Biography
Jason Ajemian has acquired a high profile in the improvised music scene over the years, performing with Jeff Parker weekly for five years in Chicago, Rob Mazurek's Mandarin Movie, Exploding Star Orchestra, and the Chicago Underground Trio, Ken Vandermark's Crisis Ensemble and currently with Marc Ribot's Sun Ship and Matana Robert's CoinCoin. Ajemian's curiosity has ranged far and wide—he's just as comfortable in the hushed, folksy setting of Born Heller, his duo with Josephine Foster, as he is in the breath-processed arrangements of his large ensemble Who Cares How Long You Sink. Given such a variety of musical interest, a detour like "From Beyond," Ajemian's backwards version of Back Sabbath's "Into the Void" for chamber ensemble, begins to seem like an obvious stop on this bassist's journey from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Chicago and his current home in New York City.
- Jacob Kart
Prior:
Mr. Ajemian has a unique background that is responsible for his some say contiobobberish (mr. koltuniac of the Wrigley company created it) or rather his almost psedo Yezidi vibe. Jason began his carreer after completing a masters degree in Ichthyology from the Bedford Insitute of Oceanography in Dartmouth Nova Scotia. His area of focus was and still is Otolith analysis. For those outside the industry otoliths are the socalled "ear stones" fish posess and upon scientific examination much can be revealed: primarily age. But there is more to learn from this: exact date of the egg hatch, daily details of growth rates, migratory patterns, etc. Mr. Ajemian's attentian has been almost exclusively on the Family Sciaenidae, one of the most commercially important ones with over 33 species in the atlantic and pacific of north america. Mr. Ajemian, always seeking out the "loners" of the world caturned his attention back in 1990 the one called Aplodinotus grunniens, the only freshwater member of Sciaenidae-and actually the most widely distrubited freshwater fish in the longitudinal sence in North America. Through his studies of the "gaspergou" and the analysis of their otoliths Jason has been about to completly reconstruct past lives of these incredible fish. The family Sciaenidae has been well documented throughout history for the sounds they produce by vibrating the muscles attached to their bladders. It can be fairly loud-even heard outside of the water. Mr. Ajemian is sometimes willing to demonstrate this as he to can do it. These sounds. This socalled "drumming" is responsible for helping some of us "shake it loose." Some call Jason "the Archie Carr" of Otolith research.
—Arch Stanton, Author of Bitter Mellon Lifestyles
Projects
- Solo
- HighLife
Jacob Wick, Jaimie Branch (trumpet/vox), Peter Hanson (saxophone/vox), Owen Stewart-Robertson (guitar/vox) & Marc Riordan, Nick Jenkins (drums/vox)
- Daydream Full Lifestyles
Tony Malaby (saxophones), Rob Mazuek (cornet), Jeff Parker (guitar), Chad Taylor & Noritaka Tanaka (drums)
- LOVERSROCK
w/ Scott Tuma
- BRAINSTORMS
Collaboration with Visual Artist Dana Carter
- Who Cares How Long You Sink
Large ensemble devoted to a breath process of orchestration.
- From Beyond
Black Sabbath’s "Into the Void" arranged backwards for chamber Ensemble.
- Joy Mega
w/ Matt Bauder, Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone & Chad Taylor
- LayAllOverIt
Noritaka Tanaka(drums)
- Hush Arbors
Keith Wood (guitar/song writer)
- A Cushicle
Jeff Parker (guitar), Noritaka Tanaka (drums), Selina Trepp (videolah)
- Sun Ship
Marc Ribot (guitar), Mary Halvorson (guitar), and Chad Taylor (drums)
- Helado Negro
Roberto Carlos Lange, Oliver Chapoy, Issac Lekach, Shannon Fields, Jason Tramell
- Day in Pictures
Matt Bauder (sax/composition), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Angelica Sanchez (piano) & Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
- Born Heller
w/ Josephine Foster
- Dragons 1976
Aram Shelton (Sax) & Tim Daisy (drums)
- The Electronicians
Matthew Lux (bass), Aram Shelton (sax) & Noritaka Tanaka (drums)
- Smokeless Heat
Noritaka Tanaka & Tim Haldeman
- Triage
Dave Rempis (saxes) & Tim Daisy (drums)
- Exploding Star Orchestra
w/ Rob Mazurek, Nicole Mitchell, Jeb Bishop, Corey Wilkes, Josh Berman, Matt Bauder, Jeff Parker, Jim Baker, Jason Adasiewicz, John McEntire, Matt Lux, Mike Reed & John Herndon
- Chicago Underground Trio
- Mandarin Movie
Rob Mazurek, Steve Swell, Alan Licht, Matthew Lux & Frank Rosaly