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THE BILLIES: Jessica Lurie: Alto & Tenor Sax Amy Denio: Alto Sax Sue Orfield: Tenor Sax Tobi Stone: Baritone Sax Elizabeth Pupo-Walker: Percussion The BILLIES are an all-female sax quartet with percussion, based in Seattle. This group is a recent reformation of the internationally renowned Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet (BTMSQ). The group was started in 1990, and chose its name to pay tribute to big band saxophonist and pianist Billy Tipton, following the postmortem revelation that Tipton was actually a woman who lived as a man for more than 50 years. Many believe that this allowed Tipton to pursue a career in the male-dominated world of jazz. Not to be bound by convention, the Tiptons similarly do their own thing. All of the members share in composing and arranging. With a repertoire that ranges from New Orleans jump groove to hip hop, punk to East European, klezmer and beyond, BTMSQ creates some of the wildest sounds ever to come out of a sax quartet. Live performances are not soon forgotten in light of the high-energy interaction between members. As BTMSQ they have received grants to travel to Tallinn, Estonia, to collaborate and record with Ne Zhdali; to compose music for sax quartet and three Metro buses; to perform and collaborate with Russian musicians at the Goodwill Arts Festival in Seattle, and to research, arrange and perform music by women instrumentalists in jazz. They work closely with the Pat Graney Dance Company, arranging, performing, and moving to the music in an evening of work entitled "Saxhouse." They have collaborated with Wayne Horvitz and were chosen by Robin Holcomb to perform her newest composition for a sax quartet. They have shared the stage with the likes of Oliver Lake, Zap Mama, Richard Thompson and Iva Bittova and have toured with the Indigo Girls. BTMSQ has toured Europe eight times, playing to sold-out houses, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, the MIMI Festival in Arles, France, Horfest in Austria and Klinkende Munt Music Festival in Brussels. They have also been featured at the du Maurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver, BC, 1994 Gay Games in New York City, the Michigan Women's Music Festival, Bumbershoot Music Festival in Seattle, and performed concerts all over the US and Canada. The Tiptons have facilitated workshops in group composition and improvisation at the Cantiere Festival in Montepulciano, Italy, in Stainach, Austria, and at Alverno Presents, Milwaukee's National Performance Network site. They have been highlighted on VH1, and their video "Big Beat," produced by San Francisco filmmaker Tom Draudt, has aired on Black Entertainment Television. The quartet was also a featured part of an NPR Weekend Edition piece on women in jazz, produced by Dean Olsher. BIOS: A Seattle bred composer and woodwinder, Jessica Lurie performs and records worldwide with the bass, sax, and drums trio Living Daylights, the all-women sax and percussion quartet The Billies (formerly The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet), her own internationally based band The Jessica Lurie Ensemble (which perfoms in trio, quartet or quintet) and the New York based Balkan band Sheqer. She has worked with national artists such as Bill Frisell, Danijel Zezelj & Petikat, Amy Denio, Ellen Fullman, Pat Graney Dance Company, Scott Amendola, Eyvind Kang, Leo Neocentell, Booker T. Jones, Sleater Kinney, and Wayne Horvitz. Jessica has also shared the stage with The Indigo Girls, the Berkeley Symphony, Steven Berstein & Sex Mob, Charlie Hunter, Maceo Parker, Paul McCandless, Fareed Haque, and Robert Walter. Her projects have recieved grants from the Seattle, King County and Washington State Arts Commisions, Arts Link Artist Trust, The Soros Foundation, Middletown Connecticut Arts Commission, Sarteano, Zagreb, and the Croatian International Film Festival, and she has led workshops internationally on improvisation and composition. With visual artist Danijel Zezelj she co-created 7 multi-media performances, presented in Italy, Croatia, and the United States. She has released 16 CDs altogether to date, solo or in collaboration with others and is currently working on a new vocal CD. Bessie Award-winning Amy Denio is a composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (alto