Composer / performer Jeremy Starpoli has been developing his unique musical interests in the northeast United States for over two decades. His original music explores our perception of the fundamental parameters of musical sound (pitch, rhythm, dynamics and tone color) as a basis for creating detailed worlds of sound in a variety of styles.  As a composer, Starpoli's interest in sound as a perceptual substance motivates endless variations of musical material.  As an performer, Starpoli has over fifteen years experience performing on slide trombone as well as a variety of bass strings and percussion instruments.  Based in Western Massachusetts, Starpoli has collaborated with many regional and internationally-known musicians such as Joe McPhee, Jessica Pavone, Dan Greenwood (a.k.a. Diagram A), Ben Karetnick, Cliff White, and many others.  He has performed with groups such his own RICEnsemble, the Middletown (CT) Creative Orchestra, power-noise-core band Squidlaunch, etc.  His approach to the trombone utilizes a wide variety of conventional and extended techniques, allowing for diverse sound-types and moods.  The music of J Starpoli is noisy and passionate at times, at others it is textural or rhythmic or melodic, crossing many styles and sounds in a constant exploration.  Follow the sound.

You can send me EMAIL (if you retype this address with the correct symbols):  <starpolimail at suchfun dot net> 

Co-op Jazz
Sunday, April 22, 2012
2:30-4pm
$ = free / open to the public
    Shelburne Senior Center (townofshelburne.com/senior_cen.html)
          7 Main Street, Shelburne Falls
     party with the old folks!

Ear Contact on WMUA Radio (91.1FM in western MA or streaming live @ WMUA.org)
every Sunday from 7-9pm
     see Projects for more info and playlists
   
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork
Friday, April 27, 2012
8:30pm
$ = no cover!
    Ashfield Lakehouse (ashfieldlakehouse.com)
        rockin' out in the sticks for hilltown folk

Co-op Jazz
Sunday, April 29, 2012
12(noon)-1:30
$ = free!
     @ Occupy Greenfield Common (occupyfranklincounty.org, facebook.com/events/268057253276463)
         in the center of downtown Greenfield, MA
     activists from the 99% will be camped out all night Saturday April 28 through Sunday the 29th.  Come be a part of the country-wide community celebrating the Spring Resurgence
Sunday, April 29, 2012
2:30-4pm
$ = free!
    Green Fields Market (franklincommunity.coop)
        141 Main Street, Greenfield, MA
    mellow grocery shopping music exploring the rich tradition of swing- and bebop-era song forms
Friday, May 4, 2012
6-9pm
$30 donation
    @ Feast for Habitat (pvhabitat.org)
       Benefit fundraiser for Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity to further their efforts to build affordable houses in Western MA
Sunday, May 13, 2012
5:30-8:30pm
$ = ?
     Shutesbury Athletic Club
        282 Wendell Road, Shutesbury, MA
     Celebrate Mother's Day with Co-op Jazz, having fun at the AC! Earlier in the day will be belly-dancing, and there is bound to be plenty of food and drink for this special occasion

Greenwood / Starpoli duo
Saturday, May 19, 2012
doors open at 7:30PM; music at 8PM
$8 admission
    @ Opensound Concert Series (opensound.org)
        Third Life Studio (thirdlifestudio.com)
        Union Square, Somerville, Mass.
    Western MA noise / improv appearing in greater Boston
    also performing is Steve Norton - Covers project

see past shows

     Here are descriptions of some of the current and past music I have been involved with.  In addition to the projects listed below, I've collaborated with many free-improvisers, written one-off pieces for mixed ensembles and played in other groups as a sideman. My passion is for a diversity of sounds and approaches, with a focus on original material and creative experimentation. The future will be mysterious and exciting as always...

Sundays 7-9pm
     Part of WMUA's "contemporary classical" block on Sunday evenings, I challenge the notion with a wide mix of obscure and abstract music from various traditions, including high modernism, indeterminate and aleatoric composition, graphic notation, free improvisation, avant-garde jazz, analog electronic and computer music, noise, conceptual performance art, third stream, meditation and sound healing, lowercase, microtonality, sound poetry, experimental, etc., etc., ad infinitum!
     Be heard!  You can send me recordings in these and other genres care of WMUA:  

see previous playlists

Audio:
J Starpoli - Pheepo Troth.mp3
(J Starpoli, Michael Dessen, Doug LaRosa - trombones)
    This is a piece a wrote in 2004 and recorded with fellow trombonists Michael Dessen and Doug LaRosa.  In it, I explore the trombone as a physical sound-maker, i.e. a variable length of tubing where a change in the slide creates a change in the resulting sound(s), yet this relationship is not always a direct one...

