From Wayne Horvitz:
Dear Seattle Friends,
The night of the 2000 election Zony Mash was playing at the long-gone and sorely missed OK Hotel. I will never forget hearing at the break that Al Gore had won Florida, only to come home after the gig and find out that all had changed. The last 8 years have been like the wrong doctor giving you the wrong medication for the wrong diagnosis. It has been beyond belief or comprehension.
Well we hope to change all that, and if you feel like you have done all you can by Monday night please join us for a celebration of life as we know it and also as we hope it to be, before the final shoot-out. This will be the last night of the Earshot celebration of my 20 years in Seattle. We have 3 great bands, representing 2 generations.
Headlining will be THE PRESIDENT. We picked this night for a reason! With original members Bobby Previte and Doug Wieselman and Seattle greats Tim Young, Keith Lowe and Steve Moore this was my first major electric band, which toured Europe and the States, cut its teeth in NYC clubs like CBGB’s and the Mudd Club, did 3 albums for Nonesuch records, paved the way for Zony Mash and Pigpen, and last played in Seattle in 1992? Just watching Bobby Previte rock this music is worth the price of admission. (By the way, the original name of the band was The President of the United States of America, the rest is history.)
Two jazz orchestras play first. Opening will be Sam Gray’s Frantic Managerie. I felt that I should bring things full circle in this retrospective and represent the next generation. Sam has been a composition student of mine, and has a killer set of tunes. Most of the players are Garfield and Roosevelt kids, and students can get $11 tickets.
In the middle we have the New York Composers Orchestra East/West. Original and former members include Bobby Previte, Ron Miles, Briggan Krauss, special guests Skerik and Tim Young and a slew of great Seattle players including Hans Teuber, Mark Taylor, Phil Sparks and many more.
For more information on the history of any and all of these bands, and a little bit about why we need “Joe the Songwriter” in These Hard Times (Joe Hill that is) I have been blogging about this event at: blog.waynehorvitz.net
See ya
Wayne