Todd Clouser - Performer, Educator, Composer, Writer
Baja, Mexico-based—by way of Minneapolis—guitarist Todd Clouser and his band, A Love Electric, make their Royal Potato Family recording debut with 20th Century Folk Selections. The album, which is part of a series of releases planned for 2012 by the much buzzed about young jazz artist, collects eight interpretations of songs he calls “folkloric in nature.” Ranging from his anthemic take on protest singer Malvina Reynolds “Little Boxes” to a psychedelicized, guitar freak out on the Beastie Boys iconic “Gratitude,” Clouser displays a muso’s appreciation of songs and styles through the lens of jazz-inspired improvisation. His reading of Neil Young’s “The Needle And The Damage Done” deconstructs its haunted melody to uncover even deeper sorrow in the storyteller’s tale, while a gorgeous straight-ahead take on Nirvana’s “All Apologies” replaces Kurt Cobain’s classic lyric with the dark moan of a trumpet. Special guests joining A Love Electric on 20th Century Folk Selections include trumpeter Steven Bernstein and percussionist Cyro Baptista.
Todd Clouser—a revered jazz name south of the border in his adopted home of Mexico—spent the majority of 2011 on the road touring the U.S. In doing so, he worked his band into a razor sharp unit capable of telepathically melding jazz finesse spiked with rock energy into its own instantly identifiable sound. As the results captured on 20th Century Folk Selections prove, a major new voice in the idiom is on the rise.
TODD CLOUSER’S A LOVE ELECTRIC
Todd Clouser is a Baja, Mexico-based guitarist whose genre-defying compositions and passionate live performances have earned the praise of musicians, critics, and lovers of jazz and rock alike. His newest full-length release Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric, released February 1, 2011 on indie jazz tastemaker label Ropeadope, is an intuitive blend of 70's rock, Curtis Mayfield groove, and modern jazz, featuring eleven original compositions and two covers: Harry Nilsson’s “One” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
“A Love Electric is possibility and energy. I come from a rock place as a player. I still love Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and the total madness in noise, even if I’m listening to Charlie Parker, Monk or Wayne Shorter more often these days. When I got my first guitar at 11, I plugged it in and just started scraping, strumming the strings open, shivering at the feedback, and making weird shit go on, but I was told that stuff was not right by early teachers. As time went on, I went from listening to Zappa and King Crimson to Miles Davis, lots of the organ trio blues players like Jimmy Smith, New Orleans music. All that stuff that just has an inherent scream to it, even when played softly,” explains Clouser. “On A Love Electric, I present real tunes with melodies and structure, but there’s freedom within the written parts to get back to having fun and screaming. Strumming the guitar like I did naturally, with swaths of sound, and just generally a passion to create. What I have to offer at this time in my life is the energy that shakes inside, all the emotion and the oddity which I cannot express in words or relationships. All that was once new was initially regarded as ‘out,’ ‘nasty’ and ‘evil’ from Robert Johnson to Ornette Coleman to electric Miles Davis to electric Dylan. That’s the stuff that feels real to me and it’s always been that way.”
A Minneapolis native educated at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Todd Clouser toured for a number of years with rock outfit, 4 Letter Man, before relocating to Baja, Mexico in 2007 in the hopes of adopting a slower pace of life. It wasn’t long before Clouser found inspiration in his new surroundings, making his way back to the studio and stage with the release of 2007’s sparse, thematic Baja, and 2008’s Beatnik Highway.
“When I first moved to Mexico in the 2006, my sole intention was to develop my own voice. And Los Cabos being kind of an island unto itself allowed me to get some gigs, shed tunes, and fail a lot without consequence,” explains Clouser. “I’m not sure I would’ve been afforded the opportunity to dig into things were I up in the States, whether it be by my own personal pressure on myself, or just the general rush I can feel up there. I tend to be an anxious person, so a move to Mexico, the beaches, a public that can be a bit less rigid, works great for me. I love playing in the US and most all the players I greatly admire live there, Frisell, MMW, Nels Cline among them. But for me, personally, emotionally, and musically, I needed to make the move.”
