Mucca Pazza

Last updated
Mucca Pazza
Origin Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Circus
Punk
Marching band
Years active2004–present
MembersFreaks:Hope Arthur (Accordion), Charlie Malave (Guitar/Mandolin), Rachel Mossburg (Violin), Molly Rife (cello)

Woodwinds: Airan Wright, Dave Smith, Luc Mosely, Angela Wong

Contents

Trumpets: Sam Johnson, Jim McBride, Anna Jacobson, Peter Gillette

Bones:Chris Dixon, Jessica Sigur, Dominic Gaietto

Sousaphone/Tuba: Mike Hogg, Akshat Jain, Carrie Sullivan

Percussion "K12": Larry Beers, John Carroll, Andy Deitrich, Hershyl Edwards, Rick Kubes, Amanda Legner, Brent Roman

Cheerleaders: Sharon Lanza, Vanessa Valliere, Rawson Vint, Lily Emerson
Past membersJim Langenberg (Sousa), Justin Amolsch (trpt), Susie Inverso (trpt), Maria Hernandez (sax), Garrick Smith (sax), Nora Barton (cello), Myra Hinrichs (Violin), Sara Morgan (K12), Amanda Bailey (violin), Elanor Leskiw (trombone), Nick Broste (trombone), Ronnie Kuller (accordion), Gary Kalar (mandolin), Donnell Williams (cheer), Shaye Cohn (accordion), Ben Cole (trumpet), Dave Ramey (trombone), Lori Myers (cheer), Dan Dorff (percussion), Loto Ball (trumpet), Max Crawford (trumpet), Winston Damon (trombone), Nick Dempsey (saxophone), Michael Hartman (cymbals), Jeremy Jacobsen (accordion), Ernst Karel (trumpet), Eve Monzingo (woodwind), Vanessa Stalling (cheer), Dan Stark (trombone), Noah Tabakin (saxophone), Greg Nicolett (trombone), Jay St. Germain (tenor saxophone), Jon Steinmeier (percussion), George Lawler (percussion), Ronnie Malley (percussion), Timothy Heck (cheer), Lindsey Whiting (cheer), Paul Brannon (percussion), Jessica Hudson (cheer), Greg Hirte (violin), Jeff Thomas (guitar), Mark Messing (sousaphone), Tony DiMartino (snare), Dave Levine (saxophone), Ellis Seiberling (trombone), Kelsee Vandervall (Cello), Tom Howe (Trombone), Neil Brown (Trombone), Katy Collins (Cheer), Susan Bratton (Trombone).
Website

Mucca Pazza is an interdisciplinary instrumental music and performance ensemble based in Chicago, USA.

Mucca Pazza consists of approximately thirty active members and performs instrumental music; their mode of performance is informed by physical theater. Mucca Pazza’s instrumentation is loosely based on that of a traditional American marching band - drumline, sousaphone, trombones, trumpets, saxophones - but also includes electric guitar, mandolin, violin, cello, accordion, and cheerleaders. Their sound references American marching band and big band traditions, [1] as well as Middle Eastern music, California surf, Ennio Morricone, and 50s television show themes. They perform in mismatched marching band uniforms, [1] and are known for their energetic performances. [1]

Their debut album, A Little Marching Band, was released in 2006. Their second full-length album, Plays Well Together, was released in June 2008. The band's song "Borino Oro" was featured in a season 4 episode of the Showtime television show Weeds , and the songs "Tube Sock Tango" and "St. Fresca's Regret" were used in Season 1, Episode 8 of Amazon's Transparent . Their third album "Safety Fifth" was released in July 2012 and a fourth full-length album, "L.Y.A." was released in October 2014. Their most recent studio effort "GET PUMPED!" was released in May 2023.

History

Mucca Pazza was formed in Chicago in 2004. Many of the founding members met while performing with Redmoon Theater. [2] Early on, rehearsals took place in the parking lot of a steel mill. [3] The first official Mucca Pazza gig was at trombone player Tom Howe’s wedding [3] at Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago.

Collaborations

With the Chicago Sinfonietta

In September 2014, Mucca Pazza performed as part of the Chicago Sinfonietta’s opening concert of the season. [4] Together, the Sinfonietta and Mucca Pazza performed two pieces by Mucca Pazza composers, in orchestral arrangements by Joe Clark: “Rabbits and Trees,” by David Smith; and “Holiday on Ice,” by Mark Messing. The two ensembles also collaborated in performing “The 1812 Overture” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in a conceit which featured Mucca Pazza as the invading French army and the full symphony orchestra as Russia. [5]

In May 2018, Mucca Pazza reprised their collaboration with Chicago Sinfonietta in a concert titled Praise and Punk. There were 2 performances, one at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago, and one at Wentz hall in Naperville, IL. In addition to performing the "ending of all endings" a medley of famous classical music endings, Mucca Pazza performed the original composition War of Amusements by composer and drummer Andy Dietrich and arranged by Joe Clark.

