Tune in to KTRU (91.7 FM) tonight at 7pm. Ian will be subbing in for the funk & soul show, from 7-8. And he won't play ANY prog jazz. Just funk & soul. Promise. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:44 PM -

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  Got a great mention in All About Jazz this week. "Houston-based Drop Trio is solidly entrenched somewhere in my top 10," says reviewer Mark Sabbatini. Read the whole article. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:30 AM -

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  Happy Easter everybody. Hope y'all got out to see some good music this weekend. Anybody see anything good? The Ills? Kenny Cordray? Minkus Finkus?

Check out a new interview I did with Houston free jazz legends The Defenestration Unit - it's up over at JamHouston.com. You can catch 'em tonight over at Super Happy Fun Land. You can also tune in to hear me interview 'em on KTRU 91.7 fm, tonight at 5pm. (After TDU, I'll be interviewing saxophonist Woody Witt at 6pm, so stay tuned for that, too.) 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:10 PM -

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  This is a great weekend for music in Houston.

Fri 3/25

• Minkuks Finkus @ Brasil - Our funk jazz fridays band for tonight is Minkus Finkus, a cool jazz funk combo from Fayetteville, AK.
  
• K'Monte @ Tha House - My man K'Monte is turning the big Three-Oh. He's having a big birthday party at Tha House (428 Westheimer, near Helios) and he's invited all musicians, artists, poets, etc. to come be a part of it.
  
• Michael Haaga @ Continental Club - Reinvented metal legend Haaga's new pop band opens for Southern Culture on the Skids. Sweet!
  
• The Googe, The Southern Backtones and Camino @ 19th Hole - For those of you northern folks, these 3 great bands will play the 19th hole in the Woodlands.
  
• The El Orbits at the Stag's Head - Houston's lounge hounds take on the great bastion of sin. Well, OK, the great bastion of yummy beer and pizza.
  

Sat 3/26

• The ills @ Last Concert Cafe - Norman, OK based jazz-influenced house/jam band. Opening for Hairy Apes BMX the night before in Austin, these guys are playing with the Houseplants at LCC
  
• Free Radicals & Minkus Finkus @ Helios - Our buds the free rads throw down differently every time, and it's always worth watching. Catch 'em with Minkus Finkus (see above) at Helios.
  
• Super Happy Fun Land 2 Year Anniversary - An all day / all night party to celebrate two years of Houston's wackiest venue.
  
• Kenny Cordray @ Dan Electro's - Kenny's having a release party for his new CD. I play on it. Go check it out!
  
• GoGirls Showcase @ Rhythm Room - GoGirls always puts on great shows. This time there are 3 of my favorite local X-chrom-driven bands on the bill: Tabitha Monet (rapidly rising singer songwriter), Camino (Verionica rocks the drums) and Sky Blue 72 (members of Zwee with Jessica on drums, rock!).
  
• Kelly Dean w/ TKOh! @ Tongue In Groove - Houston jazz supergroup, with Keith Vivens (bass), James Williams (trumpet), Andy Saad (sax), Ed Lowe (trombone), Gilbert Sedeño (keys), John Calderon (guitar) and Burnin' Vernon Daniels (drums).
  
• Larry Slezak Hammond Organ Band @ The Magnolia - A smokin' hammond organ jazz band with our pal Jose-Miguel Yamal on the keys.
  
• The Buddhacrush @ Sharky's - We all need a little ...
  
• The Phlegmatics @ Engine Room - My new favorite basement rock band - heavy guitars, catchy-ass melodies, and funny songs about helen of troy. Rad.
  
• Jen Rathbun @ JP Hops House - Jen is a great torch singer / songwriter.
  
• Rent @ The Meridian - Brotha Jibril et all spin for a great big party, now taking residence at The Meridian.
  

Sun 3/27

• The Defenestration Unit @ SHFL, 9pm - The Defenestration Unit is a legendary Houston free jazz outfit. Go see 'em, they only perform once in a blue moon.
  
• Prognosis @ Scout Bar - After you punish your senses with free jazz, go punish them differently with heavy rock. I've heard scout bar is pretty cool. Go see, eh?
  

