“20th Anniversary Concert”
Kamikaze Ground Crew
featuring Doug Wieselman, Gina Leishman, Peter Apfelbaum, Steven
Bernstein, Noah Bless, Marcus Rojas and Kenny Wollesen
Wednesday, November 1 • 8pm
$25 GA
“By turns an oom-pah-pah circus band, an earnest
pit orchestra, and a bluesy jazz septet.” —The
New York Times
Program Notes
The origins of the Kamikaze Ground Crew stretch back to the ‘80s,
when they formed as the pit orchestra for the Flying Karamazov
Brothers’ Juggling and Cheap Theatrics show on Broadway.
Though their name bespeaks a group teetering on the fringes of
havoc, in fact this seriously talented collective of musicians
has been deftly defying conventions and expectations since their
eponymous debut album in 1987.
The Bay Area core of the “wild but grounded” (Wall
Street Journal) group has remained the same through the
last two decades: co-leaders Gina Leishman and Doug Wieselman
and Berkeley High alumni Peter Apfelbaum and Steven Bernstein.
Though they relocated to New York in 1994, the addition of
Santa Cruz native Kenny Wollesen keeps the Bay Area spirit
alive in the band.
The success of individual group members has
made the Crew something of a supergroup. The panoply of projects
under the K.G.C.’s
tent include Sex Mob (Bernstein, Wolleson) and the Millennial
Territory Orchestra (Bernstein, Apfelbaum), Hieroglyphic Ensemble
(Apfelbaum), soundtrack work (Weiselman, Bernstein), opera and
theatre collaborations (Leishman), and Tito Puente’s orchestra
(Noah Bless). This fall will see the release of a recently recorded
fifth album, and this Festival appearance is their first since
1993.
Leishman celebrates the K.G.C.’s return to the Festival,
and to the Bay Area, with the premiere of her new composition “Portraits,” which
is sure to be a highlight amid tonight’s raucous and inspired
revelry at the Great American Music Hall.
“Portraits” was created with support from Chamber
Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation Program,
funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Personnel:
- Gina Leishman, alto and baritone saxophone, bass clarinet,
accordion/piano, voice
- Doug Wieselman, Eb, Bb and bass clarinet, tenor and
baritone saxophone, guitar
- Peter Apfelbaum, tenor saxophone
- Steven Bernstein, trumpet and slide trumpet
- Noah Bless, trombone
- Marcus Rojas, tuba
- Kenny Wollesen, drums
