Wednesday March 4, 7:30pm (doors)
NOW WE ARE HERE
Live sound by Dalius Naujo & Jonathon Haffner
w/ Jonas Mekas (in absentia)
In-person only
Microscope is excited to present Now We Are Here, an ensemble featuring Lithuanian percussionist Dalius Naujo (drums, percussion, electronics) and New York City–based saxophonist Jonathon Haffner (saxophone, electronics).
This performance consists of two sets. The first, which is produced by Julius Ziz, features the duo performing a live score alongside archival footage of Jonas Mekas, who was originally the third member of Now We Are Here. In this footage recorded by Audrius Naujokaitis and August Varkalis, Mekas is playing drums with friends in the 1990s at Anthology Film Archives during one of frequent improvised music sessions that took place in the lobby during those years.
Now We Are Here was founded in 2006 by Naujo, Haffner, and Mekas at a LES rehearsal space, preparing for a live concert at The Stone in NYC. Naujo and Haffner first met while playing music at Anthology Film Archives. Shortly thereafter, they began performing regularly, accompanying Mekas’ live poetry at venues throughout New York City, including Zebulon, Hiro Ballroom, and the Emily Harvey Foundation. The ensemble also performed internationally, including a concert at the Serpentine Gallery in London and performances in Berlin at Silent Green.
Following Mekas’s death in 2019, Now We Are Here has continued as an extension of that work and as a celebration of Mekas’ life, focusing on live music performances accompanying his films, curated in collaboration with his son, Sebastian Mekas.
Naujo and Haffner also perform together and with others in other music groups and bands.
General Admission $12
Member Admission $9
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Dalius Naujo began his musical career in the late 1980s as a prominent figure in the Vilnius avant-garde jazz scene, performing with leading Lithuanian artists including Juozas Milašius, Vladimir Chekasin, Petras Vyšniauskas, and Skirmantas Sasnauskas.
In 1995, he relocated to New York City, quickly establishing himself with a series of original solo performances at Jonas Mekas’ Anthology Film Archives. Soon after, he founded the Free Music on Second Street group and co-founded the ensemble Now We Are Here with Jonas Mekas.
During this period, Naujokaitis also collaborated extensively with legendary experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs in the Lumiere / Naujokaitis / Jacobs: Nervous System Concerts. His work expanded into interdisciplinary performance, including collaborations with the modern dance company Limbic Six and Tiny Mythic Theatre.
His drumming and original music are featured in several films by Jonas Mekas, including Happy Birthday to John Lennon, On My Way to Fujiyama I Saw, and This Side of Paradise, as well as in Moira Tierney’s film Circus.
Throughout his New York career, Naujo has performed and recorded with a wide range of influential artists and ensembles, including Himalayas and Wollesonics, with frequent collaborator Kenny Wollesen, as well as Art Baron, Butch Morris, Joey Baron, Briggan Krauss, Jeff Ballard, Brazilian Girls, Tim Keiper, Jonathon Haffner, Otomo Yoshihide, Rocco John Group, and On Davis’ Cartoon Satellite.
He currently leads and drums for the New York–based avant-garde ensemble Untyte, a group that reimagines ancient Lithuanian folk music through the lens of downtown New York improvisation, and co-curates two festivals with his bandmate Jonathon Haffner: Nojo Fest and Keep Singing Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Jonathon Haffner has worked continuously for over two decades within New York City’s downtown music, film, and art scenes, building a career across genres, disciplines, and international stages.
For over a decade, he performed and recorded with filmmaker and poet Jonas Mekas, accompanying live poetry and creating live scores to Mekas’ films. These collaborations included performances at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Hiro Ballroom in New York City, and The Stone, founded by John Zorn. His film work also includes The Hottest State, directed by Ethan Hawke with music by Jesse Harris.
Haffner has performed with Cyndi Lauper at Lincoln Center and appears on the Grammy-nominated album NYC by Brazilian Girls. He toured extensively with Butch Morris, appearing on more than 15 recordings for NUBLU Records. He appears on Louis Cole’s albums and video productions, and has performed with him in New York and Los Angeles.
He performs with the Great Lakes Quartet led by Wadada Leo Smith, alongside the late Jack DeJohnette and John Lindberg. Their release on TUM Records was named a Top 10 Box Set of the Year by The New York Times, and the ensemble has performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Leibnitz Festival in Austria, and Jazz em Agosto in Lisbon, Portugal.
His solo album, Life on Wednesday (produced by David Binney), featuring Craig Taborn and Wayne Krantz, was invited to perform at the North Sea Jazz Festival, in a concert also featuring Nasheet Waits and Mark Ducret. Following the North Sea, he led his own ensembles at the Vilnius Jazz Festival in Lithuania, as well as the Nublu Jazz Festival and Winter Jazz Fest in NYC.
He was also a full-time member of Red Baraat, touring internationally and performing at major festivals across Europe, Asia, and the United States. During that period, the band recorded two full live concert video sessions at KEXP. Red Baraat was named “Best Party Band in Years” by NPR, and their NPR Tiny Desk Concert performance was ranked #8 in the Top 50 Tiny Desk Performances of All Time by New York Magazine.
He co-leads projects with Kenny Wollesen and Dalius Naujo, released Rasa Rasa on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, performs with Rocket Sci on Nublu Records, and is a co-leader of the band Big Shapes with Dave Harrington (of Darkside) and Max Jaffe. Big Shapes will release its second album in spring 2026. Haffner is also completing a new collaborative quartet album to be released in 2026, including Brian Chase of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.