Primary Instrument: Band/ensemble/orchestra
With just two musicians wielding a full-band sized arsenal of drums, bass, pedals, pads and samples, PLANET LOOP is a unique trip not to be missed. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, the duo forges its unique brand of “electro-funk jazz” combining wild improvisation with the deep rhythms of worldbeat, Latin, funk, and trance music. Frequently a third performer ranging from sax to piano to guitar shares the stage as well as part of the rotating “PLANET LOOP TRIO.”
“Part of the hypnotic nature of our songs comes from the loops we create and the influences we draw from,” notes bassist Michael Schaller. “But, we are a live band with jazz roots, committed to creating all of our sounds in the moment, on the stage.”
The project is the most recent brainchild of longtime collaborators Michael Schaller (bass/loops/samples) and Carrie Jahde (drums/electronics). The two have collectively performed on stages spanning all corners of the United States, Italy, and Eastern Europe. Having played and released records together for close to a decade in groups including Carmizin, Los Mex Pistols, Eclypse, and the Neil Bjorklund Group, the duo takes spontaneous musical communication to an entirely new level.
“Our music is an organic outcome of our long history together as performers,” explains drummer Carrie Jahde. “We both have so many ideas that need to come out; in this duo we find the perfect forum to collaborate, take musical risks, and just enjoy the ride.”
Many of PLANET LOOP’s songs draw on their variety of experiences as “cultural and geographical nomads,” both having lived in the Midwest, Western, and Eastern United States at some point in their lives. Spoken word samples peppered throughout the songs reflect lessons learned through years of travels and exploration. African, Arabic, Indian, and Latin drum samples mingle with electronic cello loops, otherworldly vocal lines, fat bass effects, and just about anything else they can pull out of their electronic hats to create this multi-sonic cocktail of global groove.
“Visit PLANET LOOP and you’ll want to live there,” urges Malcom Miles of KZUM radio, Lincoln, NE. But most likely, PLANET LOOP will visit you first. Since 2007, they have relentlessly spread their sounds across both US coasts and between, including a “Berklee to Berkeley” tour that looped from MA to CA and back again; bi-monthly California and Oregon tours; and regular Bay Area festival and venue performances. ENJOY YOUR STAY, PLANET LOOP’s full-length studio album, was released in August 2007 and continues to receive radio and internet attention throughout the country, and placed as a finalist in the 2008 Fame Game Effigy Awards.
Song samples, press photos and a current tour schedule can be found online at www.planetloopmusic.com.
“…A new sound out of Boston--some of the most striking, engaging music I’ve heard in a long time. Think Fela Kuti meets Squarepusher and Michael Manring on a dark planet. Go hear this band!” --Jambase.com
“Planet loop takes the improvisational, live elements of jazz music, the atmospherics of electronic music, rhythms from around the planet, and fuses them together in a show that’s at once rootsy, spacey and very now.” --Monterey County Weekly, Monterey, CA
”Like a more intimate, stripped down version of Tortoise, Planet Loop propels forward with warm, bubbly bass and drums and whatever else wants to come along for the ride.” --Justin Groteleschen, WZBC, Boston, MA
“A magic mixture of grooves makes this drum and bass duo unique. Add one part jazz, one part funk, one part Latin, twist with the twenty-first century, and you get Planet Loop.” --Bostonmusic.com
“Planet Loop is jazzy, but in a nu way. There are certainly global rhythms happening here. And it all has a very synthesized-yet-organic feel.” --Bend Bulletin, Bend, OR
“…[Carrie Jahde and Michael Schaller’s] debut/demo titled Egidito is one of those truly wonderful but under-distributed gems from 1999 that I would bet everyone from Oregon to Nebraska who got one before they ran out, still cherishes for the quality of the playing, clarity of the songwriting, and as a link to a time before everything seemed to get so totally scrambled. I look forward to hearing whatever collaborations evolve next!” --Steven Aldridge, SF Bay Area Writer/Researcher/Lecturer
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