Artist Description
"...a rapturously chaotic sound."-Popmatters.com
"... a boisterous, gutbucket sound"
-TimeOut New York
A spirited congregation of saxophone, clarinet, trombones, trumpet, guitar, bass and two drummers, Fight the Big Bull is a display of spontaneous emotion baptized in the traditions of jazz, blues, gospel, soul, and funk. The band's recordings have drawn praise from artists such as Ken Vandermark and Steven Bernstein and gained the attention of celebrated Portuguese avant-garde label, Clean Feed Records. Dying Will Be Easy, the bands debut effort, connects the group to its rich southern musical heritage. Proud residents of Richmond, Virginia, the band's music is filled with remnants of spirituals, New Orleans marches, southern soul dance bands, and gospel choirs - all peeking through a kaleidoscope built in the avant-garde tradition. Displaying a very loose and messy aesthetic influenced as much by rock and roll as a deep love of international folk music Fight the Big Bull creates what has been called "... a rapturously chaotic sound."
Formed in the Fall of 2005 in Richmond, Va by what was then Fight the Bull (a brilliant but currently defunct avant-garde trio of guitar, trombone and drums) and comprised of the finest that Richmond had to offer Fight the Big Bull recorded what was to become Dying Will Be Easy in the Summer of 2006. After securing a local bi-weekly gig in the fall of 2006 Fight the Big Bull quickly became a phenomenon in the local music community, honing their live performance into a beautiful chaotic and thrilling mess that appeals to the widest spectrum of listeners. Occasionally showing their exceptional sense of humor as well as unique arranging skills Fight the Big Bull has thrown the biggest and best parties that Richmond has ever seen, hosting a complete cover of the Weezer's Blue Album as well as covering Michael Jackson's Thriller on Halloween. In the Fall of 2007 Fight the Big Bull made their debut at the celebrated New York avant-gard space The Stone and in April, 2008 Fight the Big Bull was MacArthur Grant recipient and celebrated avant-garde troubadour Ken Vandermark's guest for a series of shows in Chicago. They have been called "...sonically gigantic", "great, messy, generous music", " the best argument out there for small-market jazz innovation.", and Timeout NY has called them "... one of the more vibrant jazz ensembles we've heard in a long while". In November Fight the Big Bull was featured on NPR's Fresh Air and WNYC and Popmatters.com named Dying Will Be Easy as one of the top 10 Jazz albums of 2008.
In February of 2009 Fight the Big Bull spent 10 days holed up in Richmond with good friend and international trumpet maven Steven Bernstein (Sex Mob, Millennial Territory Orchestra) rehearsing and recording their sophomore album, All is Gladness in the Kingdom. In October of the same year Fight the Big Bull flexed their genre slaying muscle and invited K records recording artist/engineer/producer Karl Blau to collaborate during a quick 2 day recording session that also featured Chicago bass clarinetist Jason Stein. The fabulous results of this collaboration will be released in the Summer of 2010. Also for releasein in June of 2010 will be a collaboration between Fight the Big Bull and Fat Cat recording artist David Karsten Daniels. David will be supplying his songs and his voice and Fight the Big Bull will be framing them with their distinctly individual musical accoutrements. Treading deeper and deeper in the rock and roll waters, Fight the Big Bull will be collaborating with good friends/experimental folk wayfinders Megafaun and and current international music sensation Bon Iver on a handful of live shows and a new record scheduled to be recorded September 2010.
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