J Starpoli -TextForTwo.mp3
(J Starpoli - trombone, Seth Dellinger - contrabass)
    This was recorded way back in October 2001 live at a Music Overground show in New York City.  Since my early days as a young fan of rap music I've had an interest in the cross-fertilization of music and language.  While I don't identify this piece as being related to hip-hop in the way some other projects I've worked on, I did conceive the piece as a means to explore the sound of language as an instrumentalist.  Essentially the two performers here are reading through an original text in order to create a certain type of rhythm that I don't feel can be obtained from staff notation (or any other method, really).  The pitch information is kept purposely simple, but does relate to rap in that melodic cells at the end of phrases often "rhyme" through transposition or inversion, etc.  On a surface level this composition was quickly developed in order to take advantage of the monthly concert series I was involved with at the time, yet I feel it stands up sonically with my tastes even now.  It also was a nice opportunity to work with my Correspondence Quartet bandmate Seth Dellinger, a great contrabassist who has since gone on to explore the language/music boundaries in extra detail as an experimental vocal composer/performer.

Theory:
J Starpoli - Sonogrammatics.pdf
Sonogrammatics: A Method of Musical Composition Based on Sound Analysis
by J Starpoli
    For those interested in the theories behind my original compositions and improvising, you can download my Division III "thesis" for Hampshire College, where I outline the basic musical concepts that I've been exploring for the past 15 years or so.  Of course, if given the chance I would rewrite the material and add so much more, but even as it is I feel I've barely scratched the surface and continue to develop these ideas in my works today.

Video:
     Here are some links to miscellaneous performances I have given with non-regular groups or as a sideman.  Unless otherwise credited, all of the video footage in this section was shot by the ubiquitous Ted Lee; check out his mammoth documenting of the western MA scene at www.youtube.com/user/ZEBU1212

Something Else at the Arts Block in Greenfield, MA - November 19, 2011
Something Else at the Arts Block in Greenfield, MA - September 10, 2011
Ron Schneiderman / Andy Crespo Duo with J Starpoli & Peter Bonos at The Elevens in Northampton, MA - September 1, 2011
Peter Bonos Blow Out! at Feeding Tube Records in Northampton, MA - August 30, 2011
Joe McPhee / Chris Corsano / Andy Crespo / J Starpoli at Flywheel - March 2, 2011 (set 1)
Joe McPhee / Chris Corsano / Andy Crespo / J Starpoli at Flywheel - March 2, 2011 (set2)
Free Jazz Scream Team at Flywheel in Easthampton, MA - August 31, 2010
Gastric RICE Lavage Ensemble at Flywheel in Easthampton, MA - May 2, 2010
Belltone Suicide at Grey Matter Books in Hadley, MA - March 18, 2010
J Starpoli with Peter Bonos and Matt Weston at the Elevens in Northampton, MA - August 2, 2009
AO Groupuscule at the Purple House in Northampton, MA - November 15, 2008

Audio:
There are a few jammin' tracks recorded with guitarist Dan Lederer on his music page: danlederer.com/music.htm
You can also hear some of my various audio tracks at www.myspace.com/jaystarsound

    You are what you eat, and with this project I strive to create a musical equivalent to the multi-dimensional experience of colors, textures and flavors collectively known as "rice".  Rather than "the J Starpoli Band" or something I choose to use the opportunity to spread awareness of the world's most important grain.  Drawing on fringe traditions of world-wide experimental music, unorthodox theory, and quack science, the RICEnsemble is dedicated to expressing musical vibrations as a perceptual substance to be shaped into unique artifacts for each performance.  Since 2005 the primary focus has been towards live sound collage using trombone, bass strings and percussion to create sonic textures and materials in a multi-voiced, multi-layered sound environment.  I have performed a handful of live shows with this concept and am open to new venues where a P.A. or stereo amps are available for the live collage mixing.  Self-released recording in the works.

