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The Chicago Plan begins a nine-city European tour, performing compositions from the 2017 self-titled debut album, at Martinschlössl in Vienna, Austria on February 8. The quartet stays in Austria for two more concerts, before heading to Germany and Slovenia. The tour concludes with a concert at Area Sismica in Forli, Italy on February 17. We hope you can join them along the way! See below for all of the currently scheduled quartet dates.

The FreeJazzBlog reviewed Steve Swell’s latest releases 'Live in Copenhagen' (featuring his trio with Peter Brötzmann & Paal Nilssen-Love), and 'The Chicago Plan' (together with Gebhard Ullmann, Fred Longberg-Holm and Michael Zerang), giving them 4 stars.

More than 10 years of partnership between American trombonist, composer Steve Swell and German tenor saxophonist, bass clarinetist and composer Gebhard Ullmann after their successful first collaboration, The Ullmann/Swell Quartet featuring bassist Hill Greene and drum legend Barry Altschul continues now with a new version of the quartet featuring renowned Chicagoans, Michael Zerang, drums, percussion and Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello.

Celebrating over ten years of collaborating together, Berlin saxophonist/composer, Gebhard Ullmann and NYC trombonist/composer Steve Swell join two of Chicago's finest improvising musicians; Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello/electronics and percussionist Michael Zerang for this new configuration. Lazaro Vega, Jazz Director of the Blue Lake Public Radio spotted The Chicago Plan in concert as part of the Underground Concert Series produced by www.adventuremusic.org, during their September Tour in the United States and wrote this wonderful report which you can read in full below. Watch this space for updates!

«If the recording is more accessible than listeners might have expected from well-known Chicago innovators such as Zerang and colleagues, the live performance at Constellation was still more alluring. Though certainly not for everyone's tastes, the music of percussionist Zerang & the Blue Lights clearly has been designed to welcome listeners into the world of avant-garde jazz. It would be difficult to imagine a much more effective enticement.»

Impressions from last summer's Chicago Jazz Festival "Neighborhood Nights" series featuring Michael Zerang's Blue Lights performance at the Logan Square Monument.