What’s Going On: Conduction, Improvisation, and the Culture of Structure is a festival-within-a-festival exploring the legacies of Butch Morris, Julius Hemphill, and Sun Ra, curated by Wayne Horvitz and co-presented by South Hudson Music Project, Earshot Jazz Festival, and Nonsequitur. Seven concerts and a workshop. All concerts start at 7:30 (doors 6:30) at the Royal Room. Details and advance tickets in the linked dates below.

Thu. 10/17 – Seattle Modern Orchestra plays music of Wayne Horvitz and Julius Hemphill.

Wed. 10/23 – Julius Hemphill’s Dogon A.D. with Marty Ehrlich, D’Vonne Lewis, Peggy Lee, Stephanie RIchards; also, members of the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble re-imagine the music of Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Julius Hemphill, Carla Bley, and Ornette Coleman.

Thu. 10/24 – Kin of the Moon Open Strings Orchestra, conductions by Wayne Horvitz and Stephanie Richards, with Peggy Lee, Leanna Keith, Robin Holcomb, and Darius Jones; also, Julius Hemphill Saxophone Sextets, with Marty Ehrlich, Skerik, Darius Jones, Neil Welch, Jory Tindall.

Fri. 10/25 – Julius Hemphill: Compositions for Jazz Orchestra; also, Electric Circus: “Nublu”

Fri. 11/1 – Jazz in Silhouette, the classic 1959 swing album by Sun Ra and the Arkestra, featuring Sun Ra alum Vincent Chancey; also, Hip Hop and its Elders, connecting the dots between the samples and structures of hip-hop and jazz in the post-Coltrane era. Thaddeus Turner, Darrius Willrich and special guests Brandon Ross, Vincent Chancey and Sara Schoenbeck.

Sat. 11/2, 4 PM – Workshop: Conduction for the People! An audience participatory event on the principles of conduction and approaches to new improvisation.

Sat. 11/2 – The World of Conduction: Tribute to the Legacy of Butch Morris, conductions by Wayne Horvitz, Stephanie Richards and Brandon Ross; also, Electric Circus: Space Is the Place, a re-imagining of the iconic 1973 Sun Ra album.

Sun. 11/3 – Manual de Ritmo de Percusión con Señas, all percussion orchestra using a conduction system for rhythm. Inspired by Butch Morris and created by Santiago Vásquez; also, Dust to Dust, The Songs of Butch Morris, inspired by Morris’ 1991 New World recording “Dust to Dust.”