Rob Schwimmer /
Rufus Cappadocia

Show Description

"Legendary keyboard talents ... astonishing artistry ... amazing pianistic skills, incredible improv abilities, compositional brilliance, and theremin chops. This is exquisitely beautiful music."
- Keyboard magazine



Called "...an original, compelling voice...a vivid imagination that recognizes no borders, " by Time Out NY, Rob Schwimmer is a composer-pianist and thereminist who has performed and recorded throughout the world, including regular appearances at Joe's Pub as a founding member of the music and comedy duo Polygraph Lounge. His work is a brilliant meld of musical discipline, sensuality, technical acumen, and freedom--a combination that has made Rob's debut solo piano album Beyond The Sky so highly anticipated. His personal vision of music reflects a unique and probing sensibility combined with his vast experience in many genres with great and fascinating artists. While Rob Schwimmer has worked with some of the preeminent artists of our time (including Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Simon and Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Chaka Khan, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, Queen Latifah, Arif Mardin, Adam Guettel, T-Bone Walker, etc.) his own music has been hard to come by. While playing with all the aforementioned artists exhibits great versatility, it does little to prepare one for the strength of his own personal musical vision. From his Suite, in turns virtuosic, inward-looking, and evocative of another place/time, through the wistful Two Songs Without Words, the mysterious little dances and prismatic distortions of his Four Miniatures, the explorations of tonality, contrapuntal freedom, and conversational interplay of Three Tone Poems, the quiet intimacy of Prelude and Postlude, the passionate theremin/ piano elegy Waltz For Clara and, finally, the lyrical bending and re-casting of four Hallucinations On Popular Songs, revealing himself a master musical storyteller.

Rufus Cappadocia is both a musical maverick to the bone and one of the leading voices of cutting edge cello today. His jaw dropping technique and musicianship inspire awe in even the most discerning critics, who have characterized his playing as "powerful…exploring territory that is positively otherworldly." After years of experimentation and creative revision, Rufus plays a self-designed five-string electric cello that extends the bass range of the cello and through amplification expands its tonal possibilities, creating new sounds by what was once known only as a classical music instrument. His rhythmic and sonic approach has led to collaborations with musicians from the Balkans, Ireland, West Africa, Greece and the Caribbean. Rufus has backed the great singers Aretha Franklin and Kasse Mady amongst others. He has performed at jazz, dance and world music festivals throughout Europe and the Americas. Rufus' cello was at the core rhythm section of Urban Tap, a company he toured with extensively. Rufus can be heard on cd recordings with The Paradox Trio, Labyrinth w/Ross Daly and Kif. Look for a major record release in the new year.