Ropeadope

since its inception, the group has focused on removing the boundaries between classical, world music, and jazz - and between improvisation and composition. from their first release, 1999's memory is an elephant, the trio has drawn from a wide variety of shared influences ranging from post-bop jazz, tango, and bluegrass, to contemporary classical, eastern european folk traditions, and the film scores of nino rota and ennio morricone. all of these elements work there way seamlessly into the tin hat sound. with its core instrumentation of violin, accordion, and guitar, the group's first recording established their signature style, and memory also features the first in an impressive roster of guests with mike patton (faith no more, mr. bungle), lending his voice to an eerie homage to enrico caruso. "their haunting and strangely familiar music is a soundtrack to the kind of puzzling dream which leaves you sitting awake in the middle of the night." - the new yorker

on 2000's helium, the trio expanded its growing list of instruments to include prepared piano, dobro, banjo, and marxophone. on the cd's title track, tin hat enlisted the services of singer tom waits within a gravelly samba. "helium treats us to the evocative pleasures of a music that seems as if it lives - and has forever - down deep in the marrow of our bones, coaxed out in its haunting and ethereal glory." - the american reporter

2002's the rodeo eroded found the trio diving deeper into the heartland, with clearer compositional ties to their bluegrass and old-timey influences, as well as to the music of copland and ives. willie nelson's haunting vocals on the standard "willow weep for me" cemented the album's americana credentials. "this great trio integrates all manner of music, tango to rural americana to european chamber... what makes them so appealing is the way they find deeper connections in all the sounds, rather than opting for the usual post-modern avoidance of meaning; their eclecticism draws you in instead of pushing you away." - seattle weekly

outside of the studio, the trio continues to work in a wide range of settings, from touring in the us and in europe to creating original scores for film, dance, theater and radio drama. they remain committed to stretching the limits of the tin hat sound, experimenting with large ensembles, including 2003's premiere of a work for trio and orchestra, commissioned by and performed with the chamber orchestra of philadelphia. at the same time, each of the members continues an active solo career, having worked with artists as far ranging as john zorn, rufus wainright, bill frisell, mr. bungle, nick cave, norah jones, fred frith, and susana baca.

tin hat trio biographies

born in long island, in 1971, rob burger returned to the east coast (brooklyn) in 2001, after building his musical reputation in the bay area in the 1990's. spending his formal education at the university of massachusetts studying improvisation and classical piano, rob picked up an accordion as a natural extension of his piano studies. after landing in the bay area (via portland, oregon), rob kicked off his professional career with an invitation to tour north america and europe with the bill frisell band. after that, it was just a matter of time spent proliferating his musical experiences before rob had established himself as one of the west coast's more unique collaborators. he is a founding member of the performing composers-collective tin hat trio, and has utilized his multi-instrumental capabilities playing and recording with peruvian singer susana baca, rufus wainwright, nick cave, oranj symphonette, laurie anderson, the old joe clarks, and john zorn. since returning to new york, rob has been honing his arranging skills and, as a result, has been solicited by music producer hal willner (snl) for a handful of concerts that interpret some of music's most influential composers. at the end of 2002, rob released a record of his own compositions entitled "lost photograph" for the radical jewish culture series on the tzadik label. as a collector, rob continues to indulge his interests and musical vocabulary with an ever-growing arsenal of antique and rare reed organs, hawaiian guitars, orchestral harmonicas, mallet percussion, and toy pianos.

carla kihlstedt is a violinist who defies categorization. although she grew up playing classical music - she studied at the the peabody, the oberlin, and the san francisco conservatories - she has spent her time since then developing distinctive voices in other genres. in addition to her work in tin hat trio, she is a founding member of the experimental group sleepytime gorilla museum: a band that plays intricate and visceral rock-based music on an atypical array of instruments, many of them home-made (http://www.sleepytimegorillamuseum.com). she has also been an active member of the improvised music scenes both on the east and west coasts, playing with improvisers such as fred frith, bob ostertag, shahzad ismaily, members of the rova saxophone quartet, and has played several times with john zorn's cobra. carla is also very involved in contemporary classical music. last year, she was a featured soloist on the mata festival in new york (produced by phillip glass) playing both her own compositions and pieces commissioned for her by the festival. she also performed with clarinetist, don byron in the vienna festival with klangforum wien, and was commissioned by the merkin concert hall emerging composer series (zoom: composers close-up) to write a piece for clarinetist david krakauer. carla enjoys working closely with several choreographers, including jo kreiter/ flyaway productions, and shinichi momo koga/ ink boat, writing scores for various full-length productions, and has just finished recording her own voice/violin material for her upcoming tzadik release, 2 foot yard (january, 2003). later this year, she will record a series of solo voice/violin pieces written for her by composer, lisa bialewa.

mark orton grew up in a musical family. the son of a conductor, he began formal study of both piano and guitar at the age of four. by the beginning of high school, he was exploring jazz, classical, and world music, and had begun his studies in both composition and theory with danny deutsch. orton went on to study composition at the peabody conservatory with jean ivey, and at the hartt school of music with david macbride and robert kyr. after school, mark served as chief engineer at the knitting factory in n.y., allowing him to work extensively with artists ranging from laurie anderson and the kronos quartet to john zorn and marisa monte. he used this experience to work as both a touring and recording engineer, going on the road with bill frisell, john lurie and the lounge lizards, and mr. bungle in europe, japan, and america. mark is a multi-instrumentalist. he continues to add instruments to a growing list that includes guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin, lute, and cavaquinho, as well as piano, and percussion. with the portland, oregon based americana band "the old joe clarks", he plays both electric and steel guitar. outside of the trio, mark is active as a film and radio composer. he has written scores for films including "the slow business of going", directed by rachel tsangari (best director: new york film critic's circle ) and "the good girl", directed by miguel arteta and starring jennifer aniston. additionally, he is a founding member of "famous last words and music", an artist collective devoted to the production of experimental radio theatre.