Wicked Knee at Evanston Space

Spend an evening with Billy Martin’s Wicked Knee!

Wicked Knee is cathartic, heart-based and primarily intended for situations that invite people to let go, throw down, get down and have fun. And we add avant-garde interludes as release and tension.

Martin came up with Wicked Knee’s unusual configuration because, he explains, “I have always wanted to work with brass and drums but never had the time or the nerve to make it happen. I knew I had it when I asked Steven to help me get a few players together for Life on Drums (Martin’s educational, anti-instructional DVD out on Vongole Films). I wanted to have some brass with a previously recorded drumbeat. That ended up in the film as ‘Muffaletta’....

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Spend an evening with Billy Martin’s Wicked Knee!

Wicked Knee is cathartic, heart-based and primarily intended for situations that invite people to let go, throw down, get down and have fun. And we add avant-garde interludes as release and tension.

Martin came up with Wicked Knee’s unusual configuration because, he explains, “I have always wanted to work with brass and drums but never had the time or the nerve to make it happen. I knew I had it when I asked Steven to help me get a few players together for Life on Drums (Martin’s educational, anti-instructional DVD out on Vongole Films). I wanted to have some brass with a previously recorded drumbeat. That ended up in the film as ‘Muffaletta’.

Of forming an ensemble with Martin, Bernstein notes, “Billy and I have been playing music together for 20 years…we have been talking about putting together a project for about 15 of those. Wicked Knee is a magical combination of musicians…taking the idea of a brass band to brand new places. Head music for your body.” We play RagTimeFunk joints with inappropriate avant-garde interludes to keep everything out of focus. It’s about ‘good times during bad times’ and we encourage you to dance with us through life.

The band name, Wicked Knee, was inspired, says Martin, “from a record compilation my wife’s friend had called Shake Your Wicked Knees. I borrowed that compilation, which is a collection of piano rags, blues and stomps, and I loved the vibe and the title. I like that it is born out of an Afro- American expression but has a slight surreal meaning.

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