Music
Press
Squat Press quotes:
“We should all count ourselves lucky to have a hometown combo this cool!”
- Atlanta Journal and Constitution
“Athens best jazz band!”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta
“Some of the most eloquently funky and wildly energetic jazz and improv music”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“Local favorite Squat (is) one of Athens most innovative bands”
- The Bell Ringer, Augusta GA
“Squat pulls off everything from straight ahead swing to gospel and makes it speak with authority”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA
“outstanding musicians doing something they love, and that feeling comes across to the crowd”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“young and capable ensemble has dazzled crowds around town and around the country”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“Athens fusion torchbearers”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“eclectic and versatile Athens ensemble .. . the best jazz band in Athens. They haul ass, switch instruments, take risks, and easily shrug off mistakes”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“a rarity and treat for those who like adventurous instrumental music …. Solid musicianship and musical inventiveness”
- Macon Telegraph, Macon, GA
“surprisingly groovy jazz”
- Stomp and Stammer, Atlanta, GA
“both hard core jazz fans and the young newly initiated find this quirky band worth listening to, a melting pot of new and old jazz sounds”
- Asheville Citizen Times, Asheville, NC
“jazzy, funky, unpredictable talented local combo mixing elements of funk, Caribbean, and hip hop with bits of hardbop, Latin Afro-Cuban, and rock. Squat regularly ventures into a broad field of musical experience”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“Squat has been cooking up some of the most eloquently funky and wildly energetic jazz music in the local scene since forming in 1994 … they are all technically skilled players open minds and sharp ears”
- Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA
“Athens jazz fusion heavyweights”
- Red and Black, Athens, GA
“Squat’s concerts usually results in more than one audience member being moved by the band’s wealth of talent”
- Red and Black, Athens, GA
Squat is “a work of post modern musical architecture. Exploded forms of bossa nova are bolted to gospel throw downs. Cyclical trip hop phrasing gets squeezed between syncopated layers of Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and all these disparate wings are anchored by an armature of jazz”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA
“seasoned Latin-infected jazz combo”
- Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA
- Various
Discography
1995 Cycles
1998 Tales From the Side of the Road
1999 Placebo
2000 Athfest CD (compilation)
2002 Gruleash
2004 Recycled: 1994-2004
2006 The Future of Jazz Volume 1 (compilation)
2007 Squat
Photos
Bio
The members of Squat met in 1994 while attending jazz improvisation classes at the University of Georgia taught by pianist and composer Steve Dancz. The band soon began to draw large crowds in Athens venues including the High Hat and the Georgia Theatre.
After releasing its first album Cycles, the band hit the road as the opening act for Col. Bruce Hampton and the Derek Trucks Band. Over the years, Squat has shared the bill with many diverse acts including Maceo Parker; the B-52's; Medeski, Martin, and Wood; the String Cheese Incident; Big Head Todd and the Monsters; the Squirrel Nut Zippers; Charlie Hunter; Sector 9; and Maynard Ferguson. Squat has also been a featured performer at area festivals including the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Human Rights Festival, Bel Chere, the Athens Jazz Festival, the Cherry Blossom Festival and Athfest.
Squat is a four time winner of best jazz award at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards and a finalist in the Future of Jazz Competition. Squat's fourth CD, Gruelash, was voted one of the top 10 local releases in 2002 in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.
In the fall of 2004, Squat celebrated its 10th anniversary with the release of their fifth CD, Recycled 1994-2004, a compilation of new and old recordings from the past 10 years. Squat will be releasing their sixth CD in February of 2007.
• Squat has played with Maynard Ferguson; The Wailers; Medeski, Martin, and Wood; the B-52s; Charlie Hunter; Sound Tribe Sector 9; the String Cheese Incident; Lonnie Liston Smith; Col. Bruce Hampton; the Derek Trucks Band; Maceo Parker; Cory Harris; Squirrel Nut Zippers; and many others.
• Squat is a five-time winner of the best jazz band award at the annual Flagpole Athens Music Awards (1999-2002, 2006).
• Squat was a finalist in the 2004 Future of Jazz Competition in Atlanta, Ga.
• Squat has been a featured performer at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Athens Jazz Festival, the Human Rights Festival, Athfest, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Bel Chere, the Lake Eden Arts Festival, Harvest Midtown and many others.
• Cd Releases:
Squat is featured on The Future of Jazz Volume 1 compilation (2006 Jammates records)
Recycled 1994-2004 (2004 Namaste Records)
Gruelash (2002 Namaste records)
Placebo (1999 Namaste Records)
Tales From the Side of the Road (1997 Namaste Records)
Cycles (1995 Namaste Records)
Squat was also featured in the 1999 Athfest Cd (Ghostmeat records)
• Gruelash was listed as one of the top 10 best local releases of 2002 by the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.
• Members of Squat have performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz A Vienne, and the World Sacred Music Festival in Bangalore, India.
• Members of Squat have performed with Jimmy Haslip, John Patitucci, Tim Armacost, the Derek Trucks Band, Widespread Panic, Cory Christiansen and Joe Lovano.
• Since 1997, Squat also has played weddings and private parties throughout the Southeast.
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