AND A NEW LIVE SERIES - CompendiUM
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In June, prog-rock powerhouse Umphrey's McGee will release Jimmy Stewart 2007 - an ambitious double-live album comprised of some of the band's most inspired improvisations, sequenced into two seamless 70-minute “mixtapes." Several times each performance Umphrey's McGee delves into the “Jimmy Stewart" creation process. They aim to generate melody-rich, spontaneous compositions, utilizing a Zappa-inspired language of body gestures and hand-signals which allow the band to create structure on-the-fly.
As Umphrey's McGee's sound continues to evolve, each live performance is increasingly a showcase for their “Jimmy Stewart" approach to progressive improvisation, which they utilize as a breeding ground for new material. Fan favorites “In the Kitchen," “Intentions Clear," “Bridgeless," and many more have come from such sessions. In fact, the newest original to the Umphrey's McGee live repertoire is “Waist Down," a song with firm roots in the Jimmy Stewart 2007 track “Eat - 2.17.07 - San Francisco."
Umphrey's is a band always on the cusp of fresh technology and music distribution, and the trendsetting Umphrey's McGee Podcast serves up two 75-minute sets of live UM each month to its 20,000 subscribers. On June 10, the Podcast offered its 66th broadcast, a Jimmy Stewart 2007 companion piece of an extra CD's worth of material from the cutting room. That past weekend, a limited pressing of 2,000 Jimmy Stewart 2007 CDs were available at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, with remaining copies to be distributed at shows and though the band's online store. Beginning June 17, the record is available digitally via iTunes and UMLive.net.
Also this month, Umphrey's McGee debut a digital-only live series called CompendiUM. The first ten releases in this iTunes series are comprised of the band's favorite ten shows of 2007, showcasing the incredibly diverse range of the Umphrey's McGee live experience.
CompendiUM releases:
CompendiUM: Live in Boulder, Colorado - 03.06.07
CompendiUM: Live in Pontiac, Michigan - 03.16.07
CompendiUM: Live in Madison, Wisconsin - 03.22.07
CompendiUM: Live in Rochester, New York - 04.15.07
CompendiUM: Live in Portland, Oregon - 06.07.07
CompendiUM: Live in Portsmouth, Virginia - 06.28.07
CompendiUM: Live in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota - 07.19.07
CompendiUM: Live in Bloomington, Indiana - 11.09.07
CompendiUM: Live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 11.10.07
CompendiUM: Live in Chicago, Illinois - 12.30.07
Umphrey's McGee tour dates available here.
