Effective period / Period of releases: 2021

The Evolution of the Arm channels imaginary chamber music from an alternate universe. A quartet of improvisers drawing on collective experience in classical, jazz, experimental, noise, and theater music, they’ve developed their telepathic connection across genre, time, and space.

The group first convened in November 2017 in Buffalo, NY under the creative auspices of Western New York expatriate Michael McNeill (keyboards, composition). Having worked together in various combinations in Wooden Cities, Buffalo Bach Project, and Parvenue, Mike called upon Megan Kyle (oboe, English horn), Evan Courtin (violin, voice), and Katie Weissman (cello, electronics) to join him in this new endeavor. Very quickly, the group decided to focus solely on their own compositions.

Since 2017, the Evolution of the Arm has performed at various venues in Buffalo and McNeill’s new home state of Virginia. Throughout this time, the group’s repertoire has come to include the original semi-composed/semi-improvised suite Jackrabbit’s Palace by McNeill, Courtin’s trio pawns for oboe, cello and voice (featuring poetry by Marina Blitshteyn) and pieces of Kyle’s ongoing text-score project, the Invisible Series. Weissman frequently rounds out programs with cello and electronics improvisations. In the summer of 2019 the group recorded their debut album Sounds Like with engineer Chris Jacobs at the University at Buffalo. Their individual and collective musical explorations continue to evolve.