Revered “downtown” New York City trumpeter, Steven Bernstein (Levon Helm, Lou Reed, Sexmob) recognized Clouser’s talent, touring Mexico in 2009 and 2010 with Clouser as co-bandleader to crowds of a thousand-plus. Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric prominently features Bernstein’s trumpet work.
“I did a two week tour last year with Steven, and I was humbled that he wanted to come back and make music together again. By the end of last year's run, my band took to calling him Uncle Steven, a wise and accepting presence that managed to put up with the youthful playing, and living, of the three of us. We had all kinds of mishaps that happened on tour, although it was a great success musically, that Steven took in stride and celebrated. A musician with his accomplishments could easily maintain a cold and pompous demeanor, but he runs from that, passing on his knowledge to the next generation of players inspired by what he has done.” says Clouser. “We had multiple car break downs, no soundchecks, missing gear, the kind of mishaps I’ve seen drive some celebrated players up the wall. None of it rattled Steven. There's not that sense of entitlement that creeps in with age for some. By the end of the tour we were traveling in a 1984 VW golf, one of the seats ripped out, a couple windows missing, that maxed out at about 40 miles an hour. We got Bernstein to the airport in that. After a couple of long nights we woke to find papaya slices that Bernstein had cut for us on the kitchen counter while he was doing tai chi on the beach. In Guadalajara the two of us would take to the streets aimlessly and I’d absorb some of his philosophy about playing, the business, and so on. Hanging with Bernstein is such a gift.”
With the release of Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric, 2011 will continue to chart the young guitarist’s success. He will tour the U.S. this winter in support of his new album, while maintaining his heavy tour schedule south of the border in Mexico, sharing his bold, genre-bending compositions and soulful approach to jazz guitar with new audiences. Signs of his audience building back in his U.S. home are apparent. He sold out the famed Dakota Club in Minneapolis at the beginning of 2010 as well as receiving invitations to share the stage with modern blues legend Keb Mo, members of Billy Joel’s band and guitarist Jack Sonni of Dire Straits.
In his adopted home of Mexico, Todd Clouser works tirelessly as a music educator and advocate for the arts. He even started his own non-profit: Arts Day Out, which inspires Los Cabos youth through the arts.
“As a person that battled a lot of insecurity growing up, it’s important to me that kids can find a way to express themselves. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or trained or whatever, it’s a release, and it’s theirs. So many kids get told they suck at this or that, or they don’t have ‘talent,’ and so on, and that is just so destructive to a person's growth. It’s so important that kids believe they can do it, whatever it is. Somehow I believed that, so I’d like to pass that on.”
It’s both Todd Clouser’s artistry as a guitarist and his humanity that attracts the admiration of his musical peers and informs the wide-eyed spirit of his music. As Steven Bernstein puts it, “He does it all: musically, socially, politically. Enjoy."
For more info on Todd Clouser, please contact Kevin Calabro at Calabro Music Media: HYPERLINK "mailto:CalabroMusic@aol.com" CalabroMusic@aol.com / 718.369.6567
PRESS
"Clouser is on the road to promote a new CD, “A Love Electric,” a title that says a lot about his music — he likes to turn it up and let it rip, but whatever happens after that is wide open. No influence is excluded, and none is better than any other....The future of jazz probably has a lot of guitar in it. The music of (Julian) Lage and Clouser promises quite a bit for that future. But in their own ways, they’re also delivering the goods right now." - Kansas City Star , Joe Klopus, Weds Feb 16
"Clouser is probably best classified as a jazz guitarist, but when you listen to his music, the funk and rock keep you on your toes. And the beauty of it is all the songs have melodies that stick." - Vintage Guitar Magazine - May 2011
"It’s jazz and the blues; it’s funk and old-school 70s rock; its good, damn good music. Turn it on and turn it up." - Thewaster.com - Michael J. Bultman
"(A Love Electric serves) a catchy amalgam of retro soul and jazz-rock experimentalism.... but a hardcore jazz element also crops up." - Jazz Times, April 2011
