from the hint of a revealed pattern, following where intuition and experience lead him, is extraordinary.
“When you improvise,” Taborn told writer Adam Shatz, in a New York Times interview, “you’re observing and creating at the same time. To make the next move, you have to get really close to what’s going on.”
“Free improvisation” can mean many things. For Taborn, in this context, this is not a matter of automatic writing or stream-of-consciousness self-expression but of keeping in focus both the larger frame of the concert and the concise statements shaped from the moment-to-moment detail of the music. “A lot of my interests revolve around trying to extend the boundaries you can create in…” Taborn has noted. “Rather than simply free-flowing as I travel from Point A to Point B, I am really trying to construct and to organize the material as it emerges, in real time. And what is created in this way feels different to music using pre-composed elements.”
Taborn is a great improviser in any context, and highly regarded for his capacity to get to the heart of the music, whatever the setting. In the solo work connections to ‘jazz’ are not always self-evident, but in the flux of the piece retrospectively called “Conspiracy of Things”, allusions to the history of the music from stride piano onwards seems to flash past at lightning speed. In all pieces, ideas are explored, at multiple levels. Emotions too – tenderness and fierceness co-exist in pieces thoughtfully titled “Discordia Concors” and “Concordia Discors,” concepts that reflect the notion of unity through diversity. “I name the pieces,” Taborn said in a recent interview with Bomb magazine, “after they are finished and in consideration of their programmatic position – in a way the titling is the final stage of composition. And I intend the titles as invitations to extend the musical experience into other areas.” The inclusiveness of his work – subtly informed by music and art of many traditions – invites new associations and open responses.
The Cooler is located upstairs at The Complex Arts Centre, 12 Mary's Abbey Dublin 7. The entrance to The Cooler is through the same door as The Depot at The Complex, on the Mary's Abbey side of the building, where the LUAS tracks run. The building has a red wall on the left hand side of a front plaza that has a sign reading 'The Complex', and a blue wall facing the front plaza that has a sign reading 'The Complex - Art Lives Here'.
The plaza in front of The Complex is used by the surrounding businesses and during the day is often full of fruits, vegetables or delivery vehicles. You can still access The Cooler at these times.
Above the blue artist's door, you'll see a painted sign for The Cooler (in black) and The Depot (in white). The Cooler is alsomarked by a small sign between the main glass doors (sometimes covered by blue shutters) and the blue artist's door. The glass doors will be open for performances from door times (usually 7:30pm).The Cooler cannot be accessed from the Arran St East side of The Complex - this is the entry for the Gallery and artist studios only. If you have any trouble locating the Cooler please give Caitriona a call on 087 783 3391.
To find the Cooler on Google Maps, search for The Cooler or The Depot at The Complex (the main performance space downstairs at The Complex). If you find the address for just The Complex, it will generally will bring you to the gallery on Arran St East.
The performance space is up two flights of stairs and may be difficult to access for patrons with additional mobility needs. The space is fully seated.
Gender-neutral toilet facilities are available upstairs (a few steps up from the level of The Cooler). Baby-changing facilities are available at The Gallery, downstairs at The Complex (using the Arran St entrance).
Guide dogs and service animals are welcome. Please notify us if you will be attending with a guide dog.
If you have any other queries regarding accessibility or require any accommodations for seating etc, please contact us at admin @ improvisedmusic . ie and we will do our best to assist you.
The red line of the LUAS runs very close to The Cooler, taking the stop at Jervis St (if travelling towards Saggart/Tallaght) or at Four Courts (if travelling towards Connolly/The Point). Many different bus lines run to Ormond Quay, Inns Quay, or Church Street, which are all a couple of streets away from The Cooler.
During the day, a small gated Dublin City Council car park can be accessed on Mary's Lane around the corner, at standard rates, but closes at 9pm.
Jervis Shopping Centre Car Park is also close by, with varying opening hours, often closing at 9pm.
Some street parking is available nearby, often free after 7pm - days and rates vary, please check signs. At the time of writing, the loading bays on Mary's Abbey (directly in front of The Complex), and the loading bays on Arran St East are both free after 7pm. Please double check signs, as these arrangements can change.
