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Gods
And Heroes was produced by Ralph
Covert (The Bad Examples). The album's orchpop feel is enhanced
by a worldbeat sensibility. The standard rock instruments are
amended by an array of percussive orchestral instruments. The
songs, bearing traces of XTC, The Beatles and David Bowie, cover
a wide range of styles, but are unified by their odd-yet- familiar
sound. The orchestral element evolved from a series of experimental
sessions with the percussive team of Andy Jones and Doug
Brush.
Jones,
a former jazz instructor at The Chicago Academy for the Arts has
performed with Steppenwolf, The Goodman, and toured North America
with "Cats". On Gods And Heroes Jones plays the vibraphone,
chimes, bells, dumbek, bell-tree, frame drum, bull-roar, mbira,
thumb piano, shakeres, manyangas, crotales, woodblocks, bell-plate,
drum set, china cymbals and concert bass drum.
Doug Brush, Director of The Rhythm Unity Ensemble, is a teaching
artist for Ravinia Festival's Music Illumination outreach program,
and plays with Rose Polenzani, Las Toallitas and Ten Tongues.
On Gods & Heroes, Brush plays dijeridoo (Australian),
tablas (Indian), djimbe (African) and pandiero.
The skeleton of the band consists of Pickles Piekarski (The Bad
Examples, John Prine) on bass, Zack Kantor (Frisbie, Lotus Crown)
and Henry Jansen (Great Apes) on drums, and Steve Gerlach (Mystery
Driver, Phantom Helmsmen, The Bad Examples, Tommy Keene) on lead
guitar. Gods & Heroes also features jazz phenom Brad
Goode on the trumpet, Michael Broening (The Khani Cole Band, Wayman
Tisdale) on piano and organ, and Willie Schwarz (Tom Waits, Chicago
Immigrant Orchestra) on the accordion and Serod. In addition to
producing, Ralph Covert adds lead and rhythm guitar as well as
back-up vocals to the record.
Gods And Heroes was recorded by Marc Schwarz (Freakwater,
The Blacks, Sally Timm) at the Uberstudio in Humboldt Park, and
is scheduled for release early in April 2000.
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