Mostly Other People Do the Killing is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

quartet based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

including trumpeter Peter Evans, saxophonist

Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records. Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and one of '' Time Outs "25 essential New York City jazz icons", Irabagon is known for the breadth ...

, bassist Matthew "Moppa" Elliott, and drummer Kevin Shea. The group formed in 2003 and has released several albums on Elliott's Hot Cup label.

History

Bandleader Moppa Elliott met Peter Evans while both were students at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

. Upon relocating to New York City, Elliott met Jon Irabagon through guitarist Jon Lundbom at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

and Kevin Shea through

Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabago ...

. MOPDtK performs compositions by Elliott, all of which are arbitrarily named after towns in his native

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Performances often take the form of large suites in which the group transitions between original pieces and jazz standards, often employing theatrics and elements of rock, pop, and classical music. Mostly Other People Do the Killing performed at the 2009

Moers Festival The Moers Festival is an annual international music festival in Moers, Germany. The festival has changed from concentrating on free jazz to including world and pop music, though it still invites many avant-garde jazz musicians. Performers at Moers ...

and has toured in both the U.S. and Europe. Their albums ''Shamokin!!!'' and ''This Is Our Moosic'' were both included in critics' Top 10 albums of the year.Howard Mande

Will Layman, Christopher Monson, Kurt Gottschalk, etc. In 2009, Mostly Other People Do the Killing was voted the winner of the 57th Annual Downbeat magazine, Downbeat Critics' Poll in the Rising Star Ensemble category. Evans, Irabagon, and Elliott were also included in the poll in the respective categories of Rising Star Trumpet, Rising Star Alto Saxophone, and Rising Star Composer. Jon Irabagon was the winner of the 2008

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

International Jazz Saxophone competition, and has released his first album on the

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...

label. Kevin Shea was named New York City's "Best Drummer" in 2012 by the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

''. In October 2014, they released ''Blue,'' a note-for-note reproduction of the Miles Davis album ''

Kind of Blue ''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Co ...

''. File:Moppa Elliott 06N4496.jpg, Moppa Elliott File:Jon irabagon 06n4551.jpg, Jon Irabagon File:Kevin Shea 06N4414.jpg, Kevin Shea File:Peter-evans 06n4428.jpg, Peter Evans

Discography

* ''Mostly Other People Do the Killing'' (2005) * ''

Shamokin!!! ''Shamokin!!!'' is the second album put out by Mostly Other People Do the Killing. The quartet is led by bassist Moppa Elliot, and is the follow up to a self-titled record ''Mostly Other People Do the Killing'' from 2005 that joined all the pers ...

'' (2007) * ''This Is Our Moosic'' (2008) * ''Forty Fort'' (2010) * ''The Coimbra Concert'' (2011) * ''Slippery Rock!'' (2013) * ''Red Hot'' (2013) * ''Blue'' (2014) * ''Mauch Chunk'' (2015) * ''Loafer's Hollow'' (2016) * ''Paint'' (2017) * ''Disasters, Vol. 1'' (2022)

References

External links

Hotcuprecords.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostly Other People Do The Killing American jazz ensembles from New York City Musical groups from New York City Jazz musicians from New York (state)