* En anglais uniquement
Labeling
King Chubby's freewheeling music with a genre is difficult and maybe even unfair, but think of avant-garde jazz's spirit being raised in a jam band household with a dub soundtrack and you've got part of the picture. The "ambient overdrive" group came together in New York City and shares some the city's "downtown" or "loft" aesthetic, but
King Chubby comes off as the freewheeling, fun project of these musicians when looking at their "academic" and perhaps "difficult" backgrounds. Flutist
Robert Dick, keyboardist Ed Bialek, bassist
Mark Egan, drummer Michael D'Agostino, and multi-instrumentalist Will Ryan had gigs with
Steve Lacy,
John Zorn,
Yoko Ono, the Soldier String Quartet, and
Pat Metheny in their collective background, but folks like
Third World,
Boz Scaggs, and
Skid Row also figure in their past. The first
King Chubby appearance can be traced back to 1999 and Bialek and Ryan's use of the name for the album they did with
Mitch Ryder, Monkey Island.
Dick joined the duo in 2000 and recording took place sporadically through 2002. The group's 2002 debut, Other Times, was pulled put together from these sessions and released on their own
King Chubby label.
Egan and D'Agostino were added to the band in 2003 and appeared on 2004's
King Chubby Is, released by Universal Latino. ~ David Jeffries