With the Chicago Children's Choir

In May 2014, Mucca Pazza performed together with the 3500 children of the Chicago Children's Choir at the CCC's annual "Paint the Town Red" concert at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. [6]

With dance company Pilobolus

In July 2019, Mucca Pazza collaborated with dance company Pilobolus on the opening ceremony of Old Forester's Kentucky Center in Louisville, KY. The band was featured in some of the dance company's shadow work and provided a transition between acts.

Tiny Desk concert

In January 2015, Mucca Pazza performed on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concert series, with either 23 or 24 band members present. [7] Bob Boilen, creator of the series, described the band’s performance as “the biggest and most colorful Tiny Desk show of them all, this one was a challenge and a thrill to pull off.” [8] Mucca Pazza’s appearance was later selected by Bob Boilen as one of the 15 best Tiny Desk concerts of 2015. [8]

Music videos

Mucca Pazza has created music videos for the following songs: Boss Taurus, [9] All Out of Bubblegum (live at Mass MoCA), [10] Tube Sock Tango (wax cylinder version), [11] The Sit Down Waltz, [12] Rest on Muffin Street, and Mr. Spider Goes Home to Spiderland.

Mucca Pazza is featured in the official music video for Andrew Bird’s song “Fitz and the Dizzyspells”, which was filmed at The Hideout in Chicago in 2009. The video storyline was written by Sharon Lanza. [13]

Discography

In 2019, Mucca Pazza opened for Weird Al Yankovic at Ravinia.

In 2020, Mucca Pazza was chosen for Newcity’s Music 45—outstanding artists of Chicago’s 2020 music community.

Related Research Articles

David Lockington, is the Music Director Laureate of the Grand Rapids Symphony located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. Lockington became the 13th music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony in January 1999 and stepped down from the post in May 2015 at the end of his 16th season with the orchestra. Prior to his tenure in Grand Rapids, Lockington served as the music director for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (1996–2000) and the Long Island Philharmonic (1995–2000). In May 2007, Lockington was named music director of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra in Modesto, California. Since March 2013, Lockington has been the music director of the Pasadena Symphony in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jono El Grande</span> Musical artist

Jono El Grande is the stage name of Jon Andreas Håtun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Jain</span> American drummer

Sunny Jain is an Indian American dhol player, drummer, and Indo jazz composer. He is recognized as a leading voice in the burgeoning movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians. His albums have received international acclaim for their "groundbreaking synthesis", as he brings together the ancient sounds of his cultural heritage, jazz and a host of other sounds.

Patricia Mary Sie is an American film and music video director, best known for directing the films Step Up: All In (2014) and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), as well as music videos, particularly for the alternative rock band OK Go. She has worked in film, television, commercials, music videos, stage, children's entertainment and ballroom DanceSport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Boilen</span> American musician and media personality

Bob B Boilen is an American musician and media personality. He was the host and creator of NPR's online music show All Songs Considered and the co-creator of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, a series originally conceived of by NPR's Stephen Thompson. He retired from NPR in October 2023 after 35 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Gibson</span> Musical artist

Laura Anne Gibson is an American singer-songwriter. She currently records for the U.S. independent label Barsuk Records, and the Berlin-based label City Slang. Gibson's most recent album Goners was released October 26, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NPR Music</span> American music radio project

NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music discovery. NPR Music offers current and archival podcasts, live concert webcasts, reviews, music lists, news, studio sessions, and interviews to listen to from NPR and partner public radio stations across the country, as well as an index of public radio music stations streaming live on the Internet. There have been two blogs: "Monitor Mix" by Sleater-Kinney musician Carrie Brownstein and the All Songs Considered Blog by Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan & Alyosha</span> American band

Ivan & Alyosha is an American indie rock band from Seattle, formed in 2007 by Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary. They were later joined by Pete Wilson and Tim Kim and added Cole Mauro to complete the group. In 2009 the band was recognized nationally by NPR during coverage of SXSW. Ivan & Alyosha's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.

<i>Dream with Me</i> 2011 album by Jackie Evancho

Dream with Me is the second full-length album by American singer Jackie Evancho. It was released on June 3, 2011 on digital download format, and on June 14, 2011 in the standard CD format. Evancho was eleven years old when this album was released, although she was still ten when it was recorded. The album was produced by 16-time Grammy award winner David Foster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kat Edmonson</span> American singer and songwriter

Kat Edmonson is an American singer and songwriter who calls her music vintage pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mdou Moctar</span> Nigerien musician

Mahamadou Souleymane, known professionally as Mdou Moctar, is a Tuareg songwriter and musician based in Agadez, Niger, who performs modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music. His music first gained attention through a trading network of mobile phones and memory cards in West Africa. He sings in the Tamasheq language. Moctar's fourth album, Ilana: The Creator, released in 2019, was the first to feature a full band. He plays guitar in the takamba and assouf styles. He also appeared in the 2015 film Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai.

