Coyote Poets of the Universe

"A wonderful new incarnation of the band's style of music set to poetry. Steeped in the flavor of the American West but spanning the universe with sounds from the world."
Mark Johnson, May 2011 - Sea of Tranquility

"A wonderful new incarnation of the band's style of music set to poetry. Steeped in the flavor of the American West but spanning the universe with sounds from the world."
Mark Johnson, May 2011 - Sea of Tranquility

****
Dana Milbank, May 2011

It is, in turns beautiful, strange and compelling.
- Muzikreviews.com

***1/2 (Three and 1/2 stars)
'These nine musicians, offering all original tunes on their fifth
album, might be graduates of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests of the mid-'60s
who have been transported across time to the present. Along the
way, they picked up influences ranging from globalists Paul Horn and
Oregon to adventurous rock bands It's A Beautiful Day and Joy of
Cooking to Ken Nordine's word-jazz. Keeping listeners off guard,
the Denver-based Coyote Poets loosely fit the contemporary jam-band
mold even as "Blood and Bones" and "Quittin' Time" rumble with a
blues heft unattainable to many conventional blues bands.'

Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat, September 2011 - Downbeat Magazine - September 2011

**** Performance, *** Sound
O's Notes: As the title suggests Pandora's Box is a collection of many different contemporary pop jazz tunes. They open with a Capella on the title track, add Spanish influence on "Cuando El Ray Nimrod", and marry vocal harmonies with a funky back beat on "History of the World" including prominent banjo and bass lines. We also enjoyed "Raff Riff", the hard blues of "Quittin' Time" and the cool breezes of "Vermilion Cliffs" especially the crickets! As always, the Coyote Poets deliver an eclectic package. - O's Place Jazz Magazine

Sound - ****
Composition - ****
Musicianship - ****
Performance - ****

A decade-plus collaboration among a dozen coyotes around Denver,
Colorado, yields this fifth outing loaded with 11 tunes promising
to build upon online/airplay/chart successes of the group's
last two discs.
Together, their trademark multi-voice harmonies and innovative
acoustic appointments are effective and respectful of one
another's space. Individually, each soloist's appearance is
noteworthy, whether it's Mellisa Ingalls singing or anyone else
playing. No mile-high Manhattan Transfer here, these folks can
tastefully shred as well as sing. Instrumentals such as "Raff-
Riff" with it's driving flute/violin/piano leads, the flamenco-
flavored "Quando El Ray Nimrod" and the English horn-haunted
"Vermilion Cliffs" contrast with intricate, inviting, poetry-driven
songs that reveal a smirking swagger sharper than most kids
half their age.
"Pandora's Box" opens just like one, full of fun. So are the
rest; and by "Quittin' Time" -- a rotgut closer sure to bring
out the lighters -- a "mean ol' gambler" is slyly slandered,
sounding like "brother trucker". The liner notes read "Note:
Adult language on this track." Pay attention folks: these
people didn't miss a single detail.

Phil Todd
- Progression Magazine - Fall 2011 Issue (#62)

"... the Coyote's take it up a notch making outsider music that falls somewhere between electric 70s English folk, late 60s Zappa and anything else they feel like. Look, put this on and fire up a doob. What else is there to say? Everything will be just right in the end."
- Midwest Record - Chris Spector, Editor and Publisher

Sound - ****
Composition - ****
Musicianship - ****
Performance - ****

Coyote Poets of the Universe
World Fusion/Progressive/Roots Rock

A decade-plus collaboration among a dozen coyotes around Denver,
Colorado, yields this fifth outing loaded with 11 tunes promising
to build upon online/airplay/chart successes of the group's
last two discs.
Together, their trademark multi-voice harmonies and innovative
acoustic appointments are effective and respectful of one
another's space. Individually, each soloist's appearance is
noteworthy, whether it's Mellisa Ingalls singing or anyone else
playing. No mile-high Manhattan Transfer here, these folks can
tastefully shred as well as sing. Instrumentals such as "Raff-
Riff" with it's driving flute/violin/piano leads, the flamenco-
flavored "Quando El Ray Nimrod" and the English horn-haunted
"Vermilion Cliffs" contrast with intricate, inviting, poetry-driven
songs that reveal a smirking swagger sharper than most kids
half their age.
"Pandora's Box" opens just like one, full of fun. So are the
rest; and by "Quittin' Time" -- a rotgut closer sure to bring
out the lighters -- a "mean ol' gambler" is slyly slandered,
sounding like "brother trucker". The liner notes read "Note:
Adult language on this track." Pay attention folks: these
people didn't miss a single detail.

