THE ALCHEMISTS are a Boston-based band of free form, genre-crossing jazz musicians devoted to the art of collective improvisation. Our music offers a spicy concoction of improvised, melody-driven, inventively original songs that weave together avant-garde jazz, standards, Latin rhythms, Indian beats, chamber music and other far-flung styles into a surprisingly eclectic whole.
By definition, what you hear at the release party will not reproduce the tracks on JOURNEY TO THE EAST - but it will reflect the kind of improvising, melody-centered, genre-mixing band we are.
How does this kind of spontaneous music happen? By careful listening to each other, quick glances from one musician to another, body language, paying attention to when it feels appropriate to join the music making, play a solo or drop back for a time. To ensure variety, we sometimes began with a certain beat or particular instruments - or no rules at all - always letting the music go where it wants to go....
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THE ALCHEMISTS are a Boston-based band of free form, genre-crossing jazz musicians devoted to the art of collective improvisation. Our music offers a spicy concoction of improvised, melody-driven, inventively original songs that weave together avant-garde jazz, standards, Latin rhythms, Indian beats, chamber music and other far-flung styles into a surprisingly eclectic whole.
By definition, what you hear at the release party will not reproduce the tracks on JOURNEY TO THE EAST - but it will reflect the kind of improvising, melody-centered, genre-mixing band we are.
How does this kind of spontaneous music happen? By careful listening to each other, quick glances from one musician to another, body language, paying attention to when it feels appropriate to join the music making, play a solo or drop back for a time. To ensure variety, we sometimes began with a certain beat or particular instruments - or no rules at all - always letting the music go where it wants to go.
Band members:
Matt Langley - Saxophones, Bass Clarinet
Matt performs widely around Boston and the Maine-NH seacoast in such bands as In Ears n Eyes, Sojoy, Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales and Ourbigband and has recorded with the Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet and the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet, among others.
Jerry Leake - Percussion
Associate Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music and faculty member at the New England Conservatory; Jerry is a founding member of the world-music ensemble Natraj and Club dElf.
Dennis Livingston - Flute, Recorders
As a composer/lyricist of cabaret and jazz songs, Dennis work has appeared in four ASCAP-MAC Songwriter Showcases in New York, while revues of his songs have been presented in Boston, Washington, DC, and New York. As a performer, Dennis has been an improvising jazz flutist for many years.
Bob Nieske - Bass
Professor of the Practice in Jazz at Brandeis University and on the faculty of New England Conservatory; he has recorded with Alan Dawson, Dave Grisman, Stephane Grappelli and George Russell, among others.
Randy Roos - Guitar
Associate Professor of Guitar and Music Systems at Berklee College of Music, following 14 years in the New England Conservatory jazz department, he has participated in many recordings from Photogenic Memory (Agharta, Japan), George Jinda and World News (JVC) and the Narada label, among others.
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