Two Out of Four: The Possible 4 ft. Margaret Ross

From Slovenia, Serbia, and just outside of Chicago, The Possible 4 is a never-before-seen collaboration between internationally acclaimed jazz artists Jure Pukl (saxophone), Vladimir Kostadinovic (drums), Marko Churnchetz (piano), and Harish Raghavan (bass).

Don’t miss your chance to witness these heavyweight talents tear up the Alphabet City stage, with different combinations of musicians and poets each night!

Featured Musicians:

Jure Pukl is recipient of the highest award of the Republic Slovenia for achievements in the arts (Nagrada Presernovega sklada 2015) and is one of the most prolific and creative saxophonists of the younger Slovene jazz generation. Pukl obtained university education abroad, he studied classical saxophone at the Vienna Music Academy, and jazz saxophone in Vienna as well as at the Haag Conservatory of Music. Pukl then won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston USA, where he pursued his studies with masters such as Joe Lovano and George Garzone. He completed his masters degree in music at the Graz Academy of Music. His music has won him many awards; among others the 2005 first Jury Prize and Best Composition Audience Award at the Jazz on International Music Workshop and Festival in Novo mesto, Slovenia. In his auctorial projects, such as the Virus quintet (receive rave reviews, among others on the influential Allaboutjazz Web portal) Pukl dedicates himself to modern interpretations of jazz. What he creates is a unique type of modern jazz, avantgarde, free jazz and impressionistic contemporary music performed with a great deal of knowledge and love, giving prominence to the interplay between band members.

Vladimir Kostadinovic, award winning drummer (Tuscia in Jazz 2008 Italy, Jimmy Woode Competition) bandleader, composer & arranger is one of the Europe jazz music scene’s most sought after drummers, started his musical education at the age of five when he began studying classical accordion and drums.  Drums has always been his real love and he wanted to pursue it, with a passion! Vladimir ranks high among drummers who are versatile and savvy enough to play different styles of music, as a sideman and with his own projects. In August 2009 he was invited to perform with a master of organ hammond B3 Tony Monaco. During that time Vladimir also formed his own quartet with Jimmy Greene, Danny Grissett and Matt Brewer which featured his own compositions. In 2009 he went into the studio in New York with his band and recorded his first CD “COURSE OF EVENTS”. Shortly thereafter he joined the band Antonio Farao Trio, with whom he is currently playing and traveling all over Europe. Vladimir also recorded his second album as a leader “THE LEFT SIDE OF LIFE” live at the Generations Jazz Festival in Frauenfled Switzerland, which was released for one of the most prestigious jazz record labels in Europe ENJA Records. ​He published 2 CD’s under his own name and received rave reviews all over the globe among others in the influential Modern Drummer, Jazz Times, Jazzthing, Jazzpodium and All About Jazz. In last few years, Vladimir has also gone on to put his musical talents to work. He is currently writing music for his upcoming album and continues to headline concerts internationally.

After arriving in New York in 2007, bassist Harish Raghavan has begun to make a name for himself among the rising stars of his generation.  Raghavan grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, just north of Chicago. At age eight he began studying Western and Indian percussion, and later switched to the double bass at seventeen. He studied bass with John Clayton at the University of Southern California and also with Robert Hurst. During his years in Los Angeles he recorded and played with many legendary West Coast musicians. In 2009 he was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition. Raghavan is a regular instructor at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and the Jazz at Centrum summer program in Port Townsend, Washington. He is featured on pianist Taylor Eigsti’s 2010 Concord release, Daylight at Midnight.

Marko Churnchetz (Slovenian spelling Črnčec) is one of Slovenia’s most heralded contemporary musicians and renowned exports, based in New York City. On the international scene he is known as a formidable young multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer who easily works across genres and in particular jazz, classical and popular music. Churnchetz was born May 15, 1986 in Maribor, Slovenia and by the age of age six his musical path began by studying
 classical music on accordion and then piano at the age of ten. A prodigious talent, by his teens he was a multiple award-winner in both national and international competitions, and he earned a classical piano degree in 2005 as well as jazz piano degree at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria in 2009. Churnchetz has released five albums as a leader. His third highly critically acclaimed album Devotion (Whirlwind Recordings, 2014), featuring Mark Shim (saxophone), Chris Tordini (double bass) and Justin Brown (drums) was selected among 20 Best Jazz releases of 2014 by “All About Jazz”! Churnchetz’s latest album PLACE TO LIVE (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2019) features his outstanding jazz trio with Harish Raghavan on doublebass and Justin Brown on drums. On two tracks the trio is joined by vocalist Jonathan Hoard, who co-wrote the title song of the album. French “Jazz Magazine” called it “Revelation!”

Featured Poets: 

Margaret Ross is the author of A Timeshare (Omnidawn Publishing, 2015). She is a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and lives in Berkeley, California.

Christine Stroud is a poet living in Pittsburgh, PA and is the editor in chief of Autumn House Press. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University, where she earned the Best Thesis in Poetry award. Her chapbook, The Buried Return, was released by Finishing Line Press in March of 2014, and her second chapbook, Sister Suite, was released from Disorder Press in early 2017. Stroud’s poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Hobart, Ninth Letter’s first web edition, The Paterson Literary Review, Cimarron Review, The Laurel Review, and many others

Kim Sousa is a poet and open border radical currently living in Pittsburgh with two senior pugs. She was born in Goiânia, Goiás (Brazil) and raised in Austin, Texas. Her work can be found in Poet Lore, Rogue Agent, Apogee, Blunderbuss and elsewhere.

Other poets TBA!