The New Standards
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In 2004, John Munson spied Chan Poling at a Dan Hicks's show. “I never would have figured you for a Dan Hicks fan, Chan,” began their conversation. The evening ended much later with the two sitting at a piano exploring more of their unexpectedly rich common musical ground; favorite standards, Randy Newman, Kurt Weill, Curtis Mayfield--their two minds a virtual songbook. How many groups have their origins in the simple phrase, “We ought to do this again sometime?” An invitation to Steve Roehm to join them for a rehearsal one day and The New Standards line up was complete.
One year later, in the fall of 2005, and the fellows have completed their first CD. The song selections span the twentieth century. Each song must be someone’s favorite and each arrangement must bring something new to the song. With Dan Wilson, John’s old partner in Semisonic,producing, the recording is big and pop while still preserving a soulful, jazzy intelligence. The emphasis is on developing beautiful arrangements, but there is still room for Steve and Chan to go off, soloing madly.
In an age of digital overkill, The New Standards keep the instrumentation simple. Poling on piano, Roehm on vibraphone and Munson on double bass. Chan and John split the singing. If that’s not enough, a shaker here, a footstomp there and it’s cooked. Simple, elegant, illuminating.
The record was cut live over two weekends. Including vocals. There are mistakes. There are transcendent moments. There is barebones intensity and scrap. We take our music straight.
Members
Chan Poling
John Munson
Steve Roehm
Discography
The New Standards, released October 2005
Audio
Related Web sites
http://www.thenewstandards.com
Related groups
Electropolis
Semisonic
The Suburbs
Trip Shakespeare
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