Video:
RICEnsemble at the Starbux Studios Rent Party in Turners Falls, MA - February 6, 2011
(J Starpoli- trombone, fretless bass guitar, hand percussion, digital editing and live mixing)
    Here I am trying out some new works in progress during the cold winter months as my fellow artists and I hold an open studio to drum up money for heat.  In the new year I am refocusing the RICEnsemble to incorporate multiple instruments into the textures I mix live in performance.  I'm finding I really have to step up my musicianship to move past the simple sampling of sounds towards a "one man band" approach, yet the results are rewarding.  I also find I have to throw a completely ass-backwards approach to technology into the mix in order to escape the standard "set up a repetitive loop and play over it (yawn)".  Big thanx to Neil for helping me sort out my equipment setup and the whole Starbux crew for putting together an awesome event.

RICEnsemble at the Montague Phantom Brain Exchange #16 in Lake Pleasant, MA - April 18, 2009
(J Starpoli- trombone, fretless bass guitar, contrabass, hand percussion, metronomes, digital editing, live mixing, with audience participation)   
    This performance lasts roughly a half-hour, blending various approaches with an underlying drone, or at least stasis.  In retrospect, the material and the transitions between sections signify transformations while the energy present between the performer and audience remained at a relatively constant intensity.  This was an exciting event for me to share some loosely structured musical ideas with friends and a ready-made audience keen on diversity in the arts.  Thanks to Neel for his hard work in putting it all together.
    Performed in Lake Pleasant, MA at the National Spiritualist Alliance Hall on April 18, 2009. Also on the bill was piano music by Horse Boys, photo presentation by PI, Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone guitar and viola duo, boom-box cassette mixing by Cloaca and Tumblecat Poof Poofy Poof.

Audio:
RICEnsemble - LiveAtMeadArtMuseum.mp3
(J Starpoli - trombone, fretless bass, hand percussion, digital editing, live mixing)
     Recorded in an ancient French room imported from France (don't even think about leaning against those walls!), this show was a benefit for victims of the Northampton arsons.  Also performing that night was Jason Robinson with Bob Weiner and a special guest, and Max Suecting / Issac Luxor duo.  Live performance from the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, March 2010.

RICEnsemble - Ponomedar.mp3
(J Starpoli- trombone, digital editing)
    Three trombones sustain the music of this piece throughout, so that emphasis can be placed on the instrument's possibilities for variation in dynamics, tone, articulation, etc.  Across the block form, each voice improvises with similar materials, resulting in textures of related sounds and shapes mixed intuitively.  The shapes remain the same when perceived from different vantage points within the sound world, like viewing a prism in motion.  Recorded in Western MA, 2008

also check out some short bonus tracks at www.myspace.com/jaystarsound

    This unlikely pairing of trombonist and guy-who-takes-apart-electronics-and-plugs-them-back-into-the-wrong-places was held together by our similar backgrounds of exploring sound in all of its' aspects and our willingness to bridge "music" and "noise".  Having collaborated since the turn of the century, we're back in 2011 with fresh material ready to take the world by storm!  Dan Greenwood has been the undisputed champion of Western Mass. electronic noise since his pioneering group (...proof of the shooting...) with the late John Brown.  Since then he has reigned supreme with his solo project Diagram: A.  Definitely check out www.myspace.com/diagramagreenwood if you like your noise creative and brutal (and who doesn't?).

Audio:
wDanGreenwood_09.24.2011_No1.mp3
wDanGreenwood_10.25.2011_No2.mp3
(Dan Greenwood - handmade electronics; J Starpoli - amplified trombone)
     Brand new material from our latest collaborations.  Recorded deep in the underground of Western Mass.

check out a short track from back in the day at www.myspace.com/jaystarsound

Crespo / Starpoli / Todd + Bonos / Signore / Cooper / etc.
    Totally improvised, asbract soundscapes in this collective trio with Andy Crespo (extended bass guitar) and Bruce Todd (drumset and percussion) occasionally augmented by like minded friends.  This is a group that I feel I can play anything with, yet I often find myself consciously avoiding the typical pitch-and-rhythm based approaches to concentrate on dynamics, sound color and other acoustic effects.  The other players bring a similar exploratory attitude, which makes the intense listening and reacting style we work with that much more effortless and enjoyable. We have been playing together for many years in various configurations and still maintain the group at the ready for your next eclectic event.

Video:

PRINTS at Feeding Tube Records in Northampton, MA - January 30, 2011

PRINTS at Flywheel Grand Re-opening in Easthampton, MA - April 18, 2010

(Victor Signore - tenor saxophone, J Starpoli - trombone, Andy Crespo - bass, Bruce Todd - drums)
     Like a second homecoming, this show brings us full circle from our early days cutting our teeth at the original Flywheel.  Here we are helping to christen their new space in the Old Town Hall.  The D.I.Y arts scene in Western MA has a new venue, go Flywheel!