sax, clarinet, voice, accordion, bass, guitar) and veteran home taper based in Seattle, WA. She started her label Spoot Music in 1986, with the release of her first cassette release, No Bones. Since then, she's recorded & released other cassettes, LPs, and 28 CDs created solo and with an array of international musicians. She has performed her music at festivals throughout Europe and North America, and in South America, Japan, Hong Kong and Bombay, touring solo and with various groups and musicians such as Kultur Shock, Danny Barnes, Henry Butler, Pale Nudes, Zu, Quintetto alla Busara, Danubians, Chris Cutler, Tone Dogs, Guy Klucevsek, Pauline Oliveros, Curlew, Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, and others. She has performed with Chuck D., Bill Frisell, Gianni Gebbia, London Improvisers' Orchestra, and Faust. She has been commissioned to compose for Italian National Radio, David Dorfman Dance Company, Relache Ensemble, Berkeley Symphony, The New York Festival of Song, Die Knodel, Pat Graney Dance Company, UMO Ensemble, Yoko Murao, Victoria Marks, and others. Her projects have received grants from NEA, Meet The Composer, Pew Charitable Trust, Arts Link, Artist Trust, Arts International, Seattle Arts Commission, King County Arts Commission, and the Washington State Arts Commission. Sue Orfield (tenor sax) has been playing for horn for over 20 years, freelancing in the jazz, blues and rock scene. She was voted "Best Horn" in 1999, 2001, and 2002 by the Washington Blues Society. Besides heading up the Balloons, she is currently playing with the Jessica Lurie Ensemble (The Living Daylights), Nick Vigarino's Meantown Blues, the Karin Kajita Jazz Quintet, and many others. Sue has also shared the stage with the Indigo Girls, Bo Diddley, Ann Wilson of Heart, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Bobby McFerrin, and The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet. Sue's artistry, individuality, and powerful presence on stage make her one of the Northwest's favorite saxophone players. Tobi Stone (baritone sax) is a native of Washington State, and has performed and taught in the Seattle area for 8 years. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelors in Music. She has been a member of the Jay Thomas Big Band, Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra, The Imaginaires R&B Band, and Cambalachi Salsa Band. Tobi currently performs and composes for her jazz quartet, Reptet. The band is releasing its debut CD this spring. Tobi has appeared with such artists as Dave Brubeck, Nancy King, Don Lanphere, Mimi Fox, and Bert Wilson. Elizabeth Pupo-Walker (percussion) has been performing, studying and teaching percussion for 10 years. She is in the internationally recognized group, Tuatara (world music/jazz)which includes members of R.E.M., Los Lobos, Screaming Trees, and Luna. Having toured nationally and abroad, her strength is her versatility playing many styles of music, including latin jazz, soul, brazilian samba, flamenco, afro-cuban, groove jazz, pop/rock, and experimental. She has studied extensively in Cuba with the master drummers of Los Munequitos de Matanzas, and plans to return for further study. She has also studied with Senegalese master drummer, Mapathe Diop and Brazilian percussionist, Jorge Alebay among others. Elizabeth has been featured in Drum! magazine as well as Modern Drummer and has performed at Peter Gabriel's Womad Festival with world reknown percussionist Zakir Hussain, Joan Osbourne, and members of Spearhead. She has also performed with Ozomatli, on National Public Radio, and at various festivals around the country including Lillith Fair. Based out of Seattle Washington, Elizabeth does session work and and freelances with a variety of bands, such as Living Daylights, and the group BRAD which features members of Pearl Jam. She is currently a member of the groups Jumbalaya, Mango Son, La Movida and Origins. Elizabeth also formed the experimental/tribal jazz group MANAH, which toured extensively throughout the 90's. Check out the artist's website: http://www.amydenio.com Track List: 1. Calder's Circus 2. Dreamsville 3. Darling Please Don't Wake Me 4. Gypsy Wedding 5. I Will Be Sadder 6. (mystery track!) Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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