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SLUGish ENSEMBLE
An Eight out of Nine

Release date: 10/5/2018

SLUGish Ensemble’s debut album, An Eight Out Of Nine finds leader Steven Lugerner revisiting a selection of “go-to” nostalgic recordings by many of his favorite artists, and exploring a “non-jazz” book of repertoire in a completely instrumental, jazz-rooted ensemble. Lugerner borrowed a compositional technique from Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, where one re-creates a song from memory, after a long span of time without listening to it as a crutch. This is the underpinning of An Eight Out Of Nine, in which Lugerner returned to the same question over and over: “What does it mean to create and compose something that’s hummable, that could get stuck in your ear and force you to sit with it, even against your will at times?” An Eight Out Of Nine was recorded in three phases. In May 2017, bassist Todd Sickafoose (who also co-produced the album), drummer Allison Miller (who performed in the inaugural performances of SLUGish in 2015), and pianist Carmen Staaf joined Lugerner at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA to record the foundational layer of the music. For the second phase, Lugerner isolated himself in his family’s cabin in Arnold, CA, and recorded all the woodwind overdubs, including bass clarinet, flute, and saxophones. Phase three invited regular collaborators of Lugerner’s for additional overdubs: trombonist Danny Lubin-Laden (Monophonics, Brass Magic), trumpeter Max Miller-Loran (Invisible Inc., Watsky, Brass Magic), vibraphonist Mark Clifford (Dirty Snacks Ensemble), cellist Crystal Pascucci, guitarist Justin Rock (Bastet, Never Weather), and tenor saxophonist Daniel Rotem (Herbie Hancock, Usher).

Steven Lugerner - Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute
Carmen Staaf - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer
Todd Sickafoose - Acoustic Bass
Allison Miller - Drumset
Justin Rock - Electric and Acoustic Guitar
Danny Lubin-Laden - Trombone
Max Miller-Loran - Trumpet
Mark Clifford - Vibraphone
Crystal Pascucci - Cello
Daniel Rotem - Tenor Saxophone (soloist on Be Brave)

Produced by Todd Sickafoose & Steven Lugerner
Recorded 5/8/2017 by Adam Munoz @ Fantasy Studios (Berkeley, CA)
Mixed by Todd Sickafoose
Mastered by Myles Boisen

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