Nov. 2011
Wow! Oct. 2011
was great for ULTRA WORLD X-TET.
We had the opportunity to perform at Chamber Music Day, presented by San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music at the de Young Museum in SF.
and...
we presented our own concert at Old First Church in San Francisco, with the supoort of the Zellerbach Family Foundation, San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music
and Old First Concerts.
Listen to a recent radio interview:
ULTRA WORLD X-TET on "Crosscurrents"
When Gary Schwantes first heard Chinese music, he was mesmerized with the sound of the traditional instruments and saw potential for fusing it with jazz. Out of that was born the Ultra World X-tet, which he formed with guzheng player Winnie Wong. They both spoke to KALW's Martina Castro about their music and upcoming concert for this installment of Bay Area Beats...
READ MORE and HEAR INTERVIEW
READ A REVIEW of the last ULTRA WORLD X-TET concert at Old First Church:
UWXT Examiner.com CONCERT REVIEW by Johnathon Bakan
On Friday October 21, The Old First Church (O1C) on Sacramento St. presented Ultra World X-Tet as part of its ongoing concert series.
To put it plainly Ultra World X-Tet is an extraordinary world class ensemble. Ultra World X-Tet combines jazz, world, classical and experimental styles in a pioneering mix of music and culture...
READ MORE
Oct 2011
ULTRA WORLD X-TET in concert.
Fri. October 21st
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415.474.1608
http://www.oldfirstconcerts.org/
This project is made possible in part by support from the Zellerbach Family Foundation
Sept. 2011
Great news! Ultra World X-tet has received a grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
Thanks to Zellerbach and SFFCM for their support!!
Summer/Fall 2011
We are pleased to announce that ULTRA WORLD X-TET is now an Affiliate of
San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music who is also our fiscal sponsor.
Support Ultra World X-tet's pioneering mix of music and culture. Find out more here
March 2011
ULTRAWORLD X-TET is on Facebook
ULTRA WORLD X-TET on Facebook
and...
HIP BONES is on Facebook
HIP BONES on Facebook
and...
NEW!!!
SEE VIDEOS AND PHOTOS IN THE GALLERY
FEB - MARCH 2011
For immediate release
New Hip Bones Dates!
Feb. 22-March 1, 2011
Hip Bones returns to the S.F. Bay Area for seven shows, beginning on Tuesday, February 22 at the Panama Hotel in San Rafael, and ending Tuesday, March 1 at Yoshi’s in San Francisco. See the complete list of Bay Area shows below.
...Bad long before The Bad Plus, Hip Bones has been called “renegade jazz,” “psychedelic funk,” and “monsters of the mash-up.” It has been written, “These gentlemen push the boundaries of jazz…and get away with it!”
Hip Bones’ music combines funk and dub-flavored original instrumentals, along with spirited psychedelic covers from such diverse sources as Jimi Hendrix, The O’Jays, Sting, and Freddie Hubbard. Hip Bones has released two CDs, Threedom and 4. They are working on a new release recorded in Nashville with Grammy-winning engineer/producer Bil Vorndick (Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Allison Krauss).
...A trio that plays more like a five-piece, Hip Bones gives jazz a good name, bringing new listeners into the fold each performance with their imagination, irreverence, tasty musical impressions and improvisations. “I’d always wanted to do an all-instrumental band. I think it gives the audience more of a chance to use their mind and heart and get out of it what they want,” says the band’s founder, drummer Robin Tolleson.
Tolleson and saxophonist/flutist/composer Gary Schwantes have been playing together in Hip Bones since 1998. Tolleson studied drums with Narada Michael Walden and has recorded with Gregory James, Instruments of Peace, The Secret B-Sides, and others. Schwantes studied with Anthony Braxton, and has played with Lou Harrison, Pam Tillis, Klezmania, and leads the genre-bending Ultra World X-tet. Bassist Shannon Hoover, from Greenville, SC, began playing with The Bones in 2008. Shannon has become well-known to music fans in the Southeast through gigs with Bobby Lee Rodgers, Yonrico Scott, Jeff Sipe and others.
