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The Jazz Passengers were founded in 1987 by Saxophonist
Roy Nathanson and Trombonist Curtis Fowlkes. The two
musicians met in the band of the Big Apple Circus and toured
extensively together in John Lurie's seminal band The
Lounge Lizards. They found strong affinity in their Brooklyn
roots, their affection for hard bop, comedy and eccentric currents
in modern American music. In l989 Bob Blumenthal
wrote in the Boston Globe, "The seven piece Passengers often
suggest a perverse mainstrean band, a hard-bop group as
imagined by Frank Zappa." This is an apt description of the
two leaders intention in forming the band. Early Passengers
sets and cds involved complicated and soulfull compositions
mixed with original vocals and comedy pieces. This mixture
was in evidence in their first 5 cds: Broken Night/Red Light,
Deranged and Decomposed, Live at the Knitting Factory, Plain
Old Joe and Implement Yourself. Besides Nathanson and
Fowlkes the original band members included Bill Ware on
vibes, E. J. Rodriguez on percussion, Brad Jones on bass,
Jim Nolet on violin and Marc Ribot on guitar. It became a 6
piece band after Ribot left in 1992. The groups trend towards
vocal based composition reached a more sophisticated point
with the release of the Hal Wilner produced cd Jazz
Passengers in Love in l994. Featuring singers from Mavis
Staples to Jimmy Scott to Bob Dorough, the performance of
Blondie star Debbie Harry on the song "Dog and Sand" stood
out and led to a collaboration that is still very much alive. The
band released two cds, Individually Twisted and Live in Spain
with Ms. Harry as lead vocalist. The group continued to tour
the world extensively did orchestral arrangements (featuring
the arranging/orchestration skills of Bill Ware) of their work
for performances with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the
Buffallo Philharmonic. This combination of orchestral and original
composing was equally in evidence in their project performing
a live soundtrack to the 1954 classic horror film
Creature From the Black Lagoon.
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