Album Notes

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"The melodies of Tori Amos, Sweeney Todd and southern rock meet a country/classical chamber band. Throw in some accordions and Dada lyrics and you have the ultimate postmodern sound." -- Frank Oteri, editor, newmusicbox.com

Made up of some of New York's finest musicians, including three members of the Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble (www.absoluteensemble.com), The Weimarband blends the dark hues and restless mood of Berlin cabaret music with the lyricism and insouciant charm of American country & western in a style of music they've coined as "Sturm n' Twang".

The kaleidoscopic music, written by versatile composer, lyricist and performer JIM BAUER (www.jameswatsonbauer.com), drives with often jagged dynamics from bright to brooding, grim to glistening, with far-flung instrumentation in a class all its own:

VOCALS: Jim Bauer, Jen Chapin (www.jenchapin.com), Meghan McGeary (www.meghanmcgeary.com)

PIANO/GUITAR: Jim Bauer

BASSOON: Martin Kuuskmann (www.martinkuuskmann.com)

PEDAL STEEL GUITAR: John Widgren

CELLO: Ann Kim

ACCORDION/PIANO: Mark Rubinstein

BASS: Stephan Crump (www.stephancrump.com)

DRUMS: Patrick Carmichael (www.fleacircusmusic.com)

PERCUSSION/PIANO: David Rozenblatt

Featured vocalists are JIM BAUER, the immensely talented singer/songwriter JEN CHAPIN (www.jenchapin.com), who carries on the proud tradition of her famous musical family, and the electrifyingly theatrical MEGHAN McGEARY.

Playing to sold-out audiences at JOE'S PUB at THE PUBLIC THEATER, NYC since May 2001, the eclectic, virtuosic ensemble has been gaining momentum steadily since it began performing at at the turn of the century in a variety of venues in New York City (JOE'S PUB, MAKOR, GALAPAGOS ART SPACE, THE BOTTOM LINE, THE BITTER END, HERE Arts Center). Selected as the only music act for THE PUBLIC THEATER'S "New Work Now" festival in May 2001, the band is now in residency at the HERE ART CENTER (NYC), the band continues work in developing Bauer's multi-media narrative song cycle "The Blue Flower" (see www.weimarband.com for more information and THE BLUE FLOWER cast recordings, also on CD BABY).

Originally conceived as the house band for "The Blue Flower", The Weimarband has developed a life of its own in separate concert performances, presenting new compositions and songs by Jim Bauer as well as an odd assortment of "Weimar-ized" covers, from Johnny Cash to Radiohead.

"Sturm n' Twang" is the band's first CD release. In an unusual production made possible by the exceptional skills and musicianship of each of the ten band members, the album was recorded in a single live session at Soundtrack Studios, NYC, on January 29, 2002 by recording/mixing engineer Dominic Barbera. Line Producer was John Kiehl.