Home » Jazz Musicians » Megaphone Man

Megaphone Man

Leaving behind a quantity of high caliber instrumental ensembles in the metro Atlanta area, Megaphone Man took top honors in the Critics' Choice: "Best Jazz Band" category of Creative Loafing's annual awards issue. For many, the choice comes as no surprise. In their relatively short tenure, the trio of bassist Neal Fountain, saxophonist Bryan Lopes, and drummer Jeff Reilly—collectively known as Megaphone Man—has been turning heads with their individual approach to group improvisation.

"Megaphone Man has a style all their own," states Jazziz writer James Rozzi. "The manner in which these accomplished musicians approach a particular tune will drastically change from one performance to the next. In an effort to maintain their own interests, they create an abundance of spontaneous, razor- sharp musical maneuvers for their audience. One concert with these guys is like a lesson in improvisational wit and daring." With Megaphone Man's turn-on-a- dime approach, one particular song will metamorphose numerous times— harmonically and rhythmically—before coming to a close. The end result is an exciting foray with enough depth to please an audience of hard-core jazz fans—or the more laid back patrons of the jam band circuit.

Megaphone Man is the brainchild of Neal Fountain and Bryan Lopes who, while on tour with the short-lived band , The Apartment Projects, found themselves composing spontaneously during sound checks. "Neal would make up a progression," says Lopes, "or I'd come up with a melody—often at the same time. When we're playing together, it's a very tight, nearly telepathic thing. Neal can usually tell within two notes where I'm going, and I can usually tell within a beat or so where he wants to go. It's either follow, lead, or get left in the dust. Jeff is right there with us, or he'll be the one initiating a tack by laying down a solid groove."

Megaphone Man is… Neal Fountain, a native of Georgia who began playing bass at age nine. He is also proficient on guitar, drums, banjo, piano, and saxophone. Fountain enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in 1993, but the road beckoned. Soon, his associations ran up a long list with numerous aggregations, including those of Bruce Hampton, John Medeski, Andy Senesi,

Mark O'Conner, and Steve Morse. Without the support of guitar or piano, Fountain's bass maneuvers through harmonic changes with ease—and amazing technique to spare.

Bryan Lopes was born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and began playing saxophone (reeds) at an early age. In high school, Lopes was awarded numerous kudos, including membership in the All-State and All-Eastern Jazz Ensembles. A scholarship to Berklee found him studying with some of the finest saxophonists in the country, including George Garzone and Billy Pierce. He has recorded with Aquarium Rescue Unit, Dan Wall, Phil Smith, Bill Anschell, Sonny Emory, and others. His robust, aggressive style and thorough knowledge of his horn induces high-energy performances from all members of Megaphone Man.

Read more

Tags

466
Album Review

Megaphone Man- Neal Fountain, B Lopes, Reilly: Megaphone Man

Read "Megaphone Man" reviewed by Phil DiPietro


This is a 5 track EP (plus a “secret" 6th one ..total running time about 45 mins.) by a punk/funk jazz trio , which captures the intensity and the humor of the players, while highlighting their virtuosity both as soloists and collaborative songwriting partners. This group is led by bassist Neal Fountain (ex-Fiji Mariner, ex-member of the Apartment Projects with Jeff Sipe (aka Apartment Q258, ex-ARU, ex-Hellborg, Lane Sipe trio, current member of Jazz is Dead and LoS) . Here ...

Read more articles
128

Recording

Punk Jazz Trio Say It Loud and Proud

Punk Jazz Trio Say It Loud and Proud

Source: All About Jazz

Punk jazz improvisational trio Megaphone Man, pride themselves on a loose avant-garde approach in creating their unique blend of jazz music. Hailing from Athens Georgia USA, Megaphone Man consists of Neal Fountain on bass, Jeff Reilly on drums and Bryan Lopes on tenor saxophone. With carefully crafted thematic notes and rhythms, this young group of virtuosos demand as much from themselves as they do the overall group interplay of their contributing melodic ideas. Megaphone Man's debut CD recording “Live At ...

Music

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.