Jeff Brenneman: Guitar
Dirk Doucette: Drums, Percussion
Meg Maryatt: Vocals, Guitar, Accordion, Mandolin, Harmonica, Keyboards
Jackson Del Rey: Vocals, Washboard, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Keyboards + Pyg Vibe
From "Lightwerx: Georges Melies" - Music by JACKSON DEL REY
Another JACKSON DEL REY original score from "Lightwerx: Georges Melies"
Meg Maryatt's original score from "Lightwerx: Georges Melies"
Myspace Layout From FishMyspace.Com
Influences
Beatles Pearls Before Swine Jana Hunter Can Cluster Slapp Happy Ennio Morricone Maurice Jarre Peter Baumann Nino Rota Marnie Weber Harold Budd John Barry Sergi Rachmaninoff
Stan Getz Joao Gilberto Jobim Alan Stivell Monitor Javanese Court Gamelan Gustav Mahler Mikis Theodorakis Dr. John Amalia Rodriguez Tangerine Dream Warda Ventures Early Pink Floyd Syd Barrett Kate Bush Judee Sill Snoop Dogg Popol Vuh Jerry Goldsmith George Clinton Wu Tang Clan ODB Emerson Lake & Palmer James Newton Howard Thomas Newman Samuel Barber Brian Eno Loop Guru Prince Bing Crosby Theolonius Monk This Mortal Coil Jordi Savall Stevie Wonder Walter Wanderly Ali Akbar Khan Peter Tosh Bob Marley Burning Spear Joe Higgs Louis Armstrong Queen Ida Dr. Dre Stanley Brothers Elvis Johnny Cash June Carter Cash The Carter Family Muddy Waters John Lee Hooker Nick Drake Steeleye Span Maddy Prior Bessie Smith Billie Holliday Sarah Vaughn Oscar Petersen Micky Katz Glenn Miller Artie Shaw Tommy Dorsey Benny Goodman Yma Sumac Les Baxter Arthur Lymon Styx Blue Oyster Cult Tom Waits Flying Burrito Brothers Gram Parsons The Residents Velvet Underground K.C. & The Sunshine Band Partridge Family Incredible String Band Pentangle Traffic Minutemen 100 Flowers Ben E. King Steven Reich Brian Jones era Rolling Stones The Warlocks Nico Jimi Hendrix Cream Janis Joplin Yardbirds Led Zeppelin The Who Get Smart Bewitched The Partridge Family Perry Mason My Mother The Car My Three Sons Leave It To Beaver The Wonderful World of Color Myron Floren Cocteau Twins
THE OUTLAW J.D. RAY AVAILABLE NOW
17 Pygmies officially began in 1982 when then Savage Republic member Jackson Del Rey (aka Philip Drucker) began jamming in a garage with keyboardist and guitarist Michael Kory (Radwaste) and drummer, soon to be singer, Debbie Spinelli from Food & Shelter and Radwaste. The group's first composition was an odd, kind of surf-a-delic, Emerson Lake & Palmer inspired cover version of the theme music to David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Since no one was around to say stop, the band quickly devolved into a kind of spooky instrumental and 80's style techno-pop band, and by the time the Pygs, as they were now known to the five people including the band members who knew them, started covering Brazilian sambas (and just before the release of their first EP) Robert Loveless, now a member of Savage Republic, signed on as bass player/keyboardist.
That "Hatikva," EP quickly led (minus Kory, who left to pursue an alternate path to obscurity) to 1984's full length LP “Jedda By The Sea." "Jedda" was an album short on the letter "h" but long on musical innovation and is still considered a "post-punk" masterpiece by those same five people including the band members who though "Hatikva” was worth releasing. Next came 1985's "Captured In Ice" which interestingly contained the non-hit "Chameleon" which made a very influential list called the 100 greatest unknown techno songs. All this obscurity led to several personnel changes (the only permanent idiot,,,er band member is Del Rey) which of course led to the release in 1989 of "Welcome" on the Island Records subsidiary Great Jones label. And they say contrary thought won't get you anywhere. Well, it didn't and the band was dropped the next year (1990) that saw the self- release of the last demos for Island as the EP “Missyfish”.
Well, life as a Pygmy was just so much fun that an ironic (or is it iconic) 17 years later, the “13 Blackbirds/13 Lotus” double CD was released under the indie record label Trakwerx, with original member Del Rey and Welcome era singer Louise Bialik in tow. Another fine fellow worth mentioning, guitarist Jeff Brenneman from White Glove Test also joined the fray. Well, in the great tradition of all things Pygmy, Bialik soon moved on, leaving Del Rey and Brenneman to pick up the pieces and reform the band as The 17th Pygmy with Meg Maryatt (a contributor on 13 Blackbirds/13 Lotus) on vocals, guitar and accordion, Tony Davis, from White Glove Test on bass and Dirk Doucette, also from White Glove Test, on drums.
