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Max Kutner
Max’s style, both as composer and performer, favors the incorporation of extensive free improvisation, extended techniques and a willful blindness to the handles of hi-brow and lo-brow art-making. He also focuses very intently on using space and context as the catalyst for performance and avoids the loathsome trappings of guitar idioms wherever possible. Since 2010, he has performed in many notable events at REDCAT, The Blue Whale, Catalina’s Jazz Club, The Coach House, The Carriage House, The Wild Beast, The Syracuse Jazz Festival, The Byron Bay Bluesfest, Beyond Baroque and many more. He has toured Europe and Australia extensively as well as a member of the Grandmothers of Invention whom he has been a member of since 2013. Additionally, he previously served on the Adjunct Faculty at the California Institute of the Arts as a guitar instructor. He has performed with Ulrich Krieger, Sofia Gubaidulia, Mike Keneally, Miroslav Tadic, John French, Denny Walley, Mark Boston, Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez, Don Preston and also for the Montreal Guitar Quartet and Carlos Barbosa-Lima in master classes.
His projects include the experimental jazz-trio, Evil Genius (http://evilevilgeniusgenius.com; with Stefan Kac and Mike Lockwood), the self-proclaimed "folk-tronica" ensemble, The Royal US (http://theroyalus.com with Brian Saia, Heather Lockie and Steven Van Betten) and the acoustic duo Of Healthy Living (http://ofhealthyliving.bandcamp.com with Lauren Baba). He has previously co-led the klezmer septet, Bubbeleh (http://jewishsharkattack.com).
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Joe Santa Maria: Echo Deep
by Alberto Bazzurro
Un solido jazz per middle band (peraltro di tiro spesso molto big), con infiltrazioni easy, è quanto ci arriva da questo album, molto compatto e sostanzialmente corale, del polistrumentista e compositore texano Joe Santa Maria, che ha diviso la sua attività musicale, ormai piuttosto corposa, fra Houston, Boston, New York e Los Angeles. Nella musica che si ascolta in questa quarantina scarsa di minuti, come accennato, prevale largamente la mano dell'autore rispetto a quello che potrebbe essere ...
read moreJoe Santa Maria: Echo Deep
by Glenn Astarita
In the liner notes, L.A.-based multi-woodwind specialist Joe Santa Maria, known for his contributions to Vinnie Golia ensembles, Django Django, and Kim Richmond and others, reveals that this project took nearly a decade to complete, shaped by his extensive travels and dedicated studies. Notably, he emphasizes the cyclical, trance-like essence embedded within these compositions. The prolonged wait proves worthwhile as Santa Maria's fusion of worldly influences, rooted in his jazz expertise, culminates in an outstanding album poised to grace numerous ...
read moreEvil Genius: Experiments on Human Subjects
by Glenn Astarita
It would be an uplifting experience to see this trio go at it in a live setting. For those who need comparisons, think of a cross-pollination between some of John Zorn-produced kinetic avant-garde jazz fusion, psych and rock ensembles along with Frank Zappa influences, and punk jazz groups. Guitarist Max Kutner is the lead guitarist of the Magic Band, performing the music of Captain Beefheart while also working with renegade guitarist Henry Kaiser, trumpeter Daniel Rosenboom and the ...
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