Across the Way Brad Shepik & Ron Samworth

• 1 Across the Way 06:54
• 2 Down the Hill 07:07
• 3 Xylo 08:09
• 4 Garden 05:56
• 5 German Taco 07:08
• 6 Marburg 06:59
• 7 Transfer 06:57
• 8 Pfaffenhofen 04:24
• 9 Mambo Terni 06:41
• 10 Your Egg Roll 04:48
• 11 Train Home 05:13
• Total Runtime 01:10:16

Info for Across the Way

With Across The Way, his eighth album as a leader, guitarist Brad Shepik seems to have mellowed with age: while still incorporating elements of Eastern and South Eastern European music cultures typical of earlier projects - many rendered with unusualinstrumentation - this all-original quartet offering sounds ‘mainstream’ by comparison. Supported by vibraphonist Tom Beckham, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Mark Guiliana, Shepik’s compositions feature odd time signatures, shifting key centers, unusual modes and lithe, loping melodies that gently cross the borders of conventional practices but without calling attention to the underlying techniques.

Shepik’s long, lyrical, eighth-note based improvisations seamlessly wend their way through the elaborate structures, creating an illusion of ease, much like the alpha wave inducing music of a jam band. A rhythmic push-and-pull is evident in the group, especially at their album release concert last month at 55Bar, pitching the on-top timing of Roeder and Guiliana against the less tenacious accents of Shepik and Beckham. When Shepik digs into a solo, as he does on “Down the Hill”, “German Taco”, “Marburg” and “Mambo Termi” from the recording, or “Across the Way”, “Xylo” and the outro blowing of “Blue Marble” from the live set, his sharply inflected lines lift the band with understated charisma. Elsewhere, the group’s pulse is freer, less forced, buttressed by the washing tones of Beckham’s vibraphone. In contrast to the relatively restrained ambiance of the album, the quartet took more chances in concert, particularly Guiliana, who overflowed with ideas, unleashing ferocious, constantly evolving beats and finding interesting places to leave out the expected, provoking constant smiles from rhythm-mate Roeder. Shepik’s guitar achieved a bell like clarity in the intimate performance space while Beckham’s lush, rippling phrases came to the fore on numbers like “Garden” and “Blue Marble”. (Tom Greenland New York Jazz Record March 2011)

Brad Shepik Quartet are:
Brad Shepik, Guitar
Tom Beckham, Vibraphone
Jorge Roeder, Acoustic Bass
Mark Guiliana, Drums

Brad Shepik - Guitar
In addition to his own groups, Brad Shepik has performed and/or recorded with Paul Motian, Joey Baron, Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Dave Douglas, oud/violin virtuoso Simon Shaheen, Yuri Yunakov’s Bulgarian Wedding Band and others.

Born in Walla Walla, Washington and raised in Seattle, Brad Shepik began playing guitar at age 10, when he picked up his father's instrument. He continued to play both guitar and saxophone in school bands and studied guitar with Al Galante and Dave Petersen. He earned a B.F.A from Cornish College of the Arts and a Masters in Jazz Performance/Composition from New York University.
Since arriving in New York in 1990, Shepik has been involved several bands including Dave Douglas' Tiny Bell Trio, Matt Darriau's Paradox Trio, Pachora w/Chris Speed, Jim Black and Skuli Sverrisson, and BABKAS. He has also performed with Carla Bley's Escalator Over the Hill, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra and toured and recorded with Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band for 5 years. Concurrently, the guitarist extended his interest in world music idioms by performing and recording in such groups as Yuri Yunakov's Bulgarian Wedding Band and Simon Shaheen’s Quantara. Shepik’s first two records as a leader, The Loan and The Well, were praised for their marriage of world music styles and jazz.
Shepik also co-led two world music tinged trios; Triduga with accordionist Yuri Lemeshev and Tony Scherr on bass balalaika, and Lingua Franca with Peter Epstein and Matt Kilmer. In 2000 Shepik began re-examining the traditional guitar/bass/drums format with drummer Tom Rainey and bassist Scott Colley. They recorded two cd’s, Drip and Short Trip, both of which were critically acclaimed and featured on NPR.
Shepik's current working band is a trio with Gary Versace, organ and Rainey, drums. The band has performed at festivals across Europe and North America. Their latest release “Places You Go” received a 4 star review in Downbeat and appeared on several “Best CD’s of 2007” lists. Shepik also continues to tour with drummer Joey Baron’s Killer Joey, udist/violinist Simon Shaheen, George Schuller's Circle Wide, Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, Alexis Cuadrado Puzzles Quartet, Arthur Kell Quartet, Combo Nuvo, Bob Brookmeyer’s Quartet East and others.
'Human Activity Suite', a 10 movement piece about climate change for jazz quintet was released in February 2009 on Songlines Recordings. It features Shepik on guitars, saz and tambura as well as Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Gary Versace (piano, organ, accordion), Drew Gress (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums).
Shepik's latest band is the Brad Shepik Quartet with Tom Beckham (vibes), Jorge Roeder (bass) and Mark Guiliana (drums). The group released it's debut recording 'Across the Way' in February 2011.

Ron Samworth
Vancouver-based guitarist/composer Ron Samworth is known on the Canadian improvised/contemporary music scene as an inventive textural improviser and a strong fluid melodicist informed and inspired by a variety of music traditions including jazz, rock, new music and traditional music of many cultures. He leads the acclaimed Vancouver-based quartet Talking Pictures and co-directed the NOW Orchestra for ten years and the indie rock bands Darkblueworld and the Luscious. He is also a member of the Peggy Lee Band and the Hard Rubber Orchestra. His has performed and recorded with numerous international artists including John Zorn, George Lewis, Evan Parker, Fred Frith, Han Bennink, Dave Douglas, Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz.

He has appeared at all the major Jazz Festivals across Canada, the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, at New York’s Knitting Factory, and the New York Improvisation Festival, New Music America, Vienna’s “Let’s Cool One” Chamber Jazz Festival, Chicago and Berlin jazz festivals and other leading venues in Europe. His inter-disciplinary work includes composition, performance and sound design for theatre, spoken word, film, and dance. He has composed music for Talking Pictures, Standing Wave, the Hard Rubber Orchestra, the NOW Orchestra and EDAM Dance Company. Samworth is also a longtime member and from 1992 to 2003 the artistic director of the New Orchestra Workshop (NOW), and a co-curator of a weekly concert series at Vancouver’s grunt Gallery from 1987 to 1994.

Samworth has received numerous Canada Council awards, was twice nominated as Canadian jazz critics guitarist of the year, as well as nominations for Jessie awards (Vancouver theatre) and a Dora (national theatre award) nomination. In 1990, Samworth won the prestigious CBC/Alcan Grand Prix Concours de Jazz with the group Creatures of Habit.

He was a faculty member of the Banff Center Jazz Workshop in 2009 and has taught at the Capilano University jazz studies programme since 1997.

Booklet for Across the Way