I’m excited to announce my faculty jazz trombone recital for Tuesday, September 8th 2009 at 8pm in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall inside the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts at 922 Park Avenue in Richmond, VA. The recital will feature the music of Verbatim, an experimental duo comprised of myself and drummer Dean Christesen. Here’s a facebook link to the event.
Verbatim’s music combines the sounds of jazz, math-rock, punk, salsa, Tuvan throat-singing, New Orleans street beat and the avant-garde to create an original synthesis of composition and improvisation. Verbatim grew organically out of conversations and jam sessions between Hooten and Christesen in 2008. After playing on a few one-off gigs and a steady opening slot in front of Alan Parker’s Connect Four, the duo began planning a summer tour during a post-gig hang at The Camel in Richmond, VA.
In June of 2009, Verbatim recorded its debut self-titled album in Richmond composer/guitarist and Fight the Big Bull leader Matthew White’s sweltering attic, otherwise known as Spacebomb Studios. Recorded in only a few hours, the album consists of all first takes of original compositions that were mixed in one pass while using no overdubs or splices, fully capturing the group’s dynamic live-performance energy. In support of the album, the duo embarked on an east-coast tour earlier this year, hitting experimental music hotspots in Washington DC, Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA before returning home for a CD release party at The Camel in Richmond, VA. The album is available at all Verbatim gigs.
You can read more about me here.
Dean Christesen is a Richmond-based drummer, writer and creator of RVAjazz.com, a portal for Richmond’s jazz, experimental, and improvised music scene. He is currently studying jazz performance at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a member of Mason Brothers, Verbatim, and various local jazz and free-jazz concoctions.
