DKO ELECTRIC QUARTET

FEATURING "Electric" Horns and B3 Organ
PERFORMING Original Funk/Jazz/Soul

NEW DKO CD "Electric Quartet" AVAILABLE NOW!!!

MUSICIANS

"ELECTRIC" TROMBONE
 (1-8) Trombone/Loops/Programming Darren Kramer

"ELECTRIC" SAXOPHONE
 (2,4,7,8) Tenor/Soprano John Gunther (5,6) Tenor Dominic Lalli

KEYBOARDS
 (5-8) Hammond B3 Organ Pat Bianchi
(1,2,4) Yamaha S90 Rhodes Eric Gunnison

ELECTRIC BASS
 (1,2,4) Garrett Sayers

DRUMS
 (1,2,4-8) Dean Oldencott

The DKO Electric Quartet is the latest addition to the diverse musical organization of trombonist/composer Darren Kramer. DKO The Darren Kramer Organization has been Kramer's creative outlet for over a decade as it encompasses his many interests of musical styles for both live performances and studio recordings.

Having produced three highly impressive CDs of unique and complex arrangements for his DKO 10-piece, Kramer has now formed a new 4-piece group that primarily features improvisation and the use of high-tech electronics and loops to create innovative sounds and unique textures.

THOUGHTS FROM THE COMPOSER: This electric project has been a goal for quite some time and I am very excited to finally present it to you. Using electronic effects on the trombone has been a fascination of mine since my high school days. I dabbled with some guitar pedals a bit but I was always quite occupied just trying to learn how to play the trombone, improvise and compose! Now, however, after several international tours, numerous educational engagements, and years of practicing this very difficult acoustic instrument, I feel that now, in 2007, I am ready to investigate the possibilities of this exciting platform. After all, this is the best time in history to pursue an interest in technology!

You may recognize some familiar melodies on the first half of this recording. Performing these songs live with the DKO Electric Quartet has required me to present them in a simpler, more organic manner, especially considering the lack of instrumentation. Therefore, I have rearranged the same melodies over a less restrictive form and harmonic structure to allow the musicians greater freedom to express themselves thru improvisation. Furthermore, these new arrangements have taken on a new life which I felt also warranted new titles.

The “Water of Life” Suite was actually inspired by my growing appreciation for fine single malt scotch! Each movement of this suite is a musical tour of my four favorite distilleries: Oban, Lagavulin, Talisker, Macallan

NOTE: There are NO guitars on this recording. All EFX and parts resembling a guitar have been performed on trombone.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

Darren


Particular influences for this new project, appropriately named the “DKO Electric Quartet”, are listed below in alphabetical order:

  | 10 Piece |
  | Electric Trombone |
  | Electric Quartet |