BRUX--a record label dedicated to the documentation and release of homespun West Coast creative music, specializing in the unusual and genre-defying. With its genesis in the documentation of art rock/free jazz band Grex and its various musical enterprises, BRUX flashes a spotlight on music that draws from both experimental music "tradition" (20th century "new music," classic free jazz, noise rock) and radical approaches in popular song.
Grex is an Oakland, California-based trio composed of Karl Evangelista (guitar/vocals), Rei Scampavia (keys/vocals), and Robert Lopez (drums). In biological terms, a "grex" is an organism composed of several smaller cells. Grex (the band) was formed as a way to explore the meeting point between popular song and experimental jazz, fostering a new music that both encompasses and expands upon its influences.
Monster Music is Grex's debut trio album and the group's first release on Grex's new BRUX label. This creative, dynamic document captures the band's current, aggressive blend of free jazz and art rock. Featuring sparse vocal melodies, driving odd-metered ensemble passages, and blistering free improvisation (the album tackles pieces by Don Cherry and Albert Ayler), Monster Music is simultaneously an innovative jazz album and a strong representation of the Bay Area independent rock scene.
Track Listing (all pieces by Evangelista/Scampavia except where noted):
(side A) Toy Time / Christmas Song / Romancing Stone / Mole Cricket / Love Song / Hurdles
(side B) Up Popped the Snake / Guinea (Don Cherry) / Friday / Little Wicka, Big Feet / Holy Family (Albert Ayler)
AVAILABLE NOW ON LP & CD AND FOR DOWNLOAD AT GREX.BANDCAMP.COM
Grex has played alongside leaders in modern music, including Fred Frith (Cosa Brava), Kronos Quartet, Tony Levin (Stick Men), Zeena Parkins, Hafez Modirzadeh, and Asian Improv aRts, and presented concerts at venues as diverse as The Great American Music Hall, the Switchboard Festival, United States of Asian America Festival, and the de Young Museum. The band's fun, endlessly surprising sound has drawn comparisons to English Prog Rock (Henry Cow, The Cardiacs), free music (Ornette Coleman, Sonny Sharrock), and noise rock (Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground).
WORDS ON GREX
"A near-seamless blend of modern jazz, indie rock, and blues rock... essential current-and-future listening." (Tiny Mix Tapes)
"[Grex] makes for an otherworldly experience that, while drawing on the sounds of Jimi Hendrix and classic jazz, creates something completely original." (Eugene Weekly)
"True genre warping music... Personal and heartfelt songs about love lost and found, aspired and realized... recalling past styles but taking them in entirely new directions." (KFJC)
For more information, please contact: 818-321-4159 or grex@grexsounds.com
websites: www.grexsounds.com, www.karlevangelista.com
sounds: grex.bandcamp.com / faceboook: www.facebook.com/grexsounds.com / twitter: www.twitter.com/grexsounds