Phil Todd
- Progression Magazine - Fall 2011 Issue (#62)

Now that they've made it to their fifth record, confounding some along the way, amazing others, the Coyote's take it up a notch making outsider music that falls somewhere between electric 70s English folk, late 60s Zappa and anything else they feel like. Look, put this on and
fire up a doob. What else is there to say? Everything will be just
right in the end.
Chris Spector - Midwest Record

Now that they've made it to their fifth record, confounding some along the way, amazing others, the Coyote's take it up a notch making outsider music that falls somewhere between electric 70s English folk, late 60s Zappa and anything else they feel like. Look, put this on and
fire up a doob. What else is there to say? Everything will be just
right in the end.
Chris Spector - Midwest Record

Coyote Poets of the Universe: real alternative Americana rock - Dangerdog Music Reviews

Coyote Poets of the Universe: real alternative Americana rock - Dangerdog Music Reviews

**** (Four Stars)
'It is, in turns beautiful, strange and compelling.'
Dana Wright-Muzikreviews.com Contributor - Muzikreviews.com

***1/2 (Three and 1/2 stars)

'These nine musicians, offering all original tunes on their fifth
album, might be graduates of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests of the mid-'60s
who have been transported across time to the present. Along the
way, they picked up influences ranging from globalists Paul Horn and
Oregon to adventurous rock bands It's A Beautiful Day and Joy of
Cooking to Ken Nordine's word-jazz. Keeping listeners off guard,
the Denver-based Coyote Poets loosely fit the contemporary jam-band
mold even as "Blood and Bones" and "Quittin' Time" rumble with a
blues heft unattainable to many conventional blues bands.'

Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat, September 2011 - Downbeat Magazine, September 2011

Their musical vibe is loose and atmospheric, with nice fretless bass, world percussion and world-influenced backing vocals. O'Leary's spoken voice is deep like an ad man's and like Nordine he plays with both profundities and funny cultural references in the same piece. Now and then the mellow vibe is broken by quirky synths and the kind of voice sampling that Negativland does (the ufo-themed title piece "Unmistakable Evidence"), but if your bag is something eclectic and hip (as in OE50's beat territory) then check out their website or myspace page. - Chris Twomey - Tandem / Corriere Canadese - April 29, 2007

...jazz, albeit lounge jazz tweaked: elevated, even, to a series of form experiments and enigmas...
- Colin Fleming - Jazz Times, June 2007

Style: World beat / Jazz
Sound: *** Composition: *** Musicianship: ***
Performance: **** Total Rating: 13

Led by Andy O’Leary and Gary Hoover with others adding sundry ethnic instruments, this lysergic Denver-based jam band chooses any style that strikes its fancy, sometimes creating its own.
The first four songs on Unmistakable Evidence, the band’s third offering, sound like a 4AD label house party, especially This Mortal Coil’s ‘Filigree and Shadow’. Reverb-drenched acoustic guitar with acoustic and electronic percussion clattering in support opens, followed by a slow throbbing riff with almost Middle Eastern-style wordless female vocals and male spoken word. Third up is electronica followed by a piece featuring a fretless bass workout. I thought I had them pegged!
Yeah, right. Next, they serve up a mock raga with O’Leary reciting beat poetry, sounding like Tuli Kupferberg leading a new age Fugs. Poetry accompanied by a coffeehouse vibe follows. OK, now I’ve got it.
Guess again, pal. Now I’m smack dab in the Middle East with shades of Gong. And so it goes: Get your footing, get the rug yanked out from under you. Whew! Just when you thought you’ve heard it all…

Warren Barker

- Progression Magazine #51, Spring/Summer 2007

“If you follow jazz in Denver to any degree, you're probably familiar with stalwart KUVO-FM deejay Andy O'Leary, perhaps the most knowledgeable improvisation aficionado in this time zone. O'Leary and co-conspirator Gary Hoover make their sonic obsessions available in CD form on "Coyote Poets of the Universe" (Square Shaped Records), a disc firmly committed to its own gregarious eccentricity. A fusion of ambient, world beat, other-world beat and, well, fusion itself, this music works best on the vaguely Prime Time-esque "Sunglasses a la Mode" (with microtonal guitarist Neil Haverstick) and the punchy "Albuquerque." And O'Leary's occasional poetry readings might expand your mind too.”
Bret Saunders,
The Denver Post, Sunday, March 14, 2004
- Bret Saunders - The Denver Post

“…well done and a good listen.”
Lloyd Maines, Producer,
The Dixie Chicks, Terri Hendrix, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jerry Jeff Walker, Wilco, Ani DeFranco, etc.
- Lloyd Maines, Producer

Earthlings! Take the trip!
No space suit is needed, headphones recommended, for this
exploration of a Gravity Free Jazz Planet with the third release from
Coyote Poets of the Universe.
Their latest adventure is a bold journey into the subtle countries
of spoken word, ancient textures,and electronica.
The Coyotes' expertise in experimenting in sound fields
has produced an engaging work that transcends boundaries
and retranslates the propaganda pull.
This CD is Unmistakable Evidence of the sound connection
between the inner and outer universes .
For those on the hilltop to those sitting in the dark,
time to travel without leaving home.
Engage the Poets.

