Ava Mendoza's Unnatural Ways & Weasel Walter/Chris Pitsiokos Duo

Fire Museum Presents: Ava Mendoza’s Unnatural Ways Weasel Walter/Chris Pitsiokos duo Saturday, March 14th 8:30 PM (please note start time) The First Banana 2152 E. Dauphin Street Philadelphia, PA $7-10 sliding scale Ava Mendoza’s Unnatural Ways (NYC): UNNATURAL WAYS is the main project of Brooklyn-based guitarist Ava Mendoza. Formed in early 2012 in Oakland, CA, the band's short but eventful time on the planet has included tours of Europe and the eastern and western USA. The original lineup consisted of Mendoza on guitar and voice, Dominique Leone- keys, and Nick Tamburro (The Dead Science)- drums. After relocating to Brooklyn in fall 2013, Mendoza reformed the band with NY musicians Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus)- bass and Nick Podgurski (ex Extra Life, Feast of the Epiphany)- drums. The group has developed a sound marrying the intense energy of early free jazz to instantly memorable songs. Winding their way through complex heavy rock, avant jazz and warped, noisy blues, the players push the boundaries of their own vocabularies and the written music to put on powerful and unpredictable live shows. “My name is Ava Mendoza. I play guitars and stompboxes and write music. I have played guitar for most of my life and been active for the last decade playing my own music and in many different groups. In any context I try to bring expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music I play. I've toured throughout the U.S. and Europe and recorded or performed with a broad spectrum of musicians including pop-folk band Tune-Yards, Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Massacre), singer Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers, Evangelista), Nels Cline (guitar hero of Wilco), members of ROVA saxophone quartet, and more. I've played on recordings released by labels Weird Forest, Tzadik, Clean Feed, NotTwo, ugEXPLODE, Resipiscent, Tompkins Square, Bridge Records, Edgetone, Table and Chairs, and others..” - bio Weasel Walter/Chris Pitsiokos duo (Philadelphia/NYC): Weasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Lydia Lunch Retrovirus. Over the years, The Flying Luttenbachers included noted Chicago musicians such as Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Dylan Posa, and Michael Colligan, while creating an uncompromising and mercurial body of abstract music drawing equally from no wave, death metal,free jazz, gamelan, noise music, hardcore punk and modern classical. Walter moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003, where he formed the latest of many Luttenbachers lineups, remaining on percussion with the addition of bassist Mike Green (Burmese), and virtuoso guitarist Ed Rodriguez (now in Deerhoof). Singular guitar phenomenon Mick Barr (Krallice, Octis, Orthrelm) joined the group in 2005. The Flying Luttenbachers ceased to operate in late 2007. On November 25, 2009, Weasel Walter moved to New York City and joined the band Behold... The Arctopus. He also formed Cellular Chaos with Marc Edwards (drummer) and Ceci Moss. He recently relocated to Philadelphia. Chris Pitsiokos is a composer and improviser who performs primarily on alto saxophone. His work draws from elements of contemporary classical, noise, contemporary improvisation, and jazz. Influences include Merzbow, Ornette Coleman, Helmut Lachenmann, and Iannis Xenakis. Recent collaborators include Tyshawn Sorey, Peter Evans, Kevin Shea, Sam Pluta, Philip White, Marc Edwards, Brian Chase, and Weasel Walter. In addition to performing and composing music, Chris runs his own record label, Eleatic Records, curates the Gadfly Series at LES venue Spectrum, and programs a radio show at WKCR. links at http://www.museumfire.com/events