SKELETON$ usual quintet is expanded here for a night of new compositions, arrangements and ideas. The band will explore the outer limits of their work, with a large ensemble drawn from the wide spectrum of New York's underground music scene....featuring Matt Mehlan: guitar, alto sax, voice, Jason McMahon: guitar, Jonathan Leland: percussion, Mike Gallope: piano, farfisa, Peter Vogl: electric bass, sfx, Sam Kulik: trombone, Justin Frye: contrabass, Elliott Bergman: tenor sax, Johnny Butler: tenor and baritone sax, Adam Markiewicz: violin, Amy Cimini: viola, Justin Walter: trumpet & Dan Peck: tuba
SKELETON$ are an American entertainment unit who live in New York City. They have released recordings on the Tomlab, Ghostly, and Shinkoyo labels.
"Last year's underrated Money found the Silent Barners delving into dramatic, Afro-punked Gastr del Sol-like sweeps—a thread continued during the band's recent shows with the horn-abetted Skeletons Big Band. Oddly, the effect is similar to how Hall Overton's big band arrangements for Thelonious Monk brought the pianist's bent-note melodies into focus, straightening Mehlan's into something simultaneously dense but with even more voices." - Village Voice
SKELETON$ is a musical personality. When you think of people you know who are like Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley, Mahatma Ghandi, and John Lennon, think of Skeletons. Like Sun Ra, James Brown, and Fela Kuti before them, they often change their name from album to album for tax purposes.
Frank London Brass Quartet *World Premiere* of a new improvising brass quartet made up of four of today's most interesting, unique, versatile and idiosyncratic brass players. Each is a renowned soloist, sideman and bandleader. Among the four of them, they have played with almost everyone you can imagine. This group and tonight's performance is dedicated to Suzanne, who inspired it at every level. Members are Frank London (trumpet), Ray Anderson (trombone), Josh Roseman (trombone), and Marcus Rojas (tuba).
Trumpeter and composer Frank London is a member of the Klezmatic and Hasidic New Wave, and has performed with John Zorn, LL Cool J, Mel Torme, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, LaMonte Young, They Might Be Giants, David Byrne, Jane Siberry, Ben Folds 5, Mark Ribot, Maurice El Medioni and Gal Costa, and is featured on over 100 CDs.
Frank London’s recordings include INVOCATIONS (cantorial music); Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars’ DI SHIKERE KAPELYE and BROTHERHOOD OF BRASS; NIGUNIM and THE ZMIROS PROJECT (Jewish mystical songs, with Klezmatics vocalist Lorin Sklamberg); THE DEBT (film and theater music); THE SHEKHINA BIG BAND; the soundtrack to THE SHVITZ; the soundtrack to Perl Gluck's THE DIVAHN and four releases with the Hasidic New Wave.
His projects include the folk-opera A NIGHT IN THE OLD MARKETPLACE (based on Y.L. Peretz's Bay nakht oyfn altn mark), DAVENEN for Pilobolus and the Klezmatics, Great Small Works' THE MEMOIRS OF GLUCKEL OF HAMELN and Min Tanaka's ROMANCE. He composed music for John Sayles' THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and MEN WITH GUNS, Yvonne Rainer's MURDER AND MURDER, the Czech-American Marionette Theater’s GOLEM and Tamar Rogoff's IVYE PROJECT.
He was music director for David Byrne and Robert Wilson’s THE KNEE PLAYS, collaborated with Palestinian violinist Simon Shaheen, taught Jewish music in Canada, Crimea and the Catskills, and produced CD's for Gypsy Ledgend Esma Redzepova, and Algerian Pianist Maurice el Medioni.
He has been featured on HBO’s SEX AND THE CITY, at the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, and was a co-founder of Les Miserables Brass Band and the Klezmer Conservatory Band.