Plus, all weekend long there's a local talent showcase at the Hard Rock. It's $10 to get in, and you can get your fill (literally) of Houston bands doing 20 minute showcases. I personally avoid those things like the plague, but this one actually has some bands I know and like (The Fondue Monks, The Grey Life, etc.). So if you've got a voracious appetite for music, by all means, go check it out. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 3:34 PM -

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  We just got schedule confirmation that Drop Trio will be playing the Houston International Festival this year! Check out the full schedule. We'll be playing on Saturday, April 30th at 1pm on the Flamingo Gardens stage (near the entrance to the festival). This year's festival is on the theme of India, so you can be sure there will be lots of yummy indian food on hand. And probably some arts and crafts, too, for all of you people who like arts and crafts. Anyway, yes, Drop Trio @ I-Fest! Woot! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:45 AM -

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  Hey all - just wanted to give a heads up that we've taken the 4/7 show at Mercury Room off the calendar. The club has apparently decided to cease their original music series, which is too bad, but pretty typical. :) The only real bummer is that we were psyched to play with ASHS. So instead, we're gonna hook up a crazy party at their warehouse instead, early summer. Stay tuned for that one. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 11:44 AM -

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  We played a unique show last night at Dan Electro's, and it was really fun. We played as part of South By Due East; you might remember that last year at the same Festival, we did an all improv set. Well, this year's was the same way. It was our first time doing this with Patrick, and boy were we ready for it! The listening and reacting was so intense, sometimes I couldn't tell which one of us had an idea, and which were following. Guy Schwartz even came up on stage for the last tune, joined by an improvisational bluesy singer named Suzanne (hope I got your name right!). Thanks to Brad, James, Joanie, Mark, Opie, and everybody else who came out for the festival and stuck around to hear our noise.

Now we get a few days off to recoup. Phew! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:35 PM -

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  Tonight, all you Houston folks, don't forget to catch DT at Dan Electro's Guitar Bar. We'll be playing at 9:40 for South By Due East, a festival put on my Marlo Blue and Guy Schwartz, to celebrate Houston music. Come check it out - we'll be doing an all improv set! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:10 PM -

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  Hey all - our show was a blast at SxSW last night. We're here in Austin chilling for a couple more days, catching up with some other friends who are showcasing here. Follow along on the JamHouston blog if you like. :) 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 3:34 PM -

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  We're getting ready to head out for this year's SxSW music conference. There's always lots of anticipation and excitement around this trip; it's not every day you get to showcase with a couple thousand of the worlds best bands.

The Drop Trio show is Thursday at 10:30 pm at the Elephant Room. You can also catch the guys backing up Dan Workman (we're calling it "Droptet") on Thursday at 7pm at Agave.

One more thing ... if you're interested, Ian (and Patrick) will be keeping notes on their journeys for the next few days, over on the JamHouston SxSW blog. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:11 PM -

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  Huge thanks to everyone who came out to Last Concert Cafe Saturday night for the Adoption International Mission benefit. We raised $500 which will be added to the sum of several other fund raisers until the goal of $10,000 is reached this fall. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was great and the bands ruled. First Orents Stirner set the tone for the evening by playing a short set of thoughtful, well put together songs and announcing that all the money from his merchandise sales would be donated to the cause. Playing With Stars was up second and bowled over the crowd with a high energy set of tunes. You will definitely be hearing from these guys in the future. The Googe took the stage 3rd and put on an amazing rock-estral performance, complete with orchestration and everything. Denise performed a really touching song about her experience adopting a child from overseas - very moving. If you haven't heard their new EP (produced by Dan Workman) it's worth checking out for sure. Mezclan hypnotized the crowd with brilliant meditave Indian-influenced world music. We will definitely be doing shows with them in the future. After Mezclan, we took the stage and played mostly random noise. (Speaking of random noise, check out our new live archive track "The Schlort Monster (Improv)" taken from Brasil 03/04/05).

Special thanks to our friend Kirk Madden (Mezclan percussionist, soundman extraordinaire). The whole night would have not gone down without his help . We owe you big, thanks Kirk. 

¶ posted by nuje at 3:02 PM -

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  If you've heard of the Jellyphish lounge, you should come on down tonight. Ian will be collaborating with Brad Martin from the Psychodillos (plus a bunch of other great musicians) on a crazy night of musical improv.

And don't forget to come to the Cafe tomorrow night for the benefit. Really, please do come, it's a great cause. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:31 AM -

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  Drop Trio got a nice mention in Splendid Magazine - 20 Bands from Houston that You May Not Have Heard, But Should. Nifty. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:29 AM -

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  Please join us this weekend at Last Concert Cafe for a benefit for ADOPTION INTERNATIONAL MISSION. Donations accepted ($5 minimum). All proceeds will go directly to orphanages in China. The night will go something like this:

730-815 - Playing With Stars
830-915 - Orents Stirner
930-1015 - The Googe
1030-1130 - Mezclan
12-130 - Drop Trio 

¶ posted by nuje at 9:25 PM -

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  For all you heads out there in Houston looking for something good to do, tonight is your lucky night. There are 2 awesome shows tonight that you should try to make it to.