Kate Klein Music Director
KMUD / KMUE / KLAI
- Kate Klein - Music Director, KMUD Radio

Here is something interesting, like the complete polar opposite of the spectrum of what Massive Attack is. Somehow these guys do it, they fuse jam band, folk-rock, and world/ethnic rhythms to form a unique and distinct form of acoustic trip-hop, sounds impossible right, well they do it. Their technique is what makes this so interesting. With the use of acoustic instruments with delay/reverb, bending the strings, fretless bass, psychedelic/space-rock panning, narration, strange percussion, and the use of occasional electronics & samples among other elements, Coyote Poets of the Universe are able to utilize just about anything to make an instrument sound more than what it really is.

The songs on Unmistakable Evidence range from dueling guitar/bass riffs (“Nebraska”) to garage rock groove (“No Trilobite Song”) to Zappa-esque acid jazz (“Requiem”) to ethereal soundscapes (“Sitting in the Dark”) where there is this highly experimental approach throughout the record; no song is consistent. With the narration, the lyrics posses and ‘interesting’ feature, giving the music an even more cinematic scope. Coyote Poets of the Universe have created probably one of the most unique records that you will ever hear, it is according to taste, and there is no telling how eclectic their live show might be, considering how eclectic this disc is. Unmistakably strange, but strange is good.

Added: April 1st 2007
Reviewer: Tommy Hash
Score: 3 1/2
- Tommy Hash , Ytsejam.com

What started out as a Denver trio has now blossomed into Denver’s Poi Dog Pondering with some dada liberally tossed into the mix, even if it’s been processed for the Prozac generation. Wild and wooly stuff that gleefully fuses various progressive and outsider musics into it’s own mile high stew that neo-hippies will get a certain sonic buzz from. Certainly not for people keeping an eye on Britney’s comeback.

Volume 32/Number 99
February 7, 2009
MIDWEST RECORD
- Midwest Record Recap

Denver, Colorado’s Coyote Poets of the Universe return with yet another musically diverse album on their fourth effort Callin’ You Home. The Coyote Poets are definitely a band that defies the standard genre definitions. Each song has a unique style, with influences ranging from jazz to surf rock and everything in between.

While the Coyote Poets have structured songs without a lot of jamming, the diverse instrumentation of the band gives a bit of jam-band sound to Callin’ You Home. The unusual instrumentation of the Coyote Poets and the three distinct vocalists allows the band to create experimental, yet digestible songs like “Yes Or No.” The song features steady violin melodies, but retains an old-school outlaw country sound. Of course, later the song features an oboe solo that’s unlike anything you’ve heard before. Don’t be scared off by the Coyote’s experimentation, patient music fans will begin to enjoy the song quickly.

Later, “I Don’t Know Birds” and “Disturbance” are powerful bluegrass songs. Bluegrass fans will take pleasure in the familiar sounds of banjo and violin that mark the genre. “Disturbance” also has funny, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. It’s always refreshing to see a band loosen up and have a little fun. The Coyote Poets show their sense of humor again on “Surfin@Stonehenge.” The track is a hilarious instrumental that combines Irish melodies on flute with surf rock guitar. However, you can’t dismiss the track as a simple joke because it manages to work as a rock song.

Callin’ You Home also has some rock-a-billy tracks like “Jesus Debbie (Shut The Fuck Up)” and “Criminal.” Buddy Holly-sounding guitar riffs mix pleasantly with the unique elements like flute and violin that Coyote Poets of the Universe add.

Coyote Poets of the Universe give their strongest song of the album on the title-track “Callin You Home.” Here, the Coyote Poets combine the many different elements of their sound to create a beautiful, experimental ballad.

Callin’ You Home is about as diverse an album as you can find. Coyote Poets of the Universe keep you guessing about what’s coming next throughout the album. You won’t get bored with this CD.

MuzikReviews.com Assistant Senior Editor-Chris Homer

February 25, 2009

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