BeepHonk - The Windup Released on Clean Feed Records

Hey now, this is something that I’m really excited to have out in the world! Friday July 13, 2018 was the official release date of BeepHonk - The Windup on Portuguese label Clean Feed Records. BeepHonk is a long-standing band based in Baltimore comprised of Dave Ballou - trumpet, Anthony Pirog - guitar, myself on bass, and Mike Kuhl - drums. I am very proud of this project and the music we created for it. We started as a one-off band through the Out of Your Head Collective at the Windup Space, and continued playing as a result of that performance. This album was recorded live back at the Windup Space in 2017, and I think it is a really special document. I have copies for sale here. You can also get them directly from Clean Feed at this link. 

Here is the write-up on their website if you'd like a wee bit more background info on the record. Watch out for tour dates coming soon! 

The title of this debut album from the band BeepHonk refers to the place where it all started in 2011: the Windup Space, in Baltimore. There, bassist Adam Hopkins organized weekly concerts through the Out Of Your Head Collective, which presented performances of improvisers in one-time-only combinations. Most never performed as a band again, but one remained active to this day, albeit in intervals due to the filled agendas of their members. Continuing thereafter as BeepHonk, Hopkins, guitarist Anthony Pirog (The Messthetics) and drummer Mike Kuhl assembled themselves around the trumpeter and composer Dave Ballou (Solo Trumpet, Clean Feed 2015), known for his appearances in both mainstream and creative jazz. They attempted a studio album, only to discover that the improvisations so central to the project were simultaneously more loose and focused in front of an audience. As a result, in 2017 they returned to The Windup Space to record its namesake album live. This is the happy result – a magnificent document of the virtues of collective interplay and creative score reading. There are some recognizable factors, like the way a simple line introduced by Ballou organizes everything, reminiscent of Steve Lacy, and Pirog’s use of delays and loops. The rest is very much their own thing, generally with short tunes beginning, developing and ending in a very natural way, without a single gram of fat.