A musical manifestation of the Mars Vs. Venus debate

Can men and women really get along? And can the vastly differing artistic perspectives of the opposite sexes be bridged and in the process lead to the creation of a unified musical vision?

For the Colorado-based quartet Boy-Girl Band, the answers can be heard on Drop Your Leotards, the group's debut recording on Synergy Music (SMCD 80019). The band's free improvisations on this eclectic, experimental and whimsically enigmatic CD -- some of which feature spoken word -- provide proof of what an open-minded group of men and women can actually accomplish when working in unison.

Launched four years ago as a purely improvisational exercise by Emily Takahashi (piano), Jayn Pettingill (sax & clarinet), Doug Anderson (bass & accordion) and Art Lande (drums & piano), the Boy-Girl Band's members met weekly for creative workouts. The rules were simple: mutual trust, tolerance for diversity and the ability to blend, link and sustain energy. Takahashi, a Boulder-area teacher and performer, and Pettingill, a Master's-level student at the University of Colorado, are the girls; the boys' side is represented by Anderson, a talented player whose projects range from jazz-inspired chamber ensembles to the Americana sounds of the band Country Road X, and Lande, the internationally renowned pianist and a former instructor at Boulder's Naropa Institute who in recent years has been doubling on drums.

“We were hoping to musically create a cross language as we played entirely free," explains Pettingill, who was studying at the University of Colorado during the collective's early years. “And as we got to know each other, the results definitely developed and improved."

Confident of their musical communication, the quartet entered a studio at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and recorded the almost entirely unscripted results. The CD's amusing title stems from the orders commanded during an ambiguously benevolent alien invasion -- an invasion dreamt up and vocalized, stream-of-consciousness style, by Lande, lying on the studio floor. It's part of three major thematic elements ("Day," “Night" and “Dream Fable") that emerged during the off-the-cuff creative process.

Drop Your Leotards' content ranges from dreamy, introspective instrumental improvisations to some openly hilarious ramblings on the nature of interpersonal relationships ("Adult Scene #4"). The entire project is woven together with a deft sense of musical adventure, made all the more impressive considering the spontaneous nature of the recording.

The Boy/Girl Band continues its weekly meetings and has been performing occasional concerts in Colorado's Front Range communities. Drop Your Leotards is a remarkable documentation of the band's synergistic, almost intuitive musical connection.

For more information on the Boy/Girl Band or other Synergy Music releases, please contact Andy Stonehouse ([email protected]) at (888) 355-9387, ext. 2473, or Mitchell Feldman ([email protected], (888) 355-9387, ext. 2486).