Motor Totemist Guild is an American rock band, formed in 1980 in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

by band leader James Grigsby. Described as an avant-prog,

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

and chamber rock band, Motor Totemist Guild was noted for its songs that worked into epic durations and rich instrumentation but also forayed into free improvisation, sound collage, and other

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

techniques.

History

Being the only constant member, Grigsby assembled an everchanging lineup, that featured vocalist Emily Hay, as well as Rod Poole (acoustic guitar), Bridget Convey (piano), Hannes Giger (contrabass), and David Kerman (drums). Grigsby disbanded the group in 1989 to focus on the project U-Totem. Nevertheless, Grigsby and Hay reunited the group in 1997 with a largely expanded lineup, including former members Lynn Johnston (clarinets, saxophone) and Eric Johnson-Tamai (bassoon). The new lineup also featured musicians from 1990s West Coast new jazz scene, such as Vinny Golia (clarinets, saxes),

Jeff Kaiser Jeffrey Patrick Kaiser (born July 24, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Kaiser attended Aquinas High School in Southgate, Michigan where he was teammates with Paul Assenmacher. He played college baseball at Western Michi ...

(trumpet), and Brad Dutz (marimba and vibraphone). All of the band's albums were released through Grigsby's own label, Rotary Totem.

Members

*James Grigsby - composition * Emily Hay - vocals * Rod Poole - acoustic guitar * Bridget Convey - piano * Hannes Giger - contrabass * David Kerman - drums * Lynn Johnston - clarinets, saxophone * Eric Johnson-Tamai - bassoon *

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

- clarinets, saxophone *

- trumpet * Brad Dutz - marimba and vibraphone

Discography

Motor Totemist Guild discography as adapted from

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

: ;Studio albums * ''Infra Dig'' (1984) * ''Klang'' (1985) * ''Contact With Veils'' (1986) * ''Elements'' (1988) * ''Shapuno Zoo'' (1988) * ''Omaggio A Futi'' (1989) * ''City of Mirrors'' (1999) * ''All America City'' (2000) ;Singles * "Sub-Mission" / "Ballad of the Thin Man" (1984) ;Compilations * ''Archive One'' (1996) * ''Archive Two'' (1996)

References

External links

* American experimental rock groups Progressive rock musical groups from California Musical groups from Orange County, California Musical groups established in 1980 {{US-rock-band-stub