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Life & Arts

Experimental jazz & indie

William Parker Quartet focuses on improvising music; 
Rx Bandits fuses reggae, jazz in musical set 

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
The Daily Cougar

If you love listening to energetic horns then you're in for a treat, as Houston plays host to two live acts from different yet equally entertaining sides of the jazz spectrum this week. 

William Parker, a prolific free jazz double bassist out of the Bronx, has been a dominant musician in the New York experimental jazz scene since the 1970s. While his solo performances take on a more relaxed and subtle feel, playing alongside other creative musicians usually brings out Parker's most vigorous work.

Chicago native Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, and horn masters Lewis Barnes and Rob Brown of New York will make up the remaining parts of the quartet. Witnessing the foursome perform as a single entity will be an experience you won't soon forget. 

Drake, one of the most sought after jazz percussionists in improvised music, is known for his ability to take African-American musical traditions and work them into trance-like cycles of rhythm and form. 

When performing free improvisation on alto saxophone, Brown has the ability to reveal the instrument's richest sounds and after being a prominent musician on New York's scene, master trumpeter Barnes has developed a superb command of the instrument. 

The William Parker Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Diverse Works, 1117 East Freeway.

Tickets are $13 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors, and free for anyone younger than 18. For more information, call (713) 928-5653 or go to www.namelesssound.org. 

Rx Bandits will stop in town as an opening act for Gym Class Heroes along with P.O.S. and K-OS. 

Despite starting out as a third-wave ska band in Seal Beach, Calif., in the early 1990s, Rx Bandits are known today as an independent rock band that mixes elements of reggae, jazz and rock. The five-member band exhibits a great deal of passion on stage. Even though the musicians perform with dramatically different sounds and dynamic the group manages to form one sound as they thrive off of each other's energy. 

Multi-instrumentalists Steven Borth II (saxophone and keyboards), and Christopher Sheets (trombone and percussion) will provide the band's jazzy undertones while Christopher Tsagakis will offer mad drumming skills. Bass guitarist Joseph Troy's melodic bass riffs will be the dominant foundation for all of the layers including lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Embree's resounding vocals and quirky guitar melodies. 

All of this makes up the band's diverse array of sounds. And if it isn't enough, Rx Bandits also have some interesting lyrics to boot. 

It's hard to imagine that the headlining act Gym Class Heroes will put on a show to trump the Rx Bandits. In any case, the show will start at 8 p.m. Thursday at Meridian, 1503 Chartres. Tickets, only costing $15, are already sold out. If you didn't manage to purchase yours in advance you can always beat up some kids outside the venue before the show for theirs. For more information, call (713) 225-1717. 

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