Hello Friends,



Lots of news to report!  We are proud to announce our new bass player, the young phenom IAN HUTCHSION.   While Eric lives on in our photos for the time being, he will be incredibly busy wowing audiences all over the world with Brother Mule, Matt Flinner Trio, Drew Emmitt Band and many, many more.  The EQ is taking much of the summer off as a band, but each of us has our hands full.



Jake is expecting a new member of his family (due mid-July), to round out his own familial quartet.  He is being featured on the cover of BANJO NEWSLETTER in July, and is busy working on his banjo instruction book THE MODERN BANJO TOOLBOX.  His Learn Roots Music instructional DVD is out and available at www.jakeschepps.com.  And he is composing music for a new Expedition Quartet recording.  Stay tuned for more on that.  You should catch Jake with the JEFF AND VIDA BAND at Swallow Hill in Denver on Saturday, June 28.

Greg is out this summer playing with Halden Wofford and the HiBeams, Pete Kartsounes Band, and Kort McCumber and McCumberland Gap, and you can catch him at the STRING SUMMIT in Oregon's Hornings Hideout, the BRISTOL RHYTHM AND ROOTS FEST in Virginia, or countless other corners of Colorado.  You should catch Greg on July 4th at the Gold Hill Inn with the HiBeams, Spring Creek Bluegrass and KC Groves. 



Ryan is off to Sweden this summer with SANDRA WONG and a crop of youngsters to get a closer look at Swedish fiddling.  You should catch Ryan playing with the amazing GABRIELLE LOUISE at intimate venues around the West.



Ian plays 6-7 nights a week around the Front Range with some jazz greats like Peter Eldridge of the New York Voices, the Lincoln Jazz Orchestra,  the Gypsy Swing Revue, and new acoustic music with the astounding Grant Gordy Quartet.  You should catch the GGQ opening for the PUNCH BROTHERS at Mishawaka (outside Ft. Collins) on Friday August 29.



Thanks to all of you for coming out en force to our Chautauqua show, and those that made it down to the Pagosa Folk 'n Bluegrass Festival.  As always, we appreciate your support.  


Lastly, we have decided to put the  "EXPEDITION" album on sale.  Buy both "Ten Thousand Leaves" and "Expedition" for the low, low price of $20, or just "Expedition" for $10.  Add an Expedition Quartet t-shirt for only $15.  And as always, free shipping.  Please send a message for PayPal instructions. 

Thanks for everything and enjoy your summer!


-The Expedition Quartet

www.expeditionquartet.com

From JazzReview.com:

Banjoist Jake Schepps, violin master Ryan Drickey, guitarist Greg Schochet (who also plays mandolin), and string bassist Eric Thorin have combined their estimable talents on one of the ten best recordings of 2007. This is a complete and utter delight. From the airy banjo/violin interplay that informs the opening Astor Piazzolla-penned "Todo Buenos Aires" it is apparent that this is a string band meets jazz session that runs on high octane talent.

Schepps composed the majority of the tunes, with Schochet and Thorin contributing one song each. Guest mandolinist and session producer Matt Flinner is represented by a song, as well. Updating the string band tradition, this superb collection straddles a fence between jazz and bluegrass, both of which are musical schools which require uncommon command of one's instrument. On this all-instrumental collection, it is glaringly apparent that these are musicians of such talent.

On Flinner's "The Seagull," Schepps' playing is fluid. He treats the banjo in a less percussive manner than most. Mandolin offers gorgeous counterpoint, with violin painting in the empty spaces. "Origami" is an Eastern-flavored piece that allows the principals to stretch on the atmospherically languid and lush tune. The three sections of "In The American West," based on the similarly titled photographs of Richard Avedon, opens with the lovely "Somerset," and segues into "Chimayo," a bit of a trail song that benefits from the mandolin and banjo work. The final section, "Rocky Ford" suggests wide open spaces and perhaps some of that ford to be traversed. The whole of the pieces is stunning.

Schochet's "Bluegrass Schlepp" has more than a taste of Flatt and Scruggs in it, which is to say it is as much fun as it is instrumentally jaw-dropping. The fiddle here (no longer a violin) is particularly exquisite and clever. Schepp's follow up, "The Zipper" is fluid and virtuosic. Schepp is in a category of his own. There are tidbits of Bela Fleck in his approach, perhaps, but Schepps is completely his own man. Following Thorin's sweet "Lodi," Schepps opens it up for the speed picking of his "The Rise." The interplay between the stringed instruments is thrilling. On the closing "Cute-Nik," banjo offers a metronmic pulse over which violin plays a slightly more melodic figure. Simply astounding.

The Expedition Quartet is off to New York City to partake in the Arts Presenters Conference as part of the Northern Realms Showcase.

Saturday, January 12
Gibson Suite :: Hilton Hotel
3:30 and 10:00

Sunday, January 13
Banjo Jim's
9:30 pm

Monday, January 14
Scandinavia House
9:20 pm

Click here for more info on Northern Realms.

