Artist description Cloud Chamber straddles many genres, styles and moods in its free-spirited and sometimes epic-length explorations. The group incorporates elements of world music, jazz, classical, ambient, noise rock, progressive rock and even a touch of punk angst. Featuring shades of Frank Zappa, Dmitri Shostakovich, Brian Eno and late-60's Miles Davis, Dark Matter possesses an unclassifiable sound that truly embraces the idea of music without borders. (Anil Prasad www.innerviews.com)

Music Style Improvisation

Artist History The group's musicians have shared the same aural gravitational pull throughout the '90s. The genesis of their musical relationship goes back to a Bay Area musical retreat known as "The Lodge." From early 1991 until the mid-90s, The Lodge was home to a series of improvisational music gatherings featuring virtuoso players from around the world. Cleveland, Manring, Masley, Reiter and Venegoni were regular participants in those sessions, the first of which was recorded for Echoes, a program aired on many National Public Radio stations across the United States. Elated at the possibilities of taking their improvisational leanings to the next level, the fab five decided to form Cloud Chamber in 1995.Cloud Chamber's members all possess an accomplished and varied track record. Cleveland has released two critically acclaimed discs of intricate, processed guitar soundscapes and currently serves as an editor at Guitar Player Magazine. Manring is acknowledged by many as one of the most innovative players to ever pick up an electric bass—something his four solo recordings and collaborations with Michael Hedges, Alex Skolnick and Henry Kaiser attest to. Masley and his one-of-a-kind shimmering, spectral cymbalom sound graces several solo releases, as well as famed albums by Ry Cooder and Garbage. Reiter's career has been equally diverse, having performed as principal cellist with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and on recordings by legendary Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan. Venegoni also has several CDs to his credit and has composed music for several independent choreographers and dance companies including Janice Garrett and The Gash/Voight Dance Theatre. (Anil Prasad www.innerviews.com)

Group Members BARRY CLEVELAND has been performing and recording for over two decades. As a guitarist he incorporates elements from diverse sources (psychedelia, funk, progressive rock, ambient, electronic, jazz, and a host of "world" music styles), combined with new and unusual sounds created using unorthodox playing methods and an array of electronic processing. MICHAEL MANRING is best known for radically expanding the limits of the fretless electric bass. He was chosen as "Bassist of the Year" in Bass Player Magazine's reader's poll in 1994, and has been nominated for a Bammie and a Grammy. L.A. Jazz Scene says "Manring is creating musical history", and Jaco Pastorius called Manring "One bad mother*%$^@!!." MICHAEL MASLEY plays the cymbalom (Hungarian hammer dulcimer) with his system of eight "bowhammers" and thumbpicks, allowing him to play the strings in any combination, and resulting in a sound wholly his own. His off-center approach has also been applied to a host of other uncommon instruments, (zither, ukelin, PanTimbreen, etc.). Masley has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered, and contributed to the soundtrack for Geronimo: An American Legend. DAN REITER is a tremendously innovative cellist with a global musical aesthetic. His credits range from principal cellist with the Oakland/East Bay Symphony, to contr ibuting to two recordings by Indian master-musician Ali Akbar Khan. Reiter also appears on numerous recordings by other artists. JOE VENEGONI is a multi-instrumentalist/composer with several CD releases to his credit. He has composed music for a variety of dancers and dance companies, including Janis Garrett, and Gash/Voight Dance Theatre, and performed workshops and master classes for Margaret Jenkins, ODC/SF, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham. Joe plays percussion and hammer dulcimer in this ensemble.

Instruments Guitar, Bass, Cello, Percussion, Cymbalom, Dulcimer, Original Instruments

Albums Dark Matter

Press Reviews "The instrumentation alone--electric guitar, electric bass, cello, percussion, and the Hungarian hammer dulcimer known as the cymbalom--guarantees a unique musical sound. But it is more how the players--Barry Cleveland, Michael Manring, Dan Reiter, Joe Venegoni, and Michael Masley--merge the moaning, careening, whispering, and shimmering timbres that makes Cloud Chamber extraordinary. The quintet's improvisations, which are given such titles as "Blue Mass," "Full of Stars," and "Radiant Curves" on their debut CD Dark Matter, are marvels of seductive, eerie, and meditative textures--a spacey, ambient electro-acoustic fusion with roots in new music, avant-garde rock, and electric jazz, but created wholly in the moment with an ear to the next century." -Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian "Their free improvisations are informed not so much by jazz, but by the sound sculpture approaches of all manner of modern composers, from Ligeti to Fripp. Textures and colors are striking in these seven pieces. Ghostly apparitions appear in often very dramatic contexts, such as on the extended Full of Stars. Need I say that this a quite a tasty platter? Recommended, and more soon, please." -Larry Nai, Progression

Additional Info Contact: mixbarry@yahoo.com

Location Belmont, CA - USA

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