Photo by Christopher Drukker
Adegoke Steve Colson
& Iqua Colson Quartet
ADEGOKE STEVE COLSON, composer/piano
IQUA COLSON composer/vocals
MARK HELIAS bass
RONNIE BURRAGE drums
$20 advance / $25 after July 9
Referred to as a “musical power couple” in The New York Times, (2017) the music of composer-pianist Adegoke Steve Colson and composer-vocalist Iqua Colson focuses on many facets of the human experience. Early members of the famed AACM, their critically acclaimed performances and recordings illuminate social issues, and have featured such innovators as Reggie Workman, David Murray, Tyshawn Sorey, Joseph Jarman, Oliver Lake, Tomeka Reid and Henry Threadgill, as well as master artists of other disciplines including dancer/choreographer Savion Glover, writer/activist Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and dancer/actress Carmen de Lavallade.
Iqua worked with tenor saxophone titan Fred Anderson for several years in her early career in a group that included George Lewis, Hamid Drake and Douglas Ewart. Her compositions usually center around vocal performance.
Ade is a decorated composer who has written for large and small ensembles and received several honors and commissions supporting his work in music composition. He has worked and recorded with such artists as Baikida Carroll, Butch Morris and David Murray. His works for small ensembles have been recorded by such greats as bassist Richard Davis, composer and trumpeter Hannibal and most recently by Andrew Cyrille on his ECM Release, “The News.”
The Colsons latest release "Glow: Music for Trio...Add Voice" featuring Mark Helias and Andrew Cyrille will be fully released in August 2025. In 2024, The Northwestern University Libraries purchased The Adegoke Steve Colson and Iqua Colson Archives, including scores, compositions, and artifacts relative to the first 50 years of their varied and prolific careers: an honor, as they are now documented at Ade’s alma-mater, in one of the largest and most venerated music collections in the United States, known for unmatched strength in contemporary music. Adegoke Steve Colson is a Steinway Artist.
Mark Helias is a renowned bassist and composer who has performed throughout the world for more than three decades. He began his international career in the Anthony Braxton Quartet. Up to the present time he has performed with a panoply of world class artists including: Edward Blackwell, Dewey Redman, Abbey Lincoln, Marilyn Crispell, Julius Hemphill, Bobby Bradford, Ray Anderson, Don Cherry, and Cecil Taylor.
Ronnie Burrage is considered to be one of the best in the business at his craft. He has toured all four continents from Siberia to South Africa to Japan. He has graced stages with the who’s who of jazz such as Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wallace Roney, Jackie & Rene McLean, James Moody, Gary Bartz, Archie Shepp, Joe Zawinul, and McCoy Tyner. Throughout his illustrious career he has been featured on over 100 recordings.