Thus, in October 2007, “Ballade of Tristram’s Last Harping” was released, which reflected a retro ‘60s Psychedelic-‘70s Classic Rock direction. Please note that being the horrible all knowing art-snobs that they are, Ballade is also a visual tribute to the Art Nouveau movement. The Art Nouveau style is probably best exemplified by the works of Gustav Klimpt and Aubrey Beardsley both of whose works were liberally borrowed from (but never credited) on the covers of many, many, many ‘60s albums.
With Jackson Del Rey’s newfound creativity writing experimental prog rock scores to classic silent films (“Battleship Potemkin”,“Nosferatu” & “Tarzan”), he had the idea to record a concept album, “Celestina” (loosely based upon the classic 15th century Latin novel La Celestina, a timeless tale of love and betrayal). 17 Pygmies return to their original name, perhaps for good, and continue on in the tradition of their signature sound that was first explored and presented on their classic 1984 release “Jedda By The Sea”.
Not to rest on their laurels, 17 Pygmies have just released their newest concept project "The Outlaw J.D. Ray". This time around, Blind Lemony Pledge Fresh Jackson and his posse (western, not rap) use post-civil war folk music and pre-WWII blues as the backdrop to a story of ambition, deceit, and of course love lost and found (you know, basic tragedy stuff) and of course, redemption. With of course, a washboard.
Continuing in the Trakwerx tradition from 13 Blackbirds remixes of "Lotus", 17 Pygmies have joined the 'Trakwerx Collective' and contributed 2 short film scores: "Lightwerx: Georges Melies" DVD (released in November 2009) : "Princess Nicotine" & "L'Artiste Et Le Mannequin". 11 other contributors have joined in the fray with wildly different musical efforts, combining alternative, folk, hip hop and experimental elements.
17 Pygmies perform the last song (Stay With Me) for Jackson Del Rey's original film score set to the 1918 silent film "Tarzan of the Apes", based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' story, directed by Scott Sidney.
Instrumentation
Jackson Del Rey: guitar, washboard, keyboard, percussion, bass, vocal
Jeff Brenneman: guitar
Meg Maryatt: guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, keyboard, accordion, vocal
Dirk Doucette: drums, percussion
Discography
• The Outlaw J.D. Ray 2009, Trakwerx
• Lightwerx: Georges Melies DVD compilation 2009, Trakwerx
• Lightwerx: Tarzan of the Apes DVD (original score by Jackson Del Rey)
11. "Stay With Me"
2009, Trakwerx
• "Celestina" 2008, Trakwerx
• "Ballade Of Tristram's Last Harping" 2007, Trakwerx
• "13 Blackbirds/13 Lotus" (Double CD) 2007, Trakwerx
• "Last Train" 7" Single 2006, Trakwerx
• "Missyfish" 1990, Nate Starkman & Son
• "Welcome" 1989, Great Jones
• "Captured In Ice" 1985, Resistance Records
• "Jedda By The Sea" 1984, Resistance Records
• "Hatikva" 1983, Resistance Records
Visit our Trakwerx blogspot to see the latest news, live shows and reviews:
http://www.trakwerx.blogspot.com/
And now, the launching of our Zuble Stone on this gentle world !
In protest of legislation which prohibits the free sharing of music (such as the "Hadopi" law in France) and against conformism in today's music industry, we offer now our complete new album "Zuble Land" free for listening and downloading on our myspace page. Thanks for helping us spread the word.
(3 others albums of the group are still available free for downloading)
Immediate download of 14-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. http://futurerecordings.bandcamp.com/
VERNE LANGDON -MONSTER OF CEREMONIES RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD CAST !!!! Allen Trautman -(TarMan) Beverly Randolph (Tina) Don Calfa - (Ernie) Brian Peck (Scuz) John Philbin (Chuck) Thom Mathews ( Freddy ) Tony Gardner -Makeup Artist ROTLD,Zombieland and many more AWARD WINNING FX ARTISTS DISPLAYING AND SELLING!! 200 venders!!! MONSTER MUSEUM !!! Presentations!!!!! For more info: www.therubberroom101.com
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The whole TYN crew wants to thank you for your continuing support and wishes you all the best for the coming year! We put a brand new remix from an upcoming compilation on our page and there's a link at the end of this comment where you can download it for free as a gift and preview for things to come, we hope you'll enjoy it and remember:
