"Live Show of the Month" - Performer Magazine
Northeast Performer May 2008
Reviewed by: Dana Forsythe
lowercase p / Goosepimp Orchestra
At the Lily Pad
Cambridge, MA
March 15, 2008
As has been the case since the Lily Pad opened up in their Inman Square location, loud shows like
tonight's tend to draw vocal criticism from the neighbors telling them to turn that racket down.
"Lets just meditate for five minutes," said Brandon Downs, bass player of lowercase p with dead
seriousness to the crowd.
Soon after getting the OK to start up again, lowercase p, including Gabriel Cruser on drums
and Phil Reese on keyboards, were at it again. Bringing back a slowly rising groove, the band managed
to work the music to a peak and finally unleashed it on the eager crowd.
lowercase p, a keyboard driven funk trio in the vein of the New Deal with a dash of Medeski,
Martin and Wood, hail from Lowell, where they've honed a hippie, dance friendly show, playing for
the multitudes of U-Mass students looking for a good time. Reese, donning a plastic Viking hat, huge
circular black glasses and a never ending smile, silently communed with his drummer and bass player
as they seamlessly jammed through songs like set staple "Mill City Songo," and the Heart cover
"Magic Man" (a crowd favorite.)
Behind a few keyboards and at least two Moog pedals, Reese appeared as a mad scientist
dropping in melodic chemical ingredients into a delightfully toxic brew. Rifling through a bounce
packed set, LP closed with a cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Aeroplane," setting the stage for
the Latin, funk bombast of the Goosepimp Orchestra.
After a year of shows and the release of their EP Hit It and Quit It, the GPO has honed
their act, milking every ounce of positive energy driving from their instruments and bashing the
audience over the head with it. Since they formed in 2004, the group has gone through many lineups,
but with the fairly recent additions of trombonist Josh Filgate and trumpeter John Albertele, their
musical punch is more potent. Calling out a count to "Palabra," Cantor's eyes lit up in anticipation,
as the horns blared jazz bombastic hits to start of the song.
Backed by Dave Pelletier's Latin bass groove, Bob Greel's percussion and the steady yet firm
drumming of Joe Calabrese, Goosepimp settled into a tight groove, moving the audience to swing
wildly to the music.
Behind the group's Latin, psychedelic funk are the masterminds of the GPO, longtime friends
Greel and Cantor, who traded lines back and forth throughout the night as if in a frantic rush to
tell each other a bent melody story.
Greel's Latin roots shone through as did his many years on the jazz circuit playing with
his father, while Cantor's past metal life, pushed through its way through via absurdist guitar licks.
Firing through a smaller set, songs like "(You're Never Too Young To Have Vietnam) Flashbacks",
"Obiatchuaries" and "Chenopods (Bong Rips Through Baghdad)" moved the crowd into a frantic sweat.
"Forinho Magico," a Cantor tune he penned while in Spain, killed. With a funky circus like
chorus and almost out of time verse, the song was a great example of how the GPO likes to keep it's
audience lively, smattering them with off kilter melodies, only to bring them back into the sweet
funky fray.
Like a hit of music to your brain, you don't know what you’re listening to until you're
dancing to it. By looking at the each of the band members, it was clear they were getting as much out
of the performance as anyone else in the room.
www.performermag.com/nep.livereviews.0805
"Performer Magazine CD Review"
Northeast Performer Feb 2008
Reviewed by: Sam Merrick
Chaos. Beauty. Loss of bodily control. The music of psychedelic electro-dance jazz trio,
known as lowercase p, evokes all of the above. Using their sharply crafted compositions as
vehicles for vast improvisation and musical experimentation, When Your Fingers Find The
Shapes, illustrates how this Lowell, Mass.-based trio has found the perfect balance between
"the loose" and "the structured." While the influences of bands such as Medeski, Martin, and
Wood, Aphex Twin, and Om Trio are unmistakable, lowercase p has their own tightly focused
agenda. This is a band that has done its homework. Phil Reese on keyboards, Brandon Downs
on bass, and Gabriel Cruser on drums merge elements of trance, prog-rock, dub, Latin, and
funk into a psychedelic groovescape.
Raw, funky beats and head-bouncing bass lines drive each song with rhythmic precision.
However, the trio's expansive sound can be accredited much to the keyboard work of Reese who,
from track to track, demonstrates complete command over his instrument. "3one8" is a perfect
example of Reese's musical multi-tasking, where the eerie B-3 sound vibes atop a frenetic
synthesizer melody.
The album's second track, "Scully," features a quirky synth lead supported by a funky
backbeat and its airy choruses make for effective transitions in and out of the improvisational
sections. "Metro" is divided between the beautiful trumpet leads by special guest Scott
Kaufman and dark, atmospheric four-on-the-floor dance grooves. All in all, each track off
of When Your Fingers Find The Shapes presents a different, unique glimpse into lowercase p's
sonic game-plan. It's a physically and mentally stimulating experience. (Self-released)
"when your fingers find the shapes CD review"
jazzreview.com
Reviewed by: Glenn Astarita
10-21-07
This New England-based trio merges a few retro '70s era prog-rock type innuendoes with jazz-rock,
house beats and other genres. But more importantly, they pronounce a unique group methodology
that activates an antidote for many of the roads previously traversed. Their order of magnitude
is wide-open, which is a good thing and is one of the prevalent traits inherent in the band's
chemistry. Structured, loose and at times off-kilter, this unit aims to prod the mind's eye via
a far-out and entertainingly appealing trip that somehow makes sense.
With Phil Reese's synths, silvery Hammond B-3 organ choruses and the rhythm section's
bustling percussion vamps, the band touches upon supercharged progressive-rock amid some
cleverly enacted diversions. On the piece titled "Scully," Reese's dark synth-organ vibes
ride atop a peppy backbeat, airy choruses and melodically tinged solos. Then with "Spider Song,"
the guest artist and saxophonist Jared Ambrose belts out a reverberating series of scrappy notes
to complement the band's quirky groove-building elements. And in other areas, the musicians
morph the acoustic-electric element with pumping metrics and wily movements. No doubt, good
things should be in store for this tightly-focused unit that proclaims a distinct game-plan.
It's one of those unanticipated surprises that offset the horde of humdrum albums that
seemingly flood the market these days. A superfine listening experience indeed…
"Lowell's own jazz-dance revolution is lowercase p"
The UMASS Lowell Connector
By Mandee Macchia, Connector Contributor
10-16-07
Formed in 2005 when keyboardist Phil Reese, electric bassist Brandon Downs, and drummer
Gabriel Cruser were asked to play at a small, hip restaurant in Downtown Lowell, lowercase p
embarked on what was to be the beginning of a jazz-dance revolution. They found quite a home in
this melting pot of a city, what with the burgeoning, supportive audience that has begun to
follow their every move. Having played and lived together for more than six years, the tree men
had collectively worked to create a genre that is still somewhat indescribable. lowercase p
has been called everything from Avant-Dance-Jazz to experimental electronic jazz, to
Lowell-Nova, their own classification of their unique sound. The funky dance vibe and solid drum
beat combined with the unusual, captivating sound accented by the experimental keyboardist
can adapt to fit a multitude of moods and atmospheres.
lowercase p has played all over New England, hitting states like Rhode Island, New York,
Vermont and Massachusetts, whilst maintaining their bi-weekly gig in Downtown Lowell at the
quaint Mexican restaurant, the Mambo Grill. They also flew across the world in April of 2007 to
be one of the headlining bands in Taiwan's Spring Scream music festival. After two years of
gigging consistently in Lowell, the band finally announced the coming of a long-awaited debut
album. In August of 2007 lowercase p, in conjunction with Timetone Productions, released a 9
song instrumental CD. One would not expect "when your fingers find the shapes", the band's
first professional recording/finished album, to look and sound so experienced and so clean.
