Hamster Theatre is truly a band that is nearly impossible to describe, and on Thursday, October 6th the Colorado-based band makes their first Denver appearance in more than three years at Syntax located at 554 S Broadway.
“You can hear stylistic influences from all kinds of American music as well as music from around the world,” said Hamster Theatre saxophonist, Creative Music Works board member, and educator Mark Harris. “I hear it as some kind of peculiar electro-ethnic music from another planet.”
Hamster Theatre has managed to fuse these into a peculiar and unique sound with glorious timbral and musical range. It is music that is surprising, unpredictable , lighthearted, and fascinating. The players have experience with free music, metal, jazz, pop, rock, classical, and many varieties of world music....
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Hamster Theatre is truly a band that is nearly impossible to describe, and on Thursday, October 6th the Colorado-based band makes their first Denver appearance in more than three years at Syntax located at 554 S Broadway.
“You can hear stylistic influences from all kinds of American music as well as music from around the world,” said Hamster Theatre saxophonist, Creative Music Works board member, and educator Mark Harris. “I hear it as some kind of peculiar electro-ethnic music from another planet.”
Hamster Theatre has managed to fuse these into a peculiar and unique sound with glorious timbral and musical range. It is music that is surprising, unpredictable , lighthearted, and fascinating. The players have experience with free music, metal, jazz, pop, rock, classical, and many varieties of world music.
Founded in 1993, the group includes Dave Willey, accordion and guitar; Jon Stubbs, keyboards and trombone; Mike Johnson, guitar; Raoul Rossiter, drums; Mark Harris, woodwinds; and Todd Billsborough, bass.
“The music, mostly written by Dave and Jon, is mostly composed, with a bit of improvisation, but strongly flavored by the distinctive and virtuosic musical personalities of the players,” said Harris. “We’ve recently added a taste of soundpainting to the mix to give it even more immediacy and spontaneity. One of my favorite qualities of Hamster Theatre music is how it can be tremendously complex and humorous at the same time.”
Harris hosts this first show in Creative Music Works’ Meet the Board series which are concerts that are curated by – and sometimes include – a current Creative Music Works board member. Joining the Hamster Theatre is a very special guest quartet that Harris recruited from the Slavens and University Park schools.
Tickets are $10 general admission and $7 for Creative Music Works members and students. Tickets can be purchased online at www.CreativeMusicWorks.org.
Additional resources:
Hamster Theatre official website:
http://www.generalrubric.com/hamster/main.html
Hamster Theatre recordings courtesy of Cuneiform Records:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQwOlY6QGNg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3CVZXL7G68
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Creative Music Works connects artists to audiences, while working to inspire, educate, and challenge listeners and to cultivate the role of jazz, improvisation, and experimental music in today’s culture. Creative Music Works is a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is one of the few performing arts organizations on the Front Range to provide consistent and significant support for high quality musical innovation. We endeavor to bring musical diversity, imagination and uniqueness to area audiences through concert performances, educational events, workshops and artist lectures.
For more information, visit www.creativemusicworks.org.
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