Recent gigs have tended to include the following motherfuckers: Lee Elderton, Mieke Bruggeman, Mary-Sue Tobin, Beth Schenck, Damon Zick, Evan Francis, Cory Wright, Brian Walsh, Gavin Templeton, Ben Wendel, Josh Sinton, Katharina Thompsen, Ryan Perez-Daple, David Moyer, Dan Boissy, Kelly Corbin, Hayan Charleston, Ariel Alexander, James King, Kasey Knudsen, Gabriel Sundy, Adam Schroeder, Paul Perez, Tom Griesser, Jake McLain, Ward Baxter, Dan Pratt Josh Rutner on saxophones; Phil Rodriguez, Kris Tiner, Dan Rosenboom, Stephanie Richards, Clinton Patterson, Andre Canniere, Darren Johnston on trumpet; James Hirschfeld, Ian Carroll, Mike Richardson, Ron Christian, Shaunte Palmer, Brandon Jagow on trombone; and a rhythm section composed of Dan Schnelle (drums), Oliver Newell (bass), Aaron Kohen (bass), Kevin Farrell (bass), Robert Jacobson (guitar), Drew Jorgensen (vibes), Jill Knapp (vocals), Tany Ling (vocals), Dina Emerson (vocals), Amanda Tiner (vocals), and Andrew Durkin (piano). Emeritus members include fun folks like Daniel Glass, drums (Royal Crown Review, etc.), Bruce Fowler, trombone (Frank Zappa, etc.), Joe Berardi, drums (Double Naught Spy Car, etc.), and Wolter Wierbos (ICP). I sure as hell hope I didn't forget anybody, but I probably did.
Influences
Listen and tell me. (Alright, maybe that's a copout. But do you really want another long, boring list? How about this: the "big three" influences on the IJG have always been Zappa, Ellington, and Mingus. After that, it's a free-for-all, and the playlist changes pretty rapidly. Right now (this week) it includes Devo, ELO, the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Beach Boys, Ray Baretto, Fred Katz, Riz Ortolani, John Barry, Harpo Marx, Carl Stalling, Moondog, Perez Prado, James Brown, Oliver Nelson, Wendy Carlos, Dean Martin, Lord Buckley, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Charlie Parker, the Beatles, the Crystals, and Tad Dameron.)
Sounds Like
We thumb our noses in the general direction of music labels. We ain't purists. We sure ain't "industrial." We're probably not really "jazz." The best response I can come up with here: listen and tell me. (No, for real this time.)
So it's not really "industrial." Were the Beatles really insects?
The casual bio: The IJG showcases the bombastic, jump-cut, frenetic music of composer Andrew Durkin, while providing an apposite vehicle for the mad improvisational chutzpah of some of southern California's pluckiest, most unsung talents. The result is a kind of avant-garde party music.
The more staid bio: Formed in the spring of 2000, the IJG is one of the few large independent "jazz" (whatever that is) ensembles on the scene today. Featuring up to eighteen performers (reeds, brass, rhythm, vocals, dancers, poets) at a time, the group has been a persistent force in Los Angeles for six years now, and during that period it has also performed throughout California (San Diego, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Truckee, and Petaluma), as well as in Nevada, Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. It has received numerous grants from the American Composers Forum, has been supported by the NEA and the McKnight Foundation, and has been heard on NPR and hundreds of radio stations around the world. Write-ups on the group have appeared in The LA Weekly, The SF Weekly, The Wire, The North Bay Bohemian, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Boston Herald, The New York Times, and numerous other publications.
