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Invert

new music for bottom heavy string quartet

About Me


is a unique New York City based string quartet performing original new music composed by its members, and their own arrangements of other composer's works. Invert's name is taken from their literal inversion of the traditional string quartet format - they feature two cellos instead of the usual two violins.
Drawn from diverse, eclectic musical backgrounds, Invert's members defy tradition by being firmly rooted in rock, jazz and world musics rather than the classical upbringings typical of most string players. These influences are reflected in their compositions, which range from pieces evocative of soundtracks from Expressionist cinema to driving melodic works that often feature open sections of improvisation.
Since it's debut in August 1999, Invert has regularly performed at many renowned New York venues, including The Knitting Factory, Trintity Church, The Kitchen, Irving Plaza, The Cutting Room, Joe's Pub, and Makor. They were featured on The Kitchens "String Summit," have recorded string accompaniments for two releases by legendary indie rockers Guided By Voices, and have appeared on bills with artists as diverse as Mission of Burma, Erik Friedlander, Carla Kihlstedt's Two Foot Yard, American Analog Set, Quasi, and Rasputina.
In February, October and November of 2005 they toured the United States in support of Quarterstick recording artists, Rachel's, and sat in with them augmenting their string section on a number of pieces during their performances. Audiences from Texas, to California, to the Northwest and back through the heartland responded enthusiastically to Invert's unique sound.
In April 2007 Invert released their full length third CD, entitled "The Strange Parade." The CD includes fifteen pieces that showcase Invert's distinctive mix of compositions and improvisations by members of the band, and their own arrangement of Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi's "Yumeji's Theme." What sets "The Strange Parade" apart from their previous recordings is the inclusion of two cuts that feature Roberto Juan Rodriguez on drums. Invert's often groove-driven music was given an extra rhythmic boost by Rodriguez on the compositions "Dog Days" and "The Peak."
Invert's full length second CD, entitled "Between The Seconds," was released by Capstone Records on January 2004. This ten track disc contains eight original compositions and arrangements of The Beatle's "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Bernard Herrmann's Prelude from the film "Psycho."
Their self titled debut CD, containing six original compositions, was independently released in 2001, and selections from it have received national airplay.
You can purchase Invert's CD's online at CD Baby and get more information on them at their official website, www.invertmusic.org .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/22/2005
Band Website: invertmusic.org
Band Members: Helen Yee ~ violin
Chris Jenkins ~ viola
Steven Berson ~ cello
Chris George ~ cello
Influences: Kronos Quartet, Rachel's, Arvo Part, Turtle Island String Quartet, Michael Nyman, Tin Hat Trio, Expressionist cinema, The Beatles, Velvet Underground, The Brothers Quay, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Glenn Branca, Gidon Kremer, Fela Kuti, Erik Friedlander, Astor Piazzolla, Maya Beiser, Zoe Keating, Bang On A Can, Joan Jeanrenaud, Jurgen Knieper, Henrik Gorecki, klezmer, Public Enemy, Fred Katz, Osvaldo Golijov, Stereo Lab, Guided By Voices, Mission of Burma, New York City; pretty much anything which expands the limits of what strings are expected to do, and points to the meeting place of beauty and intensity.
Record Label: Inverted Music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Invert plays at Issue 3/14 & other latest news!

INVERT PLAYS AT ISSUE PROJECT ROOM THIS FRIDAY!!Invert will perform at the Issue Project Room for the first time at itsacoustically excellent new temporary location at The Can Factory in Brooklyn on F...
Posted by Invert on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:03:00 PST

"The Strange Parade" gets some RADIO PLAY!

We're very excited to have received confirmed radio play for a number of tracks off of our new CD, "The Strange Parade" from these very fine independent and forward thinking stations:CKUA - Edmononton...
Posted by Invert on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:04:00 PST

Invert goes DIGITAL!

We're excited to announce that you can now purchase mp3 downloads of every individual tracks from each of our 3 CD's at Apple iTunes, and also at a number of other digital music distribution services ...
Posted by Invert on Mon, 28 May 2007 09:38:00 PST

first reviews of "The Strange Parade" now in...

Our brand new CD "The Strange Parade" just got two great very positive reviews - with one in Dutch no less!You can read them at The Silent Ballet reviewand (in Dutch):Subjectivisten reviewA big invert...
Posted by Invert on Mon, 28 May 2007 09:26:00 PST

thanks from Invert

MAY 2007A big Inverted thanks goes out to all those who came out on Sunday May 13 for our show at a very cool intimate club in the Lower East Side of NYC - The Living Room on Ludlow Street. We played...
Posted by Invert on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:49:00 PST

NEW CD JUST RELEASED & AVAILABLE NOW!!!!!!!!!!

INVERT'S NEW CD JUST RELEASED & IS AVAILABLE NOW!!!We're enormously excited to announce that our new full length third CD, entitled "The Strange Parade," has just been released to the public on our ow...
Posted by Invert on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:45:00 PST

NEW WEBSITE & OTHER NEWS

NEW WEBSITE ADDRESS: INVERTMUSIC.ORG >OLD DOMAIN NAME KIDNAPPED!!As should be obvious if you have attempted to go to our website recently - our old invert.org website address unfortunately no longer...
Posted by Invert on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 07:25:00 PST

VIDEO of Trinity Church performance now online! & news on the new CD

For those who missed our performance at the historic, beautiful and acoustically amazing Trinity Church on Wall Street here in New York (where we performed on November 30 as part of their "Concerts at...
Posted by Invert on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 04:40:00 PST

Invert + Kate Moss?!?

In an interesting and very cool turn of events Vanity Fair has used our version of The Beatle's "Tomorrow Never Knows" as the backing soundtrack for a video they've posted on their website of a recent...
Posted by Invert on Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:26:00 PST

two new tunes posted!!

By popular request - we've added two new songs for your listening pleasure to the playlist here. Both are previews of tracks from our upcoming (and as yet untiltled) third CD. Dog Days is a piece by ...
Posted by Invert on Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:34:00 PST