First, there's a new band in town called Mezclan. Kirk Madden (of Rhythm Room fame) plays percussion in it, and the music style generally falls under the "world music" heading - guitar, percussion, didgeridoo, and a few other instruments. I've heard some of their music, and I can highly recommend them. They'll be playing their debut show at Brasil tonight, starting at 9:30, so go by and check it out.

Second, you've probably heard of a group called the Trade. They're a confederation of jazz players who've been stepping up to the plate at Helios every Monday night for years. 5 years, to be exact! Tonight is their 5 year anniversary. So, hey, go by and check that out as well. Things get fired up around 10 and go late.

See you there. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 8:57 AM -

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  We played 2 really fun sets last night at St. Pete's Dancing Marlin. Thanks to Michael, Danny & Mary, Charlie & the gang, and everybody else who came out to check it out. For future reference, by the way, St. Pete's offers free Valet parking validation for anybody who comes out to see shows there. So take them up on it next time we play downtown, and don't worry about parking!

After our set, Patrick and I headed over to the A>S>H>S warehouse for a party. We arrived too late to see them perform, but by the looks of it, it'd been a crazy party. Tony was there, as was Spike, and a whole bunch of folks we knew. If you've never seen A>S>H>S, you can remedy that situation by checking them out next Friday at Funk Jazz Fridays. They're neither funk nor jazz, per se, but they are deep instrumental music that you will groove to. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 1:00 PM -

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  Man, the cheesecake at Brasil is so yummy. That, with a glass of Lambic Framboise ... incredible.

Perhaps that's what inspired our first set last night. We played almost entirely improv for the first 45 minutes, dipping into lots of uncharted terrority for us. Very nice. Beatty was in attendance (thanks for coming out, Daniel) as were various other scoundrels (thanks for taking all those pics, Arlen). It was a fun evening all around, though the consensus about the Prophet was that some sounds are better left unmade. :)

Come check out our show at St. Pete's Dancing Marlin downtown tonight. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:55 PM -

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  Next Saturday, March 12 we will be back at Last Concert Cafe headlining a benefit for Adoption International Mission. Donations accepted ($5 minimum). All proceeds will go directly to orphanages in China. Also on the bill are our friends Mezclan 8-930, and The Googe 10-1130. We'll hit the stage around midnight, so get a nap in.

If you haven't checked out JamHouston.com yet, what are you waiting for? Yes, there is a new web site in town that supports, promotes and encourages jam / jazz / improv / progressive / noise bands. Become a member to promote your band, and meet like minded music lovers on the message boards. Also, I have been asked to write a semi-monthly drum lesson for the site. Check it out.

The Live Archive this week features both sets from last Friday night at Jake's in Lubbock, TX.

Oh yeah, we're at Brasil tonight and St. Pete's tomorrow. 

¶ posted by nuje at 8:30 AM -

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  We'd like to thanks the folks in San Antonio and Lubbock for showing us a great weekend.

Thursday's show at Luna in San Antonio was fantastic. Great crowd, great room, great staff, great Irish whiskey, um, I think. It's nice to hear Ian on grand piano. Now, if there was only a way to send the piano through his effects pedals we'd be set. Thanks for the t-shirts, Marcos; Happy Birthday, Amber!

Friday in Lubbock at Jake's was crazy. First of all, the food rules. If you happen to be in Lubbock, stop at Jake's and get yourself the Philly sandwich. The fans and staff in Lubbock really know how to throw down! Thanks to Charlie at 88.1 KTXT for the great interview. And thanks to Roy for driving in from Albuquerque and snapping this cool shot of the Jake's Marquee:



Here's another shot, sent to us by Matt W (taken from his phone during the show):



Our time in the van this past weekend gave us further insight to each other. We discovered that we are all about equal when it comes to Scrabble, Patick shouldn't eat pizza, Nuje has a two track mind, Ian needs to choose a lane and clean his headlights.

We'll be back at Jake's Friday, April 1 with the Fred. Hope to see you there. 

¶ posted by nuje at 11:33 AM -

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