Jazz Articles about Industrial Jazz Group

Industrial Jazz Group: Leef

by Matthew Miller
October 15, 2009

It's hard to take anything about the Industrial Jazz Group for granted. Even the LA-based ensemble's name is misleading to the point that its leader, Andrew Durkin, feels the need to address it in the header of the group's website. “So we're not really industrial. Were The Beatles really insects?" As explanations go--humorous as they might be--it rings a little hollow. It does, however, speak volumes about IJG and its singular approach to music-making. Just when you think you've got ...

Industrial Jazz Group: LEEF

by Brad Glanden
May 13, 2008

It's difficult to fathom a universe where someone would not enjoy listening to LEEF. One would have to be conditioned, Clockwork Orange-style, into finding the sound of musical instruments morally reprehensible. There's nothing on the Industrial Jazz Group's album that couldn't be embraced wholeheartedly by someone with an otherwise unrepentant disdain for all things jazzy.

It's fitting that composer, pianist and band leader Andrew Durkin (whose PhD is in English Literature) admires the work of Donald ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Andrey Henkin
March 9, 2007

For those expecting to read about Ministry tunes played by full trumpet sections, stop right now. The Industrial Jazz Group has absolutely nothing to do with industrial music per se. I might posit that the adjective refers to an almost assembly line-like amalgamation of every known big band style into one mechagodzilla that destroys Tokyo. The Industrial Jazz Group was founded in 2000 by Andrew Durkin, a composer, pianist and occasional percussionist. This is the group's fourth ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Brad Glanden
January 23, 2007

Few categorical terms inspire as much trepidation among listeners as “avant-garde," and it is decidedly difficult to market music labeled as such. Even so, many artists on the fringe have tempered their envelope-pushing works with material that could be accused of having top-forty aspirations. It is rare indeed to discover someone capable of writing music that is both forward-thinking and accessible to virtually anyone; Industrial Jazz Group's Andrew Durkin is one such composer.

Now entering its seventh year, IJG is ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Rex Butters
October 20, 2006

Andrew Durkin and the Industrial Jazz Group release a circus of musical styles on Industrial Jazz A Go Go!, with soloists flying through fiery hoops, arrangements making death-defying leaps, and Durkin himself flooring the clown car. They cover so much musical material, sometimes within a single piece, that they threaten to appeal to everyone. Yet despite bringing doo-wop, R&B, rock, blues, classical, country, free improv and jazz into coherent collision, these are not Frankentunes. Durkin's arranging expertise creates such a ...

Industrial Jazz Group: The Star Chamber

by Rex Butters
February 13, 2005

The Industrial Jazz Group continues to fight the odds on maintaining a large band, allowing resident composer Andrew Durkin a vehicle for his imaginative flights. Drawing on an eclectic core of influences including Mingus, Zappa, Messiaen, and Giuffre, Durkin writes head-snapping charts unafraid to make bold statements and easy jokes. The Group's all-star lineup, including Beth Schenk, Kris Tiner, Cory Wright, and Aaron Cohen, gives an enthusiastic, well-rehearsed performance, bringing Durkin's exotic fantasies to life.

The title track charges forward ...

Industrial Jazz Group: The Star Chamber

by Chris May
December 13, 2004

The Industrial Jazz Group was formed in '00 by pianist/composer Andrew Durkin as a sort of (very sort of) Art Ensemble of Chicago. But whereas AEC set out to celebrate the relatively focused and well-defined macro-genre “Great Black Music," Durkin's IJG includes all modern music in its sights, from Edgar Varese and Olivier Messiaen through George Russell and Bernard Herrmann to Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. This is the band's third album, and its second for American Composers Forum's Innova ...