Eli Winter Trio / This Time's Quartet / Kajwan Ziaoddini

This triple bill at Rhizome DC brings together Eli Winter’s genre-defying Chicago trio, the multidisciplinary performance collective This Time’s Quartet, and Iranian classical santour player Kajwan Ziaoddini. The evening spans folk, rock, jazz, devotional music, poetry, live illustration, puppetry, and Persian classical traditions.

Eli Winter is a Houston-born composer, self-taught guitarist, and essayist whose music resists fixed genre boundaries. His trio features Chicago improvisers Sam Wagster of Fruit Bats on pedal steel guitar and Tyler Damon of Circuit des Yeux on drums. The group’s repertoire includes material from Winter’s album *A Trick of the Light*, including arrangements of Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell’s “Arabian Nightingale” and Carla Bley’s “Ida Lupino,” alongside Winter’s original compositions. Winter has performed at festivals including Primavera Sound and Big Ears and collaborated with artists such as Yasmin Williams, jaimie branch, Caroline Rose, and Ryley Walker.

This Time’s Quartet was co-founded by musician and puppeteer Elsa Saade and cartoonist and illustrator Tracy Chahwan. Their immersive “carousel quartet” combines poetry, music, live drawing, and puppetry. For this Mini East Coast tour appearance, the quartet consists of Erik Ruin on shadow puppetry and paper-cut art, Huda Asfour on oud and voice, Elsa Saade, and Tracy Chahwan.

Kajwan Ziaoddini has performed santour since 1998 and holds a master’s degree in Iranian classical music from the University of Tehran. He has worked with Iranian ensembles including Eghbal, Ravian, and Hamnavazan, contributed to five albums—*From the Saba’s Rose Garden*, *Hashtrud*, *Delkesh*, *Goshayesh*, and *Nowbang*—and serves on the music faculty at the University of Kurdistan in Iran. He is currently pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland.

When: Friday, October 2, 2026

Showtimes: Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the show begins at 7:00 PM. The event is scheduled to run until 10:00 PM.

Tickets: $20–$30

Lineup: Eli Winter Trio; This Time’s Quartet featuring Erik Ruin, Huda Asfour, Elsa Saade, and Tracy Chahwan; and Kajwan Ziaoddini on santour.

Venue: Rhizome DC

Poster: Josh Levi