"PUSHBUTTON PARFAIT" The Debut CD by The RAYMOND SCOTT ORCHESTRETTE Released by Evolver Records Order: Amazon.com "This seven-piece group finds new settings for the familiar melodies." --The New York Sun

THE ORCHESTRETTE brings Raymond Scott's
controlled lunacy into the 21st.century!

When producer and Scott authority Irwin Chusid formed the 7-piece RAYMOND SCOTT ORCHESTRETTE in 1999, his only stipulation to the musicians was: 'don't replicate the original Quintette.' The late control-freak composer might not approve, but the Orchestrette has performed radical reconstruction on his compositions.

Besides such animated favorites as "Powerhouse," "The Penguin," and "Twilight in Turkey," the Orchestrette repertoire includes lesser-known, non-cartoon works such as "Coming Down to Earth," "Naked City," and "A Street Corner in Paris." The Orchestrette also performs acoustic renditions of Scott's later electronic works -- such as Soothing Sounds for Baby's "Little Miss Echo" -- rarely heard artifacts the composer himself never performed outside the studio.

Their debut album, PUSHBUTTON PARFAIT, demonstrates both the imaginative nature of Scott's idiosyncratic compositions and the adventurous arrangements of the Orchestrette. The impishness and splashy colors of the originals remain, but these are all-new takes on an old master...

CD track listing: 01: Twilight in Turkey 02: Tobacco Auctioneer 03: Peter Tambourine 04: A Street Corner in Paris 05: Naked City 06: The Penguin 07: Little Miss Echo 08: Mountain High, Valley Low 09: Coming Down to Earth 10: Oil Gusher 11: The Sleepwalker Meets 11: the Huckleberry Duck in an 11: 18th Century Drawing Room 12: Powerhouse Order CD now:

The Orchestrette's seven members first performed Raymond Scott's music, with about 20 other performers, at tribute concerts at New York's BOTTOM LINE in 1996 and 1997. The band was organized as a septet in January 1999, playing at NYC's Jewish Museum and at Central Park opening for THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. In December 1999, they performed at the Animated Music Festival in BRUSSELS. In 2000 they opened at The Knitting Factory for MARC RIBOT, did a 2001 residency at Fez in New York City, and played at The Brooklyn Children's Museum. In 2002 they played at The Public Theatre Complex, and at Makor. And in 2003, they performed at The KENNEDY CENTER in Washington D.C., and four shows on the main stage at the 2003 MONTREAL International Jazz Festival (details here). In March 2004, the RSO regaled the citizens of ITALY with enthusiastically received shows in Milan, Padova, and Faenza, before returning home to present their most successful NYC date at MERKIN Concert Hall...

Performance repertoire includes:

Powerhouse
Naked City
The Penguin
Twilight in Turkey
Coming Down To Earth
Peter Tambourine
Little Miss Echo
Oil Gusher
The Sleepwalker
Siberian Sleighride
A Street Corner In Paris
The Girl With The Light Blue Hair
New Year's Eve in a Haunted House
Square Dance for Eight Egyptian Mummies
And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon
In An 18th Century Drawing Room
Tobacco Auctioneer
Huckleberry Duck
Yesterday's Ice Cubes
Blue, Blue, Blue, Blue, Blue
Mountain High Valley Low
Blue Velvet Waltz
Bassline Generator
B.C.1675
Autolite
Tia Juana

& more added all the time...

For bookings e-mail:
raymondscott@mindspring.com
.

WAYNE BARKER (piano, melodica, arrangements) also plays for Dame Edna Everage. A Little Curious (HBO); Check In With The Jet Set with Jamie MacKenzie; Chicago City Limits; Radio Active Theatre (WFMU, WKCR); lots of symphony pops arrangements; and The Wayne Barker Lounge Orchestra. His composition, "A Kiss Without Touching," for theremin, piano, and toy piano, was premiered in Moscow by world-renowned thereminist Lydia Kavina in 1999...

BRIAN DEWAN (electric zither, koto, piano, accordion, vocals, arrangements) has released two solo albums, Tells The Story (Bar/None, 1994), and The Operating Theatre (Instinct, 2001). He toured with David Byrne's orchestral production, The Forest, and performed original scores for the silent puppet and insect animation of Ladislaw Starewicz at Lincoln Center...

MICHAEL HASHIM (alto & soprano sax) has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Gatemouth Brown, Widespread Depression Orchestra and others. Mike was part of the first jazz ensemble to tour the Peoples' Republic of China (1992). He has released eight solo albums, including Green Up Time (2002), which showcased the music of Kurt Weill, and Multi-Colored Blue (1999), a Billy Strayhorn tribute which was nominated for British Jazz Album of the Year...

WILL HOLSHOUSER (accordion, arrangements) freelances in many styles and also composes. He plays with David Krakauer's Klezmer Madness and the band Brock Mumford. Will's own CD is on the Portuguese label Clean Feed. He has worked with Dave Douglas, Phillip Johnston, Andy Statman, Lenny Pickett, David Garland, and the Gotham Playboys. He has arranged for Ronnie Spector and for the Loser's Lounge. In 1990 he received a grant to study Cajun and Creole music in Louisiana...

GEORGE RUSH (upright bass) played with the Kustard Kings as a charter member of the Losers' Lounge series at Fez. Has played and/or recorded with Don Byron, David Johansen, Lloyd Cole, Pizzicato 5, Richard Davies, Ben E. King, Amy Rigby, Steve Bernstein's Sex Mob, and Philip Johnston...

ROB THOMAS (violin) occupies the violin chairs in The String Trio of New York and The Mahavishnu Project.  He toured and recorded extensively in the '90's with the Jazz Passengers. He also appears on recent recordings by Lee Konitz, Andy Summers and Marc Ribot. Freelancing in New York, he has performed with Max Roach, Tito Puente, Bobby Previte, and the Soldier String Quartet. Rob teaches jazz strings at Boston's Berklee College of Music (for more info see RobThomasViolin.com)...

CLEM WALDMANN (drums) plays in the bands The Kustard Kings, ui, Baby Steps, and The Blue Man Group, and in the family with Esme Frances Waldmann and Greta Nicholas.