Random Access

What The Critics Say........
Romberg resisted the urge to put the jams (MRC Trio) through the same cut and paste process as the Random Access materials, and it was a wise call, for these long evolutions are the most effective way of hearing his own highly individual work. He may owe a sentimental debt to Elvin (Jones), but in his intense musicality and prodigious output he's closer in spirit to Jack Dejohnette. Random Access Part 3 and Tribal Dance are both jawdroppingly good.
Brian Morton, Wire Magazine
Drummer-composer-bandleader Barry Romberg is playfully subversive. The Latest installment (RA 3) is full of suprises and good humour, along with a multitude of good grooves...Romberg displays quick hands, keen instincts and coloristic tendencies behind the kit.
Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times Magazine
Barry Rombergs sound hasnt fully filtered down across that long border separating his native Canada from the US, and its a shame. He's distinctive and prolific, swirling his own brand of originality with established sounds. Rombergs drumming....is crisp and geometrical, full of tight grooves, dividing the sometimes swirling music into percussivedepartments.
Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Romberg struck me as the most startling drummer since Claude Ranger..Im truly convinced Romberg has potential as a future jazz visionary.
Bill Besecker, The Jazz Report
Romberg is one of the most innovative jazz drummers in Canada.
Dennis Slater, FFWD, Calgary
Romberg plays in a brisk bustling, licety-split manner, marshalling a lot of small, quick sounds with a sharp crack of a rim shot. Its a personal style, something that a lot of drummers never develop in careers much longer than Rombergs to date. He applies that style and all its textures to a heated post-fusion style of jazz, the sort that the Breckers, Bergs, and Sterns are doing down New York way.
Mark Miller, The Globe & Mail
The hardest-working musician in Canada just might be drummer Barry Romberg, who in addition to various sideman gigs, plays in the Barry Romberg Group, The Three Sisters, Inside Out, and the MRC Trio- and distributes recordings by these enembles on his own Romhog Records. Rombergs got his own style, but there is plenty of Elvin Jones in Barry's offbeat accents and in his sheer power and force and some Jack Dejohnette too, in his vast musicality and creativity....Rombergs skills as a producer are as important as his ability behind his kit.
Paul Olsen, All About Jazz
On Big Giant Head:
“The results are fiery, resolutely grooving and less abstract than one would think. It’s tempting to call the music “fusion,” as it mixes jazz and rock, but with it’s electronic textures and avante-garde exploration, it’s closer to Miles Davis’s work in the early 70’s or even the avant-rock of Frank Zappa.”
Mike Doherty, National Post
“Random Access…..has been a successful project, generating accessible but always forward-looking jazz at the tasty frontline of new music……Rom’s team is an all-star Toronto group, the turbulent processes always suggest brave new worlds..…just a note away, encouraged by the constant thrust of Romberg’s drums.”
Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star
"It's unclear whether this is a tribute to the alien leader on "3rd rock from the sun" but, if it is, then i'm sure he'd approve as mega award winning jazzeteer Barry Romberg embarks on the 6th installment of hid Random access project.
Over the course of the project Romberg and his cohorts have gradually moved away from the free jazz experimentation phase and have now reached a point where they actually - shock! - horror! - rehearsed before hitting the studio to record.
Now, some may moan, but when you're dealing with modern jazz dynamic as the bluesy title track or the hard hitting opener "Birthday Cakes and Lawyers", it would be churlish to take issue. Even the scarily titled "Suite For Drum Solo" won't have you heading for the hills.
Best of all is the closing nine minutes devoted to "Geronimo" where the whole band dance melodically through a dazzling number that will have the late Michael Brecker, whom this CD is dedicated to, nodding in approval from on high.
Zeitgeist, UK
THE COMPLETE ROMHOG CATALOGUE
random access part 3
random access part 4 - No Soap Radio
random access part 5- Live On Tour
random access part 6 -Big Giant Head
random access large ensemble-Existential Detective
geoff young trio - in between
inside out - what is this thing?
adrean farrugia-V1.0 Live At The Senator
three sisters -village
barry romberg-Greatest Hits
barry romberg-2nd Floor Please
distributed in Canada by Festival
see www.barryromberg.com for more details
Introducing Romhog Records the independent jazz label that in its brief existence has redefined the parameters of Canadian improvised music. Since its inception in 2002, Romhog Records has produced a steady stream of critically acclaimed releases featuring some of the most outstanding artists in Canadian contemporary jazz.
The founder and driving force behind this new label is none other than the legendary musician Barry Romberg. Romberg is a most compelling and singular musical voice. His unique drumset stylings have propelled the likes of Gil Evans, Hank Jones, Joe Henderson, Ritchie Bierach, Don Byron, Sam Rivers, George Garzone, Joanne Brackeen, Rick Margitza and Mark Turner to mention but a few.
As a leader Barrys projects have continually striven to push the boundarys of improvised music. Whether it be the ultra modern sounds of the MRC Trio, the rhythmic complexity of Inside Out, the acoustic beauty of the Geoff Young Trio, the impressionistic Three Sisters, or the eclectic sounds of Random Access, a six volume studio set exposing Rombergs personal journey into the world of spontaneous composition, the Romhog catalogue is making a lasting impression.
The Random Access project has over the last few years manifested itself into a seven piece improvising unit that has been nominated at the National Jazz Awards for Best Electric Group in 2005/2006/2007 and won the category Best Electric Group in 2008.
The latest Romhog release is the much anticipated Random Access Large Ensemble CD "Existential Detective".
Watch for the RANDOM ACCESS LARGE ENSEMBLE (2008 NJA nominee for Best Big Band) a 15 piece group, an extension of Randon Access with a killer 10 piece horn section featuring some of Canada's finest musicians. The band has been showcasing new material at The Rex Hotel in Toronto for the last few years.
Myspace Editor
Pimp MySpace