Gig of the Week: Beeblebrox CD Release Party

GIG OF THE WEEK: BEEBLEBROX CD RELEASE PARTY

from the now-defunct entertainment weekly Out & About

By Barney Quick

All passengers are requested to report to the Indianapolis Intergalactic Spaceport, a.k.a. The Wild Beet, on Saturday, June 21 at 8 PM, for departure. Your crew will consist of L'Woo, an up-and-coming pop-rock band, at the warm-up controls, and Beeblebrox, area jazz & fusion favorites, navigating the way.

Beeblebrox will emphasize music from their latest album, the fifth by these productive and focused players. This flight into fusion fancy comes at a time of much activity for the band. They just returned from a tour of Germany and are scheduled to play on a side stage at Santana's late-June Deer Creek concert, as well as open for Tower of Power at the Vogue in July.

Not all of the group's Bloomington-area fans realize it has been around in one incarnation or another since 1983. Guitarist Peter Kienle founded it in his hometown of Albstadt, Germany.

What you'll hear at the Wild Beet on the twenty-first is the refinement of Kienle's original vision.

"I learned about jazz from German radio, which was quite good when I was growing up in the 70s," he says. "The first kind of jazz I was exposed to was fusion - Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever. It was only later that I learned about the people making the music and their careers. My grounding in jazz came solely from a delight in the sound itself."

He met musical partner and significant other Monika Herzig in 1986. "We needed a new keyboard player, and we knew Monica had equipment," Kienle recalls. "She had played classical piano and church organ, but she was just beginning to improvise. She went to some workshops and learned fast."

The two moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in an exchange program in 1988. Anyone who has met the pair knows they make friends quickly, and they picked up with Beeblebrox where they had left off in Germany.

Alas, the time came for doctorate-level work, and the I.U. School of Music beckoned in 1991.

A string of albums ensued, as well as much critical acclaim. In fact, "Let's Fool One," a Herzig tune on Indianapolis Intergalactic Spaceport won a Downbeat award.

Why have Kienle, Herzig et al. stuck with fusion all these years? After all, jazz trends have taken a number of twists and turns since the genre's heyday.

"Most jazz today is either very academic and bebop-derived, or watered down for accessibility's sake," says Herzig. "We wanted a canvas for exploring lots of different things."

Adds Kienle: "We've always felt that we'd try any original tune someone brought to a rehearsal."

The band was amazed at the quickness (two weeks) with which it recorded Spaceport. Kienle attributes it to familiarity with the tunes. "Between Quantumn Tweezers and the new album, we've played live more than ever before," he notes.

What kind of refinements to the Beeblebrox sound does he think are present on Spaceport?

"The personalities of the players come out better. More tunes start with solo statements."

Three bassists can be heard on the new album, among them Jack Helsley, who had been the bassist for a couple of years, but is now with Carrie Newcomer. Hans Sturm is also heard on three cuts, but Danny Kiely is the bassist who will be onstage at the Beet, as well as other gigs. Kiely has lots of session experience and hails from Louisville.

Drummer Paul Surowiak has a B.A. in percussion from I.U. He debuts with Beeblebrox on the new CD.

Saxophonist Tom Clark first appeared on Quantumn Tweezers. Unfortunately, he must attend to teaching duties in California for a couple of weeks and will miss the Wild Beet date.

Don't you miss it, though. It's sure to be one of the summer's most breathtaking excursions. Now, you will notice that the "Fasten your seat belt" sign has been turned on .

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