"Excellent, driving Ropeadope Records debut"... " "sporting avant flourishes and grooves galore...A Love Electric liberally mixes jazz, funk and rock with compelling results." - Minneapolis Star Tribune - Tom Surowicz
"Respetado dentro del ambiente del jazz y admirado por su versatilidad en la guitarra, Todd considera que “tengo más de rock que de jazz, pero es indudable que para mí el jazz me abrió la mente, es una música increíble que te ofrece muchas más opciones” - La Razon, MX City www.larazon.com.mx
"Clouser's gambit isn't the only promising path to reclaim a vibrant audience for jazz. It is, however, one of the most rewarding." - Plastic Sax Kansas City, http://plasticsax.blogspot.com/
No. 6 Independent Release of 2010 TODD CLOUSER – ‘A LOVE ELECTRIC’ - Something Else! - somethingelserevies.com
"Although Clouser has plenty of background to make a “guitar” record, A Love Electric is more about crafting a style and a mood than the mere execution of chops (although the chops are still there).... Clouser goes for a circa-1970 psychedelic pop-jazz groove—one tune is even titled “Brass Suite 1970″—that recalls similar albums from that time frame, like Quincy Jones’ Walking In Space and Herbie Hancock’s Fat Albert Rotunda...Even with all these variations of approaches, the songs string together well, a cohesion that springs from Clouser’s intelligent arrangements and a band that’s flexible enough to handle whatever Clouser’s songs call for in a consistent way." - Something Else! - by Pico - somethingelsereviews.com
"The group, including trumpeter Adam Meckler, blends a rock aesthetic with a jazz impulse in the tradition of fellow Twin Citians the Bad Plus." - Kansas City Star - Steve Paul
"Like Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot, Clouser is a formidable jazz guitarist who doesn't shy away from playing other musical styles." - The Madison Isthmus (thedailypage.com)
"Todd Clouser's A Love Electric (Ropeadope) draws on a jazz-fusion, jazz-rock orientation for a personal blend of sounds that brings in a retro Fender Rhodes-organ centered groove rock that doesn't balk at taking things a little out when the spirit moves..... He goes his own way with (his) inspirations, injects a healthy dose of the soul-jazz from (the 70's) era, and works well with Mr. Bernstein as a two-man front line that provides contrast and grits in equal measure." - Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog, gapplegateguitar.blogspot.com
"(Clouser's) playing is off the hook. Almost bullshit free, which says a lot for a guitar player." - Steven Bernstein (John Zorn, Sex Mob, MTO, Grammy nominee)
"Some rock albums open up with a bang, a meaty guitar riff followed by an LA sized chorus. Some Jazz albums start with a whisper; 2-3 songs so smooth and silky you find yourself taking a whiff of your lapels to see if you’re actually in a smoky club. But some other albums aren’t looking to make impressions – or they know they don’t have to. Such is A Love Electric, a new album by Todd Clouser, melding genres so unconcernedly that the band needs only to plug in and kick it. " - The Waster, Mar 26, 2011 - TheWaster.com - Michael J. Bultman
"Monster licks aside, when viewed as a jazz wellspring, Clouser’s spirit is refreshingly playful, almost to the point of self-deprecation and by mixing innovation and pride he leverages the studio’s lo-fi capabilities to create something more authentically ‘70s than anything I’ve heard recently. Grade: A" Spike Magazine - Eric Saeger
"From the Twin Cities to Baja, guitarist Todd Clouser has been building a career as a guitarist, producer, composer and educator, accumulating accolades and performance credits along the way. After two well-received collections (Baja in 2006 and Beatnik Highway in 2008), Clouser brings it all to a head with his new A Love Electric (Out of Tuba Music). " - Jazzpolice.com
"I rarely like anything, and I liked this. Its like Radiohead meets Herbie Hancock and occasionally covers Nirvana" - Anonymous fan Artist Quarter review
"As for Clouser, he gave us a whirlwind tour of his resume, adding in tunes from earlier recordings as well as his newborn, showing us that “a love electric” can be soft and sweet as well as frenetic and freewheeling." - JAZZ INC, Andrea Canter
"[bringing] new and compelling energy to jazz rock." - The Badger-Herald (Madison, WI)
"A Love Electric is a remarkably innovative and cohesive listening experience, start to finish. Clouser's electric guitar work dominates the sound stage, his music is colorful and captivating "- mwe3.com
" I like this new CD a lot. Think modern jazz meets 70s-style electric jazz, funk, rock, Latin beats, ballads, and a hint of country. Who says you can’t play it all? Clouser, who graduated from Berklee and makes his home in Los Cabos, Mexico, is a guitarist, composer, producer, reporter, fiction writer and poet." - MINNPOST.COM, Pamela Espeland
