This Saturday, December 1, you don't want to miss this rare opportunity to experience a powerful band of musicians unlike any other on the jazz scene today. Walker Performing Arts Curator Philip Bither, in talking about the group and his excitement in presenting them at the Walker, says "This band is SMOKING. They somehow combine great high jinx, tight charts, wild innovation in solos and arrangements, infectious joy, huge musicianship and virtuosic big band power. Can you have amazing fun and have your mind stretched all at the same time?....this band can do just that. You have to see them to believe them."
Northrop Jazz Season and Walker Art Center present
Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra
Saturday, December 1, 7 & 9:30pm, McGuire Theater
*Student Discount at the 9:30pm performance! Provide your valid student i.d. to purchase a $10 ticket! Now that is a deal!
Millennial Territory Orchestra is making their way to the Walker! Their hip and unpredictable sound of this maverick band has attracted diverse audiences around the country. Fun, loose, witty, and raucous are just some of the words used when describing MTO's music. Although they perform some jazz classics the word "traditional" is definitely not in this band's vocabulary. This funky collection of multi-talented musicians manages to deliver innovative translations of some unexpected tunes.
When Bernstein talks about playing with the MTO his excitement is not containable. "These days I have more of a jazz audience. But until recently my whole audience was 22 year-olds, just having a great time. Even now, my favorite moments at an MTO concert are when some 21 year-old college girl comes up and says, 'I was crying. I had tears in my eyes.' They want to go out in New York and experience something and they've never really experienced live music before--and when they feel that thing where something is actually happening in front of them, it gives you that emotion, that feeling that you can't get from TV or from a computer." More info about the group can be found here.
Steven Bernstein has had a career that is versatile and cutting edge. He has worked with almost every type of musician from Marianne Faithful to Bill Frisell to Courtney Love. For this performance he leads a group of artists whose experience and talent are hard to match. Together these musicians create a sound that is both adventuresome and accessible for any music lover. Check out the line up:
Playing guitar is Matt Munisteri whose technique has been described as "homespun" and "remarkable." He has played all over New York working with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Madeline Peyroux and leading his own band Brock Mumford. Matt is singer as well and has appeared several times on A Prairie Home Companion.
On the bass is Ben Allison who was quoted by the Boston Globe as being "one of today's best young jazz musicians." His most recent album Cowboy Justice was number one on the CMJ National Jazz radio charts for 4 weeks in a row and remained in the top 20 for four months. Ben has been the leader of the bands Peace Pipe, the Ben Allison Quartet, Medicine Wheel, and the Kush Trio.
Performing the violin is Charlie Burnham whose playing was described by All About Jazz as "it leads you down some open roads and dark alleys, and brings you to some spots you may not have known even existed." He has worked with Cassandra Wilson, James Blood Ulmer, Henry Threadgrill, and many more. Charlie is currently leading his own band in which he sings and plays violin.
In the reed section is Doug Wieselman a composer and a multi-instrumentalist with the ability to play a wide variety of reed, string, and percussion instruments. His music can be heard in the Oscar-winning documentary The Long Way Home. His soundtrack work is compiled on the 2004 release Dimly Lit: Collected Soundtracks. Doug is also the co-leader of the Kamikaze Ground Crew.
Peter Apfelbaum (also on reeds) has been a musician since he was 11 years old and is a product of the Berkley School's Jazz Project. In his senior year of college he formed the 17 piece group Hieroglyphics Ensemble (one of its original members being Steven Bernstein) who had great success. One of these successes was opening for the Grateful Dead in the early 1990's.
Another member of the reeds section is Erik Lawrence. His father, Arnie Lawrence, was a jazz musician and founder of the New School of Jazz in New York City who told Erik to "Play what you feel" which has led him to play in a more improvisational style. He has performed at the Carnegie Recital Hall, the World Peace Festival, and many European jazz festivals. He has played alongside such artists as Buddy Miles, Bob Dylan, and The Band.
On trombone is Curtis Fowlkes who maintains an active and diverse career: in addition to playing with the Jazz Passengers, his collaborators include artists like Bill Frisell, Don Byron, John Zorn, Harry Shearer, Marc Ribot, Jeb Loy Nichols, Sheryl Crow and Cibo Matto. His travels between the spheres of rock, jazz and pop also influenced his solo career, which debuted with a 1999 release on Knitting Factory Records.
Last but certainly not least on drums is Ben Perowsky. He has been drumming since he was three years old. He has his own label El Destructo on which he released a CD by his band MoodSwing Orchestra. Early in his career he worked with the pop singer Rickie Lee Jones and jazz star James Moody. He is currently working on a variety of projects with a variety of musicians one being his dad Frank Perowsky.