A concert/fundraiser for Transparent Productions with the Jeff Cosgrove Quintet feat. Jeff Cosgrove (drums), Dave Ballou (trumpet), Darryl Brenzel (alto), John Lee (guitar), and Tom Teasley (percussion). Friday December 12 at Rhizome DC. Doors at 7:00PM, music at 7:30PM. Donations at the door or in advance starting at $20.
Proceeds from the door will go to support Transparent and the music it brings to the DC area.
Transparent Productions was started in 1997 as an informal volunteer cooperative by Larry Applebaum, Bobby Hill, Herb Taylor, Thomas Stanley, and Vince Kargatis to organize concerts of creative improvised music in and around Washington DC. Chris Clouden, Sara Donnelly, and Clay Fink became involved later. We continue today with Bobby, Chris, and Clay. Since our start we have produced over 350 shows and will continue to make it possible for listeners in and around DC to hear this non-commercial, uncompromising music in interesting spaces like Rhizome DC.
Praised for his “open-time creativity and melodic sense” (Gapplegate Music Reviews), drummer Jeff Cosgrove has pursued a unique improvisational path with varied ensembles, having released eight recordings as a leader, each garnering international press accolades - Confusing Motion for Progress (Noah Preminger/Kim Cass), Welcome Home (Jeff Lederer/Mark Lysher), History Gets Ahead of the Story (John Medeski/Jeff Lederer), Near Disaster & Alternating Current (Matthew Shipp/William Parker), Hunters & Scavengers (Scott Robinson/Ken Filiano), Conversations with Owls (Frank Kimbrough/Martin Wind), and Motian Sickness the music of Paul Motian (Jamie Masefield/Mat Maneri/John Hebert)
While Cosgrove has ample experience playing beat-driven music with strict time, he is drawn toward abstraction in his own work, summoning colors and textures on the drum kit, listening deeply to his colleagues as the music flows and evolves. As The Washington Post put it: “Cosgrove’s drumming doesn’t provide the music with an engine so much as a lighthouse.” According to the Frederick News-Post, “Cosgrove reaches so far beyond the parameters of mere beats and time signatures and groove that calling him a drummer is barely the beginning.
Trumpeter/Composer Dave Ballou can be heard in a variety of settings; from solo trumpet improvisations to large ensembles performing notated compositions. His recordings as a leader can be found on the Steeplechase, CleanFeed and pfMentum record labels. Ballou has performed or recorded with ensembles led by Rabih Abou-Kahlil, Steely Dan, Michael Formanek, Woody Herman, Andrew Hill, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Sheila Jordan, Oliver Lake, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman and Maria Schneider. Ballou worked closely with the late Gunther Schuller performing as soloist on the definitive recording of Journey into Jazz with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and as a featured soloist for the world premiere of Schuller’s Encounters. He was an orchestra member for the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of 42nd St. (2001-2004).
Ballou is a Professor of Music at Towson University and member of the Jazz/Commercial music division and director of the Murray Jazz residency. He teaches classes jazz theory and improvisation, jazz arranging, studio jazz trumpet, and improvisation for all instrumentalists, jazz composition and coaches small jazz ensembles including the improvisation ensemble. He is a faculty member at the Litchfield Jazz Camp, and has taught at the Maryland Summer Jazz Camp, the Maine Jazz Camp and The Banff Institute.
Darryl Brenzel is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator residing in Frederick, Maryland, and working in the greater Baltimore–Washington area. His current musical pursuits include teaching jazz saxophone at Towson University and Gettysburg College, and jazz arranging at Shenandoah University; leading his own jazz trio and quartet; performing as a free-lance woodwind player; and arranging music for numerous professional and college bands throughout the country.
John Lee, is a composer and guitarist residing in Washington D.C., who has devoted his life to exploring the art of music. Lee earned a B.F.A. in Jazz Performance from The New School University, Mannes Jazz and Contemporary Music Program and has studied with Debashish Bhattacharya, Paul Bollenback, Dave Fiuczynski, George Garzone, Jamey Haddad, Johnny Hiland, Wayne Krantz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Gary Thomas. Since earning his degree he has toured and performed with prominent figures: Cyro Baptista, Fatoumata Diawara, Hassan Hakmoun, Matisyahu, Christian Scott and Keller Williams, plus rising D.C. stars Kris Funn, Mark Meadows, and Nicole Saphos.
As a global percussionist, composer, and sonic explorer, Tom Teasley creates music that dissolves boundaries—cultural, musical, and spiritual. Grounded in the belief that rhythm is a universal language capable of fostering dialogue across traditions and identities, his work draws inspiration from Middle Eastern frame drumming, West African grooves, Indian tala cycles, jazz improvisation, and contemporary electronic textures. The result is a synthesis that is immersive, expressive, and deeply human.
Teasley’s artistic journey has been shaped by collaborations across continents and disciplines. As a U.S. Department of State Cultural Envoy, he has shared musical conversations in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, South Korea, Samoa, Oman, and Jerusalem, working alongside local musicians to foster cultural exchange and mutual understanding. These experiences have transformed his understanding of music as a bridge between past and future, self and other, tradition and innovation.
Widely recognized for his pioneering contributions to world percussion, Teasley has received numerous awards throughout his career, including multiple honors for World Percussionist of the Year, Outstanding Sound Design, and World Music Instrumentalist. A lifelong learner, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory and was mentored by percussion masters from both Western and non-Western traditions.