RIVER COW ORCHESTRA

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Inspiration Point

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Released: 10 Feb 2012

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Inspiration Point
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Heads Together at Table 3
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Best Burrito In the World
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Morning Light, Her Hair Across The Pillow
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Clap You Hand
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River Cow Orchestra - Zen Jazz

Zen Jazz! Kansas City’s tradition of jazz innovation continues with the amazing ~ RIVER COW ORCHESTRA ~

River Cow Orchestra takes a Zen approach to creating music.
Creating spontaneous music that will never be heard again, anywhere.
Every song is created on the spot, without charts, dubs, retakes, or written music. Collective improvisation, spontaneous jazz without apology.
River Cow Orchestra sets the music free.

"Overall, I found the music genuinely fresh and exciting, as this experienced band has presented a varied set with melodic and rhythmic interest, with plenty of interplay and drama. I especially enjoyed the Pointer horn. But, at the end of the day, it was all just plain fun, holding my interest for several listens through the program. CD Review of "Go Wake The Rooster" - Roger Atkinson, Kansas City Jazz Ambassador Magazine (Oct 01, 2011)

"...They create very open and wide structures and take time to develop things. Their improvisations originate on stage or in studio without much pretension. This results in very captivating music that is never in a hurry and working very consequent to its goal..It's just there.” Dolf Mulder, Vital Weekly, Netherlands

"I sincerely believe this is the best creative venture I've ever heard from a midwestern group of cows & give it my MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as well as the "PICK" of this issue for "best creative jazz"! " Rotcod Zzaj - Zzai Productions - Improvijazzation Nation

“The best song in the world, right now this morning (3-07-10) is… “Investment Bankers” by the River Cow Orchestra. Kansas City outfit. I just heard about them yesterday and I’m digging their chill.” Jack Pribek - Snake Oil - music web blog

“That approach (River Cow Orchestra's) was what Kansas City was once famous for – jazz musicians who cut new ground – or hoped to – each time they played.” David Knopf - Richmond Daily News

“Ah yes, …improv at its best. To classify the sound as jazz – where most (of their band) members have a lot of experience – would be too limiting. The improvisation created newer and deeper textures.” Cory Streeter - The Kansas City Star newspaper

"The pieces, or excursions as the trumpet player E. E. Pointer put it, took the audience through a journey of styles from psychedelic to funk, acid jazz, traditional jazz and contemporary classical music in the likeliness of Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, Charles Mingus, even Pink Floyd and Radiohead. Little surprises, like a musical quote from the Wizard of Oz and Middle Eastern melodies, Pointer rang out in one of the "excursions" took me out of my trance." - Nihan Yesil, KCMetropolis.org (Jul 27, 2011)

"River Cow Orchestra takes free form jazz and turns it into an experience that delights not only the ears, but the eyes—and the mind as well. As the orchestra begins each piece, it invites the audience to join an original journey, one that begins only in that moment and ends vibrantly but only with a memory, because that exact performance will neither be seen nor heard again. Members of the audience listen as the sounds build and blend and excite. They watch as colors swirl and flow and energize. They feel the mood as it mellows and then bellows. Then, the audience leaves with a smile, because they’ve been not to a concert but to an event. " - Sara D. Seidel Vice President, Friends of the Farris Theater Richmond, Missouri

"And then the music began to fill the air that Saturday evening. I felt as if I was being transported through time – to a different era, the era of Jazz clubs; where Jazz was truly the “music of the streets”; where Jazz was truly alive. I imagined hearing Louis Armstrong playing away on his trumpet while Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday scatted along with him. The music flowed so seamlessly, that it was hard to tell when one song ended and when another one began! But the greatest surprise was learning that ALL of the music that was played that night was 100% improvised! " - Jenny Gray, Performance Review (Music 116-PVCC KC, MO) (Jul 17, 2010)

“Jazz is not a what, it’s a how. If it were a what, it would be static, never growing. The how is that music comes from the moment, it is spontaneous, it exists at the time it is created. And anyone who makes music according to this method conveys to me an element that makes his music jazz.” - Bill Evans

Zen Jazz

River Cow Orchestra alters the conventions of jazz. Our music philosophy focuses on collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans Jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacts with the group as a whole. We ignore traditional features such as written melodies over fixed chord changes and instead focus on the roots of jazz, collective spontaneous improvisation.

We seek to explore the process of artistic creation rather than focus on making a polished commercial product for entertainment. We emphasize mood and place an aesthetic premium on the character of each individual rather than the technical skill of each musician.

We follow the trailblazers of avant-garde and free jazz who extended the conventional jazz elements in search of greater artistic expression. We believe third millennium jazz innovation lies with collective spontaneous improvisation and are indebted to the talented musical artists which showed us the way:

Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Sam Rivers, Sun Ra, Rahassan Roland Kirk, AACM and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Derek Bailey, Don Cherry, Butch Miles, Charles Mingus, Roscoe Mitchell, Charlie Haden, later works of John Coltrane & Miles Davis, and many others.

