crafty-tales.com
debisongs.com
One of Europe's finest bassists and a busy free improvisation player, Paul Rogers is mostly known for his long-standing tenure in the free improv quartet Mujician. A player of finesse and feeling, he has appeared on dozens of albums, performing with Paul Dunmall, John Stevens, Daunik Lazro, Michel Doneda, Evan Parker, Ramon Lopez, and Ivo Perelman to name but a few. He released his first solo album in 1995. Rogers was born in Chester, Wales, 1956.
He picked up his first acoustic guitar at the age of 12 and a bass guitar at 14.
He bought his first double bass three years later and after mastering its rudiments, took off to London to become a jazz musician. Mike Osborne (who worked with Keith Tippett at the time) introduced him to the free jazz community. For the next eight years or so, Rogers multiplied sideman duties, performing with most musicians circumscribed to the British jazz triangle formed by Tippett, Mike Westbrook, and Elton Dean, including the first's sextet (1978) and the last's quintet (1979). He also improvised with members of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. 1992 saw the release of Mujician's The Journey, the first of many albums on the U.S. label Cuneiform. From then onward, the group would provide Rogers with his best exposure and critical acclaim His first album of double bass solos, Heron Moon, came out in 1995. Four years later he led an augmented lineup of Domancich's trio on Time of Brightness. A second CD of solo performances, Listen, appeared in 2002. Since the late ‘90s, Rogers has lived in France and, although still involved, has been performing regularly with Parisian jazzmen like Louis Sclavis and Ramon Lopez.
Paul's bassline actually gave birth to the Jazz Cat Bad Cat Song, and his improvising is the catalyst to many of the Debisongs' musical stories.
DEAN BRODRICK
I was born in 1960 and I began playing piano aged 8½. The register of soprano was given to me in both church and school choirs. By age 13 I had organised my musical friends into a jazz big band to play my arrangements of soul and funk classics, I was writing music for the school play, and creating soundtracks to homemade super8 films. I bid 1p in a school auction and won Miles Davis', album E.S.P. - my first vinyl. With an electronic wizard friend I broadcast my own and my favourite music on our pirate radio station, mixing Stravinsky with Stockhausen, Stan Tracy, Bach, Cage aka pygmies and Alex Harvey. At this time I began a relationship with an unwanted bassoon, and wrote songs in secret. I met Nigerian drummer Morabo Morojele and played much bedroom jazz. Although I pursued a formal education in fine arts at Wimbledon and sacred geometry at the Royal College I was composing and arranging for diverse musical groups and projects. I helped to run the L.M.C. (London musicians collective), and a the annual festival "music for a summer day" in the 80s, I began playing drums and accordion and lead a multitude of experimental bands with unusual combinations of instruments.
From the 90s I devoted myself to the study of music from the Brazilian Amazon. I formed a company (now called PooPcreative) with Chris Smallwood whose aim was and is to use music animation and comedy to promote awareness of water and sanitation issues. My band Empty Boat have toured extensively in Africa and forged strong links with Mocambiquan band Massukos who share similar aims. I now live in Wiltshire, near my 2 daughters, betwixt crop circles streams and woodland, where I record, paint, garden, teach piano and general music, facilitate a toddlers play group, and do yoga.
Dean's has added the most gorgeous keyboard and piano chords, as well as adding accordion and some latin percussion on certain tracks, we are so glad to have his great musicality.
NEIL METCALFE
Neil Metcalfe has been at the forefront of the London improvised music scene since the seventies, making a sophisticated and virtuosic contribution to each project that has engaged his energies. Amongst many others Metcalfe has played with The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, The Dedication Orchestra and The London Improvisers Orchestra. His duo with bassist Ollie Brice has received considerable acclaim, in both live and recorded performances. Working with Debisongs, Neil brings a beauty, warmth and character to the project, which is totally in tune with the stories.
MARK SANDERS
Mark has played with many renowned musicians including Derek Bailey, Henry Grimes, Roswell Rudd, Okkyung Lee, Barry Guy, Tim Berne, Otomo Yoshihide, Jah Wobble, Harold Budd, Sidsel Endresen, in duo and quartets with Wadada Leo Smith and trios with Charles Gayle with Sirone and William Parker. Mark and John Edwards have a long history as a rhythm section with many groups including Evan Parker Trio, Trevor Watts Quartet, with electro acoustic composer John Wall, `Foils` with Frank Paul Schubert and Matthius Muller, Veryan Weston, John Tilbury, Agusti Fernandez and Mathew Shipp. Mark's improvising and soundscapes for Debisongs have created a great storytelling platform.