Adam Shead and Stephan Haluska at the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee on August 8, 2025

Adam Shead and Stephan Haluska presented a set of improvised music at the Jazz Gallery last August which almost entirely utilized extended techniques. The result was a 57-minute drone where textures and moods were explored in a context without beats or melodies.

Shead is a Chicago-based drummer and composer who has appeared on this blog several times. Haluska is based in Cleveland and teaches at both Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition he is the managing director of the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project.

Purchase Stephen Haluska's albums here.

Recording information:

ADAM SHEAD and STEPHAN HALUSKA
2025-08-08
Milwaukee, WI
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts

Adam Shead: percussion
Stephan Haluska: harp

Setlist:
01 improvised piece (57:04)

Total time = 57:04

Recorded with kind permission of the artists by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii
Software: Audacity, xAct

audio downloads 

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16 bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (381 MB)

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320 kbps mp3 files (143 MB)

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video of the performance by Marvin McGhee:

Jackson-Heinemann Quartet at Charles Allis Museum in Milwaukee on August 22, 2026

Reedist Keefe Jackson, bassist Jakob Heinemann, and drummer Adam Shead are no strangers to this blog. This hardworking trio based in Chicago (Jackson and Shead) and Los Angeles (Heinemann) have busy schedules and often (luckily for this blog) stop in Milwaukee. A year ago they played a captivating set at Bar Centro and this time they were joined in the current exhibition space at the Charles Allis Museum by Norwegian clarinetist Andreas Røysum.

  

There were some really interesting originals from each member of the group, peppered with a few choice covers of tunes by jazz legends John Tchai, Bobby Bradford, and Paul Motian.

Purchase Andreas' albums here.

Recording information:

JACKSON-HEINEMANN QUARTET
2026-08-22
Milwaukee, WI
Charles Allis Museum

Keefe Jackson: tenor sax, bass clarinet
Andreas Røysum: bass clarinet, clarinet
Jakob Heinemann: bass
Adam Shead: drums

Setlist:
01 Beacon [Heinemann] (8:39)
02 Crackup Capitulation [Jackson] (6:33)
03 En Plaine Air [Heinemann] (8:59)
04 Arabesque [Motian] (7;23)
05 Understanding Salt [Heinemann] (6:49)
06 Tick [Shead] (4:48)
07 She [Bradford] — Strange Train [Heinemann] (7:56)
08 Oles Anders [Tchai] (7:27)
09 Fail Safe [Heinemann] (4:22)

Total time = 62:56

Recorded with kind permission of the band by Richard Hayes for this blog

microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF in front of the band
recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii
software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

audio downloads 

these will automatically download when you click them:

  

16 bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (473 MB)

lossless files that can be burned to a CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (174 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible

video of the first set by friend of the blog Marvin McGhee:

Jackson - Heinemann - Shead Trio at Bar Centro in Milwaukee on August 14, 2025

The Jackson-Heinemann-Shead Trio performed two sets of thoughtful and thrilling jazz at Bar Centro last August as part of a series of concerts promoting their new album Stinger on the Irritable Mystic label.

Keefe Jackson is a tenor saxophonist and clarinetist who moved to Chicago in 2001 from Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is often associated with the free jazz scene in Chicago but (like Josh Berman) seems to have arrived at free improvisation as a progression from a solid grounding in American post-bop jazz rather than from a "burn it all down" European perspective. His soloing is always tasteful and confident and his compositions complex and emotionally expressive.

Hailing from Madison, WI, Jakob Heinemann has recently moved to Los Angeles where he is busy teaching and performing in that growing jazz scene. 

Adam Shead is a busy percussionist in Chicago who leads the group Microplastique and who was featured on this blog with the Stein/Smith/Shead trio.

Buy their most recent album here.

Recording information:

JACKSON - HEINEMANN - SHEAD
2025-08-14
Milwaukee, WI
Bar Centro

Keefe Jackson: tenor sax, bass clarinet
Jakob Heinemann: bass
Adam Shead: drums

Setlist:
01 Dewey’s Tune (6:41)
02 Oles Anders (3:31)
03 Slant (6:40)
04 Yearning (7:16)
05 Silent Danish Girl (5:46)
06 Mushi Miyake (17:22)
07 Raija’s Bop (4:33)
08 God of the Fickle (9:56)
09 1 2 3 4 5 (6:37)
10 March for Mr A (3:22)
11 Unknown (7:13)
12 Unknown (4:43)
13 Easy (6:35)
14 Unknown (3:29)

Total time = 93:44

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF
Recorder: MixPre6ii
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads 

(these will automatically download when you click them):

  

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (628 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CD, if you are into that sort of thing

320 kbps mp3 files (430 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible

video of the first part of this performance:

Jason Stein, Damon Smith, and Adam Shead at the Sugar Maple in Milwaukee on December 9, 2025

I've been a little behind in posting shows lately -- especially jazz shows from the last year. I'll do my best to get caught up with the backlog in the next few weeks.

This upload focuses on a superb trio featuring bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and percussionist Adam Shead. Smith hails from St Louis and the other two are based in Chicago. They came to the Sugar Maple back in December as part of a short tour of the Midwest.

Stein is perhaps best known at the moment as part of Natural Information Society, but he has been a stellar part of the Chicago jazz scene for decades. Smith has worked with many significant names in jazz including Marilyn Crispell, Henry Kaiser, Alvin Fielder, and Roscoe Mitchell. For many years he has run a wonderful record label named Balance Point Acoustics. Shead is perhaps a bit less known than either, but he has been participating in several impressive local groups including Microplastique and his quintet.

Buy their most recent album here

Recording information:

JASON STEIN
DAMON SMITH
ADAM SHEAD
2025-12-09
Milwaukee, WI
The Sugar Maple

Jason Stein: bass clarinet
Damon Smith: double bass
Adam Shead: drums

Set list:
01 Set One (30:57)
02 Set Two (26:13)

Total time = 57:10

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF in front row
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96
Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (347 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that sort of thing

320 kbps mp3 files (190 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible

video of the first set: