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KRIS TINER - trumpet/flugelhorn/electronics
NOAH PHILLIPS - electric guitar/electronics
NATHAN HUBBARD - drumkit/percussion/electronics

The Unmentionables first assembled in April of 2005 as a more or less ad hoc improvisation group on the so.cal.sonic festival in Long Beach, CA, but the trio has evolved into an ongoing project incorporating experimental brass, guitar loops and effects, homemade percussion and hacked electronics with an uncannily synergistic brand of improvisational interplay. These three composer/improvisers are among a handful of young “new jazz” musicians on the West Coast who are leading and recording their own projects, expanding the roles and boundaries of their instruments and finding creative new ways to negotiate the music of the moment. Members of the group have worked with Wadada Leo Smith, Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, George Lewis, Alex Cline, Leroy Jenkins, and Gerry Hemingway, among many others.

"The Unmentionables precipitate can’t-fail avantism..."
–Greg Burk, LA WEEKLY

"I don't know if the Kris Tiner/Noah Phillips/Nathan Hubbard Trio (trumpet, electric guitar, and idiosyncratic drum set with a gaggle of metallic percussion) is to be a permanent unit (this was their first time playing together), but the best word I have to express my feeling during their two improvisations is delight. All three exhibited the most meticulous attention to detail in both the sounds they coaxed from their respective instruments and their part in the whole being created moment by moment. Their constant and frenetic alterations (the constant maneuverings of trumpet bell, the specific makeup of a distortion wash, the pressing and bowing of a splash pressed against the head and rim of a floor tom) were always playful scurries, no matter how unorthodox and jagged. I wouldn't need a wider range of diversity from these guys any more than I do from The Strokes."
-Greggory Moore, review of so.cal.sonic in Long Beach, CA

The Unmentionables: August, 2005
(Castor and Pollux 3" CD012) 2006
click for more info

Percussionist, composer, instrument builder NATHAN HUBBARD works in many different fields, but in general his work shows a decided interest in exploring the possibilities of sound and embracing the passing of time. This interest in sound can be seen in everything from his extended sound language as an improvisor to his homemade and found instruments. Musically his explorations range from solo improvisations through small group collaborations to large scale compositions for his twenty-six member large ensemble, Skeleton Key Orchestra. As a composer his works range from solo pieces to medium scale works for a variety of ensembles, works for tape, electronics and acoustics instruments, large works for orchestras, creative orchestras and traditional big bands as well as pieces involving text, voice and other mediums. In the last several years Hubbard has been more involved with musical situations incorporating acoustics, enviroments and field recordings. His current projects include solo performances, duo collaborations with Curtis Glatter, Alicia Mangan, Justin Grinnell and James Burton, the vibraphone/bass/drums trio Adrian Rollini Trio, the density trio Quibble, the quartets Return To One and Cosmologic, as well as "splinter groups" based around the large ensemble Nathan Hubbard Skeleton Key Orchestra. In addition to all this work, Hubbard has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Martin Blume, David Borgo, Vinny Golia, Phillip Greenlief, Rick Helzer, George Lewis, Garth Powell, Jim Ryan, Moe! Staiano, Bertram Turetzky, Phillip Wachsmann and Clay Walker. Hubbard is a member of the Trummerflora Collective.


Guitarist and composer NOAH PHILLIPS received some formal training at the USC School of Music and has been involved with new music on the West Coast since 1998. His current projects include a duo with drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt, a trio with trumpeter Kris Tiner and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, and Boxes Of Water - a quartet featuring original compositions by members Cory Wright, Aaron Kohen, Phillips and Eisenstadt. Phillips is a member of the Kreative Orchestra of Los Angeles (KOLA) and also performs with Nels and Alex Cline, G.E. Stinson, Stephen Flinn, and long time friend and collaborator Jeremy Drake. He is currently active in the Bay Area music scene while pursuing graduate studies at Mills College in Oakland.

 

KRIS TINER is active on the West Coast jazz and creative music scene as a trumpet player, composer, and improviser. His music has been described as "extraordinarily inventive" by Signal to Noise magazine, and Cadence magazine calls him "a really compelling voice." He has toured and performed at concert venues and festivals throughout North America and appears on over 30 recordings; his own projects have been released on the pfMENTUM, Nine Winds, and Evander Music labels. In addition to numerous interdisciplinary collaborations involving dance, poetry and spoken word, visual art, film, and animation he has recorded music for radio, television, and motion picture scores and his trumpet playing has been heard on MTV and Comedy Central. His primary musical projects apart from The Unmentionables include the Empty Cage Quartet - a collaborative new jazz ensemble that has been hailed in the jazz press as being "one of the most powerful and appealing jazz units currently active" (–All About Jazz), and TIN/BAG - a duo collaboration with New York guitarist Mike Baggetta which deals with a music that is spare, ethereal, and highly exploratory, "clearly cut from cloth that hasn't been designed yet..." (–Improvijazzation Nation). Kris is a regular member of both the Industrial Jazz Group and the Los Angeles Trumpet Quartet, and he has performed and/or recorded with groups led by Vinny Golia, Leroy Jenkins, Gerry Hemingway, Wadada Leo Smith, Kraig Grady, Jeff Kaiser, Harris Eisenstadt, G.E. Stinson, Lukas Ligeti, Phillip Greenlief, Michael Vlatkovich, Joe LaBarbera, Steuart Liebig, Bill Horvitz and Brad Dutz. Originally from Wasco, California, Kris holds an MFA in African-American Improvisational Music from California Institute of the Arts where he worked closely with Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Vinny Golia, Charlie Haden, and Edward Carroll. He has lectured on both music and visual art, and currently teaches and directs the jazz program at Bakersfield College.