"Warm and wonderfully realized music" - Chuck Perrin, Dizzy's Jazz Club San Diego
"Does it all, musically, socially, politically. Enjoy" - Steven Bernstein, Grammy nominated trumpeter
"As for Clouser, he gave us a whirlwind tour of his resume, adding in tunes from earlier recordings as well as his newborn, showing us that “a love electric” can be soft and sweet as well as frenetic and freewheeling." - JAZZ INK
"A renowned jazz guitarist" - Milwaukee Journal
"This is Genre busting music that has the sort of vibe Isaac Hayes through to Curtis Mayfield always had - love it!" - Beehivecandy.com
"Berklee College of Music grad Todd Clouser is an impressive young guitarist and bandleader whose music draws from retro grooves, rock and modern jazz." - freemusicgroup.com
"Todd Clouser has been a Multi talented entity at my studio as an independent engineer, producer, and contributor to tribute record production for me. As well as being an excellent producer, songwriter, singer and musician, his band has recorded here, showing exciting potential to national attention." - Brian Bart -- winner of multiple Minnesota Music Awards, Logic Recordings, Producer, Engineer, Composer
"plays the piss out of the guitar" - Alex Depue, fiddler.com
"A young, genre-defying guitarist, composer, and writer, Todd Clouser is an accomplished musician across the modern jazz and rock spectrum, leading a unique path to recognition as an up and coming act, performing with musicians from Keb Mo to "downtown" NYC jazz legend Steven Bernstein. Clouser's impassioned performances run from piano balladry to dense jazz and groove, exciting audiences with an approach meant to bend the rules of artistic labeling. "A Love Electric" documents Todd's most aggressive ensemble yet, an energetic quintet based in the stylings of 70's era electric jazz." - Dakota Jazz Club
"Todd Clouser in coordination with Pez Gordo Gallery and Liga Mac has a huge success on this inaugural ARTS DAY OUT with around 300 kids and their families. Kids met like-minded and interacted with local artists using professional equipment and material while delighting refreshments and having lots of fun." - BAJA PRESS
"Todd’s care for music is genuine, his love of expression motivating him to fully explore his space in the culture. Whether composing diligently or performing among heroes and legends, he occupies that curious middle ground between his striking talent and his pursuit of humility. In this way, movement is a way of life. The journey is real, and there you will find Todd Clouser enjoying humor, celebrating oddity, and creating exceptional music." - Musician, Journalist Phil Putnam
"There's no shortage of melody and 1970s-style rock-jazz on his new album, Todd Clouser's A Love Electric." - Madison Isthmus
"With his youthful looks, Todd Clouser is an accomplished composer and performer, performing an engaging and original blend of jazz, rock, and funk." - Dakota Jazz Club
"I love (Todd's) angle on music" - Guitarist Peter Sprague
"2nd Arts day Out led by Todd Clouser in coordination with LIGA MAC was a total success!All the great activities of the first and much more this past May 16th. Featuring a chance for our young artists and musicians to interact with some of the area’s finest professionals, showcasing and furthering their talents. Also, the kids has the opportunity to decorate our “YO RECICLO” container for recycling materials and contribute to Los Cabos’ environment." -- TIENDAS DE PALMILLA
"These guys are really good. Todd Clouser writes catchy tunes that make you want to move.Rock with some groove to it. You should get out and see them now, before you have to pay $50.00 to hear them in concert." "This is a really fun band with lots of talent!" - Benny Weinbeck - Internationally recognized jazz musician, producer, composer
Phil Putnam - philputnam.com
This piece was written by NYC composer, writer Phil Putnam, August 27 2010 -
Try to make Todd Clouser sit still. It’s a feat. There is an inherent movement, a sense of journey, with music as his constant companion. From his first guitar licks in pre-teen years, through graduation from Berklee College of Music and collision-coursing through rock & roll excess into the energy-driven jazz rock of his current collective “A Love Electric,” he has been in motion across geographical areas and sonic spaces. As a vanguard of a new generation of jazz guitarists who have been equally influenced by rock, hip hop, pop, and the pantheon of jazz legends, his knack for crossing borders is understood and celebrated.
