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Jazz Articles about Moppa Elliott

6
Album Review

Acceleration Due To Gravity: Jonesville

Read "Jonesville" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Bassist, composer and arranger Moppa Elliott's uniquely-titled nonet Acceleration Due To Gravity presents Jonesville a gravity- defying jazz odyssey. It pays a captivating homage to influential bassist Sam Jones by weaving a sonic tapestry which transcends the boundaries of conventional jazz. In this brief seven-track, twenty-one-minute outing, four compositions are by Elliott, with the remainder being Sam Jones' originals. The members of the octet who participated in this unusual musical excursion are trumpeter Bobby Spellman, trombonist Dave Taylor, alto saxophonist ...

6
Album Review

Moppa Elliott's Acceleration Due To Gravity: Jonesville

Read "Jonesville" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Whatever 'script renegade bassist/composer Moppa Elliot takes on a daily basis, he should be made to share with the rest of the world. Whatever that tonic, whatever that pill, whatever that gumbo scented elixir is, let us have it now. Elliot may not want to open up his private stash to the public, but he sure knows how to let it fly in the music he and his nonet--Acceleration Due to Gravity--put forth on the rightly raucous and ...

1
Album Review

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Disasters Vol. 1

Read "Disasters Vol. 1" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Rest assured, Mostly Other People Do the Killing get the joke and on Disasters Vol.1, the amorphous collective's eleventh disc and this trio's riotous second, you either get the joke too or you don't. It really makes no never-mind to this eclectic bunch because MOPDtK know instinctively that, if you don't throw yourself off balance from time to time, (like every single time the opportunity presents itself) you're going to get deeply sucked into the muck and mire of human ...

12
Album Review

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Disasters Vol. 1

Read "Disasters Vol. 1" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Mostly Other People Do the Killing has a way of making great music sound accidental. So Disasters Vol. 1 is as suitable a name for this collection as it would be for any of their fourteen albums. In past versions, they have boasted big names such as Jon Irabagon, Peter Evans, and rising talents like guitarist Brandon Seabrook. Drummer Kevin Shea and bassist/composer Moppa Elliot, are two-thirds of the current group and the remaining original members of MOPDtK. Ron Stabinsky ...

5
Album Review

Mostly Other People Do The Killing: Disasters Vol. 1

Read "Disasters Vol. 1" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Moppa Elliott's gonzo-surrealist jazz group, Mostly Other People Do The Killing, returns for a second album in its piano trio format with Elliott on bass, Ron Stabinsky on piano and Kevin Shea on drums. They are up to their usual tricks here, playing slapstick jazz which flits deliriously through all types of styles and sub-genres like an old Warner Brothers cartoon soundtrack. However there is a more serious added element on this album. Elliott, as he often does, named all ...

3
Album Review

Bryan Murray & Jon Lundbom: Beats by Balto! Vol. 2

Read "Beats by Balto! Vol. 2" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Spinning Beats by Balto Vol. 2 in the midst of a global pandemic brings to mind a quote from Zack de la Rocha: “Fear is your only god on the radio." The Rage Against The Machine frontman is begging you to turn off your radio, but somehow you just can't turn off Balto!'s beats. The brain-child of guitarist Jon Lundbom and Bryan Murray (Bryan And The Haggards, Big Five Chord), the spine-tingling essence of this music confirms what ...

2
Album Review

Moppa Elliott: Jazz Band/Rock Band/Dance Band

Read "Jazz Band/Rock Band/Dance Band" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Bassist Moppa Elliott is best known as the leader of the surrealistic jazz group, Mostly Other People Do The Killing, but his musical universe, encompassing work with symphony orchestras and new music ensembles, stretches much farther than that band's frantic music. This is reflected in this 2 CD set of Elliott leading three different types of groups, a jazz band, a rock band and a dance band. All three ensembles continue Elliott's off-center sensibilities, but in different ways. ...


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