The jazz group known as Dead Cat Bounce will be in residence at Union on Monday, May 3,
performing a public concert at 8 p.m. in Old Chapel.
Admission is free with a Union ID, $5 for the
public.
The band will also present a jazz workshop from 2:50-4:40 p.m. in Arts 313. Admission to the workshop is free.
These events are sponsored by the Department of Performing Arts and the College
Social Enrichment Grants program.
The group was voted as Boston's Outstanding Jazz Act
by readers' polls in Improper Bostonian and Phoenix. A recipient of
commissions from Meet the Composer and Chamber Music America, Dead Cat Bounce is one of the few
recent jazz bands to have arrived on the scene with its own distinctive voice.
Featuring four saxophones of all ranges plus
upright bass and drums, Dead Cat
Bounce is the unique artistic vision of founder and leader Matt Steckler, the son of Charles Steckler, Union professor of
theater.
The group formed late in 1997 as a recording project. Word of DCB's high
caliber as a performance ensemble quickly spread, and now the group plays
festivals, concert series and notable clubs throughout North America.
Dead Cat Bounce invokes Charles Mingus and the
World Saxophone Quartet with their “tightly arranged, swirling
contrapuntal reeds and multi-part, blues n' roots-infused tricky
compositions” (Boston Phoenix). Their eclectic approach to rhythm
is informed by traditions from the Caribbean, Deep South, Brazil, West Africa, Eastern Europe and Detroit. In Dead Cat Bounce,
solo and collective improvisations energetically complement the poise of its
ever-expanding compositional repertoire. According to Dave Liebman, Dead Cat
Bounce “does it all with exquisite writing, the subtle use of a bass-drum
rhythm section and above all a definite sense of communication between the
members that I am sure will be apparent to even the casual listener. These
young, Boston-based musicians are not just playing the music on the page, but
listening and communing together.”
The members of Dead Cat Bounce are
reed-players Drew Sayers, Jared Sims, Charlie Kohlhase, Matt Steckler; bassist
Arie Werbrouck; and drummer Bill Carbone. The group's last appearance at Union,
as part of the Jazz@Union festival in January 2002, was a critically acclaimed
evening of intense solos, wild arrangements, and high-energy ensemble playing.
The May 3 concert promises to bring more of the same.