Industrial Jazz Group and PLOTZ! at El Cid April 4, 2009

On Saturday, April 4, at 9pm at El Cid in Los Angeles, the16-piece Industrial Jazz Group (IJG), a wacky "big band" featuring the music of composer Andrew Durkin, will be returning to its hometown, Los Angeles, for a special double bill with the power-house gypsy-jazz-rock ensemble PLOTZ! Both groups, which share a number of members, have been catalysts for a growing movement of west-coast musicians dedicated to the proposition that "art music" can be serious and fun, challenging and accessible, and worthy of both motionless concentration and wild dancing. This will be a night to remember!

The internationally renowned IJG, now entering its ninth year, has developed a reputation for comical, quirky, genre-defying performances of what Durkin calls "avant garde party music." Critics consistently cite the group’s broad, entertaining appeal; as Tom Bowden of Educational Digest once said, "Durkin writes music that people who think they hate jazz would like." Scott Yanow of LA Jazz Scene, who compares the IJG to Holland’s Willem Breuker Kollektief, enthusiastically calls the group "both a crack up and a memorable musical experience," and the IJG’s quirky sonic stew was once summed up by Brandt Reiter of the LA Weekly’s simultaneously "cerebral and swinging, ambitious and accessible, challengingly complex and unabashedly fun."

PLOTZ! is gypsy-jazz-rock! Their infectious sound rocks hard with twisted gypsy melodies with virtuosic improvisation. Mystical, crude, frenetic, beautifully strange, well mixed with a pinch of tender sensibility and a dash of devilish levity, PLOTZ! invites you dance, drink beer and sweat! In the words of David Cotner of the Ventura County Reporter, PLOTZ! is "a shit-hot beam of musical illumination." Dedicated to a unified and harmonized world-view, PLOTZ! draws inspiration for original compositions from styles, stories, and experiences from all over the world, from ancient Greek mythology and Iceni history to the experience of modern city life and surfing. Bringing rock-god energy and intensity to every performance, PLOTZ! explodes off the stage in a jubilant musical celebration of life!

21+. Come prepared to shake your booty!

Official Website: http://www.elcidla.com/