Friday July 28 * 7pm * TICKETS
Joe Baiza - guitar
Damon Smith - bass
Matt Crane - drums
JOE BAIZA by Eugene Chadbourne
Joe Baiza is truly one of the great guitarists to come out of the so-called punk rock scene of southern California, "so-called" because most of Baiza's music fits more into the category of free jazz or jazz-rock. He has often been ahead of the curve with his musical thinking, playing intense instrumental jams a few years before his audience would be eager for them, and bringing together the creative anarchy of improvised music with the independent attitude of the punk scene at a time when the two philosophies seemed mutually exclusive, at least to people whose brains were fuzzy from falling into the mosh pit.
Guitar nuts first picked up on Baiza in the context of his band Saccharine Trust, one of the mid-'80s groups that made the SST label so interesting, at least for a short time. Fellow bandmember Jack Brewer and Baiza revived this band in 2001 and recorded a new album in -- yikes -- Germany. The amusing name Universal Congress Of was at first just the title of a Baiza solo album in 1987, but evolved into a group whose three original releases became favorites of the electric jazz audience. Universal Congress Of toured frequently in both Europe and the United States.
Baiza was involved in a variety of different groups in the '90s and beyond, extending the developments of Universal Congress Of with the aforementioned Mecolodiacs and embarking on at least three marathon tours with Mike Watt, in whose band he replaced guitarist Nels Cline.
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Damon Smith is an American free improvising bassist. He has worked with Cecil Taylor, Peter Brötzmann, Marshall Allen, John Tchicai, Elliott Sharp, Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Jim O'Rourke etc.
He took up bass in his late teens, inspired by the Minutemen's Mike Watt. His love of Minutemen got him to explore other bands on the SST Records label which led to his discovery of Henry Kaiser, Elliott Sharp and Saccharine Trust. Smith credited Saccharine Trust's improvised live album Worldbroken with altering his views on punk rock, jazz, and free-form jamming.
Eventually Damon was fortunate enough to meet Kaiser and the two have collaborated for over twenty years including more than ten recordings together.
Initially an electric bass player due to his love of Minutemen and Watt's followup band fIREHOSE,[3] Smith switched to double bass and began focusing on improvisation[3] inspired by Peter Kowald[1] and his album Duos:Europa[5]
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Matt Crane is an accomplished drummer who has worked with a large number of people (he's currently touring as Linda Sharrock's drummer).
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https://joebaiza.bandcamp.com/album/prelude-to-peace
https://instagram.com/baiza_crane_smith
SWRM is the recent duo by the long-time partners in musical crime, Alec K. Redfearn (vocals, analog synthesizers) and Matt McLaren (drums). Alec and Matt were also long time members of Alec K. Redfearn and the Eyesores.
Alec K. Redfearn and Matt McLaren continue their decades-long musical journey with their new duo project SWRM. This project represents a both a departure from, and a deepening of, their previous work with Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores. While song-structured, there is an improvisational foundation to the sound. The music is darkly futuristic. It draws on the raw early electronica of Silver Apples and Tubeway Army, but stays rooted in dark folk blues, Balkan music, psych-rock, free jazz/free improvisation, Krautrock and the post-hardcore explorations of the SST records roster of the 80’s. Distorted analog synthesizers and acoustic drums rumble in dynamic waves.
AKR and MM have been working together since the late 80’s and there is a natural synergy that comes from the countless projects, gigs, jams and rehearsals. The music breathes, growls and swells like a living beast.
The lyrics continue in the apocalyptic vein of much of The Eyesores material. Themes of love and loss, paranoia and dissolution, aging and obsolescence and attempts to make sense of a world we no longer recognize as our own. Redfearn’s weird wordplay and prioritization of imagery over narrative continue to evolve.
Unlike AKR’s recent work with modular synthesizers in his projects D.U.M.E. and Reversible Light, there is no reliance on clocks, sequencers or arpeggiators. Everything is hands-on and tempos have a natural fluidity which suits the emotional landscape of the long-form song structures.
https://swrmpvd.bandcamp.com/album/salamander
https://instagram.com/swrm_pvd