PRINTS at Dad City in Amherst, MA - October 4, 2009

(Peter Bonos - trumpet, Victor Signore - tenor saxophone, J Starpoli - trombone, Andy Crespo - bass, Bruce Todd - drums)
     Getting down and dirty in this truly underground show in an unfinished basement near Hampshire College.  Matt Weston headlined the show with his unique approach to percussion and electronics.  This was our send-off for trumpeter Peter Bonos who now resides on the West Coast after the past few memorable years in the Western MA noise / improvisation scene.

     This energetic group performs the original songs of Rob Skelton, the infamous band leader with a unique outlook.  His lyrics mine the rich folklore of Western Massachussetts and wildly diverse topics as social taboos, maple syrup and former Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry.  The lineup of the group is always shifting, but strives to realize Rob's mix of funky, punky, folk-rockin' grooves.

Check out some of Rob's prolific musical ouput, some featuring yours truly, at www.myspace.com/skeltonspitchfork

Video:
A search for Rob Skelton on YouTube, will reveal his masterful songcraft with some great local history in the lyrics.  Here are videos that I have found with me playing in the band:
from ROBSKELTONSONGS' Channel:
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork: Marion Barry
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork: I'm In Love
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork: White Hole with Larry Berger
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork: Blackberry with a Deviation from the Norm (B)
also
Rob Skelton's Pitchfork at Positronic Design Holyoke, MA

     Les Patlove - french horn
     J Starpoli - trombone
     David Greenberg - guitar
     Bill Winslow - keyboards
     Michael Suter - bass
     Dana Tolman - drums

     This group is collective of area jazz players exploring those old chesnuts from the standarized repeoire of swing- and bebop era tunes with a healthy dose of bossa nova.  The sound is mellow and loose, with the frontline of trombone and french horn reminiscent of the west coast "cool" bands from the 1950s.  Upright bass with guitar and/or keyboards and percussion make up the rhythm section and set the tempo.  The group plays a regular gig the last Sunday of each month as part of the Music on the Mezzanine at Green Fields Market where we earn our working member credit and I hold down my day job.  Check out franklincommunity.coop for their calendar of events and more info on the store. We also perform regularly at venues such as Mike and Tony's Pizzeria in Colrain, the Shutesbury Athletic Club and Cushman Market in Amherst. We love to play, and will set up basically anywhere we can spread the gospel of the important musical traditions collectively known as "jazz".

    A collective group working in the realms of concept-driven composition and improvisation.  With Josiah Cuneo (drums and percussion) and Victor Signore (saxophone), I have found an outlet for having fun and exploring left-field ideas for musical material and improvisational frameworks.  Freewheeling explorations of sound color and loudness fuse with original material and diverse approaches to musical communication.  Using acoustic instruments, Pyramid Scheme's music reflects the band's experiences with audio and visual art, academic and esoteric knowledge, underground radio, technology and performance.  Energetic, unconventional investigations into the nature of sound and musical creativity provide the essence of the music of Pyramid Scheme.  We have a self-released CD-R available in my DISCOGRAPHY section below.

Check us out at www.myspace.com/thepyramidschemetrio

Audio:
Hear us live in concert at the Issue Project Room via WFMU's freemusicarchive.org/music/Pyramid_Scheme_Trio

(Ben Karetnick - drumset, J Starpoli - trombone)
    Creative free-jazz experimentalism from the Pioneer Valley's (Western Massachusetts) infamous trombone and drums duo. Ben Karetnick and I have been in many groups together in our lives, but this duo has persevered throughout.  Resistance Blue has cultivated a unique bond based on their common interests in sound exploration, time as a multi-layered phenomenon, the relationship between rhythm and melody, and creative activity through improvisation.  Follow the Resistance Blue duo on their quest to express the abstract essence of the infinite in music!

Check out www.myspace.com/resistanceblue for more info on our CD from Peacock Recordings (www.peacock-recordings.com) plus bonus audio tracks and more.

As a throwback to our early work together, you can hear a former group we recorded with featuring bassist Kazuto Sato and trumpeter Pasquale Cangiano courtesy of the latter's www.blackrhombus.com/archive_mumford_babbs.php

This now-defunct unit played a number of shows in Western Mass. in the beginning part of the 21st Century, crossing many styles and approaches as children of the post-modern era should. In addition to myself writing and playing trombone and bass guitar, the core of the group was composer and guitarist Zach Weingarten and the multi-instrumentalist / creative spirit Bob Guibeaut (usually playing drums). Max Adam also played upright bass with us for a while. Quirky and rhythm-oriented, atonal and melodic, Ik*tak*tak had fun making weird music in its' short history.

