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Mo Egeston's love for all grooves electronic began on the dancefloors of St. Louis' underground house scene almost 20 years ago. (You know who you are DJ Steve-O!) . Since those days his career has been a diverse journey of musical discovery and education.

After graduate school at Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville), Mo's band career began with Invincible Groov. Something about starting your first band in your mid 20s AFTER college is a little um backwards....but we digress.

Invincible Groov was a funk/groove band that enjoyed a successful residency at the Green Room, one of St. Louis, Missouri's (USA) first Washington Ave. hotspots. From Invincible Groov, Vargas Soundsystem was formed by combining some of the premier jazz players in the area to back veteran funk/rock vocalist Pete Bold.
1997 saw the Soundsystem become Vargas Swing, which quickly gained the reputation as one of the Midwest's top show bands. Vargas Swing recorded an album "FIRE" in 1998, toured the country in 1999 and appeared on two national compilations in 1999-2000. (Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips Vol. 3/Hip- O Records and Swing Set/House of Blues) Vargas continued as one of St. Louis' most prominent bands through 2006.

From the beginnings of Vargas Swing in 1997 Mo has collaborated with singer/trumpeter and songwriter Dawn Weber. Eclipsing the national rep acquired by Vargas Swing, the pioneering live electronica act Urban Jazz Naturals (2000- 2005) has been the duo's most successful project to date. UJN released a debut EP followed by two singles in the DJ driven dance market.
These releases, How Can I (Gallery) with a remix by JT Donaldson and the Urban Jazz EP with a remix by Demarkus Lewis (Large Music), were both written by mo & dawn with mixing and beat support from UJN. (Christian Oncken aka XJN and D. Tinsley) The singles have been supported in clubs globally by some of the industry's top DJs, including legends Derrick Carter and Mark Farina, followed by glowing write-ups in magazines such as Urb and BPM magazine.

Building on the sound of UJN, the duo made the difficult decision to go "solo" in the summer of 2005 with the remix project. The sound is still all about live electronica, but with complete freedom of style and musical collaboration. The new set includes house, trip hop, electro funk, soul, acid jazz and drum& bass.

Mo has literally remixed every track that he and Dawn wrote for UJN as well as some tracks from the original Vargas Swing EP plus lots of new material. So what does it look like live? Well for starters Dawn rocks the vocals, dances and plays trumpet and flugelhorn. Never all at once but often 2 of the 3. Click to see a UJN video on You Tube.

With all of his original and lounge projects Mo's job is to mix the groove and play the keys. Using a combination of live keyboards, MIDI sequencers and the occasional sample Mo has created the new role of the "Keyboardist/DJ" Nothing else really describes the fully interactive process of mixing loops, playing solos, laying down bass lines and general sonic manipulation.
(the mobile beat rig)
As a pianist Mo, who did his graduate work under Dr. Linda Perry and Reggie Thomas, is a respected chamber player and accompanist. He has performed with the Nuevo Tango (New Tango a la Astor Piazolla) ensemble ConcerTango that featured current and former St. Louis Symphony Orchestra players along with Webster University Faculty members. In 2000, Mo accompanied musical collaborator Dawn Weber at the Ellsworth-Smith International Trumpet Competition in Bad Sackingen, Germany.

Mo continues his chamber work with violinist and educator Twinda Murry. The two perform as the chamber group Mowinda and collaborate twice a year on recitals given by students of their respective studios at Steinway Piano Gallery



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As of October 2008, Mo has taken a pause from work with long time collaborator Dawn Weber (.com).

See moegeston.com or catch my blog at moegeston.blogspot.com.