Mostly Other People Do the Killing is a
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
quartet based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
including trumpeter
Peter Evans, saxophonist
Jon Irabagon
Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records.
Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and one of '' Time Outs "25 essential New York City jazz icons", Irabagon is known for the breadth ...
, bassist Matthew "Moppa" Elliott, and drummer
Kevin Shea. The group formed in 2003 and has released several albums on Elliott's Hot Cup label.
History
Bandleader Moppa Elliott met Peter Evans while both were students at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...
. Upon relocating to New York City, Elliott met Jon Irabagon through guitarist Jon Lundbom at the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...
and Kevin Shea through
Mary Halvorson
Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts.
Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Iraba ...
. MOPDtK performs compositions by Elliott, all of which are arbitrarily named after towns in his native
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Performances often take the form of large suites in which the group transitions between original pieces and jazz standards, often employing theatrics and elements of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
,
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
, and
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
.
Mostly Other People Do the Killing performed at the 2009
Moers Festival
The Moers Festival is an annual international music festival in Moers, Moers, Germany. The festival has changed from concentrating on free jazz to including world music, world and pop music, though it still invites many avant-garde jazz musicians. ...
and has toured in both the U.S. and Europe. Their albums ''Shamokin!!!'' and ''This Is Our Moosic'' were both included in critics' Top 10 albums of the year.
[Howard Mande]
Will Layman, Christopher Monson, Kurt Gottschalk, etc.
In 2009, Mostly Other People Do the Killing was the winner of the 57th Annual
Downbeat magazine, Downbeat Critics' Poll in the Rising Star Ensemble category. Evans, Irabagon, and Elliott were also included in the poll in the respective categories of Rising Star Trumpet, Rising Star Alto Saxophone, and Rising Star Composer. Jon Irabagon was the winner of the 2008
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
International Jazz Saxophone competition, and released his first album on the
Concord Records
Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists ha ...
label. Kevin Shea was named New York City's "Best Drummer" in 2012 by the ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
''.
In October 2014, they released ''Blue,'' a note-for-note reproduction of the
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
album ''
Kind of Blue
''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released on August17,1959, by Columbia Records. For this album, Davis led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Ev ...
''.
Discography
* ''Mostly Other People Do the Killing'' (2005)
* ''
Shamokin!!!
''Shamokin!!!'' is the second album put out by Mostly Other People Do the Killing. The quartet is led by bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (u ...
'' (2007)
* ''This Is Our Moosic'' (2008)
* ''Forty Fort'' (2010)
* ''The Coimbra Concert'' (2011)
* ''Slippery Rock!'' (2013)
* ''Red Hot'' (2013)
* ''Blue'' (2014)
* ''Mauch Chunk'' (2015)
* ''Loafer's Hollow'' (2016)
* ''Paint'' (2017)
* ''Disasters, Vol. 1'' (2022)
References
External links
Hotcuprecords.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostly Other People Do The Killing
Jazz ensembles from New York City