One of Austin's newest residents, and one of the most unassuming musicians you'll ever meet, is free jazz bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (say ING-uh-brite Hoak-er FLAH-ten), an expatriate from Norway and one of the crucial figures on the European jazz scene. Born in 1971, he's long been associated with one of free jazz's most well-loved touring acts, The Thing, a group he co-leads with Swedish reedman Mats Gustafsson and fellow Norwegian, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. On Friday, March 12, he'll join Chicago reedman Ken Vandermark and Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik for a performance as part of Free Fall, a chamber-improvisation group, at Austin's AAMP. If you don't catch this performance, fear not: Flaten will be playing his new home base with some of Austin's finest in the near future. more ›

Leave the tandem jumps to lesser men and women. Tandem jumping is like eating your favorite ice cream with a balloon tied around your tongue. It’s like being introduced to Leonard Cohen through his 80s synth recordings. After all, you made up your mind to jump, possibly to your messy doom - really only about 30 people die from this a year - out of an airplane and paid good money for it. Wouldn’t you rather experience the full effect? If so, call up Texas Skydiving in Lexington, ask about the AFF program. more ›