October 10, 2014

Friday night live at Transistor: Morphtet and BrownSmith. Sound by Jon Monteverde. 

The Morphtet is a piano-based groove ensemble in trio form. "We are a modern barrelhouse group that stomps right into reggae, soul, and stride. We tackle new standards and lay around with old boogie woogie drinking buddies. Member bios are below.

Joshua Siegal has been playing various instruments and making art in Chicago for decades, but his true love is a big wood box full of vibrating strings and hammers. Currently the piano player for the Morphtet and the keyboardist/principal arranger for Chicago AfroFunk combo The Opposition Party, he has studied with Erwin Helfer and Howard Levy. He also dabbles in interactive media and fiction.

Originally from the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Chris Paquette studied under Marcos Chico Perez before coming to Chicago and becoming the percussionist for Frank Catalano and many a genre of music in the windy city. He has played for big names and small and continues to push the limits performing in a variety of situations on stage and in the studio. Besides working on his own personal music, in 2013 Chris completed an album with dub reggae producer The Scientist, led by drummer Ted Sirota and his Heavyweight Dub project.

Josh Therriault has been playing saxophone, clarinet and flute professionally in Chicago since 1996. Heavily influenced by the blues, Josh lends his gritty sound to various projects throughout the city. In 2013, Josh completed a nine-month stint as the primary saxophone player for the award-winning "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at The Royal George Theater. You can catch Josh performing on a regular basis with The Opposition Party, ContraBanda and, of course, The Morphtet. Josh also co-leads an original songwriting project called Willy Dynomite in which you can see him perform on lead vocals and keyboards.

Visit The Morphtet's website.

BrownSmith is comprised of saxophonist Derek Brown and conga player Kay Smith. With Brown's unique "beatboxing saxophone" style and Smith's creative interaction, the two of them are turning heads on the streets of Chicago.The two met fortuitously when Brown first moved to Chicago a month ago. Both have been playing professionally across the United States and the world with various pop, funk and jazz groups.

For their performance at Transistor, BrownSmith jammed away on the tenor saxophone and congas, playing a unique but accessible mixture of catchy melodies and extended techniques and acoustic effects.