Join Transparent Productions for the return of DC's ¡FIASCO! (guitarist Nelson Dougherty, saxophonist Andrew Frankhouse, bassist Steve Arnold, and drummer Kieth Butler Jr) plus Tyson, a duo featuring Nelson and saxophonist Tyler Cassidy.

Monday August 14th at 7pm at Rhizome DC. $15 Admission

“¡FIASCO! fuses experimental jazz with elements of acid rock and punk rock...a deep imagination and philosophical temperament.” – Sadie Gronigan for CapitalBop

Washington DC-based ¡FIASCO! was first assembled to perform a pair of concerts honoring Paul Motian at the historic Twins Jazz Club in Washington. After an enthusiastically received initial run, the group expanded its repertoire inspired by a variety of sounds including droning folk songs, shimmering indie shoegaze, fuzzy grunge rock, and a variety of electronic and synthesized sounds.

Arson, the group’s first studio recording, was named the Best DC Jazz Album of 2020 by CapitolBop, and its release and reception culminated in the group's performance at the 2020 DC Jazz Festival. An incendiary follow-up, Post-Truth, is slated for release in February 2021. Equally sonically ambitious as its predecessor, Post-Truth presents six additional original compositions encompassing a broad range of stylistic and tonal colors, equal parts contemplative and aggressive, searching and searing.

Together these recordings represent nearly five years of distillation and focus of the group's musical vision, and provide a musical frame around the tragedy and absurdity of the year 2020.

Guitarist Nelson Dougherty, who pens most of the compositions, demonstrates a mastery of the guitar as a vertical, textural phenomenon, as well as the possibilities presented by electronics and effects. His prowess here rewards repeated listening for hidden nuances and layers, and the overlap of lead and accompaniment.

Saxophonist Andrew Frankhouse provides the lead voice for the group, with a sound focused and penetrating, warm and sensitive, and sometimes screaming and breaking up. Augmenting his tenor with electronics allows him to play a textural role unusual for a horn, often layering further upon Dougherty’s guitar, leaving the listener wondering which sounds come from whom.

Bassist Stephen Arnold provides a rock and roll urgency, with a keen ear for groove. Not satisfied to simply play a role, Arnold’s sound and articulation fit the needs of each composition, sometimes deep and woody, others with a punk rock distortion, pick attack, and attitude.

Drummer Keith Butler Jr. provides a breath and life to the music, attentive to the spirit the moment, patient where necessary but never afraid to play the role of bomb-thrower. He is equally adept at generating a flurry of activity without overplaying and knowing when the moment requires a single note, or nothing at all.

Drawing upon and subverting many sources and traditions, ¡FIASCO! explores a wide spectrum of sound, and their musicianship and range demands the audience and the band to keep their ears open, through near-silences and plaintive moments, and the screams, crashes, swirling delays, and dizzying obfuscations.

+ Tyson is a duo featuring Nelson Dougherty and Tyler Cassidy. Using instruments such as guitar, saxophone, piano, synth, tape, and many effects pedals, this group's goal is create massive, emotional, and contemplative ambient pieces.