ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO - 25th September

DMEPromotions

DME Presents

ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO
https://www.facebook.com/alexskolnick
http://www.alexskolnick.com/

Button Factory, Temple Bar
25th September 2013
7pm

€20 from www.ticketmaster.ie & outlets nationwide, www.tickets.ie, Sound Cellar & Into The Void Records

www.dme-promotions.com

"I'm very excited to be making a trip to the UK and Europe this coming September with my improvisational group, Alex Skolnick Trio. Our last album, Veritas, received some of the the best reviews of our careers. Despite that, it has been difficult to tour as much as we'd like, partially due to scheduling reasons (as some of you know, I've been busy touring with this group called Testament), economic challenges within the music industry, an occasional lack of acceptance by promoters that a guitarist best known for metal can wear a very different musical hat and the sudden departure of our management following Veritas's release. Thankfully, we have new management in place and are working more on taking advantage of the scheduling gaps to do more AST tours, as well as working on new music. We eagerly look forward to bringing the experience of AST live to our friends in the UK/IRE and Europe this September."

The Alex Skolnick Trio (AST) blends the elegance and sophistication of jazz with the conviction of rock. Fans of the group include international superstars Rodrigo & Gabriella, who chose the trio as their support act on tours throughout the US and Europe in 2010 (and recruited Alex as a guest on their hit album 11/11), Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, who joined the band for an impromptu jam at Radio City Music Hall. The trio’s latest record, Veritas, reached the Top Ten of the iTunes jazz charts, nestled in between Miles Davis and Esperanza Spalding, and is released via the highly respected jazz label, Palmetto Records. But this new voice of jazz guitar has sprung forth from somewhere most unexpected: thrash metal.

Alex Skolnick, born in 1968, grew up in Berkeley, California. At age nine, a fascination with the rock group Kiss led to a desire to learn guitar. At age sixteen, Alex tried out for a local band called Legacy. Shortly after graduating from high school, he found himself recording his first album with the group, who by this time had changed their name to Testament. What followed were five albums and countless tours with, among others, Megadeth, Slayer, Judas Priest, and White Zombie. Alex received critical acclaim for his lead guitar work, which had been inspired by heroes such as Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, ranking high in many guitar magazine polls, often as ‘Best Thrash Guitarist’ and ‘Most Underrated Guitarist.’ In 1988, while working on the second Testament album, nineteen year old Alex happened to capture one of Miles Davis’ guitar driven electric bands on television. This inspired an intense study of jazz, leading to, his eventual relocating to New York City, where he earned a BfA from New School University’s jazz program (class of 2001).

It was at the New School where Alex Skolnick Trio was born. The original formation of AST began when Matt meet Alex in 2001 as music students, while both were pursuing degrees in Jazz. In Sep 2003, Nathan was brought in to replace the departing John Davis, who wanted to focus exclusively on playing indie rock music. As Matt grew up with Nathan in Pittsburgh and he knew that Nathan was a killer jazz player (sideman to Jazz notables Maynard Ferguson, Maria Maldaur, and others), he made sure that Nathan was the top priority for the Trio in solidifying the lineup. Since their debut CD, AST has had an entire Jazz notes column in Billboard, been honored with 4 ½ stars by Downbeat, reviewed by JazzTimes, Jazziz and The Village Voice, charted on the JazzWeek radio charts, performed at such notable music industry conferences as CMJ and SXSW, and have toured in the United States, Canada, Europe, the UK and New Zealand.

As pioneers of a harder hitting alternative form of straight up Jazz, AST bends genre and form of seemingly disparate bebop jazz standards and originals with a highly cerebral balls-out take on arena hard rock and metal staples reconceived from the jazz harmonic perspective. Comfortable in blurring the stylings of Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Pat Martino with Black Sabbath and Rush.

Alex Skolnick (guitar), Matt Zebroski (drums), Nathan Peck (acoustic standup bass) are stellar virtuoso artists who live for the thrill of playing challenging music in front of their fans.