Friends and fellow concertgoers:

I am happy to announce that, on February 10th, my Underground Society Band (formerly the Raucous Party Ensemble) will begin a bi-weekly residency at the Middle East Corner to take place on the second and fourth Mondays of every month from 9pm to midnight. We're excited to continue to perform original arrangements of classic numbers by Duke Ellington, Fela Kuti, Thelonious Monk, the Beatles, and Charles Mingus (among others), and we're looking forward to having a regular venue to debut original material influenced by roots jazz, african funk, and Josiah's hallucinations of a post-industrial dystopian future. There's no cover, and good times are guaranteed to be had by all!

The band:

Bobby Spellman, trumpet and slide trumpet
Emily Pecoraro, clarinet and soprano saxophone
Tyler Burchfield, baritone saxophone
Josiah Reibstein, tuba
Patrick Gaulin, drum set

Please see the schedule to the right for more details.

Friends in the digital realm:

Last Saturday I was proud to be a part of the CD release for the new release by Cha Cha & the Ndor Band, "Food for Thought." The record has been incubating for over a year, and features collaborations by members of Big Mean Sound Machine, Mosaic Foundation, John Brown's Body, and Super 20. The songs were written and sung by our friend Foli Yao "Cha Cha" Augustine, and features arrangement and engineering by Angelo Peters at Big Mean Studios, and horn parts by yours truly. Profits from the show and the record will be going to benefit the Ndor Eco Village in Cha Cha's native Ghana. Pick up a digital copy today from http://chachaandthendorband.bandcamp.com/ and donate anywhere from nothing to millions of dollars at your free discretion and financial capability. Also, be sure to check out this article on Cha Cha's mission: http://www.ithacajournal.com/article/20130807/ENT/308070028/Soundoff-Yao-Foli-Big-Mean-Sound-Machine-collaborate-new-project

Last week, Big Mean Sound Machine made substantial steps in the invention and incubation of the band's next album by spending three days recording wild new material and some old favorites live at Electric Wilburland studios. Keep an ear out for that release sometime within the next five years.

Lastly, last Sunday I was happy to share the stage with guitarist Damien Scalise, bassist Jordan Morton, drummer Will Sigel, and special guest alto saxophonist and professor extraordinnaire Mike Titlebaum at the Gates in Ithaca to play the music of Thelonious Monk. It was great fun, and if you weren't there for reasons of sloth or apathy, shame on you.

Stay tuned for new releases, and perhaps semi-regular updates.

Cheers,

Bob

Humans:

Be sure to check out the new two song EP by Mosaic Foundation's Yao Foli "Cha Cha" Augustine. This music will shake your foundation, and it is a sign of some great new music to come.

Can We Get Along?