Biography
In its eight-year history, the 16-piece Industrial Jazz Group has developed a reputation for fun, high-energy, quirky, genre-bending shows, featuring what it calls “avant garde party music.” Frustrated by the limitations of “Jazz, the Institution,” but equally resistant to the confines of modern pop, the IJG has slowly pioneered a hybrid sound: an idiosyncratic blend of rock, bebop, cartoon soundtracks, trad jazz, blues, funk, Balkan music, doo wop, and, well, a lot of other stuff. (In the end, it’s neither “industrial” nor “jazz,” so don't let the name fool you.)
Critics consistently cite both the sophistication and the accessibility of the IJG's music. The group’s quirky sonic stew was once summed up by Brandt Reiter of the LA Weekly as both “cerebral and swinging, ambitious and accessible, challengingly complex and unabashedly fun.” Scott Yanow of LA Jazz Scene, who compares the IJG to Holland’s Willem Breuker Kollektief, enthusiastically calls the group “both a crack up and a memorable musical experience." And Tom Bowden of Educational Digest once wrote that “[IJG composer Andrew] Durkin writes music that people who think they hate jazz would like.” (A fact that explains why IJG has been invited to perform at popular music festivals like SXSW and Midpoint.)
The group's most recent CD, LEEF, released in 2008, was recorded live at the world-famous Bimhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to performing overseas, the IJG has toured the US, playing many shows in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. It has received numerous grants from the American Composers Forum, has been supported by the NEA and the McKnight Foundation, and has been heard on NPR and hundreds of radio stations around the world. Write-ups on the IJG have appeared in LA Weekly, SF Weekly, The Wire, The North Bay Bohemian, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Boston Herald, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Willamette Week, and numerous other publications.
Instrumentation
Dan Schnelle (drums), Oliver Newell (bass), Jill Knapp (vocals), Tany Ling (vocals), Cory Wright (soprano sax), Gavin Templeton (soprano sax), Evan Francis (alto sax), Brian Walsh (tenor sax), Damon Zick (tenor sax), Gabriel Sundy (bari sax), Dan Rosenboom (trumpet), Kris Tiner (trumpet), Josh Aguiar (trumpet), Steph Richards (trumpet), Aaron Smith (trumpet), Mike Richardson (trombone), Ian Carroll (trombone), Andrew Durkin (compositions / conducting / piano). Celebrity guests have included Bruce Fowler (Frank Zappa), Daniel Glass (Royal Crown Revue), Wolter Wierbos (Instant Composer's Pool), and Joe Berardi (Double Naught Spycar).
Please note: there is a large national network of excellent musicians who have participated in this group; this network makes it possible to travel outside of our (west coast) home base. Also, although our regular lineup is 16 pieces, we can appear in slightly smaller configurations when space is absolutely an issue.
Discography
Hardcore (Uglyrug, 2001)
City of Angles (Innova, 2002)
The Star Chamber (Innova, 2004)
Industrialjazzwerke, vol. 1 (Uglyrug, 2004)
Industrial Jazz a Go-Go! (Evander, 2006)
LEEF (Evander, 2008)
Links
| http://industrialjazzgroup.com |