We then head up to Boston's Cantab Lounge (1/15), back to Banjo Jim's (1/17) and over to the Rosendale Cafe (1/19).


Check our schedule for more info, and let your Northeastern friends know we will be out on an expedition their way

From Bluegrass Unlimited December 2007.
"On the Edge"

This is one of the more complicated records I've yet reviewed. How to convey all or even part of what I'm hearing in these 11 instrumental tracks. All the wonderful textures, all the shifts of time, and rhythm and mood. Showcased is the talented interplay between banjoist Jake Schepps, violinist Ryan Drickey, guitarist and mandolinist Greg Shochet, bassist Eric Thorin, and guests in mandolinist Matt Flinner and guitarist Adam Aijala. Think of describing a Beethoven symphony in 300 words. There is much here that is intriguing and much to be admired and praised.
What is not much here is bluegrass—not traditional bluegrass anyway. Three of the tracks do, however, skirt the boundaries. "The Seagull" is perhaps more of an Irish reel, but "Bluegrass Schlep" comes across with a modernistic "Heavy Traffic Ahead" bounce and an updated Monroeish mandolin, while the quicktempoed "The Rise" has a straight chop and a newgrass breakdown feel. Jazz and classical elements dominate the rest. There's a bit of Tom Waits in the intro to Astor Piazzola's "Todo Buenos Aires," which then melts into contemporary jazz lines and ensemble work over percussive rhythm and an insistant bass figure. "Cutenik" (the album's closer) by contrast is more of a classical lullaby for bass, glissando violin, and arpeggiated banjo.

Between those bookends is "In The American West," a threemovement portrait inspired by the photography of Richard Avedon and presented in a modern classical form. Each movement focuses on a different town in Avedons photographic series. How well the music evokes the photos, I can't say, not having seen the works, but as with tone poems of all sorts, it's ultimately the music and what you get from it that counts, and in this case, it counts for much. This is an album that intrigues, entertains, and reveals more of itself with each play.

Todo Buenos Aires was selected for the Collector's CD in the November/December issue of Global Rhythm Magazine. Here is what they had to say about it:

"You might not think of the banjo as an improvisational instrument, but Jake Schepps dispels all such preconceptions from the opening strains of this Astor Piazzolla classic- it's a whole new take on nuevo tango, with Schepps's Expedition Quartet providing able support."

The Expedition Quartet has been chosen as a partner band with the Steam Powered Preservation Society, alongside the likes of Uncle Earl, Bruce Molsky and the wonderful Jeff and Vida.

Banjo Newsletter's Tab of the Month is Jake's arrangement of The Beatles's classic When I'm 64 from Expedition. And kHEN Radio released their Salida Sampler 2007 and was kind enough to include the tune Warbonnet on it. Lastly, Bopjo.com uploaded a copy of Lodi to the site and says some kind words about the tune.

The new album "Ten Thousand Leaves" is getting mastered next week, but I wanted to share a couple of tunes sooner. "The Zipper" features Greg Schochet on guitar, Matt Flinner on mandolin, Ryan Drickey on fiddle, Eric Thorin on bass, and me on 5-string banjo. "Rocky Ford" is the 3rd movement of the "In the American West" suite. Release date is 7/26/07. Enjoy.

We had an amazing week last week at Notably Fine Audio recording the next album with producer Matt Flinner. He coaxed the best out of all of us and fostered an intensely creative environment; one where we could take chances, think outside, and play on the edge. Included in the material is a through-composed string quartet for banjo, violin, guitar, and bass. The new (as yet untitled) record will also have tunes by Eric Thorin, Greg Schochet, a tango by Astor Piazzolla arranged for stringband, and a new tune by Matt Flinner. Musicians include my current quartet with Ryan Drickey, Greg Schochet, and Eric Thorin. Matt played mandolin on about half the material and Yonder Mountain String Band's guitarist Adam Aijala sat in on one tune. Plans are to have it by August so stay tuned or sign up on the mailing list to get more details.

We are going on a short tour this weekend (see www.jakeschepps.com/events), and special guest Matt Flinner will be sitting in on Sunday (2/18) at Nissi's in Lafayette, CO. Then we are off to the 2007 Folk Alliance in Memphis. Here is our showcase schedule.

THURSDAY
11:30 VOCO's Voices + Found Sounds (1929)
12:30 Steam Powered Preservation Society (1726)
1:30 VOCO's Voices + Found Sounds (1929)

FRIDAY
10:30 Steam Powered Preservation Society (1726)
11:50 Creative 22 (1706)
12:30 Best of the West (1710)
1:00 Wild Iris (1719)

SATURDAY
11:00 Banjos in the Round (Hosted by me) (1726)
12:00 Steam Powered Preservation Society (1726)
1:00 Best of the West (1710)
2:30 Steam Powered Preservation Society (1726)
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And this album "Unspeakable" is so outstanding. Bold, riveting, and deep. Check it out.