23rd street and 3rd avenue -- Rossmans International Food Market -- the R train -- the F train -- Rochester, NY -- Dark Old Brian -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- Wristbands -- Harrisburg, PA -- the 50 state capitols -- guitar players with superaverage lines -- jazz disagreements -- post-punk!
Sounds Like
well.... if you're really curious....
Dan sounds like this
James sounds like this
Jared sounds like this
For Immediate Release: Out of the uber-fertile creative music scene of Brooklyn, NY, The Wee Trio, featuring James Westfall from Houston, TX (vibes), Dan Loomis from St. Louis, MO (bass) and Jared Schonig from Los Angeles, CA (drums), joined forces for a one time tour (and a university artist residency), that quickly mushroomed into a brilliant collaborative musical exploration. Like many of the most revered ensembles in jazz that have thrilled audiences and critics over the years, The Wee Trio came together simply to work, yet emerged from this time together with an instantly identifiable sound, and a prodigious rapport. On their debut recording, Capitol Diner Vol. 1 (in stores and online on September 8, 2008), their superb original compositions, and “standards” by composers Kurt Cobain, Sufjan Stevens, and Thelonious Monk, are brought to life with an ingenious combination of jazz, rock, fusion, post-punk, and references to other genres thrown in for good measure. The best part is, it all “swings” like nobody's business. This is a band born and raised in Brooklyn, with their first recording brilliantly embodying the borough's energy, eclecticism and excellence.
The album you hold in your hands, Capitol Diner Vol. 1, came together in a very special place over some very special placemats. That's right, placemats. Loomis sets the scene of The Wee Trio's first gig in Harrisburg, PA.; “we stayed on the outskirts of town in a dodgy Travelodge run by Rimsha. He gave us a great deal on our room (not really, “55 dollars, last offer!!!”). Up the street was a beautiful looking place called Capitol Diner. Their placemats kept us entertained for a while before we played our first gig, as all the state capitols were left blank. After several hours of making cold calls to our friends and relatives for help, we finally had the whole map filled in. We've kept the tradition alive and now know not only all of capitols, but also the state mottos, and some state birds. More than anything, it was a very unifying experience for us as a band.” This promising first gig resulted in the band getting short shrift to the tune of $1000, on drummer Jared Schonig's birthday no less. Loomis explains the aftermath of that somewhat shaky start, “despite being screwed out of money, the gig was unbelievably great and the music we made on that first tour inspired us greatly to keep the group going. There was an immediate personal and musical camaraderie between the three of us. The minute we were back in Brooklyn from the tour we recorded the album in about 4 hours!”
The Wee Trio is unlike any other band around, simply, but not completely, based on what each member brings to the table and how that blends with the other two. The group's attitude (that reveals itself in the music) is unique in that they use a trio of approaches to music that are native to specific regions of the U.S. Bassist Dan Loomis explains, “the cool thing about this group is how it uses the New Orleans aesthetic of just going to the gig and hitting . . . listening and making it work on a ‘street' level, i.e. connecting right to the audience, which is also a Midwest/St. Louis aesthetic too; and then combining that with the more New-York/Brooklyn aesthetic of getting in the music on an intellectual/artistic level and moving things forward.”
Vibraphonist James Westfall has since moved back to New Orleans after living in Los Angeles while attending the Monk Institute (becoming the first vibraphonist to have ever been accepted), and a productive spell living in Brooklyn, NY (during this time he released his debut CD Independent on Bionic Records and of course recorded and toured with The Wee Trio).
For Westfall, New Orleans is where he feels most at home, and most needed, in terms of being a part of the rebuilding of the cultural vibrancy of the city, and being part of a strong community. “New Orleans people are my people. I feel that I wanted to help rebuild the community I was a part of,” said Westfall. He added, “My fiance is from here and we both want our kids to be raised in a community environment of looking out for one another. We learned about how Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis developed 90 homes surrounding a Performing Arts Center specifically for Musicians, we applied and were accepted and that helped seal the deal for us.” Westfall will now be a home owner in the Habitat for Humanity's Musicians Village, living amongst the many immensely talented artists helping to bring New Orleans back to life. He will be meeting his Wee Trio bandmates at their many national tour destinations.
Shortly after recording the music for Capitol Diner Vol. 1, the trio headed back into the studio to record new music for Capitol Diner Vol.2, slated for release in the near future. This is a band that plays music and operates its business as if there's no tomorrow, creating music that is vigorous and sublime.
