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Spoke

Spoke's first album represents the culmination of a repertoire developed over years of playing together regularly. After forming to play a weekly Brooklyn gig, the ensemble quickly found a purpose in pursuing what one reviewer calls the "Art of the Compromise." Spoke's music lives in the intermediate territory between individual and collective improvisation, while retaining a sense of structure and tradition.

The members of Spoke bring strong musical backgrounds to the collective:

International award-winning trombonist Andy Hunter has lived in Shanghai, Cleveland, and New York and currently tours around the world with the Mingus Big Band and Mingus Dynasty ensembles. When in town, he also works steadily in some of NYC's top salsa bands.

Dan Loomis has become one of NYC's most in-demand bassists, peforming regularly with the Wee Trio and as a sideman in venues such as Lincoln Center and Birdland.

Danny Fischer moved to New York from Melbourne, Australia in 2004, where he was a top jazz drummer. Credits include performances with Diana Ross, Patty LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Chaka Kahn, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Sheila Jordan.

Justin Wood moved to NYC after growing up in rural Maine. He has performed around New York in venues such as Birdland and NJPAC. He performs regualarly with his own quartet, the Evan Mazunik's ZAHA, Martin Vejarano's Columbian jazz project, and Maquina Mono.

SPOKE: (r)anthems

Read "(r)anthems" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes

by Ernest Barteldes
November 25, 2014

On (r)anthems, the New York-based ensemble takes various pop classics and favorite World Music tunes and reinvents them into their own flavor, either going into a New Orleans-tinged feel or just improvising around the melody. An example is Stevie Wonder's “Tell Me Something Good," which is re-purposed here into a marching band-like vibe. The Beatles' “Blackbird" (incorrectly credited solely to Paul McCartney) begins with the original guitar line as a duet. The ensemble then improvises freely around the melody.

Album Review

SPOKE: (r)anthems

Read "(r)anthems" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 25, 2014

According to the members of SPOKE, this album--the band's third to date--"is both musical rant and anthem." So what does that mean? Well, it means that there's an intentional balancing act between the raw and refined, the focused and the untamed, and the grand and rowdy. Nothing ever goes off the rails and nothing is ever too sedate or bland, as the members of SPOKE continually switch gears and change hats. There's also enough stylistic diversity at play--pop, bop, spicy ...

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Album Review

Spoke: Spoke

by J Hunter
May 21, 2009

In his liner notes to Spoke's self-titled debut disc, Matthew Lima wrote that this Brooklyn-based quartet is “constantly refining the art of the compromise... not into a concession or lowering of standards, but an intermediate between different things." He's half right: There are no concessions whatsoever on Spoke; however, the differences are what it's all about.

The thought that went into the set's twelve pieces is literally mind-bending. Classical music isn't just one of the musical sub-cultures Spoke visits on ...

Festival

Jazz This Week: Bobby Broom and Deep Blue Organ Trio, Bonerama, Kirk Whalum, Spoke, Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival, St. Louis Jazz Club Picnic and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
September 13, 2012

It's shaping up to be a busy weekend for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several touring musicians and bands in town, plus some noteworthy free events that should appeal to those looking for some budget-friendly entertainment. Let's go to the highlights... On Thursday night, Chicago guitarist Bobby Broom, best known as a longtime sideman to saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and his Deep Blue Organ Trio will be in town for a one-nighter at Robbie's House of Jazz. ...
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Performance / Tour

Spoke to Perform Sunday, September 16 at Parkway United Church of Christ

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 29, 2012

The NYC-based band SPOKE (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, September 16 at Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 N Ballas Rd. SPOKE features St. Louis native and SIUE alumnus Dan Loomis (also of The Wee Trio) on bass, along with trombonist Andy Hunter, saxophonist Justin Wood, and drummer Danny Fischer. Formed in 2005, the group has released two albums of “original, genre- spanning music drawing on diverse sources including chamber music, Charles Mingus, ...
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"Years of playing together has taken this group beyond duty to cannon and genre into the realm where personal explorations of the jazz metaphor can coexist perfectly."

Matthew Lima, Multilaterale Music Collective