Originally from Minneapolis, MN, guitar opened the door for Clouser at age 11, paired with a brief flirtation with the piano that blossomed into full-blown lust while studying guitar and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. A multi-instrumentalist, as his poignant performances make clear, trading between his mainstay jazz guitar, piano, a Delta Blues style National Resophonic guitar, melodica, and vocals, Clouser's dedication to craft keeps each note, instrument, and genre singing with an honesty that befits a true artist.
The brilliance of Clouser's Berklee days prepared him for the true goal of all young musicians: grasp fame as a U.S. Midwest regional rock star. Clouser rocked the wheat belt in not one but two well-known bands of the early 2000’s until the excessive, unhealthy lifestyle of the scene fractured his faith in the music industry and prompted him to move to Los Cabos, Mexico with the intent of never performing music again.
In Los Cabos, Todd took to teaching music in a school, and recovered the relationship between his creative passion and his sense of integrity. He composed incessantly while embracing Mexico as his new home, where he still resides today, and sought out melodies and musical structures that avoid convention but are still meant for memory. As poignant as ever during this time, he literally claimed music as the eye in his storm when, while Hurricane Jimena raged outside his apartment and killed his electricity, he composed a signature piece on a battery-operated keyboard purchased at CostCo. This piece is gently titled “Jimena.” Moments of inspiration continued to come in his new surroundings, coalescing into a record with pianist Benny Weinbeck, entitled "Baja" featuring another of Clouser's signature, melodic ballads, "Unbreak the Morning". Not long after the recording of "Baja", Clouser was back to performing, this time without preconception.
It wasn’t long before he was moving again. After two years of teaching and respite, he found his way back to the stages of jazz clubs in Mexico and the US and then to festivals and tours in various parts of the world. During this time Todd was introduced to legendary trumpeter Steven Bernstein, a veteran of the "downtown" New York City jazz scene and member of seminal avant-jazz group The Lounge Lizards, who has since become a friend, collaborator, and mentor to him. With his instincts sharp, Todd wrote an album that he hoped would become a joint project for he and Bernstein. This dream stomped into reality as “A Love Electric,” a collective of monster players including Clouser, Bernstein, Bryan Nichols on keyboards, Gordy Johnson on bass, and drums from Greg Schutte and Hernan Hecht. The resulting album is Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric, an aggressive, intuitive mash of 70's rock, Curtis Mayfield groove, and modern jazz. A Love Electric offered Clouser a chance to find the truth of his emotion through music, giving him an outlet past his mostly-quiet demeanor to attack with sound and embed his humility, humor, and oddity into the work.
With A Love Electric spinning and humming, Clouser’s wanderlust led him into several other areas of music and creativity, including an organ trio aptly called The Beautiful Organ Trio, and a guitar-based singer/songwriter project known as The Hope Tonic. As a producer, he has credits on 12 national releases from Liquid8 Records. Keeping his adopted home of Los Cabos in tight focus, Todd founded the Arts Day Out Program, which provides performance opportunities, interactive art exhibits, and professional instruction to area youth, and to date has reached thousands of families in southern Baja. He also provides free music instruction, working with Liga Mac and at the San Lucas orphanage Casa Hogar, and writes as a Columnist for several regional newspapers and magazines.
Todd’s care for music is genuine, his love of expression motivating him to fully explore his space in the culture. Whether composing diligently or performing among heroes and legends, he occupies that curious middle ground between his striking talent and his pursuit of humility. In this way, movement is a way of life. The journey is real, and there you will find Todd Clouser enjoying humor, celebrating oddity, and creating exceptional music.