Album Notes

Sylvia de Hartog - voice (track 1,5 and 8)
Emmanuel Scarpa - drums
Damien Cluzel - electric guitar
Mark Haanstra - fretless bass guitar
Tobias Klein - alto saxophone & bass clarinet

Man Bites Dog was formed in 1993. The group members aim at fusing their background of jazz, improvised and modern classical music with techniques and forms derived from South-Indian, East- and West-African music. Man Bites Dog performs this mix with a directness and energy which is more common in rock music.
The group stretches or improvises musical forms rather than abandoning them. Melodic,harmonic and rhythmical roles become interchangeable. The result is a varied and intense repertoire,consisting of lyrical melodies,explosions of sound and fat grooves.
Man Bites Dog has toured in France, Spain, Zweden, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania and Germany. The group’s debut CD was released in november 1998. In 2001 Man Bites Dog released the CD ‘Hot Mule Bait’, which was followed by a tour with, as special guest, reed-player Chris Speed.
For a tour in Eastern-Europe and the recording of the new CD ‘Okno’, in november 2003, Man Bites Dog invited the Dutch bass-guitarist Mark Haanstra, who has since joined the band.

'Okno' comes as close as possible to the cutting edge of modern jazz without falling off. It largely avoids the self-consciousness that weighs so heavily on the music of likeminded groups; it is serious without being dull, fun without being trite ... because the musicians build on a robust base of influences and do so intelligently, there are touchstones galore for listeners from across the music spectrum: rock, jazz, world, contemporary classical (another amusing little paradox), and even punk and ska. It marks Man Bites Dog as a band to watch, even if their intense nonchalance wouldn't allow them to admit as much.
All About Jazz, E.J. Iannelli, 2004

“ ...the band, since ten years one of the absolute highlights of the Amsterdam jazzscene...’
Edo Dijksterhuis, 6/5/2004, NRC Handelsblad

“ The very distinct group sound is due to the energetic communication between guitarist Damien Cluzel and saxophonist/bassclarinetist Tobias Klein. Because of this the band sounds alternately like a tuned up Eastern-European dance combo, a metalband or an extatic free-jazz group. ...keeps the listener spellbound.”
Edo Dijksterhuis in NRC Handelsblad, 12.2.’99

More info at www.tobiasklein.nl