Colter Frazier/Rob Wallace Duo
"Banana Sandwich"
Musicians
Upcoming shows
None scheduled
Genre: Jazz / Avant-garde
Sound description: Here’s a common musical experience: you resent mainstream radio because a small grouping of bubblegum-pop hits get played ad infinitum in a loop, day after day. Meanwhile, new innovative music is nowhere to be found.
Well, you are not alone in your frustration. Artists like Colter Frazier and Rob Wallace not only understand your predicament, they offer a solution. They started the Experimental Music Night at the Biko Co-Op on Sueno Road in Isla Vista to encourage interest in a more unique wavelength of the musical spectrum.
Frazier and Wallace are both classically trained (saxophone and drums, respectively). But the duo’s sound might be described most accurately as a variation on the slightly technical term, “non-idiomatic improvisation.” Much like free-form jazz musicians, they play off one another’s sound and mood to create a musical environment of total freedom and spontaneity. Still, they are careful not to classify their music as “jazz fusion.”
“We might play, at times, in the jazz tradition,” said Frazier, “but the idea is to not limit the music we make by defining it.”
To overcome inhibition, they tap whatever medium necessary for the fullest range of sounds the experience might call for; their techniques range from stomping the floor and smacking walls to exchanging guttural growls.
Wallace deems it the most exciting music, for both artists and an audience, because “everyone is constantly on the edge … we don’t know what’s going to happen next, so it is like you get to watch these musicians think with their instruments.” —Tyler Vickers
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/colterfrazier
Related links
History
One of the more unique bands in Santa Barbara, Colter Frazier is about to release their first CD. Frazier plays tenor saxophone and Wallace plays drums and percussion. The music is all completely improvised, and has a real range of colors to it, although its strongly rooted in jazz and free jazz. They've been playing together for almost 3 years in different jazz projects around town, and have been playing as a duo for about a year or so now. The album is self-titled and will be released in mid-October on pfMentum, which is LA's main improvised music label. They've played many shows at Reds and Muddy Waters over the last year. During the second and third weeks of September, the duo performed the music for some plays happening at the Center Stage Theater entitled Bad Dog and Other Plays. They plan to go on a full California tour in January to promote the new album. Of other interest, the duo curated an Experimental Music Night every 1st and 3rd Thursday from September 2006 to July 2007 at the Biko House in Isla Vista. They performed at these events, often in larger groups, and had a wide range of LA and local experimental bands perform as well. Both Frazier and Wallace each have their own jazz-oriented radio show on KCSB. Frazier's is on Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. and Wallace's is on Fridays, noon to 1 p.m.
Formed
2007, Santa Barbara, CA
Influences
Peter Brotzmann, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Milford Graves, Steve Coleman, Steve Reich
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