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I think of them as our own local avant jazz supergroup. A bunch of guys from a bunch of rock bands who get together to make weirdo jazz. I don't get the chance to see them very often, but whenever I do, I'm happy. I don't really know the Nutcracker, so I can't comment on Goose Lane's re-imagination of it, but the performance was very diverse, incorporating many different jazz styles. There was a big preview in the Advocate and the place was pretty packed with people unprepared for the peculiarity of the performance. (Sorry about that, it just slipped out.) During the break between sets, one of the old squares said his ears hurt.
- Beware The Hippie Menace
Goose Lane has done a lot of cool, original things on the local music scene over the past few years with their mad jazz skills--performing their own twisted take on The Nutcracker at Rudy's (and elsewhere), leading a New Orleans-style jazz funeral parade through downtown at last year's Ideat Village festival, kicking off the City-Wide Open Studios reception at Artspace, and more. Thankfully, they are not about to stop.
The latest cool project from these guys takes place at New Haven's Little Theatre on May 21, where they'll perform an original score to accompany a screening of Tod Browning's 1927 cult classic silent film The Unknown, starring Lon Chaney and a 17-year-old Joan Crawford.
Though others have previously provided musical soundtracks to this creepy circus film (most notably, the DVD features the Alloy Orchestra, a three-man ensemble led by Mission of Burma's Roger Miller), the truly original Goose Lane wanted to take its own path (of course).
Instructing the rest of the band not to listen to other versions, GL sax player Steve Asetta did the same when he set out to write the score. "I imported the DVD to my computer without the sound, and just let the visuals and the plot dictate the keys and the motifs," says Steve. "Then I utilized our instrumentation. Chris [Cretella, guitarist] composed a few sections and we collectively improvise, too, which is a big part of Goose Lane. After we perform I will go back to listen to [other soundtracks], but not right away. I have been watching parts of the film almost daily for months. I never get tired of Lon Chaney's performance, though. There is a reason he is a legend, and this film is a good example of that."
Even if you don't know anything about silent movies, all you need to know is that Goose Lane is involved to know that this will be something cool. Just show up.
Since Mike Paolucci--one of the band's two drummers--will be involved in Yale's graduation that night, the band will perform as a five-piece. The other drummer, Dave Parmelee (also of the Vultures and Horsefeathers), will be banging on a "special steroidal drum kit" put together for this show, Steve tells us, with "two pretty massive parade bass drums that serve as our tympani." Joining Steve (on soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax) and guitarist Chris are Nick Antolini (tenor and alto saxes) and Warren Brelsford (also a Vulture) on bass. The score includes sections called "Zanzi's Circus," "Alonzo's Act," "Nannon's Complaint," "Breakdown," "Alonzo's Ass Whuppin'" and more.
You may have heard some of Steve's compositions in other films--he worked on the soundtrack to one of noted Hamden-based author/filmmaker Gorman Bechard's first films, Disconnected (released in 1983), as well as some stuff for PBS (Steering Into the Future and Troubled Waters--both "dire environmental warning films," Steve says) and other educational films and radio spots. "But nothing as cool as being able to play my stuff with Goose Lane." - New Haven Advocate
Discography
LPs
Goose Lane-The First Goose Lane Record (2003)
Goose Lane presents The Nutcracker (2005)
EPs
Goose Lane-%100 More Tuba (2007)
Photos
Bio
Goose Lane was founded in 1997 by drummer Dave Parmelee and guitarist/composer Chris Cretella; two self-confessed metal-heads with a then newfound interest in improvisation, jazz, modern classical, and experimental music of all stripes. Since its inception, the band has been dedicated to playing the compositions and arrangements of guitarist and co-founder Chris Cretella. Goose Lane’s pieces range in construction from tightly orchestrated and composed pieces wherein every note is carefully considered and placed to simple jazz head arrangements that develop into exciting improvisations. However, regardless of how unique each composition may be, each one still has that Goose Lane sound. Because of the diverse nature of its book of compositions and the top-notch level of musicianship of its members, Goose Lane can easily adapt its set to its venue. This has allowed the group to feel as at home in a rowdy bar where the audience has collectively consumed no less than 70 gallons of bourbon as it feels at a refined art opening where the heaviest item on the menu is brie.
Over the course of the last three years Goose Lane has become involved in providing music for both theatre and film. The group has performed and/or recorded Chris’ incidental music for the play Once Upon A Time On Calvary (dir. Leslie Blatteau) and his score for the film The Last Chinese Checkers (dir. Adam Cummins). In addition, the group has also performed resident reedman Steve Asetta’s score for the silent film The Unknown (dir. Todd Browning) featuring Lon Chaney, accompanying the film as it rolled.
Much like Yale University, Goose Lane is fast becoming a cultural institution of the highest caliber in the old Elm City. Goose Lane has been performing its own unique blend of jazz, classical, metal, funk, and good old-fashioned improv in and around New Haven, CT for over ten years and in half as many configurations. In this time Goose Lane has grown from a scrappy young duo playing in-your-face compositions and improvisations to a six-piece chamber ensemble capable of both orchestral precision or freewheeling free play at the drop of a hat.
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