Ephemera Obscura preserves and promotes materials of the creative improvisation and experimental music communities from the late 20th Century through to the present day. It produces concerts featuring these historical artists and their 21st-century counterparts. The organization’s programs focus on supporting and celebrating works in the collection, while aiming to address issues of accessibility and neurodiversity for creative musicians and audiences, engaging populations outside the contemporary music scene.
Infrequent Seams (IS)
IS has been operating as a record label since 2012, and prior to that, had been a concert series at a Senegalese restaurant in Brooklyn. There are now nearly 100 releases from a variety of artists, and IS releases close to 20 albums a year.
Infrequent Seams has two primary formats for releasing music: the Standard Release schedule, and the K7 Commissions schedule. Both are outlined below. Standard Release schedule is funded through financial contributions from the artists themselves, whereas the K Commissions releases are funded through Infrequent Seams independent fundraising efforts and also has a focus on promoting the work of BIPOC+ or QUEER+ artists, and artists from across the Neurodiversity spectrum.
Anagram Ensemble (AE)
AE has existed since 2002 and has taken various forms, from a jazz quartet to an avant-garde big band to an interdisciplinary large ensemble. EO will present concerts featuring music associated with James “Jabbo” Ware, Butch Morris, Phill Niblock, and Roscoe Mitchell in 2025. Newly-commissioned work will also be featured on some concerts.
Continuous Present (CP)
A semi-annual printed journal that includes scores, writings, and other archival materials alongside essays and original work from contemporary artists, musicians, and writers whose work engage’s EO’s mission. As of 2025, this journal has an editorial team of Anna Vitale, Monika Weiss, and EO director James Ilgenfritz. The second and third issues of CP will appear in late spring and mid-fall 2025, respectively.
Ephemera Obscura Archives (EOA)
Ephemera Obscura Archives maintains a growing list of collections that provide insight into the evolving histories of contemporary Improvisers and composers in New York and beyond. Materials in the archives are safely stored in a temperature controlled facility, while selected items will become permanently or temporarily accessible for the general public and for research purposes.
Ephemera Obscura, Inc.
Ephemera Obscura, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity that was incorporated in 2024 with the help of Marty Khan and his associate Leonard Easter. Ephemera Obscura Archives (EOA) will be the name of the archival project itself, and will be the primary project for the 501(c)3. The EOA preserves and promotes materials from figures associated with the creative improvisation and experimental music communities in the latter half of the 20th century.
Infrequent Seams Streamfest (ISS)
A hybrid livestream and in-person festival that began during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for artists, musicians, poets, video artists, and others involved in theater and dance to share work through the format of livestream. Now a hybrid livestream and in-person festival, ISS will also provide a context for sharing archival materials associated with EO’s archives.
