David Slusser: Stray Horns Play Sun Ra
David Slusser's little big-band play his arrangements of Sun Ra's early ground breaking jazz.
This week in May marks Sun Ra's birth in 1914, and his passing to other realms in 1993, so the
concert is a fitting celebration and tribute.
Band Members and Instrumentation: David Boyce -tenor sax;
Sheldon Brown -alto sax; Mara Fox -trombone; Greg German -drums,
Darren Johnston -trumpet; Joe McKinley -bass; Terry Rodriguez -piano;
David Slusser -soprano & bari saxes, electronics
Bio:
This is truly an all-star band, with several stellar leaders in its ranks. The leader of this aggregation is
David Slusser, a veteran of over 40 years in the Bay Area music scene. Still working his day job at Skywalker Ranch, he's had a long career in film sound working for George Lucas, Pixar, Francis Coppola, David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro, among others. His work with Lynch included co-composing musical pieces for two of his features. Slusser has also maintained a working relationship with New York composer John Zorn; performing, touring, and recording with him since the mid 80s, and contributing to his Arcana book series on music. Through Zorn he met vocalist Mike Patton, who included him in a trio with drummer Han Bennink at the 1996 Saafelden Jazz Festival in Austria, and a large ensemble at the 2010 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Zorn also introduced him to trumpeter Dave Douglas, in whose group he performed at Stanford in 2014. Locally,
David Slusser has left his musical imprint with his jazz group Rubber City and the Improv Rock group Pluto, both teaming him in tandem with the late Ralph Carney. A life long student of band arranging, Slusser won 2 prizes in the 1999 Julius Hemphill Composition Awards, including first prize for jazz orchestra. He has also composed for film documentaries and public radio.