The Absent Wilson Conspiracy explores acoustic, and electric jazz through contemplative and spacious original compositions. Drawing rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic textures from across the spectrum of classic and contemporary jazz, the band is driven by a deep love of the collective improvisation at the heart of jazz. Also known as The Captain Wilson Conspiracy, the band began conspiring in Missoula Montana nearly a decade ago. After keyboardist Keaton Wilson moved to Arizona, bassist Steve Kalling, guitarist DR Halsell, and percussionist Ed Stalling adopted the ‘Absent Wilson’ moniker as a way to acknowledge the origin and connection while forming the nucleus of an expanding group of like-minded conspirators. In recent years, Helena-based composer and pianist Steven Gores joined the fun. His emotional and cinematic compositions made him complicit from the first note.

Montana has a way of pulling together people who love wild places and find the particular kind of quiet that comes in the wind and wide sky. This experience of the wide-open spaces and the people and communities who live here, has shaped their compositions. They look forward to sharing these stories and exploring the spaces they shape from the ZACC stage this January.

Bigskylight’s music is inspired by the subtle differences in the color and timbre of light across the Montana sky. It is created to slow down, go deep and listen. Dynamic and fluid, the ensemble revolves around the ethereal and sound of the hand-pan (a contemplative relative of the steel drum).

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