Biography
Although the avant chamber trio Rachel's waited until after the dissolution of the seminal Louisville indie outfit Rodan before taking full shape, its roots stretched to 1989. That year guitarist and bassist Jason Noble encountered Juilliard-trained violinist Christian Frederickson aboard a Baltimore trolley. The pair recorded a holiday cassette titled “Rachel’s Halo” in 1991, after which they went separate ways while Noble remained active in Rodan. They reconvened in 1994 and christened the new ensemble Rachel’s after Noble’s Toyota Corolla rather than after its pianist, Rachel Grimes, who completed the lineup.
The trio’s first album, Handwriting, appeared in 1995, presenting a brooding blend of classical and experimental textures shaped by cinematic scoring. The following year brought two further projects: Music for Egon Schiele, a score Grimes wrote for a theatrical dance work drawn from the Austrian painter’s life, and The Sea and the Bells, scored for an orchestra of more than a dozen players. Selenography arrived in 1999. In spring 2000 the group issued Full on Night, a joint effort with Matmos, and three years afterward partnered with New York’s SITI Company on the album Systems/Layers.
Percussionist Edward Grimes launched his own noir-tinged project, Seulah, in 2002. Frederickson meanwhile composed the 2010 interdisciplinary work “The Painted Bird” with director Pavel Zustiak. Founding member Jason Noble died in 2012 following a three-year struggle with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer.
The trio’s first album, Handwriting, appeared in 1995, presenting a brooding blend of classical and experimental textures shaped by cinematic scoring. The following year brought two further projects: Music for Egon Schiele, a score Grimes wrote for a theatrical dance work drawn from the Austrian painter’s life, and The Sea and the Bells, scored for an orchestra of more than a dozen players. Selenography arrived in 1999. In spring 2000 the group issued Full on Night, a joint effort with Matmos, and three years afterward partnered with New York’s SITI Company on the album Systems/Layers.
Percussionist Edward Grimes launched his own noir-tinged project, Seulah, in 2002. Frederickson meanwhile composed the 2010 interdisciplinary work “The Painted Bird” with director Pavel Zustiak. Founding member Jason Noble died in 2012 following a three-year struggle with synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer.
Albums
