The Robert Everest Expedition CD Release January 21, 2007, 7:30 pm at the CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER
Minneapolis-based vocalist, guitarist, and bandleader Robert Everest is widely admired by area musicians, though he spends much of his time in Central and South America, Europe and the Mediterranean, studying the sounds that fascinate him and developing an international network of peers and fans. When home Robert can often be found playing a mid-day solo set at Maria's Café near the American Indian Center in Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood, where brunchers often double-take at the youthful blond-haired Anglo's confidence with Tropicalia, Bolero, Cumbia, Tango, and all the languages of the Latin world.
Now Robert introduces his first all-original recording, with material spanning over ten years of songwriting. Four years ago he met Italian pianist and vocalist Marco Sambrotta, and the two of them started a collaboration which has become a tour-de-force in local World Music: The Robert Everest Expedition. In Sunday's performance Robert will perform with Marco Sambrotta on piano, guitar and vocals, Tony Axtell and Jocko Macnelly on bass, Andy Artz on drums, Michael Bissonnette and Chico Chávez on percussion, and Gary Schulte, long-time staff musician for Prairie Home Companion, on violin.
The group is a local yet far-reaching
World Music ensemble whose music ranges from American jazz to Brazilian
funk, Spanish flamenco to Italian folk, Cuban Son to Chilean Cueca, and
several original compositions in many different musical styles and languages.
This music cannot be classified, and therein lies the magic that the audience
experiences. The musicians are united by their exploration into world
music and their constant hunger to grow individually and as a group. All
of them are involved in a wide variety of musical endeavors, and the Robert
Everest Expedition is an attempt to integrate all of the far-reaching
interests of these eclectic musicians into one ensemble. After an evening
with the band many audience members feel they have been around the world
and stop to comment that they have thoroughly enjoyed the ride! In November
they played a sold out show at St. Paul's historic Fitzgerald Theatre
alongside renowned Chilean Author Isabel Allende, bringing her to tears
more than once.
The Robert Everest Expedition, the debut album for this ensemble, is a
recording from which the progress of a long career will be measured. It
moves naturally through transoceanic pop modes, yet is very much at home
at home. It is the work of a newly mature band, full of ambition and emotional
generosity, a love of language and a devotion to complex rhythms and simple
melodies.
Expedition follows abandoned paths
and wanders among the locals. It longs for home and the heart, departing
again upon an urbane bassline for Rio De Janeiro, Zürich, or forbidden
Havana at three, four, five, or six beats per measure. Everest's compositions
have a casual but sophisticated ease that Michael Franks, or even Pat
Metheny on a good hair day, might envy. Fusion as a pop genre has been
liberated from its 70's excesses. Downtempo DJs sample Airto Moreira,
create tracks by email, and sit next to Robert Everest on non-stop transcontinental
flights while he writes songs that zigzag the earth to land gently at
Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport. Everest's songs emerge from
baggage claim with the pain of creation intact. Saudade as only this restless
and worldly Upper Midwestern son can convey.
For more info on the band, click HERE.
Tickets are $12 in advance
at the following venues:
Minneapolis:
The Podium: 425 14th Ave. S. 612-331-8893
Electric Fetus: 2004 4th Ave. S. 612-870-9300
Roadrunner Records: 4304 Nicollet Ave. S. 612-822-0613
Global Village: 406 Cedar Ave. S. (no phone)
Richfield:
Homestead Pickin' Parlor: 6625 Penn Ave. S. 612-861-3308
St. Paul:
Irish on Grand: 1124 Grand Ave. S. 651-222-4691
Or you can get tickets at the door for $15 (if they are still available) the night of the performance.
Click here to go to the Cedar website:
http://www.thecedar.org/robert_everest_expedition_cd_release