Foggy Notion: Natural Information Society

Natural Information Society (NIS) is an association of musicians and artists who have set themselves the goal of creating a sound haven, a meditative space and kinetic momentum music.

The core quartet of the group, which realizes the compositions of composer Joshua Abrams, consists of Abrams, Lisa Alvarado, Mikel Patrick Avery and Jason Stein. The band moves between minimalism, jazz and experimental music and has become a reference for contemporary, non-idiomatic creative music. They have recorded seven albums for Eremite Records and two collaborations with Bitchin Bajas for Drag City Records. The group has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Brazil, using Alvarado's free-hanging paintings as stage sets for their concerts. In 2021, Abrams formed an expanded version of NIS called Natural Information Society Community Ensemble, to which he added horns and Chicago tenor sax legend Ari Brown, as heard on the album Since Time Is Gravity, released in 2023. Mandatory Reality as part of Lisa Alvarado's exhibition at The Kitchen, NYC. Her next album, Perseverance Flow, will be released in fall 2025 on Eremite Records.