The Montalban Quintet self-titled album has been nominated for Best Jazz Album in the 2012 San Diego Music Awards. We are glad and honored to be recognized for our work. All of us are looking forward to the awards event and getting to meet up with a slew of other local musicians. It’s a fun event and raises money for the local schools’ music programs through Taylor guitar donations.
Montalban Quintet Creeping into Television…
We’ve been added to a pilot of the new TV show “Chef and the Sea”. It’s sort of like Iron Chef but takes place in Hawaii and all the food is gathered by surfer-dude spear fishermen. They used the track “Tranny” from our first full length album.
You can see it here in this web promo film.
http://www.submergewithus.com/ChefandtheSea.mov
Also, ROXY / Quicksilver have been behind the production and we are going to be featured through their website this Summer. Things are cooking.
Posted in General MQ, Press, Radio
Los Cabos Drumsticks Welcomes Chris Prescott to the Family
From a press release on June 4, 2012:
“We’re pleased to welcome Chris Prescott to our artist family. Chris is a San Diego-based musician who has been teaching and playing professionally for over 20 years. Over the years he has performed and recorded on more than 50 releases on both independent and major labels, as well as recorded music for both film and television. Some of the bands he has toured and performed with include Pinback, Rocket from the Crypt. System Officer, No Knife and Tanner among others. During the past 20 years he has performed in over 180 cities in places as far-reaching as Japan, Russia, Australia, Europe, Czech Republic, Canada, Mexico and all over the United States.
Chris holds a degree in Music/Jazz studies from the University of California, San Diego. Recently he published his first method book on drumming called Creative Construction which contains play-along audio tracks. The book centers on drum part writing and musicianship concepts, aimed at helping young drummers connect logically with their musical counterparts. His book piqued the interest of Modern Drummer editors and was commissioned for an ongoing series through the 2011 publications.
Pinback remains his musical focus and he and the band are in the middle of recording their 5th full-length album slated for a 2012 release on Temporary Residence Ltd. Their two previous albums sold around 100,000 copies each and they are anticipating a strong response to the upcoming album as well. The band just returned from a successful headlining tour of Europe/UK/Russia and are taking a few months off before they begin touring to support the new record.
Chris will be touring around the world in the later part of 2012 with his Los Cabos Drumsticks in hand.
Praise for Chris from his peers in regards to his new book, Creative Construction:
“I like Chris’s method. It reminds me when I was a kid. I used to pop on the headphones to play drums to my favorite records to learn all the drum parts. Plenty of cool time signatures and information make this book a fun way to learn.” (Chad Canning – Nirvana)
“Chris’s book is a great tool for inspiring creativity out of any drummer.” (Scott McPherson – Beck, Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith)
“Chris Prescott is someone who knows how to put together interesting, creative and unique drums parts…I’ve been watching him do it for 20 years! As an obvious standout from the huge talent pool of San Diego musicians, he has always been able to make something that could be boring or standard…not! For him to put his method into words is a gift to any and all drummers looking to create original drum parts for songs. Nice work!” (Atom Willard – Angels and Airwaves, Social Distortion, Offspring)
“Chris Prescott has been playing drums very well for a very long time. He is also a multi-instrumentalist and a great songwriter. These things combine to make him a great contributor to “the song”. Chris’ new book is a way for the new to get into drums from a fresh & creative perspective. He looks at drum parts in a way that incorporates the song, which is of course a key element of drumming. I would highly recommend this book to any stickmen, young or old.” (Mario Rubalcaba – OFF!, Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Earthless)”
Posted in General MQ, Press
Post-Casbah Debriefing
Hey all. Man-o-man, what a strange thing the casbah show was. It was seriously triumphant playing a great set for a full crowd. But also we realize what a weird thing it is to play a “rock club” with our strange instrumentation. 15 minutes to set up 7 people, equipment and monitor mixes is pushing it to say the least. What a strange stressful rush to get things in order to perform! We are hoping to re-appear at the Riviera / Turquoise Room soon as filling a night full of music feels more suitable to the Montalban Quintet vibe. Taking things as they come and letting songs develop and evolve at their own pace has serious value. Playing a spot that has little time constraints and boundaries allows for the music to unravel as it feels appropriate. Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to the Casbah on a tuesday night. Also HUGE thanks to the Mattson2 and In Motion Trio for tearing it up. What a fun night we had taking in all this music. San Diego has it going on in a big way!
Posted in General MQ, Shows/Tour
Live Montalban Quintet Show to Celebrate Record Store Day 2012
Hello! We are playing at the world famous Lou’s Records on Record Store Day this Saturday, April 21. Bands will be playing all day, off and on and it should be a fun and festive event. All Ages welcome of course!
If you haven’t checked out a Record Store Day event, it’s worth investigating. Stores, such as Lou’s are an integral part of our local culture. It’s a place where music fans can share ideas and interests. You can learn about new bands and old favorites you’ve missed. Artists from all over the world released limited edition CDs/Vinyl to celebrate record shops’ importance in our communities.
Montalban Quintet will play a free show at Lou’s Records at 3:00 pm. Some on by and celebrate with us and share in the festivities!
Lou’s Records is located at 434 North Coast Highway 101 Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 753-1382
Posted in General MQ, Shows/Tour
Checking in…
So we played the Whistlestop Bar in South Park last week. What a fun night. Thanks to all the folks that made it out on a weeknight. We had so much fun. So much so that we were moving a little slow the next morning with the 6 am wake up calls from kids, garbage trucks and general aspects of life that required our immediate attention. It’s all worth it 100%
So the news today is that we finally confirmed a show at the Casbah for next month. We’ll play again with our homeboys the Mattson 2. More details to come regarding the 3rd band on the show. It’s gonna be gooooooooood and that’s all I can divulge at this point. Rather than doing a 2 hour marathon set we will be doing a solid, jam packed set of 45 minutes of MQ goodness. Should be fun indeed!
Here’s a video from our last show from a free form improvised version of “Meditation”. Big thanks to Mr. Marcus for the footage!
Posted in General MQ, Shows/Tour
Short Video from the February Riviera Supper Club Show
We had a great time at the Riviera! Thanks to all those who came out and the friendly staff for making it a great night. If you haven;t been there, make sure to check it out sometime. The food is cooked to perfection (since you cook it yourself on their indoor grill) Fun stuff.
Posted in General MQ, Shows/Tour
Montalban Quintet Readies for Round 2…
So in a few hours we will begin our second live excursion. We are all excited and ready and somewhat under-rehearsed, which is right where we need to be for some peaks and valleys of the tightrope walk of a live show.
We are playing this Wednesday (tomorrow) at the Riviera Supper Club from 9-11 and are playing our own stuff along with a few tunes from the Ethiopian master Mulatu Astatke as well as the great Sun Ra. It should be a fun one indeed. Come on down. It’s free and you can cook your own dinner in a swanky restaurant joint!
Posted in General MQ, Shows/Tour