It Don’t Mean a Thing Till You Give It a Fling The El Matador! It became a running joke. “We’re gonna play at the El Matador.” As estadounidenses with ancestors who once lived in Spain and Mexico, Marco and Dan enjoy las mezclas divertidas in their use of language. These entertaining mixtures show up in their music, as well, when swing bumps up against “Obsesión,” a beautiful bolero by Pedro Flores, and the melodies and rhythms of jazz, rock, salsa, and cumbia seep into every song they play. Marco’s “Casey Dog Blues” provides a refreshing take on styles developed during the big band era and Dan’s “Flying Around” takes the music to that place called Beyond Jazz. New Orleans served as the great Caribbean host for these sessions, helping to keep the musicians hooked to traditions even as they endeavored an anticipation of what the French call l’avenir, what is to come. Sunday evenings at the El Matador served as a cauldron in which they brewed the music for these recording sessions at the University of New Orleans. Dan and Marco also enjoyed the participation of Matthew and Charles on this recording. The results pleased them so much that they now offer these tracks to you with hopes that your lives permit you a bit of time to give this a listen. After all, it all means nothing without someone to hear it. Dan Andersen served a distinguished apprenticeship as the jazz guitarist with many fine musicians in New Orleans and Los Angeles, including, Johnny Angel and the Swingin’ Demons, at venues such as Blue Nile, Bourbon Street, Funky Butt, Beau Rivage Biloxi, New Orleans Music Factory, Fine Arts Club of New Orleans, Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans, and Café Brazil. As part of the New Orleans music scene he performed at the city’s premier jazz club Snug Harbor and made appearances throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. On the festival circuit, Dan appeared at in Northern California at Center Arts Presents, Bebop and Brew, and several times at the Redwood Jazz Festival. He studied with Steve Masakowski and Terence Blanchard while earning a Masters degree at the University of New Orleans and then went on to earn his doctorate in studio/jazz guitar at the University of Southern California Thornton School Of Music. His recording credits include appearances on Introducing-Julia LaShae, voted the #3 album of 2003 by the Times-Picayune, and his own recently released quartet album The Spark. As a bandleader, Dan headlined the 1995 Mad River festival and was awarded Outstanding Guitarist of the 1997 Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival in Berkley California. Marco Katz composed and performed the soundtrack for the 2000 production of Zoey’s Zoo (Oh Yeah! Cartoons). In 2002, trombonist Ron Wilkins recorded several of Marco’s works on a Dragon Lady Records release called Bundee Brothers Bone Band Featuring the Music of Marco Katz. “Katz’s compositions are a real highlight of the disc,” wrote Adam Gaines in the Online Trombone Journal. “His trombone writing is expertly idiomatic, and his music is harmonically interesting without being obtuse.” Marco’s recording of Tubby the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band, which also features Paquito D'Rivera and Jimmy Owens, came out on Koch Records in 2007. As a trombonist Marco performed and recorded with long list of well-known artists that includes Charlie Palmieri, Mon Rivera, La Orquesta Kubavana, Trini López, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gourmet, Cab Calloway, and Vikki Carr. His compositions and arrangements have been performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and published by Bourne, Carl Fischer Music, International Music, and Kendor. For the future, Marco looks forward to more projects with Dan. Bassist Matthew Golombisky shuttled between Argentina and Chicago before settling in Rochester, New York. He toured the United States and Europe with bands such as NOMO, Jhelisa, WATIV, QMRplus, and Red Shift, and currently directs the music/film/arts collective known as ears&eyes. Matthew also performs with his 30 piece jazz/classical/rock ensemble, Tomorrow Music Orchestra as well as the electric jazz-rock quintet Zing!, acoustic free improv trio Pedway, punk jazz duo GKduo, and Lucky 7s, a jazz septet led by trombonists Jeb Bishop and Jeff Albert. Drummer Charles Brewer maintains an active freelance career with a long list of ensembles, and still finds time to teach the next generation of musicians at the University of New Orleans. The Louisiana Music Factory currently offers Equilibrio, a Charles Brewer Trio recording with special guest by Spoken Word artist Sasha Masakowski. Charles’ upcoming projects include a recording titled Contours.