Bassist Bill Noertker is joined in Noertker's Moxie by his long-time musical co-collaborator, saxophonist/flutist Annelise Zamula.
Many other fine Bay Area musicians have performed with Noertker's Moxie, including
Jim Peterson (saxes, flute) David Slusser (tenor sax) David Beck (baritone sax) Yehudit (five-string electric violin) Jenny Maybee (piano) Hugh Schick (trumpet) Darren Johnston (trumpet) Rob Ewing (trombone) Greg Stephens (trombone) Jarratt Rossini (bassoon) Beth Snellings (cello) Niels Myrner (drums) Rolf Wilkinson (drums) Dave Mihaly (drums) Dan Foltz (drums) Jason Levis (drums).
Influences
Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, Nino Rota, Charles Mingus, Bobby Bradford, Salvador Dalí, Fletcher Henderson, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, Dmitri Shostakovich, Henry Threadgill, Pau Casals, Ben Webster, John Tchicai, Stanley Kubrick, Hsiang Waing of Burma, Dennis Bovell, Ennio Morricone, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Joan Miró, Shohei Imamura, Archie Shepp, Bartók Béla, Abbas Kiarostami, Charlie Haden, Werner Herzog, Benny Carter, Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonny Rollins, K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat, Jelly Roll Morton, Don Cherry, Ray Brown, Geezer Butler, György Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski, Arvo Pärt, Israel Lopez, Suhaery Mufti, Lester Bowie, Reggie Workman, Johnny Dyani, Mihály Dresch, David Murray, etc.
In 2001, bassist Bill Noertker formed his own group, Noertker's Moxie, as a forum for his thematic compositions. He has been writing suites of music inspired by visual artists such as Paul Klee, Vasili Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miró, architect Antoni Gaudí, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, sculptor David Beck, and others.
In the last decade, Bill Noertker has composed over 150 original pieces of music for jazz ensemble. His compositions point to the continuity between the jazz tradition and the avant-garde. His use of group improvisation and his attention to the individual voices of each of his bandmates call forth the human element so sorely missing from much of today’s jazz.
In September 2003, Noertker's Moxie released its first CD, Sketches of Catalonia, Vol. 1: Suite for Dalí, on Edgetone Records.
In July 2004, two CD-Rs of live recordings of Noertker's Moxie shows at the SIMM Series were released: 7 Days in February (from the 4 April 2004 show), and Haiku Songs (from the 2 May 2004 show)
In April 2007, Noertker's Moxie released another CD, Sketches of Catalonia, Vol. 2: Suite for Miró, on Edgetone Records.
Mr. Noertker- Thank you so much for lending your talents to my little combo last night. Your playing and presence were very noticed and appreciated! -Pete
Wow Bill my new myspace friend. I'm totally new to this myspace thing Great to see and hear the Catalonia cd here - sounds great. It was inspiring to work with you on it and to see Karen here as well.
Bill! Heyya man, hope your ear is all healed up! By the way...gotta say it again; your new string quartet KILLS it. I mean, BLISSFULL. Keep up the soulful tunes. I'm a big fan, brother.
