| Formed in the spring of 2000, the IJG is one of the few large (currently 15+ players) independent jazz ensembles on the scene today. It has been a persistent force in Los Angeles for six years now, and during that time it has also performed throughout California (San Diego, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Truckee, and Petaluma), as well as in Nevada, Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. It has been supported by the American Composers Forum, the NEA, and the McKnight Foundation, and been heard on NPR and more than a hundred radio stations around the world.
Michael Ryan of the Boston Herald has called IJG composer Andrew Durkin’s music “a compelling mix of genres, odd time signatures and tight improvisation,” while Brandt Reiter of the LA Weekly describes it as both “cerebral and swinging, ambitious and accessible, challengingly complex and unabashedly fun.” The group enjoys the support not only of jazz fans (who appreciate what Brian Morton at The Wire calls Durkin’s “machine-tooled modern jazz compositions of exquisite precision and strong aesthetic appeal”), but also of those who typically prefer other genres. As Tom Bowden of Educational Digest explains, “Durkin writes music that people who think they hate jazz would like.” Write-ups on the group have also appeared in The SF Weekly, The New York Times, The North Bay Bohemian, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and numerous other publications. |