Ropeadope

skerik: tenor and baritone saxophone
dave carter: trumpet
hans teuber: alto saxophone and flute
steve moore: trombone and wurlitzer electric piano
craig flory: baritone saxophone
joe doria: hammond organ
john wicks: drums

preface: we want skerik on our team

skerik is the kid you wanted on your backyard football team. he's the one who always hustles, the guy the whole team looks to no matter who is captain, who makes it fun every time. he's the guy who makes you want to play until it's so dark out, you can't see the ball anymore. skerik is the guy you can always count on when it's fourth down, when the game is on the line, who always seems to throw you that pass just right so it floats up there, spiraling silently in slow motion over the end zone, while you catch up to it and grab it out of the crisp autumn air for a touchdown just as you hear your mom calling you for dinner. skerik is that guy.

of course, we're talking quarter notes, not quarterbacks, but even if they were playing two-hand touch, i'd bet you my allowance for the rest of the year that les claypool, stanton moore, or john scofield would still use their first picks on skerik. check out his story and you'll understand why he's the kid that everyone wants to play with. 

part i - the history of skerik

early years:

skerik grew up in seattle and was exposed early on to jazz by his father, who was a big fan of jazz musicians like count basie and dave brubeck. skerik received some early mentorship from the teachers in his school's music program, playing in the jazz ensemble, orchestra and getting turned on to saxophone legends like charlie rouse, booker irvin, don byas, john coltrane, sonny rollins and wayne shorter. outside of school, he also had a rock band and was inspired by the saxophone playing on albums by the rolling stones and pink floyd's dark side of the moon.

away games:

during the 1980s, skerik left the comforts of home to pursue his artistry as a musician. he packed up his horn and left for several different parts of the world, including london, paris, and the south pacific, where he lived for extended periods of time. during this time, he worked all kinds of day jobs and worked in many different kinds of bands, playing blues, rock, jazz, caribbean music, and african music. while in london, with the encouragement of guitarist leif totusek, he started playing african music full-time in groups that played south african music and zairean soukous.

back home - one man, many bands:

after returning to seattle in the late 80s, skerik played in a number of groups, including the sax-bass-drums rock power trio sadhappy, where he started to experiment with playing his saxophone through distortion and effects. later, he also began playing with drummer matt chamberlain in a group that eventually became critters buggin. soon, skerik became a highly-sought band member and mvp guest of many different bands, recording with stanton moore on flyin' the koop, les claypool's frog brigade, tuatara, and ponga, while touring and performing with roger waters (of pink floyd), galactic, john scofield, medeski, martin & wood, mike clark's funk all-stars with fred wesley, charlie hunter, robert walter, and dj logic. currently, apart from his work with the syncopated taint septet, skerik is active with several groups that either he leads or co-leads, such as black frames, garage-a-trois, critters buggin, and a free improvisation duo with mike dillon.

part ii - the syncopated taint septet

birth of the septet:

the syncopated taint septet formed unexpectedly and organically in the summer of 2002 when skerik was at home in seattle between tours. talking with long-time comrade and baritone saxophonist craig flory, skerik decided to reactivate a sax-and-organ group with joe doria on hammond organ and john wicks on drums. soon, the horn count increased as skerik enlisted fellow seattle musicians dave carter on trumpet, hans teuber on alto saxophone and flute, and steve moore on trombone and wurlitzer electric piano, packing the harmonies (and the stage) with a five-horn front line. from the beginning, skerik invited all of the musicians to suggest ideas and write music for the band. "the great part about this band is everyone writes music for the group. for me, these guys represent what is best about seattle musicians: very strong improvisational ability combined with unique, creative musical compositions."

the story behind the name:

skerik took the name "syncopated taint" from a description used by harry j. anslinger, the appointed commissioner of the u.s. bureau of narcotics from 1930 to 1962. in the same type of puritanical, xenophobic 1930s climate that gave rise to hitler in germany, anslinger pursued a zealous, sensationalistic, and often racist mission in the united states to demonize drugs and the people who use them. his campaign had a particular bias against jazz musicians, who anslinger saw as satanic addicts responsible for the spread of marijuana use among the nation's impressionable youth. among several other disturbing remarks to congress, anslinger famously differentiated between "jazz music" and "good music". "syncopated taint" was another term he used to refer to the rhythmic and moral contaminations he perceived in jazz.

punk jazz:

when skerik came across anslinger's description, he decided to flip it and co-opt the phrase as the name of this group. for skerik, it fits. "i like to think of this group as punk-jazz. maybe a punk-jazz version of the thelonius monk octet. i find that a very useful term, which is also something that jaco pastorius used to use to describe his music. i was very influenced by the way he who could play the shit out of bebop and then turn around and interpret a jimi hendrix tune just as deeply. even though people consider that to be two different genres,

i've always felt they were very closely related. charlie parker and jimi hendrix were both coming from the same place, the same roots, and they were both making music that was revolutionary and radical, politically and musically."

the recording:

back in seattle last summer, after just a few gigs with the syncopated taint septet, the whole band knew they had something unusual happening. the vibe and the energy at the live shows were blowing people away, and skerik knew what he had to do. he called engineer mell dettmer, who wired the owl & thistle in seattle to record the band live at their next gig. the result was this recording, which presents the music from that legendary night. this album is full of the loose spontaneity, euphoric moods, and spectacular moments that occur when a group of friends gets together to play in their neighborhood.

play-by-play analysis

now that you've met skerik, let him walk you through the songs on the record:

"freakus piniatus" - these first two tunes on the record are pretty much just the way it went down when we opened the show the night this was recorded. we started with an open free improvisation that became the first track.

