Cinema Improv

This lovely episode features Mike Robinson (Sierra Ferrell, Maggie Rogers) on pedal steel, Jon Thompson on saxophones, Jesse Neuman on trumpet, Damian Calcagne (Pine Box Studio) on keys, Scott Colberg (Calexico, Margaret Glaspy) on bass and host Dave Butler (Guster) on drums improvising to Godfrey Reggio’s beautiful and haunting 1988 non-narrative film, Powaqqatsi.

Bassist Adam Minkoff (Graham Nash, Secret Chiefs 3), guitarist Jonathan Goldberger (Red Barrat, John Zorn), steel player Mike Robinson (Sierra Ferrell, Maggie Rogers), keyboardist Damian Calcagne (Pine Box Studio) and drummer Dave Butler (Guster) improvise a wild soundtrack to the 2002 ancient Chinese martial arts flick, Hero.

Back after a five year hiatus, we have keyboardist Damian Calcagne, guitarist Justin Mazer, bassist Jonathan Toscano, saxophonist Dan Myers and drummer Dave Butler (Guster) improvising a wild soundtrack to the 2015 post apocalyptic action juggernaut, Mad Max: Fury Road. We recorded this session at The Pine Box studio in Boonton, NJ.

Keyboardist Sarah Goldstone (Hurray For The Riff Raff), guitarist Dave Harrington (Darkside), bassist Caitlin Gray, and drummer Dave Butler (Guster, Marco Benevento) improvise a beautiful and wide ranging soundtrack to Tarsem Singh’s 2008 adventure fantasy film, The Fall.

Bassist Scott Colberg (Calexico), guitarist Kirk Schoenherr (Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker), keyboardist Steve Okonski (The National Reserve), and drummer Dave Butler (Guster) swung by the studio to create a new improvised soundtrack to the classic 1971 American action road movie, Vanishing Point. 

For the 12th episode, we are lucky to have guitarist Jonny Lam (Sinkane, David Byrne), bassist Michael Ish Montgomery (Sinkane), percussionist Philip Mayer (Natalie Merchant, The Band's Visit musical), and drummer Dave Butler (Guster) in the studio.  Join us for an improvised soundtrack to one of the greatest films of our time, Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Our 11th episode features guitarist Justin Mazer (Ryan Montbleau), bassist Caitlin Gray (Hurray for the Riff Raff), keyboardist Matt Trowbridge (RANA) and drummer David Butler (Guster, Marco Benevento) as they improvise a soundtrack to Godfrey Reggio's cult classic documentary, Koyaanisqatsi. Philip Glass move over!

We are going big for episode 10 with the most psychedelic and intense film to date and I couldn't have assembled a better crew of musicians to tackle it.  Today we have Dave Harrington (Darkside) on guitar, Robbie "Seahag" Mangano (Tom Morello, Sean Lennon) on guitar and bass, Steve Okonski (The National Reserve) on keys and synths, and Dave Butler (Guster) on drums and percussion. Enjoy!

Guitarist Scott Metzger was inspired by playing on the Cinema Improv episode of 2001: A Space Odyssey, so he decided to make his own remix of the session.  What he came up with is a very cool and weird piece of music that totally spins the original on its head.

This month we are going way past the moon in an epic drama of adventure and space exploration with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm really excited to have this trio for this film consisting of Marc Friedman (The Slip, Ryan Montbleau) on bass, Scott Metzger (JRAD, Wolf!) on guitar and myself on drum kit and percussion. Get ready to get weird!