Hip Bones in Concert Click here for more info
Tues. Feb. 22
Panama Hotel, 4 Bayview St., San Rafael, CA 7pm
Wed. Feb. 23
Mojito, 1337 Grant Ave., San Francisco, CA 9pm
Thurs. Feb. 24
Servino, 9 Main St., Tiburon, CA 7pm
Fri. Feb. 25
Private Party, San Francisco
Sat. Feb. 26
.Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 8pm
Sun. Feb. 27
Aqus Café, 189 -2nd St., Petaluma, CA 2pm
.....................(also) Caffe Divino, 37 Caledonia St., Sausalito, CA 7:30pm
Tues. Mar. 1
Yoshi’s, 1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 8pm
..with The Aaron Goldberg Trio featuring Eric Harland and Matt Penman
WINTER 2011
Hip Bones will do a West Coast tour this Feb22-March 1. Highlight will be a gig at Yoshi's SF
on Mar.1. Don't miss this!!!! Tour details here: Hip Bones Gigs
Go to Hip Bones MySpace for more
Mar. 1, Yoshi's San Francisco
Aaron Goldberg Trio featuring Eric Harland and Matt Penman. And Hip Bones returns to San Francisco's Historic Jazz District with Gary Schwantes on saxes and bamboo flutes, Shannon Hoover on bass and loops, Robin Tolleson on drums. It will be a great night of trios!
Gary Schwantes Trio has been doing a somewhat regular gig at Cafe Claude in SF. The sound is really coming together and it's a great line-up:
Dmitry Greenberg: Keyboards
Nick Underwood: Bass
Gary Schwantes: Saxes and Bamboo Flute
See pics here
Interstellar Jazz Trio had their "Launch" gig in Jan. at 111 Minna Gallery in SF.
The trio was featured at the Galactic 2011 bash.
Very cool, experimental groove textures.
Colin Douglas: Drums
Nick Underwood: Bass
Gary Schwantes: Saxes, Bamboo Flutes, Electronics
See pics here
SUMMER 2010
... PRESS RELEASE for Ultra World X-tet Concert July 30 in S.F.
Ultra World X-tet
Fri. July 30, 2010 - 8pm
Old First Church
1751 Sacramento St. (at Van Ness)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 474-1608
Discounted Parking Available
http://www.oldfirstconcerts.org
http://www.garyschwantes.com/uwxtet.htm
TICKETS
$17 General
$14 Seniors (65 and older)
$14 Full Time Students
Children 12 and under Free
Ultra World X-tet performs a joyful, exotic, soulful and elegant fusion of East and West for the 21st Century. This exciting event will feature world premiere performances of several new works. The X-tet includes Gary Schwantes, Saxophones and Bamboo Flutes: Weishan Liu, Guzheng (Chinese Zither): Winnie Wong, Guzheng (Chinese Zither): Raymond Froehlich, Drums and Percussion: Aaron Germain, Bass.
The Guzheng (23 string Chinese Zither) and Chinese Bamboo flutes bring a rich history of over 2000 years to the overall sound of the group which is modern and adventurous. The X-tet recently released their first CD, MOON AND LEGEND, a colorful blend of Jazz / World / Ambient / Funk / Classical textures. This is a fresh, new San Francisco sound. Check it out!
Press contact:
Gary Schwantes
garyspro@sbcglobal.net
********************
...Hip Bones
SUMMER FUNK STIMULUS TOUR DATES
Hip Bones, San Francisco’s renegade jazz-funk-dub trio, announces a 12-date, six state southeast US tour. The tour kicks off on Thursday, June 24 with a live in-studio broadcast on WNCW 88.7FM, and ends on July 4 in Asheville, NC.
The tour will feature Gary Schwantes on saxes, flutes and samples, Robin Tolleson on drums and percussion, and Shannon Hoover on basses and live loops.
SPRING 2010
...X-tet will unveil new material at Old first Concert July 30, 2010.
...Hip Bones will tour on the East Coast Summer 2010. Late June-Early July, Details later.
...Trip to Hong Kong and China: Visited Hong Kong and China with family in March/April.
