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What do Edie Brickell, Les Claypool/Primus, Rickie Lee Jones, Ani Difranco, Stanton Moore (Galactic), Charlie Hunter, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, David Bowie, Fiona Apple, The Master Muscians of Jajouka, Soundgarden, Bill Frisell, Robert Fripp, Tori Amos, Morrissey, Phantogram, George Clinton, Mike Watt, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, The Wallflowers, A Perfect Circle, Willie Nelson, Frank Ocean, Elton John, Brad Mehldau, Randy Newman, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Bernie Worrell, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz and Bobby Previt, Peter Buck, Robert Fripp, Roger Waters have in common?
Answer: All of them have recorded or played live with one or more member of the Seattle, Washington-based instrumental band Critter's Buggin.
I was immediately impressed and attracted to Critter's Buggin unique blend of jazz, funk, rock, industrial, and African influences and their fearless, sometimes squonky improvisation and experimentation as soon as I heard them. Their sound is highly original and their excellent musicianship and sense of humor was immediately evident. I heard elements of many of my favorite artists in their music, including Frank Zappa, Bill Laswell, The Residents, Meat Beat Manifesto and King Crimson. If this description sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend investigating the band as well as the individual member's recent projects.
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This is the song that attracted our interest in Critters Buggin. Caution: this song is intense.
The band began in Seattle in 1993 with three former members of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and by 1998 settled on a line-up that featured Matt Chamberlain (drums, percussion, piano, programming, synths, loops, samples and digital editing), Skerik (saxophones, keyboards, loops, samples, effects and guitar), Brad Houser (bass, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet and electronics) and Mike Dillon (vibraphone and percussion). Around 2006 the band morphed into The Dead Kenny Gs, which did not include drummer Matt Chamberlain and often included keyboardist Brian Haas (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey).
Both Critters Buggin and The Dead Kenny Gs are inactive right now, but the players continue to collaborate with each other frequently as well as play in many other formats and settings with other top players.
Drummer Matt Chamberlain has found great success as a studio and touring musician and has worked with "David Bowie, Fiona Apple, The Master Muscians of Jajouka, Soundgarden, Bill Frisell, Robert Fripp, Tori Amos, Morrissey, Phantogram, George Clinton, Mike Watt, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, The Wallflowers, A Perfect Circle, Willie Nelson, Frank Ocean, Elton John, Brad Mehldau, Randy Newman, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, and many others, as well as soundtrack work with Hans Zimmer, Marco Beltrami, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Jon Brion." (Source Matt Chamberlain's website
Despite working with all of those stars and superstars he still does excellent non-commercial music as a solo artist and in collaboration with others. We saw Chamberlain in San Francisco in 2017 paired with pianist Brian Haas for an intimate show of duo improvisations for drums, piano and synthesizer. Chamberlain was a founding member of the improvisational group The Slow Music Project with Bill Rieflin (Keyboards,Electronic drums), Robert Fripp (King Crimson) (guitar), Peter Buck (REM)(guitar), Hector Zazou (synths) and Fred Chalenor on bass. He also created Floratone, a project with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell; they have recorded two excellent albums so far.
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Drummer, percussionist and vibes player Mike Dillon has also been extremely active. We caught him in action in Albany, CA at the Ivy Room in 2017 with his excellent band Nolatet which featured Brian Haas on keyboards. The Nolatet album is a good listen. Dillon has also worked with Les Claypool/Primus, Rickie Lee Jones, Ani Difranco and numerous solo bands and collaborations.
Some of Dillon's (and Skerik's) best work is with Garage a Trois, which originally featured Charlie Hunter on eight-string guitar, Skerik on sax and Stanton Moore (Galactic) on drums. Mike Dillon joined them later and keyboardists John Medeski and Marco Benevento have replaced Charlie Hunter in some editions of the group. Garage a Trois routinely base their songs on funky second line rhythms (a specialty of drummer Stanton Moore), and often maintained a jazzy feel with Skerik playing without the electronic effects he used in Critters Buggin'. They have recorded several excellent albums and the original lineup is also featured on Stanton Moore's very cool album All Kooked Up.
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A mellow tune from the Garage a Trois lineup with Mike Dillon, Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore and Skerik
Saxist Skerik has stayed busy with projects and groups that included Wayne Horvitz and Bobby Previte, Peter Buck (REM), Les Claypool (Primus), Trey Anastasio and Roger Waters. His https://www.skerikmusic.com website currently lists 10 different "active groups" featuring Skerik with a range of players that includes drummer Mike Clark, guitarist Marc Ribot, keyboardist John Medeski-keys, guitarist Charlie Hunter, drummer Bobby Previte, keyboardist Bernie Worrell and drummer Stanton Moore (Galactic).
Skerik blew the audience away when he performed at the Ivy Room in Albany, CA in March 2018 with Los Lobos Sax Player Steve Berlin and local jazz-funk stalwarts Scott Amendola (drums) and B-3 organ player Will Blades. He was in good company but stole the show with some sizzling hot solos. For this show he did not use any electronics. No lineup is listed for when he returns to the Bay area for a show at 1750 Arch Street in Berkeley on May 22, 2018. Perhaps he will do a solo show with electronics for this one.
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Some bands make great albums or sound great live. Other bands not only make great music but also become progenitors of a musical dynasty that intertwines with other great musicians and scenes. The short list of legendary musical progenitors includes Miles Davis's various groups, John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Frank Zappa's bands and Bill Laswell and Zohn Zorn's numerous projects. Critters Buggin also belong on that list. Check them out.
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