Evento

Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series presents A.C.E.

Join us as we welcome these great jazz artists to South Bend, from New Orleans. "Where else can you find a conservatory trained, world-class bassist (acoustic, electric) who trained with Jaco, a pedal steel artist who has written his own ticket through and around the national jazz/pop scene, and a tasteful drummer all playing like there was no tomorrow... THIS IS NEW ORLEANS 'FUSION' AT IT'S GREATEST" --- Best of New Orleans.com

Dave Easley- Pedal Steel Guitar
David Anderson - Bass
Tom Chute - Drums

The group known as Anderson, Chute, Easley (A.C.E.) perform original music of many genres including free jazz, funk, bop, minimalist and many wonderfully unique approaches to dynamics and expression.

Dave Easley
"Using the pedal steel guitar in jazz makes audiences hear the music in a new way.... Easley, however, uses pedal steel guitar as a lead instrument....He's also brilliant. He reminds me of John Coltrane on the pedal steel (Stephen Merriman).That's high praise, but Merriman says it's warranted because Easley -- like Trane -- transformed the way his instrument's used." -Howard Dukes, South Bend Tribune.

Dave Easley is a virtuoso pedal steel guitar player who is an accomplished performing and recording jazz artist, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dave also writes, plays guitar, and sings. His five-piece band, Heartifacts, as quoted by Relix Magazine, is "one of the best, and most refreshing 'unknown' bands I've heard in a long, long time." The Memphis based literary journal, Beatlicks, stated "Dave Easley, is an unassuming prodigy. His endless vocabulary of rock, blues, psychedelic, and jazz licks make him one of the most familiar players on the New Orleans music scene, where he is a runnin' partner of Coco Robicheaux. He's also a member of bassist James Singleton's creative jazz powerhouse, 3 Now 4. Easley is gifted with one of the great inexhaustible musical imaginations in this city." (quote by Dennis Formento). Dave has performed and recorded with 3 Now 4 on Time Ebbing, Book of Spells, and 3 Now 4. Dave has also performed and recorded with the Brian Blade Fellowship (recorded under Daniel Lanois and performed a duet with Joni Mitchell), and Shannon McNally.

A few more of the people Dave has had the honor of performing onstage or in the studio with, are George Porter and Ike Stubblefield (Ruthie Foster's new as yet unreleased cd produced by John Chelew), Dave Liebman, Kenny Garret, Bill Kreutzman, Howard Levy, Charlie Byrd, Seamus Blake, world renowned sarod player, Ashish Khan, sacred steelers, the Cambell Brothers, members of the String Cheese Incident, the Grey Boy Allstars and Tiny Universe, jazz violin virtuoso, George Mason, Raymond Weber, Tony Hall, Cyril Neville, and Dr. John.

David Anderson
A prolific electric upright bassist, Anderson loves playing with pedal steel guitarist, David Easley. Anderson also has played with Algorhythm Method, and SOFA KING BIG SOUL, bands that fuse many different styles including hard rock, funk, blues, jazz, and New Orleans R&B. David Anderson is also principle bassist with the symphony.

Anderson has jammed with The Radiators, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Roy Pope, Darryl Brown, and many other great New Orleans musicians including a killer performance with guitarist Brian Stoltz of the Funky Meters as a main highlight of the French Quarter Festival 2002.

In 1984-85, Anderson played for and took lessons with the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius in New York, who firmly encouraged the idea of being able to cross over between classical and jazz.

Tom Chute
Drummer Tom Chute has been living and playing in New Orleans for almost 12 years. After schooling for percussion and ethnomusicology at the University of Iowa, he moved to New Orleans to more closely study the indigenous forms of music. He is blessed and proud to be a homeowner in the New Orleans Musician's Village. A versatile rhythmatist, he has played with a wide variety of musical projects ranging from traditional to avant garde.