Biography
Formed in 1981 in Santa Cruz, California, by multi-instrumentalist Joee Conroy, Ut Gret drew upon progressive rock, jazz, contemporary composition, global fusion, and spontaneous creation for its sound. The group's name referenced "Ut" as the lowest tone of the medieval organ and "Gret" as an allusion to 12th-century barbarian invaders. Conroy had relocated to Santa Cruz from his native Louisville, Kentucky, in 1979; there he had performed alongside drummer Steve Roberts, who later concentrated on keyboards and helped establish the Louisville progressive outfit French TV. An admirer of Gong, Material, the Muffins, and Fred Frith, Conroy operated a record shop, contributed to Greenpeace, and participated in several local ensembles before launching Ut Gret, where he handled fretless bass and violin alongside David Stilley on saxophones, brass, and double reeds plus James Potter on clarinets.
Following West Coast performances and personnel shifts that reduced the ensemble to the Conroy-Stilley duo, the pair relocated to Louisville; their arrival coincided with the 1990 release of the debut album Time of the Grets. Blending Kentucky studio overdubs with California concert recordings, the set presented Conroy and Stilley with saxophonist-flutist-percussionist and world-music educator Gregory Acker, guitarist Misha Feigin, and guests Davey Williams, Eugene Chadbourne, and Henry Kaiser. Conroy and Stilley maintained their partnership in Ut Gret and related improvisational, world-music contexts until Stilley returned to Santa Cruz in 1995, prompting Acker and Feigin to join Conroy in a trio configuration.
Feigin's exit and replacement by reed player Steve Good preceded a further reconfiguration after Conroy reconnected with his former Louisville collaborator Steve Roberts through shared progressive interests, bringing Roberts into the fold in 1998. By the early 2000s the core comprised Conroy, Acker, Good, Roberts, and drummer Gary Pahler; accumulated recordings from multiple lineups and guests resulted in the 2006 three-CD archival collection Recent Fossils on Louisville's Ear-X-Tacy Records. The box set contained one disc of Acker's gamelan and world-instrument compositions, another of studio improvisations, and a third documenting a live rendition of Terry Riley's "In C" at a Louisville venue.
Radical Symmetry, recorded in 2009 and issued in 2011 on UnHeardOf Productions, followed; its centerpiece was the sixteen-minute-plus Roberts piece "Infinite Regress." Conroy contributed guitars, fretless bass, electric sitar, bouzouki, and viola; Acker performed on flutes, saxophones, didgeridoo, and percussion; Roberts played keyboards and trumpet; Good handled clarinets and bassoon; Pahler supplied drums and percussion; James Vaughn added cello; and guests Denny Whalen on synthesizer and vocalist Dane Waters appeared as well. Cellist Vaughn, active since 2007, departed in 2010, as did longtime member Acker; bassoonist-contra-bassoonist Jackie Royce joined in Acker's place. Acker nevertheless participated on flutes, percussion, didgeridoo, and baritone saxophone for portions of Ancestors' Tale, released by Italy's AltrOck label in 2014. That album featured mainstay Conroy on fretless bass, guitars, Chapman stick, electronics, and effects alongside Roberts on pianos, Mellotron, organ, marimba, vibes, and samples, Good on clarinet and bass clarinet, Pahler on drums, Royce, and Acker, with additional contributions from vocalist-violinist Cheyenne Mize and double bassist Sydney Simpson on selected tracks.
Following West Coast performances and personnel shifts that reduced the ensemble to the Conroy-Stilley duo, the pair relocated to Louisville; their arrival coincided with the 1990 release of the debut album Time of the Grets. Blending Kentucky studio overdubs with California concert recordings, the set presented Conroy and Stilley with saxophonist-flutist-percussionist and world-music educator Gregory Acker, guitarist Misha Feigin, and guests Davey Williams, Eugene Chadbourne, and Henry Kaiser. Conroy and Stilley maintained their partnership in Ut Gret and related improvisational, world-music contexts until Stilley returned to Santa Cruz in 1995, prompting Acker and Feigin to join Conroy in a trio configuration.
Feigin's exit and replacement by reed player Steve Good preceded a further reconfiguration after Conroy reconnected with his former Louisville collaborator Steve Roberts through shared progressive interests, bringing Roberts into the fold in 1998. By the early 2000s the core comprised Conroy, Acker, Good, Roberts, and drummer Gary Pahler; accumulated recordings from multiple lineups and guests resulted in the 2006 three-CD archival collection Recent Fossils on Louisville's Ear-X-Tacy Records. The box set contained one disc of Acker's gamelan and world-instrument compositions, another of studio improvisations, and a third documenting a live rendition of Terry Riley's "In C" at a Louisville venue.
Radical Symmetry, recorded in 2009 and issued in 2011 on UnHeardOf Productions, followed; its centerpiece was the sixteen-minute-plus Roberts piece "Infinite Regress." Conroy contributed guitars, fretless bass, electric sitar, bouzouki, and viola; Acker performed on flutes, saxophones, didgeridoo, and percussion; Roberts played keyboards and trumpet; Good handled clarinets and bassoon; Pahler supplied drums and percussion; James Vaughn added cello; and guests Denny Whalen on synthesizer and vocalist Dane Waters appeared as well. Cellist Vaughn, active since 2007, departed in 2010, as did longtime member Acker; bassoonist-contra-bassoonist Jackie Royce joined in Acker's place. Acker nevertheless participated on flutes, percussion, didgeridoo, and baritone saxophone for portions of Ancestors' Tale, released by Italy's AltrOck label in 2014. That album featured mainstay Conroy on fretless bass, guitars, Chapman stick, electronics, and effects alongside Roberts on pianos, Mellotron, organ, marimba, vibes, and samples, Good on clarinet and bass clarinet, Pahler on drums, Royce, and Acker, with additional contributions from vocalist-violinist Cheyenne Mize and double bassist Sydney Simpson on selected tracks.
Albums
