NO COVER 4:30pm Show
The Willie August Project performs two sets of award-winning original tunes and jazz classics. Consisting of Ben Siems (guitar), Jeremy Hauer (drums), and Christian Swenson (upright bass), the group plays melodic, rhythmically intricate music rooted in the ECM progressive jazz tradition.
Ben Siems (co-founder, guitarist/composer) has performed at venues across the country as a jazz, blues, and folk guitarist. He has received over two dozen awards and grants for compositions ranging in style from jazz to neoclassical and avant-garde/experimental. He has created soundtracks for over 50 dance and theater productions, film and video works, and TV broadcasts, many of them featuring his first instrument, the cello. The Willie August Project is named for his grandfather, a railroad electrician and music and dance event organizer who died young of a brain tumor.
Jeremy Hauer (co-founder/drummer) studied under Minnesota icons Gordy Knudtson and Dave King, incorporating their masterful use of timbre and texture into his own painterly, reflective style. In addition to performing with The Willie August Project, he has played with multiple Twin Cities jazz and Americana groups, including the Handcars, a Gordon Lightfoot tribute project, and currently, Wilkinson James. He is also an accomplished audio engineer whose credits include installing the sound and video systems of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.
Christian Swenson (upright bassist) is a multi-instrumentalist who studied music composition and performance at Bethel University while also studying under Twin Cities jazz veterans Jake Baldwin and Pete Enblom. In addition to his work with The Willie August Project, he leads his own jazz group and regularly performs with multiple other ensembles on bass, trombone, and trumpet.
