Mon, 02 May 2005

Euphonic Productions presents:
Gianni Gebbia, Lukas Ligeti & Massimo Pupillo trio
Lie and Swell
RoboCromp

9pm, Mon, May 2
$7 at the door (for all)
Eyedrum

Gianni Gebbia
Gianni Gebbia, from Palermo, Sicily, is one of the most active saxophonists on the European experimental jazz and free improv scene. He is influenced by the traditional musics of Sicily and Sardinia and combines a polymetric, circular-breathing-based style with an unusual melodic lyricism. For many years, he organized the "Curva Minore" festival of improvised music in Palermo. He has worked on many projects with Fred Frith and has played with many other musicians such as Peter Kowald, Günther Sommer, etc., as well as poets, dancers (Pina Bausch), etc., and has collaborated with improvisors in California and Japan for many years. Groups he leads include Terra Arsa (with the singer Miriam Palma), Trionacria (with Roy Paci, trumpet, and Francesco Cusa, drums), and a trio with Nils Wogram (trombone) and Xavier Garcia (sampler), which has a recent release on the Intakt label. He also frequently performs solo. http://giannigebbia.com

Massimo Pupillo
Massimo Pupillo is from Rome and plays electric bass in the well-known Italian group Zu, who, with their mixture of tightly-arranged, jazz-influenced hardcore and free-improv mayhem, have become extremely popular on the European club and festival circuit. They have collaborated with Eugene Chadbourne, Steve Albini, and, on their latest CD, with Ken Vandermark and Spaceways, Inc. The have also toured, and played in various configurations with, the Dutch group The Ex. Outside of Zu, Massimo plays in the Dogon Trio (with Maurizio Martusciello, drums and electronics, and DJ Økapi), with Han Bennink, and in Damo Suzuki's Network. http://zuism.com

Lukas Ligeti
Lukas Ligeti was born in Vienna, Austria, studied composition there, then worked for two years at the computer music institute at Stanford University, and has lived in NYC since 1998. His musical interests include new forms of ensemble interplay, polymetric structures, alternative tunings, the use of computer technology, and the adaptation of approaches from traditional musics, especially from Africa, where he has worked with musicians in six different countries (the best known project being Beta Foly, based in the Ivory Coast). He has composed music for the Ensemble Modern, the Kronos Quartet, the Vienna Festwochen, etc., and a CD of his chamber music was recently released on Tzadik. As an improvisor, he has played with Henry Kaiser, Raoul Björkenheim, Daniel Carter, John Oswald, Elliott Sharp, Chris Cutler, John Tchicai, Robert Dick, Ned Rothenberg, etc., and with members of groups ranging from the Grateful Dead to Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft to Tosca. http://lukasligeti.com

Lie and Swell
Lie and Swell is Alex Lambert on drums, Bill Nittler on baritone saxophone, and Jeff Smith on bass clarinet. You might call the music avant-garde jazz, but to be truthful these guys come as much or more out of the punk/hardcore tradition. And it shows.

Yes, there's plenty of the free improv and noise the kids are into these days, but there's also lots of real tunes. The music even gets sad and pretty sometimes. One audience member said it sounded like "[John Coltrane's] Interstellar Space with King Crimson riffs." Lie and Swell's name comes from a song by scottish no-wave group Dog Faced Hermans, who channeled similar interests in skronk, classic free jazz, and eastern european folk music. Another point of reference might be the jazz-core freneticism of John Zorn’s Naked City.

The trio is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Alex is also a member of experimental rock groups The Flakes and Blame Game, and used to play with Ocelot. Jeff has performed with Chicago experimental rock behemoth Lozenge, seminal UK tabletop guitarist Keith Rowe, and Japanese electronic minimalist Toshi Nakamura. Bill has performed with Gold Sparkle Band, Southern Culture on the Skids, Kingsized, klezmer group Mazel Tov Cocktail, and as part of an all-clown backing band for Rudy Ray Moore, the avenging disco godfather himself.

"With Bill Nittler's baritone sax and Jeff Smith's bass clarinet blazing over Alex Lambert's convulsive percussions, LIE AND SWELL out-heaves and skronks any other jazz bands on the block. Like witnessing the
stage energy of Black Flag filtered through three unassuming and unpretentious players who really know how to play, Lie and Swell's shows bring the noise, but never forget the melodies. Offering up the occasional cover of the Butthole Surfers' "Cherub" in front of a mixed crowd of Atlanta's sauciest and most irreverent show-goers, the group balances frantic sophistication against unrivaled tension and release."

-- Creative Loafing, naming Lie and Swell Best Local Jazz Band, 2004

RoboCromp
Chamber-fusion duo of Rob Rushin (guitars) and Jeff Crompton (sax & keys) serves a surprising mix of inside and outside playing delivered by two guys developing a common vocabulary derived from distinctly different approaches and traditions. RoboCromp whispers, roars, struts and slides their way through strange originals and prismatic interpretations of lesser-known masterpieces by the likes of Thelonious Monk, Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Benny Goodman and Robert Fripp.

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