Audio:
J Starpoli - Ik_tak_tak.mp3
(Zach Weingarten- guitar, J Starpoli- trombone and bass guitar, Bob Gibeault- drum set)
    This was the self-titled theme song to a short-lived ensemble of left-field musicians, and I here I mean musician in the complete sense of composer, improviser, and explorer of musical traditions.  The piece incorporates some of my interests at that time such as "odd" time structures, free-flowing interval shapes, and the overtone series as harmony generator, as examples.  What fortune to be able to work with people who can grasp these non-standard approaches and bring their own personalities to it, to boot.

    This was a formative band in my early career, and the music and concepts we developed have resonated throughout all of my later work. It was a inspiriation to collaborate with the hard-working musicians Jackson Moore, saxophone, Jessica Pavone, viola and violin and Seth Dellinger, contrabass. In a nutshell, our focus was on literal musical communication through our instruments, which guided the ensemble in improvising and creating spontaneous forms. At some point, our musical cues became integrated into the fabric of the group sound. This off-center idea was the grist for countless variations in our dozens of live shows, which ran from about 1998-2002.

Audio:
J Starpoli - UntitledPieceForCQ.mp3
(Seth Dellinger - contrabass, Jackson Moore - saxophone, Jessica Pavone - viola, J Starpoli - trombone)
     This track is from a recording project done in Hartford, CT where the group departed from our usual verbally-developed improvisational music and each through composed a work for the quartet's instrumentation using the prearranged memorized material in our own ways.  My piece (heard here) was, if I remember correctly, was written as a mix of conventional and graphic notation with a tightly constrained improvised section where we used our unique sonic cueing sytem to bring thematic variations in and out of the musical mix.  Probably atypical of our normal live sets, I enjoyed writing this piece for the group as a one-off project as a collective exchange of individual ideas.

     Western Mass. Power Violence! As young people into all sorts of radical music and artistry, we knew we could add something to the then burgeoning international noise / hardcore scene beyond emulating our influences. Plus, we could clear a crowed punk show in less than a minute flat. The band went through many changes over its' history, but during my time in it I had a blast (literally) finding all the "wrong" sounds on my trombone, and I haven't changed since. Song titles such as "Amoxil Lysergic Capacity", "Blyrfyx", "Feast on Vomit", etc., will perhaps give some sense of what this band was about.

www.myspace.com/squidlaunch

We have a 7" re-issued in 2007 from a show recorded on WFMU in 1995 and released twelve years later on Interplanetary Music / Cardboard / Bonescraper / $ tree / LFA / Spooky Tree Records
     Check out this review by WFMU:
blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/09/recent-new-bin-.html

There is also a track on the X-Pluralus compilation from Mystra Records, which can be found here (among other places):
www.forcedexposure.com/labels/mystra.records.html
www.discogs.com/artist/Squidlaunch

    Here is a gathering of selected releases featuring my music that have come out over the years.  Some are still available, where indicated.  My favorite method of payment is trade for original recording or creative product.  Otherwise these D.I.Y recordings are $10.  Send a message to [starpolimail at suchfun dot net] and we'll work out the details.

J Starpoli: The Donkey and the Phoenix
self-released CD / booklet
Trombone and bass guitar duets and a story to read along with. Available directly from me.

Pyramid Scheme Trio: self-titled CD
Self-released, original music from this collective group.  Recorded summer 2008.  Write for a copy.

Resistance Blue Duo: self-titled CD
THE trombone and drums duo CD for 2007. Available directly from me or check out www.peacock-recordings.com

Squidlaunch: 7-inch vinyl
Western Mass Hardcore! Recorded on WFMU in 1995 and released twelve years later on Interplanetary Music / Cardboard / Bonescraper / $ tree / LFA / Spooky Tree Records (whew). I have a few of these left.

Correspondence Quartet: 1999 Performances 4CD-box
Fantastic experiments with improvised musical communication. I don't have any of these but you can still get them from Cadence --> http://db.cadencebuilding.com --> type "Correspondence" in the title search field).

Phloyd's Rice Ensemble: self-released cassette / booklet
mixed groups / solo music from the mid 90's, OUT OF PRINT