Artist description The four bags is a NYC-based ensemble that fuses the distinct timbres of accordion, trombone, guitar, and woodwinds to weave a vibrant and unpredictable texture of sound. The ensemble was conceived as a forum for featuring the improvisational and writing talents of its members. A healthy disregard for stylistic boundaries frees the four bags from any predetermined approach to the music, an aspect that has attracted several accomplished composers to create original pieces and arrangements for the group. The four bags’ musical breadth is as eclectic as the backgrounds and tastes of the individual members, which include jazz, pop, film, classical, country, traditional Irish, Latin, and heavy metal music. These aspects, combined with an occasional dose of humor, result in performances that are not only striking and sophisticated but also highly entertaining.

Music Style Experimental chamber jazz/classical/pop/folk

Artist History Although the Four Bags are a relatively new ensemble, their roots stretch back to 1990, when Tom and Mike met during a summer jazz program at the Eastman School of Music. Both Maine natives, they continued to play together throughout high school - Aldrich on piano and McGinnis primarily on tenor saxophone, exploring the music of Lennie Tristano and Charles Mingus at jam sessions at the short lived Café No in Portland, Maine. They reunited in New York after a five year interval in which McGinnis earned music degrees at the University of Southern Maine and the Eastman School of Music, while Aldrich departed prematurely from New York University’s jazz program before studying modern composition in Pisa, Italy and eventually completing a degree in Russian Literature and language at Reed College. Once McGinnis moved to New York in 1997, the two began meeting on a weekly basis to play freely improvised music at Aldrich’s apartment in Brooklyn. After a brief interruption during which McGinnis went on the road with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the two regrouped with the addition of guitarist Sean Moran, who had met McGinnis on the road and was in town pursuing a Master’s Degree at New York University. The group was rounded out soon after by the addition of trombonist Brian Drye, another acquaintance of McGinnis’ through a mutual friend at the Eastman School. Aldrich completed his first arrangements for the group in September of 1999 while undergoing a one week fast (curtailed to four days), and the pieces were debuted in New York as a part of the Off-Off-Broadway production “The Pumpkin Pie Show”. Since then, the four bags have performed at the Knitting Factory, The Second International Friends of Chopin Festival, the Cutting Room, the New Age Cabaret, the C-Note, and various art openings. They recorded their first album in July of 2000 and it will be released in early 2001.

Group Members Brian Drye - tromboneTom Aldrich - accordionSean Moran - guitarMichael McGinnis - saxophone/clarinet

Instruments trombone, accordion, guitar, saxophone/clarinet

Location New York City, NY - USA

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