Interested how we got from point A to point B? Then you may have a little too much time on your hands. Never fear: below is a compendium of our old news announcements, dating back to 2005. (For the completist, our shows page has a more concise but much more thorough gig archive.)

SPRING 07 UPDATE

Sometimes I wonder how many godammed websites one band really needs. I especially wonder this when I have music to write, and when website-updating responsibilities get in the way of said music-writing. Enough! Let me proclaim publicly here and now that henceforth you can go here for all the latest on upcoming gigs, and you can go here to get the dirt on how said gigs went, or will be going, or whatever. Let's try that and see how it works, eh? In other news, this has been a pretty good year for us so far! Thank you all for your support.

JANUARY 07 UPDATE

Holy cow, we survived our second east coast tour! And how. The full story (my version) can be found here, with additional tellings here (Kris), here (Jill), and here (DJA). (Kris' and Jill's links are each final installments in a series, so you'll have to navigate a bit to get their takes on earlier gigs in the tour.)

New gigs for spring!

March 7, 8 PM: Someday Lounge (Portland, OR). Triple-bill with Gutbucket and Reptet.

March 8, 8 PM: LoFi (Seattle, WA). Double-bill with Reptet.

March 28, noon and 8 PM: Mesa College (Mesa, CA) and Dizzy's (San Diego, CA).

May 12 , late afternoon: Bakersfield Jazz Festival.

May 16-19: The Hague Jazz (Netherlands, EU).

DECEMBER 06 UPDATE

Our January 2007 East Coast Tour (aka the "Are They Really That Crazy, part two" Tour) is finally taking shape. Here's what's confirmed so far:

January 10, 8 PM: Chris's Jazz Cafe (Philadelphia, PA). Double-bill with Hopping John Orchestra.

January 11, 12 noon: IAJE conference (NY, NY).

January 11, 8 PM: Goodbye Blue Monday (Brooklyn, NY). Double-bill with Kris Tiner / Mike Baggetta group.

January 12, 8 PM: Java Hut (Worcester, MA). Double-bill with AmericanMusicRevolution.com.

January 13, 2 PM: Lichtenstein Center for the Arts (Pittsfield, MA).

January 14, 8 PM: Bowery Poetry Club (NY, NY). Double-bill with Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.

Whew! Definitely our most ambitious plan so far. Let's see if we actually pull it off. And by "we," I mean: Damon Zick, Beth Schenck, Brian Walsh, Evan Francis (reeds), Kris Tiner, Phil Rodriguez (trumpets), Dan Schnelle (drums), Oliver Newell (bass), Robert Jacobson (guitar), Jill Knapp (vocals), Andrew Durkin (piano / conducting), a mystery trombonist, and maybe a few other special guests. (Alas, dragging the entire 16 piece group across the country is still cost-prohibitive for me at this point -- go figure.)

Hope to see you at a show! (Check back here for more information as we get closer.)

FALL 06 UPDATE

Wow. It's been much too long since I updated here. For the real current stuff, it's best to check in with the myspace site and/or the blog.

In the wake of our August tour (lots of fun) and a September 21 show at Safari Sam's, I have moved my home base to Portland, OR (a beautiful and hip town if ever there was one). I continue to maintain the IJG as an LA group, however. Currently we're finishing up a whole mess of recording projects, while also planning for our second east coast tour, which will be happening this January as an extension of our performance in the 2007 IAJE conference.

JULY - AUGUST 06 UPDATE

Lotsa gigs on the way!

July 28: Cafe Metropol, Los Angeles. Quintet. 8 PM. With CJ Boyd.

August 24: Club Tropical, Culver City, CA. Big Band. 8 PM. 2 sets.

August 25 - 27: Jazz and Beyond Festival, Carson City, NV. Tentet. Check Brewery Arts Center website for set details.

August 27: 21 Grand, Oakland, CA. Big Band. 2 sets.

August 28: The Empty Space, Bakersfield, CA. Big Band. 2 sets.

Come check out the new show!

Still working on the new record...

Did I mention we have a myspace site?

JUNE 06 UPDATE

The short update: work continues on the new album. Next gigs at the end of August: August 24 at Club Tropical, August 25-7 at the Brewery Arts Center. More information on all o' that soon.

In the meantime, check out the little hootenanny we've got going on over at our myspace site.

Stay tuned.

APRIL 06

Thanks to all who came to our CD release show at the Barnsdall. Here's a review.

The new album, Industrial Jazz a Go Go!, can now be purchased online through the Jazz and Blues Loft (thanks to Evander for setting that up). Click here to order (note: to buy, you have to click the shopping cart link after clicking the "Buy Now" link). Other online distributors coming soon. The CD can also be ordered by contacing me directly here.

Oooo! IJG is now on myspace.com. Click here for our page, which features several MP3s from the new album, from an old album, and from the live show.

And check it out: recording has begun for the next album, tentatively titled The Art of the Mix Tape.

Looking ahead on the performance calendar, the quintet version of the IJG (rumored to be working on its own CD) will be opening up for them east coast mofos, Gutbucket, at Rocco Somazzi's other (and more regular) venue, Cafe Metropole, on May 5. Durkin highly recommends the Guts: he wrote this review of a previous LA show for All About Jazz.

Since it's still April, I'm gonna leave the CD release announcement up. Here it is:

At long last, we're proud to announce the official release of Industrial Jazz a Go Go!, the fourth album from the Industrial Jazz Group. We'll be having a CD release party this month, with details as follows:

April 21, 2006; 8 PM
The Industrial Jazz Group at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater
4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 644-6275
Tickets: $10

Here's a flyer for the show. Again, many thanks to Rocco Somazzi and Kio Griffith for setting it up. FYI: this performance will feature the insanely large version of the group, with 17+ musicians, props, possibly some dancers, and maybe a few other surprises. Oh, yeah: wear a costume and get a free CD.

