For the past 20 years, Ken Vandermark has been working to expand the possibilities of improvised and composed music in North America and Europe, both as a performer and organizer. Ken has made many significant and highly respected contributions to both the local and international jazz/improvised music scenes through organizing concerts in Chicago and sponsoring North American tours with various ensembles. In 1996, he and writer John Corbett began organizing the Empty Bottle "Wednesday Night Jazz Series," concerts that brought musicians from Chicago, North America, and Europe to audiences on a weekly basis for nearly a decade. From April 2006 to October 2008, he continued this work by co-directing the "Immediate Sound Series" with Mitch Cocanig at the Hideout; and since the autumn of 2005 he has been a member of Umbrella Music, a musician based group of organizers collaborating in Chicago.
