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Kevin Frenette Quartet at Third Life Studios

On Saturday, October 18, 2008 The Kevin Frenette Quartet (Kevin Frenette - guitar, James Rohr - fender rhodes, Curt Newton - drums, Ryan McGuire - bass) will perform at Third Life Studios (Open Sound Music Series), 33 Union Square (Somerville Avenue), Somerville, MA.

Boston area guitarist Kevin Frenette has performed throughout the Northeast USA making music that is inspired by both avant-garde jazz and contemporary improvisation. He studied guitar, composition, and music theory at UMASS-Dartmouth where he received a BA in Theory/Composition. He has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Tatsuya Nakatani, Jack Wright, Joe Giardullo, Pandelis Karayorgis, Daniel Levin, Andy McWain, Forbes Graham, Luther Gray, Jane Wang, James Rohr, Gordon Allen, Sarah Weaver, Harvey Sorgen, Brian Melick, Michael Snow, Dan DeChellis, Gwen Laster, Larry Packer, Martha Colby, Lori Freedman, David Gamper, Al Margolis, Ryan McGuire, Jeff Kimmel, Adam Dotson, Joe Moffett, Chris Vellieux, Ricardo Donoso, Jules Vasylenko, Jonathan LaMaster, Andrew Hickman, Eric Platz, Todd Keating and Gabe Cabral. In 2007, Fuller Street Music released Kevin’s first date as a leader: CONNECTIONS. That album featured Frenette with Tatsuya Nakatani on percussion, Andy McWain on piano and Todd Keating on bass.

“Kevin Frenette's CD Connections is a dazzling display of sympathetic interactions with truly spontaneous results. Frenette and company combine for a powerful force of open-minded creative energy." ---John Barron/JazzReview.com

James Rohr has been wrestling with the piano since the age of 5. Sometimes he tries to play all 88 keys at once, sometimes just a few. He began playing professionally at 14 at a BBQ joint in New Mexico where he played a piano for ribs. In the mid 1990's, James formed a piano trio with Nate Mcbride on bass, and Curt Newton on drums. Together they released three recordings that a few people in Europe and Canada heard. James has had the honor and privelige of playing with many of the great improvisors in the Boston/NYC area. Currently, James is interested in writing and performing songs with his band, the blue ribbons, which he describes as Ray Charles and Johnny Cash meet Captain Beefheart and Sun Ra.

Curt Newton coaxes whispers from drumsets and swing from old tin cans, weaving the jazz, rock, folk, and experimental music traditions together in the spirit of serious playfulness. Over the past two decades he's performed across the U.S., Canada and Europe and recorded over 20 CDs with some of contemporary music's leading figures including Ken Vandermark, Joe Morris, Nate McBride, Pandelis Karayorgis and Charlie Kohlhase. Curt studied drumset with Bob Gullotti and has a Master's degree in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory, neither of which bears any responsibility for his drumset arrangement of Lutoslawski's String Quartet.

Bassist and composer Ryan McGuire has performed with Luther Gray, Dave Gross, Greg Kelley, Kayo Dot, Ricardo Donoso, Raqib Hassan and the Interdimensional Science Research Orchestra, Forbes Graham and others, and has toured the U.S. and Canada on several occasions. Originally from Cape Cod, McGuire studied Performance at UMass Lowell and composition at the Berklee College of Music. He has also played on recordings released by Tzadik, Hydrahead, Robotic Empire, Sound Devastation, Semata, and Holy Roar Records. He currently performs with Ehnahre, the Epicureans, Dilettante, the Kevin Frenette 4, and the Calliope Quartet- and on occasion, plays solo.



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