For their debut concert in Chicago, the Bohman Brothers perform a specially-composed set in two sections. Sound poetry, free improvisation and musique concrète are ingredients, but ultimately the whole is greater and more arcane than the sum of its parts.

Adam and Jonathan Bohman have performed together as a duo since 1996. They quote freely from a wide variety of sources—for instance, mixing spoken word material from a pub menu, the sound of amplified shoe brushes and seventeenth century harpsichord music. The use of amplified and un-amplified objects is a distinctive feature of their work, and their live set-up often resembles a hard-wired flea market. The visual aspect is deliberate and comedic. Ridiculous advertising spiel, technical manuals and found texts are delivered in blurred simultaneity or ragged call and response.

Adam Bohman (b.1959, Leicester, England) began his performing career in 1983, both solo and as a member of live electroacoustic group Morphogenesis. He is also a member of the London Improvisers’ Orchestra. In addition to his amplified object playing and tape collages, Bohman records audio letters on cassette tape. His work can be heard on the recent Music and Words album and at Resonance 104.4 FM, a London-based non-profit art radio station.

Jonathan Bohman (b.1961, Chertsey, England) has been experimenting with recording techniques since the mid-70s. In 2001 he formed the Bohman Family, an expanded group that adds several colleagues. He is also a director of the London Musicians’ Collective and a contributor to Resonance 104.4 FM.