The Frequency
File under: Ultra funky-organic-electronic-experimental music reminiscent of AIR, Pink Floyd and Herbie Hancock with an emphasis on live playing, feel and groove. The early roots of the group can be… more
Big Fun 3
by Big Fun 3
Big Fun 3
by Big Fun 3
RELEASE DATE: 2010-04-20
The album, Big Fun 3, was tracked live with all three players in the room so that they could best feed off of each others’ input. Bruce played his Hammond XK-1 and Le Spam’s B3 through an old tube amp and sometimes through a Leslie cabinet to get that grinding swirlitude. Rik played an assortment of guitars (a 1964 Fender Stratocaster, a 1974 Gibson ES-335, a 1998 Les Paul custom and an Eko acoustic/Ikea table top/Hofner toaster pickup/sitar thing) through a rotating set of analog pedals, old and new, from his collection and that of Le Spam and fed this into a Bogner Duende amplifier that Le Spam captured with a tube microphone for that “special sauce”.
Brandon held it down a couple feet away encircled in his Pearl drums and Zildjian cymbals. All three performers were recorded with mics in the room, with some bleed-over between tracks, direct to tape. Each track was typically 30-45 minutes of material that was subsequently converted to digital using a great Apogee converter and then cut into 8-14 minutes tracks during the mixing process in Pro Tools and Logic. Sometimes, BF3 asked Le Spam to smear some Spamulous effects over parts of the track.
Each final track represents an uninterrupted performance within a longer improvisation (BF3 calls these “long pigs”). And so, from many hours of improvisation comes Big Fun 3, the eponymous first release of Miami’s heaviest psychedelic nu-jazz trio.
Brandon held it down a couple feet away encircled in his Pearl drums and Zildjian cymbals. All three performers were recorded with mics in the room, with some bleed-over between tracks, direct to tape. Each track was typically 30-45 minutes of material that was subsequently converted to digital using a great Apogee converter and then cut into 8-14 minutes tracks during the mixing process in Pro Tools and Logic. Sometimes, BF3 asked Le Spam to smear some Spamulous effects over parts of the track.
Each final track represents an uninterrupted performance within a longer improvisation (BF3 calls these “long pigs”). And so, from many hours of improvisation comes Big Fun 3, the eponymous first release of Miami’s heaviest psychedelic nu-jazz trio.
Track Listing
- 01. Miles Strut Pt. 1
- 02. My Mother, The Czar
- 03. Mystic Drive-by
- 04. The Sitar That Ate Chicago
- 05. Boiled Hippos
- 06. Miles Strut Pt. 2
You might also like...
The Frequency EP
The Embodiment Of Instrumentation
Scratch
from the world famous roots crew, scratch brings his solo debut by dropping the worlds first true beatbox record. stepping away from his… more
Never Knows Best
Yameen
FILE UNDER::hip-hop that bounces beyond genre and straight into that elusive next level. Thumping bass lines laced with scratches, raw vocals and bliss. A surprise lurks behind every beat; a… more
About the Artist
It was Spring in Miami (2008) and Bruce Cohen sought kindred spirits for an organ trio. The goal was to recreate the vibe of the early electric Miles sessions (Bitches Brew–On the Corner) while incorporating some of the manic beauty of Tony Williams Lifetime.
Right around that time, Rik Myers returned to the well-thumbed pages of Craigslist looking for opportunities to play improvised music with the dark mass and angularity of mid-70s King Crimson (Starless and Bible Black – Red) and encountered Bruce’s ad looking for a guitarist and drummer to round out a Hammond organ trio.
After getting together to jam a couple times, it was clear that there was chemistry (Rik is actually a biochemist…) and the urge to merge with an improvising drummer brought them to collaborate with and audition drummers for several months before Bruce and Rik met Brandon Cruz, freshly returned to Miami from a stint at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Brandon can (and DOES) play anything…it just turns out he loves improvised music and had previously performed in Boston in a much-missed improvising group.
Right around that time, Rik Myers returned to the well-thumbed pages of Craigslist looking for opportunities to play improvised music with the dark mass and angularity of mid-70s King Crimson (Starless and Bible Black – Red) and encountered Bruce’s ad looking for a guitarist and drummer to round out a Hammond organ trio.
After getting together to jam a couple times, it was clear that there was chemistry (Rik is actually a biochemist…) and the urge to merge with an improvising drummer brought them to collaborate with and audition drummers for several months before Bruce and Rik met Brandon Cruz, freshly returned to Miami from a stint at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Brandon can (and DOES) play anything…it just turns out he loves improvised music and had previously performed in Boston in a much-missed improvising group.