Great trip. Here's a link to a short video from the trip:
HK China Trip 2010
************************************
FALL-WINTER 2009-2010
...Link to X-tet video from recent concert:
Ultra World X-tet Performs Ali Mountain
...Links to Animal Vegetable Television (the TV Show)
excerpts from original live broadcasts:
Land of the Pink Pterodactyl
The Watcher
****************************************
SUMMER 2009
...Pics from X-tet gigs:
...Pics from Hip Bones gigs:
****************************************
May 2, 2009
MOON AND LEGEND now available on iTunes
Buy on iTunes here...
*****************************************
April 29, 2009
Here's a pic from the Chinese Culture Center Concert
April 24, 2009
The new ULTRA WORLD X-TET album, MOON AND LEGEND is now available for purchase (CD and mp3) at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/gsuwxtet
http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumID=ALB000028574
Enjoy the music! And after you order your CD or MP3s, don't forget to post a review
on the CD Baby website. Great reviews will help us support our evolving sound, promote more sales and plan projects for the future. Below, there's a link to our MySpace site where you'll find Music, Pics and more info. By all means, feel free to add us as a friend on MySpace if you haven't already.
Ultra World X-tet My Space
www.myspace.com/ultraworldxtet
All the best ...
Thanks,
Gary
April 14, 2009
The Ultra World X-tet performance at the Chinese Culture Center was a blast!
We got a tremendous response and sold a lot of CDs. It was really cool to get such
a genuine show of support and enthusiasm from this crowd at this historic venue.
We were psyched! Many thanks to the SF Guzheng Music Society for producing
the concert and allowing us to be part of it.
April 8, 2009
New Album!!!
Ultra World X-tet will release our debut album "Moon and Legend" on April 11, 2009. Advance copies will be on sale that day when the group performs at the S.F.Guzheng Music Society 27th Annual Concert April 11, 2:00pm at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny Street, Third Floor, San Francisco, California 94108.
The album was recorded at S.F. Soundworks and Rocky Outcrop Studios in S.F. and was produced and arranged by Gary Schwantes who also plays Saxophones, Guitar, Keyboards and Bamboo Flute. Additional magic is added by reknowned Guzheng virtuoso Weishan Liu, S.F. Symphony Percussionist Ray Froehlich and L.A. Session Veteran David Keif on Bass, as well as the Ultra-talented and in-demand Guzheng artist Winnie Wong. This music is truly spellbinding. It defines a new San Francisco sound. A mix of Jazz, Psychedelic, Chinese, Funk, Blues, Middle Eastern and Ambient textures. Moon and Legend was Mixed by Justin Lieberman and Mastered by Ken Lee for Giespro Records. Cover artwork is by Antar Irvin. The album will soon be available through many outlets. First up will be CD Baby and various Digital Downloads... with more following soon after. It can also be ordered directly through this website by clicking the "Contact" link . Send me an e-mail, I'll hook you up.
Visit Ultra World X-tet My Space to hear samples...
www.myspace.com/ultraworldxtet
And here's a link to S.F.Guzheng Music Society with the Concert info:
www.guzheng.org/
Oct 2008
Hip Bones will tour the Southeast in Oct. The band will perform in four states including
cities like Asheville NC, Savannah GA, Greenville SC, Knoxville TN and others...Animal Vegetable Television performed at the annual Skronkathon Experimetnal Music event in Oakland recently. An mp3 of this performance has been posted to the AVT My Space site...Work on the Ultra World X-tet CD has been progressing at Fantasy Studios and should be completed soon...I have been playing a lot of Klezmer Music lately with Klezmania, a fantastic modern Klezmer outfit...Have enjoyed teaching bamboo flute lately at Laney College in Oakland.ve enj
More to come...
July 2008
Ultra World X-tet and Animal Vegetable Television have NEW My
Space sites.
Please visit, listen, add, comment, etc.
Ultra
World X-tet My Space
and
Animal
Vegetable Television My Space
H ip Bones will perform in the SF Bay Area July 22, 23.
Tues.
July 22, 9:45pm
Hip Bones
Boom Boom Room
1601 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, California
94115
Cost : $5
www.boomboomblues.com/
Wed..
July 23, 8::00pm
Hip
Bones
Jupiter
2181 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California
94704
Cost : free
http://www.jupiterbeer.com/jupiter/
The X-tet is at Cafe Claude........
