Projects
Active ensembles and recent recordings
SPACE
Formed in 2017, SPACE is a Minneapolis-based, modern jazz cooperative that seeks to bring the spontaneity and creative complexity of improvised music into playful collision with the performative intensity of rock-and-roll. SPACE’s all-original music immerses listeners in a radically egalitarian, ever-evolving sound story. Their first recording, Non-Trivial Problem, was critically acclaimed and signaled the emergence of another serious jazz composer’s collective from Minnesota. SPACE's second album, The Approaching Coast, was released in December 2022.
Will Schmid - Guitar
Luke Peterson - Drums
Patrick Adkins - Piano
Jack Courtright - Trombone
Alma Engebretson - Bass/Cello
Will Schmid Quartet
Featuring pianist Patrick Adkins, bassist and multi-instrumentalist Alma Engebretson, and drummer Tarek Abdelqader, the Will Schmid Quartet serves as the main performance vehicle for Will's original compositions and arrangements. Despite its jazz-forward instrumentation and posture, the Will Schmid Quartet draws from diverse pools of inspiration, from Americana to chamber music to extreme metal.
Senseless Violets
Senseless Violets is a multigenerational collaboration among guitarists Toivo Hannigan and Will Schmid, drummer Edmund Catlin, and double bass expert Adam Linz. Debuting in June 2024 as Violet Replacement—a tribute to the artist Grouper conceived by Hannigan—Senseless Violets pushes forward with rotating leadership and a lively, boundary-less repertoire of original compositions, obscure covers, and selections from the American musical tradition.
Want Your Love (2020)
Want Your Love is a collaborative single by electronic music producer Hydra (now softsky), singer Gwen Rose, and guitarist Will Schmid. Since its release in 2020, Want Your Love has been streamed over 65,000 times on Spotify.
Twin Cities Jazz Sampler
Volume Three (2019)
From producer Steve Kenny (illicit Productions): "The Twin Cities Jazz Sampler is a growing set of CDs produced every few years that feature tracks from the best locally produced Jazz Recordings." SPACE was lucky to have Will Schmid composition Mayfield Rising included on Volume Three.