MARCH 06 UPDATE

Well, it's almost here: the big CD release party for our fourth official studio album: Industrial Jazz a Go Go. This just may be the album I've been waiting all my life to make...

Here are the details for the show:

April 21, 2006; 8 PM
The Industrial Jazz Group at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater
4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 644-6275
Tickets: $10

Many thanks to Rocco Somazzi and Kio Griffith for setting this one up. For those of you who haven't been to the Barnsdall, it is a beautiful theater (located in a beautiful art park) that seats somewhere near 300 people. The IJG will be out in full force on this particular evening, with 16 musicians, props, possibly some dancers, and maybe a few surprises. A splendid time is almost a sure thing: please come on out and help make it happen!

By the way, as we speak , Go Go (which will be released on the Evander Music label) is now shipping from the manufacturer. I expect to get them by March 23, but I am happy to take orders any time before then.

JANUARY 06 UPDATE

Upcoming!

Sunday, February 12: Alternajazz Festival @Tangier, Los Feliz, CA (tentet) Friday, February 24: Moody's Bistro, Truckee, CA (quintet) Saturday, February 25: Brewery Arts Center, Carson City, NV (tentet) Wednesday, March 15: Mesa Community College, San Diego, CA (big band (15+)) Friday, April 21: Barnsdall Gallery Theater, Hollywood, CA (big band)

Go-Go is now mixed. It will be mastered in the next few weeks, and officially released on the Evander Music label on February 15. This record has been over a year in the making (longer than any of our other releases). Hope it was worth the wait...

DECEMBER 05 UPDATE

Hey! Thanks to all who came out to our recent shows in San Diego and San Francisco. The former was particularly fun, as we had what amounted to a SRO crowd (and, I believe, our first official encore). Details about each can be found on the blog.

Next up: finish Go-Go! I hope to have that fucker out by the beginning of next year. (It's real close, I swear.) Then we've got dates in Truckee (February 24), Carson City (February 25), San Diego again (March 15), and good ole LA (April 21st, I think... note that that's a Friday, and that we hardly ever play a weekend night in our home town... and that we'll be in a really nice 300-seat theater!). Details about all and sundry will be forthcoming early next year. In the meantime, check in on the blog if you must.

NOVEMBER 05 UPDATE

Hey! Thanks to the intrepid and generous Robert Jacobson, we ended up playing a very last minute gig at Club Tropical last week (November 14). Some documentation can be found here. Mostly we did it as a kind of warmup for two big upcoming shows:

Dec 3 at Dizzy's in San Diego Dec 10 at the Community Music Center in San Francisco (the latter show is brought to you by Evander Music)

The lineup for these performances: Trumpets: Phil Rodriguez, Kris Tiner, Dan Rosenboom
Bones: Mike Richardson, Ron Christian
Saxes: Ryan Perez-Daple, Damon Zick, Dan Boissy, Evan Francis (SF only), Cory Wright (SD only), Brian Walsh (SF only), Kelly Corbin, David Moyer
Rhythm: Oliver Newell (bass), Robert Jacobson (guitar), Dan Schnelle (drums), Andrew Durkin (piano, compositions). With very special (and very brave) guest Jill Knapp on vocals.

You figured right: that's a sixteen-piece band in San Diego, and a seventeen-piece band in San Francisco. We'll be presenting the latest version of our work-in-progress psycho-jazz ballet, "Hang Ten Through Hell." (If you'e a dancer and want to participate in this monstrosity, let me know.)

A splendid time will be had by all! I hope.

OCTOBER 05 UPDATE Hey! Our next gigs:

Dec 3 at Dizzy's in San Diego. Dec 10 at the Community Music Center in San Francisco (this show is graciously presented by Evander Music). More information to come.

Also: I just added the first draft of a "links" page. The album is now being mixed. You can cut the anticipation with a (plastic) knife.

SEPTEMBER 05 UPDATE

Hey! Our next gig is Sunday, September 25, at Club Tropical! 9 pm, one set (there will be other bands performing before us). $10 for the night.

We'll be unveiling the new, even-more-monstrous version of the group: fifteen (maybe sixteen) strong!

With Ben Wendel (soprano sax), Cory Wright (soprano and alto sax), Dan Boissy (alto sax), Brian Walsh (tenor sax), Matt Otto (tenor sax), Damon Zick (bari sax), Phil Rodriguez (trumpet), Kris Tiner (trumpet), Dan Rosenboom (trumpet), Shaunte Palmer (trombone), Robyn Javier (trombone), Aaron Kohen (bass), Robert Jacobson (guitar), Dan Schnelle (drums), and Andrew Durkin (piano, compositions, conducting).

Hosted by Robert Jacobson and the newly-minted Ear Orchard series.

Other news: IJG travel plans are shaping up for late '05 and spring '06. Watch this array of pixels for more info. Oh yeah, and the album! It'll be out soon, too. I think we have finally finished tracking horns...

JULY 05 UPDATE

Dig it: we survived.A tour diary is coming soon on the blog [Editor's note: never quite finished that one, alas!]. Keep a lookout. And once again, it must be said: a big thank you to everyone who made this tour possible! And particularly to the American Composers Forum of LA, who gave us a nice chunk of change to help cover our expenses.

Our plans for the summer: plenty. We'll be in recording, releasing, and booking mode. As of right now, the next date is December 3 (my birthday, thank you very much), at Dizzy's in San Diego... but you can bet yer ass we'll have other stuff going on before then.