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3 Elements of Chimera
With the trio, playing jazz standards and originals, Josh began a quest to arrange the melodies of his songs between drums, piano and bass. Traditionally it is the piano that would play the melodies, but Josh wanted to finds ways of percussively arranging the compositions with an emphasis on the bass.
After playing a show at a college in Boston in the Fall of 2008, Josh was moved by the way the young crowd responded to the show. Familiar with playing shows in NYC, where the audiences tend to be older and have a kind of jazz elitist listening ear, a crowd that takes a lot to impress, Josh was excited to see an audience moving and dancing to his music
I am here to tell all of you the story of how BIG WORDS became one of the hippest, coolest, most experimental, grunge-tastic jazz/rock/funk bands out of Brooklyn, NY.
BIG WORDS was started by my good friend and bass player, Josh Myers. In his senior year of college, Josh set out to create a jazz quintet, consisting of bass, drums, piano and 2 horns. With 2 horn players out front, driving the melodies and laying down jazz solos, it took the pressure off Josh allowing him to develop his bass playing and writing skills. This is where he came up with the name “BIG WORDS,” referring to an episode of The Simpsons. Remember the one where there is a board room meeting and one of the executives is using all these big impressive words? Than one of the young wise-alecky guys stands up and says, “but aren’t these just BIG WORDS that stupid people say to make themselves seem smarter?” Than the wise-alecky guy gets fired, “Doh.” So this was Josh’s idea, to bring in the best musicians he could find to make him seem better, and at the same time challenge himself and his playing in order to take his music to the next level.
After gigging with the quintet for a while...
Josh got rid of the horns and turned the band into a trio, which proved to be a difficult, but rewarding challenge on its own...
"BIG WORDS is a jazz/dance trio from Brooklyn and is lead by bassist Josh Myers. BIG WORDS flows from beautiful to groovy with an exhilaratingly tight, precise incorporation of elements of hip hop, jazz, funk, fusion, world, and rock. Their live show generates and sustains an intense, eminently groovable jazz sound that spreads to your brain, gut, and ass and gets the crowd in a frenzied mania. No you won’t die, just blast off." -auralwes