Fri. July 25, 7:30pm
Ultra World X-tet
Cafe Claude
7 Claude Lane, San Francisco
www.cafeclaude.com
Weishan Liu-Guzheng
Gary Schwantes-Sax, Bamboo Flutes, Electric Guitar
Doug Ebert- Bass
Dominic Cabrera-Percussion
June 2008
Animal Vegetable Television
had a great performance at the Luggage Store Gallery New Music
Series. We are working out our sound AND IT'S PRETTY DANGEROUS.
Sharing the bill was "Unknown White Male" aka Ferrara
Brain Pan of "Forms of Things Unknown" who performed
a set on multiple reed instruments.
Animal Vegetable Television takes
it's name from a TV show I produced a while back on Public Access
TV in SF. It was a wild psychedelic live show with live music,
call-ins and amazing imagery. We used video as if it was oil paint
and the screen as a canvas. You don't get that stuff with computers.
The show was ambitious...ranging from the totally abstract to
experiments with many genres including, soap opera, computer role
playing games, political commentary and tv game show. I am currently
digitizing and editing alot of this footage for use on the web
and hope to collaborate with video artists in our live shows.
Will start the Mixing process
for the new Ultra World X-tet CD this month.
Had fun performing at the
opening festivities for the Contemporary Jewish Museum (with Klezmania).
North Carolina based Hip Bones
might do a quick West Coast run in July.
May 2008
Looking forward to the first gig with Animal Vegetable Television
this month. This is an experimental music project and we will
have a performance at the Luggage Store Gallery New Music Series
May 15.
Regular gigs at Cafe Claude
have really developed the Sound of Ultra World X-tet.
Exciting new additions to the group are
Dominic Cabrera on Percussion and Doug Ebert on Bass.
The "Sounds of China" Concert at Herbst Theater May
5 was very successful, Sold out house and great nusic. I had the
honor of performing a piece on Ba,mboo Flute with Soprano Yang
Hua in a small ensemble. Winnie Wong and Weishan also performed.
Have been playing Klezmer Music again with Klezmania. Great musicians
and very high energy.
Nov. 2007
Hip Bones tour was a blast.
Highlights included shows with Col Bruce Hampton
at Stone Fest in Greenville S.C., and with EOTO at the Pour House
in Charleston S.C.
The tour ended in Nashville with a gig at Windows on the Cumberland
and a day of recording at the "Moose Lodge" with Bil
Vorndick.
October 2007
Hip Bones will do a South East Tour Oct. 12-23.
Click
here for Tour Dates
Highlights will be shows at the Pour House
in Charleston (with EOTO), Twins Jazz in D.C., and Windows on
the Cumberland in Nashville. The band will record at a studio
in Nashville on the day after their gig.
May 2007
May 2007
-Hip Bones will do a quick West Coast tour
May 21-25.
The recent East Coast tour was a blast leaving
many newly converted Bone Heads to spread the word. The West Coast
dates will feature 3 different Bassists:
David Keif, Jonathan Herrera and Aaron Shaul.
April 2007
-Ultra World X-tet was invited to perform as part of the Middle
Eastern Treasures concert produced by Mary Ellen Donald. The performance
was received with wild enthusiasm
and sparked much interest in the group's first CD which is in
the works.
-Hip Bones embarked on an East Coast tour that covered 4 states.
Highlights included sharing the stage
with Blueground Undergrass at the Pour House in Charleston, SC
and a return engagement at Twins Jazz in Washington D.C.
-Feb. 2007:
Ultra World X-tet performed for San Francisco Symphony
Chinese New Year Celebration.
-Jan 2007: New Services
added!
High Quality Voice/Dialogue Recording
and Fast/Accurate/Affordable Voice Transcriptions. More
Info
October 2006
-The X-tet will be in the Studio at the end of October to lay
down tracks for a new CD.
-Hip Bones recently completed a very successful East Coast tour
which included two live radio performances for WNCW 88.7 FM in
North Carolina. The latest CD "Hip Bones 4" is receiving
Radio Play on both coasts and was the number 2 seller at Horizon
Records in Greenville, South Carolina for the month of September,
2006.
