Industrial Jazz Group

Industrial Jazz Group: Leef

by Matthew Miller
October 15, 2009

It's hard to take anything about the Industrial Jazz Group for granted. Even the LA-based ensemble's name is misleading to the point that its leader, Andrew Durkin, feels the need to address it in the header of the group's website. “So we're not really industrial. Were The Beatles really insects?" As explanations go--humorous as they might be--it rings a little hollow. It does, however, speak volumes about IJG and its singular approach to music-making. Just when you think you've got ...

Industrial Jazz Group: LEEF

by Brad Glanden
May 13, 2008

It's difficult to fathom a universe where someone would not enjoy listening to LEEF. One would have to be conditioned, Clockwork Orange-style, into finding the sound of musical instruments morally reprehensible. There's nothing on the Industrial Jazz Group's album that couldn't be embraced wholeheartedly by someone with an otherwise unrepentant disdain for all things jazzy.

It's fitting that composer, pianist and band leader Andrew Durkin (whose PhD is in English Literature) admires the work of Donald ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Andrey Henkin
March 9, 2007

For those expecting to read about Ministry tunes played by full trumpet sections, stop right now. The Industrial Jazz Group has absolutely nothing to do with industrial music per se. I might posit that the adjective refers to an almost assembly line-like amalgamation of every known big band style into one mechagodzilla that destroys Tokyo. The Industrial Jazz Group was founded in 2000 by Andrew Durkin, a composer, pianist and occasional percussionist. This is the group's fourth ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Brad Glanden
January 23, 2007

Few categorical terms inspire as much trepidation among listeners as “avant-garde," and it is decidedly difficult to market music labeled as such. Even so, many artists on the fringe have tempered their envelope-pushing works with material that could be accused of having top-forty aspirations. It is rare indeed to discover someone capable of writing music that is both forward-thinking and accessible to virtually anyone; Industrial Jazz Group's Andrew Durkin is one such composer.

Now entering its seventh year, IJG is ...

Industrial Jazz Group: Industrial Jazz A Go Go!

by Rex Butters
October 20, 2006

Andrew Durkin and the Industrial Jazz Group release a circus of musical styles on Industrial Jazz A Go Go!, with soloists flying through fiery hoops, arrangements making death-defying leaps, and Durkin himself flooring the clown car. They cover so much musical material, sometimes within a single piece, that they threaten to appeal to everyone. Yet despite bringing doo-wop, R&B, rock, blues, classical, country, free improv and jazz into coherent collision, these are not Frankentunes. Durkin's arranging expertise creates such a ...

Industrial Jazz Group: The Star Chamber

by Rex Butters
February 13, 2005

The Industrial Jazz Group continues to fight the odds on maintaining a large band, allowing resident composer Andrew Durkin a vehicle for his imaginative flights. Drawing on an eclectic core of influences including Mingus, Zappa, Messiaen, and Giuffre, Durkin writes head-snapping charts unafraid to make bold statements and easy jokes. The Group's all-star lineup, including Beth Schenk, Kris Tiner, Cory Wright, and Aaron Cohen, gives an enthusiastic, well-rehearsed performance, bringing Durkin's exotic fantasies to life.

The title track charges forward ...

Industrial Jazz Group: The Star Chamber

by Chris May
December 13, 2004

The Industrial Jazz Group was formed in '00 by pianist/composer Andrew Durkin as a sort of (very sort of) Art Ensemble of Chicago. But whereas AEC set out to celebrate the relatively focused and well-defined macro-genre “Great Black Music," Durkin's IJG includes all modern music in its sights, from Edgar Varese and Olivier Messiaen through George Russell and Bernard Herrmann to Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. This is the band's third album, and its second for American Composers Forum's Innova ...

Industrial Jazz Group Returns to Southern California

Source: Two for the Show Media
July 14, 2010

The 15-piece Industrial Jazz Group (IJG), an adventurous big band featuring the music of composer Andrew Durkin, will be touring Southern California this August, with performances on August 19 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and on August 20 at Dizzy's in San Diego. Returning to the road ten months after an east coast tour--in which the band pushed the limits of what is possible for a large traveling ensemble--the IJG is back with a slightly revised lineup (officially ...
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Live and in Color: Industrial Jazz Group at the Space

Source: See! Hear! by Richard Kamins
October 20, 2009

Andrew Durkin is in the midst of marauding up and down the East Coast with 16 of his closest friends.  Pianist /composer Durkin leads the Industrial Jazz Group, an ensemble he created nearly a decade ago to perform his compositions, an unruly (at times) blend of mainstream jazz with Frank Zappa-esque (?) flourishes, comedic splashes, fiery solos, and “swinging" beats.  It's wise-cracking but not snooty music that raises a smile while it entertains, makes your feet tap as ...
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The Jazz Session #98: Industrial Jazz Group

Source: Michael Ricci
October 19, 2009

The Industrial Jazz Group is a 15-ish-piece large ensemble that plays the inventive, challenging and often hilarious music of composer Andrew Durkin. That sentence, though, doesn't come close to doing them justice. The band, made up of musicians fluent in jazz, classical and rock and inspired by the free-for-all spirit of Frank Zappa is a force of nature, slinking, striding and crashing through Durkin's charts with an obvious love for the groups collective sound. In this interview, Durkin talks about ...
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Industrial Jazz Group Tour Portland/Seattle March 7 & 8

Source: All About Jazz
March 7, 2007

Industrial Jazz Group, led by composer Andrew Durkin, tours the Pacific Northwest this week.

Wed. March 7: Someday Lounge Portland, OR. 9 pm 125 NW 5th Ave. www.somedaylounge.com with Rob Scheps, Jake McLain, Scott Hall, Gary Harris, Tom Hill, Ward Griffiths, Paul Gabrielson,Stan Bock,Matt Carr, Garner Pruitt, etc.

Thurs. March 8 LoFi Performance Gallery www.lofiseattle.org 429 Eastlake Ave. East Seattle, WA
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The Industrial Jazz Group @ Chris' Jazz Cafe on January 10, 2007

Source: All About Jazz
January 9, 2007

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