"philadelphia" - this groove just came out of the improvisation we opened with. it begins as hip-hop and goes double-time into drum & bass.

"let me be your voodoo doll" - this one is by harry pierce, who is a really creative musician who plays all kinds of instruments, writes great music, and makes crazy records. when i heard this tune on an album by one of his groups, the sublexations, i knew i wanted to use it for this band.

"runnin' away" - this is just a sly stone song from there's a riot goin' on that i arranged for the band. we just play it here as an intro to the next tune.

"too many toys" - this is one of hans' songs. i think it has something to do with his young daughter and all the toys she has around the house.

"bus barn" - steve wrote this one. he listens to a lot of different kinds of music and i think that comes through in his writing.

"christina" - this is also steve's tune. we asked him who christina was but he wouldn't say much. hmm?

"they did what to you?" - another one by hans. i think he was going for kind of a cannonball adderley kind of vibe. my original concept for this band, with all the horns, came out of wanting to do something like that cannonball adderley sextet with nat adderley, yusef latef, and joe zawinul.

"morphine" - this is what happens when two baritone saxophone players get together to write some music.

part iii - skerik on skerik

music that's good for you:

like his heroes thelonious monk and jaco pastorius, skerik is forward-thinking and even a bit radical. he's highly conscious of world issues and politics, speaking articulately about what's going on in the world today, and how it relates to music. "something that really inspires me is what charles mingus used to say, that he wanted his music to make people less submissive," says skerik. "smooth jazz is the worst offender for something like that - it's strictly commercially motivated music that doesn't make you think, and has no nutritional value for your mind or soul. it's a direct way of creating political apathy. people should know that there is music that's relaxing, smooth even, that you can put on after a hard day of work, but that's good for you, good for your mind and soul. like miles davis' kind of blue, for example."

skerik and jazz:

although he is certainly inspired and informed by jazz, skerik's diverse musical background in so many different types of music enables him to bring something unique the table. "i wouldn't really consider myself a jazz musician. that's a twelve-hour-a-day job, and i like too many other kinds of music to make that kind of commitment to one style. on the other hand, as i get older, sometimes all i really want to do is play ballads with a quartet like john coltrane. still, that's a huge responsibility, because i feel every musician should try their hardest to bring something new to the music, and that takes a lot of hard work."

skerik for life:

for all his worldliness, a large part of what makes skerik such a musician's musician is the sincere and serious way he approaches music. speaking earnestly, skerik states, "i try not to really think in terms of my 'career', i just try to play with the best musicians i can, and for musical reasons. i just want to get the ideas that are in my head out there to be heard. that's the most challenging thing. i do the best i can, and i always want to keep on learning and exploring. really, i'm a student for life."

the rest of the septet

joe doria: hammond organ john wicks: drums

steve moore: trombone and wurlitzer electric piano hans teuber: alto saxophone and flute dave carter: trumpet

craig flory: baritone saxophone

joe doria:
joe doria, a graduate from cornish college in seattle, is the most sought after organist in the area and is featured in numerous bands and cd's. joe is highly respected among all of his peers and is considered the hardest swinging man on the planet. audiences are dazed with his ability to comp both the bass lines and the chordal structure of a song, while at the same time adding depth and dimension to every song he performs.

john wicks:
free, spontaneous, linear grooves, break beat loops, gospel, drum 'n' bass and jazz based instrumental playing" is how john wicks describes his playing style. this amalgam of contemporary styles has given him the reputation as the "busiest drummer in seattle." as a freelancer the drummer is working constantly, performing and recording with such acts as punk rock band the hit (cydonia records-spain), pop group two loons for tea (sarathan records), electronic bands samo (ncm east) and 78nova, avant jazz/post rock groups spirit tuck and greg sinibaldi's quartet, skerik's "barely white septet," dos(e) with organist joe doria, commercial jingles and movie soundtracks. his busy schedule has allowed him to travel the globe playing throughout the us, mexico, and europe.

steve moore:
steve is in high demand on trombone and keyboard in seattle, using them to back up singersongwriters and lead his own bands. steve has been fortunate enough to perform and record with robin holcomb, bill frisell, wayne horvitz (zony mash, pigpen), aiko shimada, danny barnes, eyvind kang and many others. these days he's a member of the ambient jazz group mount analog and backs up experimental folksinger laura veirs on keyboards, trombone, drum machine and vocals.

hans teuber:
the son of professional musicians, hans teuber has spent his entire 39 years making music. in south carolina he grew up playing church music, band, orchestral music, jazz, and r & b. as a youngster he performed with dizzy gillespie, as well as local be-boppers, funksters, and experimental artists. hans left s.c. in the late 80's, touring extensively with crooner / jazz pianist buddy greco. he eventually made seattle washington his home, where he has performed and or recorded with julian priester, bill frisell, wayne horvitz ( zoney mash ), robin holcomb, and various others. he also recorded and toured brazil with the jovino santos neto quarteto. hans has recorded in n.y.c. with kendra shank, frank kimbraugh, jeff johnson, victor lewis, joe locke, billy mintz, the peck allmond quintet and trumpeter todd horton's "whatsa". the last 2 1/2 years were spent on the road and in the studio with folk/funkster ani difranco culminating with a european tour opening for maceo parker and his band.

david carter:
as one of the most highly in-demand trumpet players in seattle, david carter is always busy. he has played with aiko shimada, suncity girls, wayne horvitz, robin holcomb, wayward shamans, tuatara, cedell davis.

craig flory:
a woodwind master, craig flory has played sax and clarinet with tex williams, mudhoney, medeski, martin and wood, julian priester, wayne horovitz, mick taylor (rolling stones), peter buck (rem), evergreen classic jazz band and combo craig.