The rock band OK Go has earned considerable fame for their creative but often low-budget music videos, most of which have been promoted through Internet video sharing sites like YouTube. Many of these have become viral videos; the 2006 video for "Here It Goes Again", in which the band performed a complex routine with the aid of motorized treadmills, has received over 50 million views four years later. Their video for Needing/Getting, released February 5, 2012 in partnership with Chevrolet, debuted during Super Bowl XLVI and has over 32 million views on YouTube. Samuel Bayer, who produced many music videos in the 1990s, asserted that OK Go's promotion of music videos on the Internet was akin to Nirvana's ushering in the grunge movement. Many of the videos also use long or single-shot takes, which Salon's Matt Zoller Seitz says "restore[s] a sense of wonder to the musical number by letting the performers' humanity shine through and allowing them to do their thing with a minimum of filmmaking interference". The success of OK Go's music first won the band the 14th Annual Webby Special Achievement Award for Film and Video Artist of the Year. The video for "This Too Shall Pass" was named both "Video of the Year" and "Best Rock Video" at the 3rd annual UK Music Video Awards."This Too Shall Pass" won the LA Film Fest's Audience Award for Best Music Video, UK MVA Awards – Music Video of the Year Winner 2010, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Dezen</span> American singer

Alex Dezen is a platinum-selling songwriter, producer, mixing engineer, solo artist, and the lead singer and songwriter for the American rock and roll band The Damnwells. He holds an MFA degree in English from The University of Iowa's Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was a Jeffrey G. and Victoria J. Edwards Fellow. As a platinum-selling songwriter, he has written and released songs for artists such as Justin Bieber, Robin Thicke, JoJo (singer), Matt Hires, Court Yard Hounds, The Veronicas, and others. He has also written for and worked with a number of additional artist such as The Dixie Chicks, Dave Grohl, Gary Louris of The Jayhawks, Sara Bareilles, Christina Perri, Genevieve Schatz of Company of Thieves, Simple Plan, Jesse & Joy, Bun E. Carlos and many others. He is currently signed to Warner Chappell Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DakhaBrakha</span> Ukrainian folk music group

DakhaBrakha are a Ukrainian folk music quartet which combines the musical styles of several ethnic groups. They were a winner of the Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award in 2009 and the Shevchenko National Prize in 2020.

Michael Kibbe is an American contemporary classical music composer born in San Diego, California. He has composed over 240 concert works and created numerous arrangements. His writing covers many musical styles, encompassing tonal, modal and non-diatonic languages. His style often incorporates modern structures but is still accessible to the popular classical listener. Some of his works come right of the Romantic Era yet his style in some writings has been compared to Prokofiev. There are influences of American composer Gershwin in the Serenade Number 2 for two clarinets that seem at once blues, jazz and classical. His music can often reflect themes that bring to mind different cultures.

Fragile Rock is an American musical collective of musicians and puppeteers, described as an "emo puppet band." The band formed in Austin, Texas in 2014 as the brainchild of musician and writer Brently Heilbron.

Finom is a rock band from Chicago formed by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist duo Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart in 2014. Since 2016, Matt Carroll has been FINOM's drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alisa Amador</span> 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner

Alisa Amador is a jazz, funk, and alternative folk musician.

Mecca Russell, known professionally as Neffy, is a singer-songwriter from Arlington, Virginia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jon Parelesjan (2013-01-14). "Globalfest, World Musicians at Webster Hall - The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Circus-punk marching band Mucca Pazza makes joyful noise in springtime". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 2012-04-06. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  3. 1 2 Andy Downing (2006-06-09). "Mucca Pazza marches to a very different drummer". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  4. ↑ Wiley, Melissa (2014-09-17). "Chicago Sinfonietta Opens Season With Mucca Pazza And Craft Beer". Chicagoist. Archived from the original on 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  5. ↑ Munice, Amy. "Chicago Sinfonietta and Mucca Pazza at Symphony Center Review- Kindred Spirits Leave Audience Beaming Smiles | Splash Magazines | Los Angeles". Lasplash.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  6. ↑ Graef, Jon (2014-04-19). "Mucca Pazza To Perform With All 3,500 Chicago Children's Choir Members In May". Chicagoist. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  7. ↑ Bob Boilen (2015-02-10). "Mucca Pazza: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  8. 1 2 "2015: Looking Back On A Year At The Tiny Desk : All Songs Considered". NPR. 2015-12-30. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  9. ↑ "Mucca Pazza: Boss Taurus (official music video)". YouTube. 2012-05-17. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  10. ↑ "Mucca Pazza: All Out of Bubblegum (live audio from MASS MoCA)". YouTube. 2014-10-06. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  11. ↑ "TUBE SOCK TANGO 1894". YouTube. 2012-10-30. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  12. ↑ Bayne, Martha (2015-08-14). "Video: Mucca Pazza's "The Sit Down Waltz" | Belt Magazine | Dispatches From The Rust Belt". Beltmag.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  13. ↑ "Andrew Bird "Fitz and the Dizzyspells"". YouTube. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.