Greg Pagel: piano, keyboard, accordion, circuit-bent toys, etc.; John Salerno, saxophone; Craig Hanke, bass; Terry Iattoni, drums; Andy Pagel, guitar; Matt Turner, electric cello; Dino Bilotti, voice; Jana Nyberg, voice
Influences
Sun Ra, Bill Evans, Charles Ives, Soul Coughing, Chick Corea, Joe Maneri, Charlie Parker, Melt Banana, Keith Jarrett, Ran Blake, Public Enemy, Hermeto Pascoal, John Medeski, Arnold Schoenberg, Louis Armstrong, Frank Zappa, Nat King Cole, Radiohead, Art Tatum, Anton Webern, Jimi Hendrix, Herbie Hancock, Billie Holiday, System of a Down, Claude Debussy, Elliott Carter, Speech, Miles Davis, Igor Stravinsky, James Brown, the Marx Brothers, the Beatles, the Buddha
Sounds Like
"Primus, Sun Ra and Zappa meeting inside a pinball machine, cross-breeding and sprouting new appendages" -- CDbaby.com
Greg Pagel is often regarded as the most unusual jazz pianist in Wisconsin. He has performed at Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall in Boston, as well as Lincoln Center in New York. He has shared the stage with such notable musicians as Kenny Wheeler, Benny Golson, Joe Maneri, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Luciana Souza, Janet Planet, Ricky Ford, Matt Turner and Bobby Vinton.
Greg's latest CD, “Plastic Machine Music,” is a daring fusion of jazz with hip-hop and electronica. CD Baby gave the CD 5 stars, calling it “an ingenius hybrid of jazz fusion backdrops, experimental electronic innovation and a poprock-informed writing,” and praising its “creative development of motives and ideas, an overall giddy enjoyment of urban, industrial and machine noises.”
Hey, just found some recordings from the concert we did at the Weidner before I left... do you have them? If not, I can email them to you. Let me know. Ahh memories :)
Hey Greg! How are you? Long time no see! Love your crazy music :) Would love to play with you guys if you have room for me while I'm home for Xmas Dec 18-Jan 5! Let me know! Hope all is well.
Greg Pagel, you rock! And we played your Rock the Box (pt 1) to open our Electronic Accordion radio special, and it was awesome. Super-sweetened podcast version (still with screw-ups): http://accordionnoir. org/drupal/node/103
:( I just saw your comment today. I had to go to my band banquet last night though so I wouldn't have been able to come anyway. But you should definitely let me know when you have other stuff going on.