~ RIVER COW ORCHESTRA ~

Performances in Metropolitan Kansas City

Acoustics For A Cure
Ad Astra Recording Studio
Armstrong Park
Archival Designs
Arts Incubator
Bar Natasha
Bohemian Gallery
Brick
Bullfrog's
Cafe Cedar
Californos in Westport
City Market
Coda Bar
Corbin Theater
Corner Bar
Crosstown Station
Czar Bar
Dharma Gallery
Digital Labrador
Downtown Neon Gallery
Drum Room in the Hilton President Hotel
El Torreon/Cowtown Ballroom
Ferenczi Restaurant
First Fridays Art Celebration - Crossroads Arts District
Firestone Building
Follow the Dotte Second Fridays Art Celebration KCK
Foundation
Fringe Central on Broadway
Granada Theater
Grain Valley Days
Grand Gallery and Cafe
Imago Dei Arts Center
Jardine's Jazz Club
Jilly's on Broadway
Johnson County Library
Kacico Contemporary Dance Company
Kansas City Artists Coalition
Kansas City Club
Kansas City Electro-Acoutic Music Festival
Kansas City Fringe Festival
Kansas City Local Artists Radio Show
Kansas City X Fest (Experimental Music & Dance Festival)
Kansas City Independent Filmmaker's Jubilee
KC Fringe Mardi Gras
KCK Library
Korruption Club
KKFI 90.1 FM
LA Audio Recording Studio
Liberty Arts Squared
Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mike Kelly's Westsider
Next Space Gallery
Overland Park Farmer's Market
Parkville Landing
Parkville River Days
Pete's Inn Lounge
Pistol Social Club
Private Parties
R Bar and Restaurant
Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant
Record Bar
Riot Room/Hurricane
S2 Art Gallery
Sexy In The City - Ovarian Cancer Benefit
Smith and Burstert Gallery
Soka Gakkai International Community Center
Take Five Coffee Bar
Ten Thousand Villages
Tour de Cowtown - Greater KC Bicycle Federation
Volunteer Appreciation Party, KC Fringe Festival
Westport Coffee House
Writers Place

Performances Outside Metropolitan Kansas City

Art in the Park Documentary Film, Jefferson City, MO
Bottomfeeder Bay, Warrensburg, MO
Cesspool Castle, Joplin, MO
Cooper's Landing, Columbia, MO
Contemporary Art Museum, Jefferson City, MO
Farris Theater, Richmond, MO
Ferenczi Restaurant, Warrensburg, MO
Fisch Haus Art Gallery, Wichita, KS
Granada, Lawrence, KS
InterFuse - Regional Burning Man event
Java Junction, Warrensburg, MO
Knob Festival of New Music, Wichita, KS
Live Earth Concert, Columbia, MO
MoKan Music Festival, Urich, MO
Olive Gallery, Lawrence, KS
Neptune Club, Warrensburg, MO
River Reader , Lexington, MO
Spencer Art Museum, Lawrence, KS
Solidarity Center, Lawrence, KS
Trinity Music Festival, Urich, MO

Organizations we support
Arts Council of Johnson County http://www.artsjoco.org
Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City http://www.artskc.org
Downtown Neon Gallery http://downtownneongallery.com
Field InfoServ http://fieldinfoserv.com
Kacico Contemporary Dance Company http://www.kacicodance.org
Kansas Arts Commission http://arts.ks.gov
Kansas Citizens for the Arts http://kansasarts.org
Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance http://www.kcema.net
Kansas City Fringe Festival http://www.kcfringe.org
Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors http://www.kcjazzambassadors.com
KCMETROPOLIS.org
KFIR Internet Radio http://www.myspace.com/kfirradio
KKFI 90.1 FM http://www.kkfi.org
Mid-America Arts Alliance http://www.maaa.org
Midwest Music Foundation http://midwestmusicfound.org
Missouri Arts Council https://www.missouriartscouncil.org
Missouri Citizens for the Arts http://mo4arts.org
Neon Jazz with Joe Dimino KCXL 102.9 FM http://theneonjazz.blogspot.com
Vangard Jazz Society
Writers Place of Kansas City http://www.writersplace.org

http://www.youtube.com/RiverCowOrchestra
http://www.reverbnation.com/rivercoworchestra

General Info

Genre: Experimental / Jazz
Location Kansas City, Un
Profile Views: 45325
Last Login: 22/04/2012
Member Since 28/06/2008
Website http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnJldmVyYm5hdGlvbi5jb20vcml2ZXJjb3dvcmNoZXN0cmE=
Record Label Field Info Serv
Type of Label Indie
Bio
Zen Jazz. Every song is created on the spot, without charts, dubs, retakes, or written music. Collective improvisation, spontaneous jazz without apology. River Cow Orchestra sets the music free. rivercoworchestra@gmail.com Ah yes, …improv at its best. To classify the sound as jazz – where most (of their band) members have a lot of experience – would be too limiting. The improvisation created newer and deeper textures. Cory Streeter, The Kansas City Star Saturday, July 26th, 2008
Members
E. E. Pointer (trumpet), Allan McGinty (acoustic and electric bass), Greg Field (percussion, theremin, poetry), Michael LaGrega (violin, theremin, synthesizer), Don McCarter (guitar, bass), Brent Bowman (keyboard, sax, flute), and sometime others like Connor Bowman (alto sax, flute).
Influences
Our friends around the globe who dare to listen. K F I R internet radio http://www.myspace.com/kfirradio http://rivercoworchestra.fieldinfoserv.com
Sounds Like
Miles Davis was having lunch with Sun Ra and Miles said, "Don't play what's there,..play what's not there."