- courtesy of Milk Factory Productions
- 3.5.7 Ensemble
In a city as large as Chicago, where sizable musical communities consist of far more subsets and cliques, it’s all but impossible to keep tabs on everyone or to even be aware of all that’s going on. I’d seen the name of the 3.5.7 Ensemble plenty of times over the last half-decade or so, but until recently I’d never heard the group’s work. The series of numbers in the moniker refers to how the group both contracts and expands depending on context—the core of the unit features saxophonist Nick Anaya, trumpeter James Davis, guitarist Tim Stine, bassist Chris Dammann, and drummer Dylan Andrews—but sometimes they’ll shrink down to a trio or grow to a septet; it’s the latter for much of a sprawling new double album called Amongst the Smokestacks and Steeples (Milk Factory Productions). The recording adds regular auxiliary members Jim Baker on piano and Richard Zili on clarinet. The full group will be present to celebrate the release of the album at a concert Saturday evening at the Hairpin Arts Center.
Today’s playlist:
