Simplexity – Extreme Measures [vibinst005] by johnvon
West Coast electronic jazz group Simplexity will play a rare live gig in Los Angeles at the popular cutting edge jazz club Blue Whale in Little Tokyo on January 28, 2012. Blue Whale is located at 123 astronaut E, S Onizuka St. Suite 301, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The group will do two sets, 9:00pm and 10:30pm.
Simplexity is a postdigital electronic jazz project that combines electronic ambient sounds and textures, contemporary dance beats and the soul of jazz improvisation.
They released their first album, Extreme Measures, in 2010, with producer/computer musician John von Seggern joined by some of the most innovative and respected jazz players in Los Angeles: noted sax and EWI player, sound designer and studio musician Steve Tavaglione, leading jazz pianist/keyboardist John Beasley, drummer Gary Novak, trumpeter Walt Fowler, and clarinetist/EVI player Judd Miller. Bass parts on the album were recorded by the late, great Dave Carpenter, to whom the album is dedicated.
On this live performance show von Seggern will play acoustic bass and electronic processing together with Tavaglione, Beasley, and Novak, with recent NYC to LA transplant Jon Margulies handling the live computer beats and sounds.
The Extreme Measures album was recorded over a couple days of jam sessions and overdubs at drummer Gary Novak’s Kronos Recording studio in Burbank. Sax, drums, keyboards, and bass were mixed and combined with computer beats and grooves in live session, then later edited and remixed into compositions by John von.
Extreme Measures is the group’s first release under the Simplexity name, but the members of this illustrious group are each well-known in their own right as giants of the West Coast music scene. Between them, they have amassed hundreds of recording credits for albums, film and television.
Producer/remixer John von Seggern is a sound designer, bassist and DJ, who relocated to Southern California in 2001 after a decade spent in Asia (Tokyo and Hong Kong) performing and recording with some of the region’s most influential artists. Von Seggern now lives in LA, where he plays jazz and techno and runs the digital labels Vibration Institute Music and Xeriscape Records. He worked for German music software company Native Instruments for over 6 years and now teaches electronic music production and sound design for Dubspot. He has been a collaborator and music technology consultant for numerous Hollywood composers and producers, including work on the Wall-E score. John von specializes in cutting-edge beats and sounds as well as creating new fusions and mixtures of music from genres around the world.
Steve Tavaglione who co-produced and played saxophone and electronics on Extreme Measures is a woodwind and EWI musician most notable for his extensive film and TV music credits including work on “CSI,” “CSI:NY,” WALL-E, Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13 and many, many more. He has recorded and performed with Sergio Mendes, Roger Waters, Michael Jackson, Vinnie Colaiuta, John Patitucci, Scott Kinsey, Scott Henderson and countless others.
John Beasley is a composer, pianist, producer, and arranger who has recorded and performed with many major innovators of modern music including Miles Davis, Jon Hassell, Freddie Hubbard, Steely Dan, James Brown and Chick Corea. He has released nine solo recordings including his recent Grammy nominated album Positootly. Additionally he is one of the most in demand studio musician/sound designer/composer/musical director for film, TV, and commercial projects, including Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Dreamgirls, “The Simpsons,” Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, “American Idol,” “Star Trek,” “Fame” and many more.
Drummer Gary Novak has worked with such musical greats as Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, David Sanborn, Anita Baker, Lee Ritenour, George Benson, Chick Corea, Allan Holdsworth, and Alanis Morissette. He also performs on many film and television scores in addition to engineering and producing in his own Kronos Recording studio where Extreme Measures was recorded.
Jon Margulies is a producer, DJ, guitarist, and the creator of Hobotech. A professional performer since age 11, he has appeared in a wildly diverse array of contexts and styles ranging from Winter Music Conference to Carnegie Hall. As the man behind Hobotech, he fuses roots Americana with big bass dance floor whomp, and has toured the US including recent appearances at the Coachella festival and SXSW. Jon has also composed music for the BMW films project, the promotional campaign for the film It’s All Gone Pete Tong, and has engineered music for SNLs TV Funhouse. As a leading expert on Ableton Live, Jon is the author of Ableton Live Power!, co-author of Your Ableton Live Studio and has written numerous articles for Music Tech magazine. He teaches classes and workshops around the country and has been an Adjunct Instructor at New York University.
Simplexity’s Extreme Measures is available digitally worldwide in all the major online services including iTunes and Amazon.com on Vibration Institute Music distributed through BFM Digital.