Shortly after getting his first saxophone in 1969, Jim saw Roland Kirk live jamming with the Mothers of Invention. This majestic confluence set in motion the chain of events that eventually led to Liquid Life. A long-time Bay Area resident, Jim has toiled in obscurity in a variety of musical settings from accordian trios to avant-garde and Balinese gamelan to blues. Gregory White Oud
Gregory White, a lifelong musician, began playing oud the same year he started a doctoral program in Near Eastern Studies at Harvard. He has performed with the Harvard Middle East Music Ensemble, of which he was also a comanager, and has studied oud performance and Arabic music theory with Bassam Saba.
Sven Larson Acoustic bass
Sven Larson has played with a variety of top rock, blues, and roots bands in the New England area. He is a full-time member of blues legend Toni Lynn Washington’s band as well as a member of the rock group The Gulf. He is co-leader of the creative music group Bangalore. Sven has also studied North Indian classical music practice and is a student of bass virtuoso Steve Neil.
Grant Smith Percussion
Grant Smith studied drumset with Alan Dawson, Arabic drums with Jamey Haddad, tabla with Kazi Jalal, Afro-Cuban percussion with Enrique Pla, and Handance with Glen Velez. He brings all these influences to Liquid Life, pouring a tall drink of water with an Arabic coffee kicker.
Liquid Life is a four-way collaboration featuring the unusual instrumentation of oud, woodwinds, string bass, and percussion. The band came together out of a desire to play fiery, rhythmic, improvisational music at low acoustic volumes. Performances can seamlessly and organically flow from jazz to funk grooves to distinctly middle eastern feels as these skilled musicians create a musical empathy in the moment that audiences can immediately relate to. Fans of acoustic music, jazz, world fusion, and collective improvisation will all connect with this exciting music.
All musical selections above are group improvisations and are completely unplanned and unedited.
Thanks for adding us to your list, and for letting me hear some of your music. Sounds great. No surprise, Grant has been a favorite of mine since the early days with the Klezmer Conservatory
Your music is very fresh and authentic... bravo! Thanks for the friend request. Style-wise we think your music is about the closest thing to our own that we've heard so far. Love the instrument mix too.
Jim,
Thank you very much for request.
I like your Music,it's Great !!!
I will enjoy coming back to visit your Site.
All the Best !!!
yours,Paulo Cesar.
