Brooklyn-based guitarist Joel Harrison releases Angel Band, the third cd in a series where Country and Appalachian music is recast in a modern jazz context. Joel Harrison: guitars, voice Anthony Pirog: guitar Jerome Harris: bass Jeremy Clemons: drums

Saturday Sept 22: 8pm $20 $10 student — no advance tickets — pay cash at the door

2 sets

In 2003 and 2004 Harrison recorded Free Country and So Long Second Street on the ACT label. These recordings, which featured Norah Jones, David Binney and others, seemed to defy any effort at categorization, marking Harrison as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music.They were widely honored and many listeners wondered if Harrison would ever play this music again. He now revisits this concept with Angel Band, enormously diverse and imaginative arrangements of timeless tunes by Bill Monroe, Bob Wills, Olabelle Reed, Johnny Cash, and more. Each song bears a unique imprint, wherein Country, African rhythms, R&B, avant garde, rock and psychedelia all beautifully conjoin. The band is a "who's who" of the modern jazz scene, some of whom played on the previous cds including David Binney, Stephan Crump, Brian Blade, Darol Anger, Alecia Chakour, and Uri Caine. Joel Harrison has been called "protean and brilliant" by the New York Times, and the London Times called the first Free Country cd "as original a vision as you are likely to encounter all year." Harrison will strip down to a quartet for these shows. Featured performers are the great bassist Jerome Harris, who has performed and recorded with Sonny Rollins, Jack DeJohnette, and Bill Frisell, and Wash. D.C. based Anthony Pirog, who is a powerful, innovative new voice for his generation and a bandmate of Harrison's in the three Telecaster group "The Spellcasters." The two guitarists, who share an array of influences, frequently seem to be reading each other's minds! And finally the phenomenally grooving Jeremy Clemons, who played on Harrison's Mother Stump (Cuneiform).