Tri-City All-Stars

Tri-City All-Stars, a jazz-funk-jam band based in Albany, NY, was founded in early 2002 by guitarist Justin Molineaux and bassist Peter Murphy. Their original intent in creating the band was to form a combo that would be able to produce a sound and style of music that had never been done before, while holding onto qualities such as defined melodies, danceable rhythms, improvisation, and spontaneity that make music fun to listen to. Having each played in several bands previously, the two musicians had a good idea of how they didn't want the band to sound, but were somewhat in lack of an idea of how they did want to sound. Thus, each subsequent member would play a significant role in the sound of the band, and would have an immense impact on its creative direction. Knowing this, the two began a search for a percussionist/drummer.

Both Justin and Pete had played with percussionist Bill Przylucki on several previous occasions. Justin was the bassist for Bill's local rock/ska band for a little less than a year in 2001. During that time, Pete would fill in occasionally for Justin when he could not make shows and practices. Due to this previous experience with Bill, both Pete and Justin were well aware of his musical styling, his ability on a wide variety of percussion instruments, but most importantly, his ability and creativity with the contraption kit ("drum set"). Because of their familiarity with Bill's playing, and the fact that somewhat of a musical chemistry between the three had already been established, Bill was Justin and Pete's first choice for the position of drummer. When invited to join the band, Bill graciously accepted.

In the spring and summer of 2002, the newly-formed Tri-City All-Stars wrote music, practiced heavily, made some very amateur recordings, and gigged sporadically. These first several months were a period where the band really discovered their sound, their audience, and their ability as a trio. However, at the end of the summer, the three members began to consider adding a fourth member. In the fall of 2002, the band played a few shows with jazz pianist Dominic Fallacaro, a friend and former band-mate of Justin's, sitting on keyboards. An instant increase in the excitement of the music, its diversity, and complexity was noticeable when Dom began to play with the trio. After that string of gigs, Dom was invited to join the band, and accepted.

In the winter of 2002-2003, the band wrote heavily, and recorded what would become their first independent release, "Radio Silence" (March 2003). Now a quartet, the band returned to gigging in the spring of 2003, where they stated to play bigger shows, larger venues, and for bigger crowds. By the end of the summer, they had become regular performers at a few local bars/restaurants, had independently sold over 300 copies of their "Radio Silence", and had developed a small following in the Albany area. Unfortunately, this growth spurt had to come to an end when Justin, Pete, and Bill left for college. However, this time away from the band gave each member an opportunity to return to his own creative forces, write music, and regain motivation. On long weekends and vacations, the members would return to Albany and rehearse what they had written.

In the winter of 2003-2004, the band returned to the studio, and recorded their second EP, "Pebijudo" (April 2004). The band will tour upstate New York and the Northeast this summer to promote their new release, and will launch a nationwide campaign in the fall to gain airtime on college radio.