Sept. 2006
On
Aug 25, 2006, Hip Bones did a live-in-studio radio performance
for WNCW 88.7 FM in North Carolina. The next day the band performed
at Horizon Records in Greenville, SC. This show was recorded and
also broadcast on WNCW. WNCW has been playing several tracks from
the latest CD "Hip Bones 4". Hip Bones 4 is receiving
Radio Play on both coasts and is the number 2 seller at Horizon
Records for the month of September, 2006.
Summer 2006
-Hip Bones will be doing an East-West Coast tour during Aug - Sept
, 2006. For more info visit the gigs page on this site and
www.hipbones.net
and
www.myspace.com/hipbones4
-The X-tet is working on a CD project.
Basic tracks for 5 tunes have been recorded.
-The latest X-tet lineup features Weishan
Liu (Gu Zheng) , Jie Ma (Pipa) , and Percussionist Ray Froehlich as
well as ( at different times) Bassists Andrew Currier , and
David Keif, and Percussionist Fasica Alemayexa. Of course
Gary is on Sax, Bamboo Flutes and Electric guitar.
-Hip Bones CD "4" was recently
released and is receiving Radio Play in North Carolina.
Digital distribution with itunes, etc. is currently being set
up.
Spring 2006
-Hip Bones will tour on both East
and West Coasts in March and early April 2006.
-Hip Bones new CD "4" is
set for release in March 2006. The CD features 5 of Gary's
Compositions.
Nov 2005
-Featured with the Xtet for gigs
in Dec. 2005 and Jan. 2006 will be Gu-Zheng virtuoso
Wieshan Liu. The Gu-Zheng is the 21 (sometimes 25) string Chinese
zither widely used in Chinese traditional music.
Sept 2005
-Fisher Price has just released 3 products featuring Gary's music
and sound effects. They are: "Teen Titans", "Jimmy
Neutron in Space" and "Alphabet Forest". All three
are for the Color Pixter platform. Gary composed all the music,
and created and implemented the instrurment sets burned into ROM
in each product.
Spring 2005
-Latest Hip Bones tour dates. Go to www.hipbones.net
for the latest tour schedule.
-Gary has finished two pre-recorded pieces created especially
for Dimensions Dance Theater season concert w/Linda Tillery and
the Cultural Heritage Choir. Choreography by Deborah Vaughan.
Saturday, May 7, 8pm
Calvin Simmons Theater in Oakland
www.dimensionsdance.com
-China Spirit Ensemble and the Gary Schwantes Xtet will perform
in a joint Concert sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board Saturday
April 2, 12noon-2pm... Winnie Wong-Guzheng, Hou Wei-Chinese Wind
Instruments, Ray Froehlich-Drums, Matt Thibeault-Bass, Gary Schwantes
Sax...Union Square, Festival Main Stage, downtown San Francisco.
Fall 2004
-Popular Jazz-Funk trio Hip Bones has been busy touring and recording
tracks for their new CD at Bellboy Studios in Richmond. The Bones
recorded some of Gary's tunes, some covers and some completely
spontaneous creations. Another set of sessions is slated soon
in North Carolina. Hip Bones is Gary on Sax and Bamboo Flutes,
Drummer Robin Tolleson, and Bassist Dan Andrews (West Coast) and
Dustin Hofsess (East Coast). Visit
www.hipbones.net for more info.
- Gary recently completed several projects for Fisher-Price/Mattel
including composing music and technical implementation for two
multimedia products featuring characters from popular TV shows
which are slated for release in 2005. Other products from FP currently
in release that feature Gary's music-Girls Team
Van, The Victorian House, The Pony Stable.
-The Gary Schwantes Xtet has been doing
a regular monthly gig at Cafe Claude in downtown S.F. Check their
website www.cafeclaude.com
for date and time. The group features top-notch local musicians
like SF symphony percussionist Ray Froehlich, Bassists Matt Thibeault,
Ariane Cap and Sascha Jacobsen, and Chinese Zither artist Winnie
Wong.
-Gary is close to finishing the soundtrack
for American Mutant a film by Marc Olmsted, with appearances by
William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, and Allen Ginsberg
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