Person · Male
Ken Vandermark
- From
- Warwick, United States
- Since
- 1964–present
- Releases
- 90
- free improvisation
- free jazz
- jazz
About
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer and reedist.
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A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compositions, which typically balance intricate orchestration with passionate improvisation. He has led or been a member of many groups, has collaborated with many other musicians, and was awarded a 1999 MacArthur Fellowship. He plays tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and baritone saxophone.
He was also a member of NRG Ensemble.
Member of
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DKV Trio reeds
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Spaceways Incorporated reeds
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Made to Break reeds
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Chicago Reed Quartet clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
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Marker reeds
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Shelter reeds
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Edition Redux reeds
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Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone
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Side A reeds
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Eric Revis' 11:11 reeds
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DEK Trio reeds
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Double Tandem reeds
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Cinc reeds
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Ken Vandermark & Nate Wooley Duo eponymous, reeds
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Ikue Mori / Steve Noble / Ken Vandermark Trio eponymous, reeds
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John Butcher / Ken Vandermark Duo eponymous, reeds
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Hamid Drake / Eddie Prévost / Ken Vandermark Trio eponymous, reeds
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Summit Quartet tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Discography
Albums
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Standards
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Utility Hitter
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Hidden in the Stomach
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Like Rays
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A Meeting in Chicago
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Stumble
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English Suites
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Expansion Slang
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I Wonder If I Was Screaming
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No Such Thing
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Two Days in December
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Dual pleasure
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Furniture Music
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Duets
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Dual Pleasure 2
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Gambit
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Brooklyn Cantos
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Ideas
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CINC
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Foreground Music
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Rebus
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4 Corners
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Goofy June Bug
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C.O.D.E. - Play the Music of Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy
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Collected Fiction
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Mark in the Water
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The Nows
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Letter To A Stranger
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OX
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Cement
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Interacting Fields
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Lacerba
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Verses
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East by Northwest
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Lightning Over Water
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Nine Ways to Read a Bridge
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Rare Avis
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The Lions Have Eaten One of the Guards
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Resistance
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Site Specific
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Close Up (For Abbas Kiarostami)
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Paul Lytton & Ken Vandermark: English Suites
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Burning Below Zero
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Splinters
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Shelter
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Triptych
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Escalator
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Momentum 2 & 3
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O.N.G. Crash
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Wired for Sound
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Noise of Our Time
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Duol
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No-Exit Corner
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Kozmik Bazaar
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Scaffolding
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Largest Afternoon
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Deeply Discounted II / Sequences of Snow
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Invitation to a Dream
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Totaal
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Screen Off
Singles
Live
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Consequent Duos: Series 2e
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Consequent Duos: Series 2d
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Open Border
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Consequent Duos: Series 2b
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Consequent Duos: Series 2a
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Are We in Diego?
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Momentum 1: Stone: Six Encounters in New York
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Occasional Poems
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All Directions Home
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Extended Duos
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Fox Fire
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Alive in Lisbon
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Immediate Sound
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Hoxha
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Live at the Glenn Miller Café
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Concert for Jimmy Lyons
Compilations
Links
Listen
Official
Concerts
Buy
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- e5a4107f-5bb3-4f24-b9b7-927bb23840b5
- ISNI
- 0000000055171254
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 8 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.