2/3/23 | Bandcamp Friday! Recent Releases

Feb, 3rd is Bandcamp Friday, which means that 100% of album sales on bandcamp go straight to the artists!  So I’d like to share some of my recent releases with you – if you’d like to support my career, consider buying one of these albums!


“Birds of North America” original soundtrack

This is my original soundtrack from the Third Avenue Playworks October 2022 production of “The Birds of North America” by Anna Ouyang Moench!  It was composed for guzheng Chinese zither & cello, using both instruments to imitate the specific bird calls and songs that appear in each scene of the play.  The cues are short because music was utilized during transitions only, to help show the passage of time between each scene – so unlike most of my work, it’s very concise and a quick listen!  “Birds of North America” is a story about the relationship between a father and daughter over the course of a decade, set within the backdrop of our global climate crisis and political division.  There are extensive liner notes available on the GrimmusiK Records website, along with links to environmental organizations in Door County, WI that you can donate to!  I really love how this production turned out and am excited that I now get to share these compositions with you.  🙂



Before the 19th original soundtrack

Original Score composed, performed and recorded for React (Indianapolis, IN) filmed production of “Before the 19th” written and directed by Georgeanna Smith Wade. Released in support of women’s rights on the November midterm election day, read the full liner notes here.



“The Drift” by Lovely Socialite


Though our process for releasing this album was severely disrupted by the pandemic… it’s finally out and it’s some of our best work yet, so please please go buy this album. It has some of my favorite pieces that I’ve ever composed (like “The Drift” and “Gratitude”) and it features stellar performances from the whole band. If you’re a Socialite fan, you already know. If you’re not already, you’re about to be one!


Oh Sure Hey!

Aside

Lovely Socialite was having some fun at Kettle Moraine Ranch over in Eagle, WI filming for our new music video. Here’s a little behind the scenes action, it’s some Top Secret Jazz…

Lovely Socialite releases new singles, podcast & music video ahead of “The Drift” album release show 7/30 @ Cafe Coda!

click for tix

The Drift album release show 7/30/2022 7pm live at Cafe Coda (buy tix $10) presented by BlueStem Jazz, featuring interludes by DJ o2


New Music Video for our second single “Experiment One”!


…Report 2-6z.11, anura, suborder heleioporus australiacus …Dermis level permeo-turbine sequences complete. Calibrating microbiome fueling ratios. Metatarsal elongation – 84.3%. Initiating final flight of F.R.O.G. … 

Lovely Socialite, Madison’s omnivorous mutant of a band, has returned with a vengeance. Following three years of show hiatus, puddle-muck lurking, jazz-gland regeneration, and zoom meetings, Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps’ very own sextet resurfaces with a brand-new full-length album, a renewed penchant for “toxically consonant” performance, and a highly-enriched class of aerial amphibian, known only as F.R.O.G.

Ben, Corey & Brian of Lovely Socialite met up with Michael Brenneis of BlueStem Jazz to discuss their history and release of the new album, check it out!

THE DRIFT is a return to form for Lovely Socialite; a 50-minute opus of their unpredictable, occasionally mordant, oft-funky sound. The album displays an impressive range of compositional concepts – blistering sprints, patient groove journeys, exploratory landscapes of timeless texture, and the mean brooding stomp of a many-tentacled monster. Now in its 11th year as a collaborative project, Lovely Socialite’s unmistakeable musical character has matured into a rich sonic world for listeners of all ponds to enjoy. 

F.R.O.G., tentacle-monster, Socialite, and all lovely guests take flight at Cafe Coda on SAT, JUL 30 at 7 PM. Mrs. Phipps’ lads will perform new music from THE DRIFT. In addition, the event will mark the 10-year  anniversary of Socialite’s debut album, Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps Registers her Delight. Guests will enjoy fan-favorite Socialite tunes from this classic recording.

Tickets are $10, available at the door and online at Cafe Coda’s website.

Check out our first single from the new album “The Final Flight of F.R.O.G.” plus a behind the track podcast with John Praw & Corey Murphy!


No tadpoles were hurt in the making of this album.


4/5 | Lovely Socialite @ Central Library for InDIGenous Jazz Series


Lovely Socialite is excited to debut a lot of new material at the InDIGenous Jazz Series this week. These new tunes will be recorded on our 4th studio album this summer with Landon Arkens (engineer for Registers Her Delight [2012], Toxic Consonance [2015]) at Blast House Studios!

Fri, 4/5 | Free! 7:30 PM – 10 PM @ Central Library, Madison Public Library
201 E Mifflin St, Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Presented by The Madison Music Collective and The Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, the inDIGenous Jazz series continues with a return performance from the Lovely Socialite.

Lovely Socialite is a Madison/Milwaukee-based six-piece that combines the aesthetics of modern jazz with contemporary classical, driving rock, and hip hop. Lauded for their bold and intricate compositions, the group often draws comparisons to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. The band’s original music combines strict notation with moments of improvisation and maintains a healthy balance of dark and heavy rock grooves with quirky jazz obscurities. The group will perform original jazz/rock fusion compositions composed by its members since our inception in 2010. Musicians with Lovely Socialite: Ben Willis-Double Bass, Electronics; Pat Reinholz-Electric Cello, Electonics; Brian Grimm-Pipa (琵琶), Gaohu (高胡), Cello, Electronics; Corey Murphy-Trombone, Electronics; Abe Sorber-Vibraphone, Drums; Mike Koszewski-Drums, Percussion

All InDIGenous shows are free and start at 7:30pm on the 3rd floor of the Madison Central Library 201 W. Mifflin St

We would like to thank our series sponsors who help us make these concerts possible:

Madison Public Library, John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Dane Arts (with additional funds from the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation), Wisconsin Arts Board, WORT-FM, Wisconsin Public Radio, Bear Sound, Janus Galleries, and Presenting Organizations: Madison Music Collective and The Greater Madison Jazz Consortium

Please visit jazzinmadison.org for more information on our local jazz scene

New to Lovely Socialite’s music? Catch up on our previous albums!