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Mauro Refosco
Mauro Refosco is a professional percussionist and noisemaker who performs and records with artists such as David Byrne, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thom Yorke’s Atoms for Peace. After beginning his touring career in 1994 as Byrne’s percussionist, he returned to NYC and joined cult creative ensemble The Lounge Lizards, playing experimental punk jazz and more with bandleader John Lurie. In between stints with Byrne and several other in demand projects he formed his band, Forro in the Dark, which has recorded four full-length albums and performed at major domestic and international festivals.
Mauro’s studio, SuperLegal (pron. “Super-leh-GOW”), located in Bushwick, Brooklyn houses his vast arsenal of instruments and is fully equipped with the latest versions of Pro Tools, Live, and an array of high-end mics and pre-amps. Artists and producers that have worked at SuperLegal include David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, They Might Be Giants, Blonde Redhead, Martha Wainwright, Cibo Matto, Madeline Peyroux, Pat Dillet, Mario Caldato Jr, Andres Levin, Kassin, Craig Street and many others.
He has also composed music and soundtracks for movies, television, fashion shows and Off-Broadway plays.
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The Haas Company Vol 1: Galactic Tide Featuring Andy Timmons

by Glenn Astarita
Buckle up, space cowboys, because The Haas Company's Galactic Tide Vol. 1 featuring gifted guitarist Andy Timmons is a genre-bending journey that blasts off from the first note. Led by the versatile and visionary drummer, Steve Haas this project looms as a testament to his innovative spirit and musical prowess. Haas, a seasoned musician, has brought together an extraordinary ensemble to explore the vast realms of fusion., Timmons, a guitar virtuoso known for his fiery technique, is the ...
Continue ReadingMichael Blake: Dance of the Mystic Bliss

by Vincenzo Roggero
Veterano della scena downtown newyorchese,Michael Blake porta al debuttto sulla propria etichetta P&M Records, Chroma Nova, ensemble dalla configurazione particolare con quattro strumenti a corda, due percussionisti brasiliani, il leader ai sassofoni e, per la prima volta su disco, al flauto. Difficile individuare un centro gravitazionale preciso in Dance of the Mystic Bliss, forse un'intrinseca vena melodica presente nelle dieci composizioni tutte a firma Blake, ma sarebbe fare torto alla grande varietà di atmosfere, di tessiture e di groove che ...
Continue ReadingMichael Blake: Dance of the Mystic Bliss

by Jerome Wilson
This is saxophonist Michael Blake's new group, Chroma Nova, which contains guitar, violin, cello, bass and two Brazilian percussionists. They play a set of compositions, inspired by Blake's late mother, dancer Merle Blake, which rely on fluid rhythms and textures taken in many different directions. Blake is often the main solo voice here but he also blends in with the other instruments to create all kinds of intriguing sonic fabrics. For example, Topanga Burns" starts with a stately ...
Continue ReadingWadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

by Mike Jurkovic
Eighty-one year old trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith comes out flaring like Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, as Fire Illuminations jumps the funk rock from the break of the muscular conflagration Ntozake." And the grunge jazz clips along as guitarists Nels Cline, Brandon Ross, and Lamar Smith vie, bite, sting, and quarrel over an insistent bass drum power-groove courtesy of bassists Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs, percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer Pheeroan aKlaff, and the deep space electronics of Hardedge.
Continue ReadingWadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith fronts lots of different bands and puts out lots of albums. After a busy period when he released five boxed sets, totaling 27 CDs, here he debuts his new all-star ensemble Orange Wave Electric, with the download-only offering, Fire Illuminations. As the band name implies, the sound is electric, featuring three electric guitarists, two electric bassists and an electronicist, joining the leader's horn, percussionist Mauro Refosco and drummer Pheeroan aKLaff. For comparison's sake--and using ...
Continue ReadingMichael Blake: Drift

by AAJ Staff
Blake is an improvising saxophonist who, because of his personal interests and the label he’s on, is often mistakenly relegated to the Worldbeat sections. To be honest, this disc only grabbed me halfway through, but when it did, it grabbed hard, and has sustained repeated listening.
The title cut, “Drift,” is echoed à la old ECM, and has lots of little percussion making the mournful tune very world-weary. Kimbrough, listed as playing only piano, is on an electric model. Scherr’s ...
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