Événement

Cowboys & Frenchmen

Cowboys & Frenchmen is a new take on instrumentation, composition, and orchestration for the jazz quintet. The band makes a glorious sound more like a larger ensemble at times providing intriguing, innovative and sublime music, [Mike Gates, UK Vibe]. The front line of two alto saxophones is the vehicle for reimagining the role of horns in a small group setting, charting new territory by exploring individuality within the same timbre.

The New York City-based quintet released its debut album Rodeo in 2015 on Outside In Music, which garnered terrific reviews and enjoyed top placement on radio charts. Their recent 2017 release, Bluer Than You Think, received a four-star review from Downbeat Magazine, and was celebrated with an eight-market tour visiting historic stages including Blues Alley (D.C.) and Cliff Bells (Detroit).

Cowboys & Frenchmen was a featured presenter at the 2016 North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, which served as the centerpiece for a performance and educational tour through Texas. They performed at the D.C. Jazz Festival in 2016 as finalists in the inaugural D.C. JazzPrix Competition, and again in 2017 as a featured artist. They were also selected to perform at Umbria Jazz Festivals 2017 Conad Jazz Contest.

The inspiration for the band name, Cowboys & Frenchmen, is a short film by David Lynch, called The Cowboy and The Frenchmen. The film is a Western - but with a unique, out-there interpretation of that classic genre. Similarly, this quintets music has one foot firmly planted in a genre, while the other one is busy trying to kick down the genres door.

Owen Broder - saxophones
Ethan Helm - saxophones
Chris Ziemba - piano
Ethan OReilly - bass
Matt Honor - drums

"Bluer Than You Think" is an album celebrating the variety of expression in modern jazz that arises from the intellect, body, and soul. With compositions mixing conventional forms with radical ideas from across the spectrum of genre, Cowboys & Frenchmen define the blues as an invitation to be personal and unique. Their second album is a dynamic and interactive performance in service to an inclusive vision of both music and the humans that make it.
- DownBeat Magazine

Bluer than you think is a musical exploration that works so well on many levels. From melancholy to melodrama and back again, it makes for a richly rewarding listen. - Mike Gates [UK Vibe]

The disc is overflowing with unpredictable melodic turns, unusual voicings, and unorthodox rhythms. - Ron Netsky [CITY Newspaper]