After following lowercase p's movements throughout the Lowell community it's nice to
finally find their efforts come to fruition in album form. Even more so, it is amazing to
see the following that they have generated in the city. Their energetic, full body-and-mind
groove with the music that they create permeates into the crowd, grasping hips and begging them
to dance. Their effective intensity has begun to draw UMass Lowell students from campus, brining
them to Lowell's Downtown.
When they first began their Fridays at the Mambo Grill on Merrimack St. lowercase p was
received quite warmly. In the beginning, the crowd that the band drew to the small, cozy
restaurant mostly consisted of friends and musical colleagues that admired and loved the members
of the band. Being a small restaurant, lowercase p would set up near the windows facing the
street and play to coming-and-going customers who would listen to them as they enjoyed
burritos and quesadillas. Then people began to stay a while, ordering a beer or two and sometimes
even a margarita; remaining just long enough to properly soak up their spectacular sound.
Over time, word began to bleed into the university about the shows. Free and full of life, each
performance is one to remember. Almost instantly, friends began to tell friends, and music
major after music major made it to a biweekly ritual to catch lowercase p for their perfectly
timed two-hour gig. Mambo Grill, as small as it is, was now starting to get packed every
show lowercase p would play.
Last Friday was a fantastic culmination of all the networking and advertising the band
did over the summer and during the first days of the new fall semester. Soon after they began at
8:30 p.m., the room was packed with people, young and old. Most of the tables had been pushed
aside and half of the restaurant was devoted to dancing. Hot, loud, and powerful music pumped
through everyone in unison. As their first performance since summer ended and school began,
lowercase p definitely started with a bang. There are no words to effectively describe what
was seen and felt in downtown that night, but the air was pungent with their melodies and
ridden with the spirit of the students finally becoming a part of their university's historic
downtown.
"UPPERCASE ENERGY from lowercase p"
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Kelly, Sun Correspondent
10/11/2007
Instrumental music has never sounded this cool. The avant-jazz dance-trio known as lowercase p is sure to
transform your assumptions about music with no lyrics. The Dracut-based band has been jamming for around six years,
and bringing a refreshing sound to the ears of Merrimack Valley residents.
Gabriel Cruser on the drums, Brandon Downs as the electric bass player and Phil Reese, a master of the
keyboards, make up this eclectic group of mid-20-year-olds.
One listen to their debut album, when your fingers find the shapes, which dropped on Aug. 11, and pure
auditory bliss ensues. The nine tracks that can only be described as synchronized noise, (in the best possible way),
are likely to put you in a trance-like state. You can't quite put your finger on what you're hearing, but before you
know it, you're enraptured.
Not bad for a compilation that was contrived in the band's living room. "This album is a huge accomplishment
for us. It was very D.I.Y. in a sense that it was all recorded by us three, in our house with very limited space,"
says Cruser.
The band members are also adept at track producing -- they all studied sound recording at UMass Lowell.
"I'm in a constant state of trying to use what I learned, but also get back to the basics as a musician,
forget the rules, and just try to make music that people (including myself) will like," says Reese, who is working
towards a master's of music in sound recording.
Lowell natives are sure to be amused by the first track "Mill City Songo," a keyboard dominated, almost
psychedelic ode to the city that shaped them. Other notable tunes include "Spider Song" and "3one8," which sounds
like a trippy elongated introduction to a '60's classic rock song, but keeps you hooked.
A recent trip to Taiwan's Spring Scream Festival in April gave overseas fans a chance to see lowercase p
live, and gave the band a taste of the rock star life.
"It was an amazing experience. We got a lot of respect there, and international audiences appreciate music
artists in a different way. They just give off a very loving and intense vibe. It was very surreal," says Cruser.
But other performances pale in comparison to their bi-weekly Friday shows at Lowell's Mambo Grill.
"People feed off the energy that only the combination of this specific trio of individuals could create.
They can feel the love that we put into what we do at our live shows, and in turn, show us love by listening, dancing,
reacting," says Downs.
By now you're probably wondering how this unique band got its equally quirky name. Cruser has an answer that
will take anyone back to grade school.
"Remember when you were in elementary school and you practiced writing on that paper with dotted lines?
The most satisfying letter to write is a lowercase 'p'."
