Music conductor Matt Butler led an all-star band under the moniker Everyone Orchestra during the late-night portion of the Major Rager Music Festival in Augusta, Georgia, over the weekend. For this edition of Everyone Orchestra, Matt Butler was joined by a cast of stellar musicians, including of Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), Jeremy Schon (Pigeons Playing Ping Pong), George Gekas (The Revivalists), Craig Brodhead (Turkuaz), Shira Elias (Turkuaz), David Loss (Aqueous), and Mike Quinn. Though the main show took place down the street from the outdoor portion of the day-long festival, the funky vibe created by the earlier acts carried on, at least in spirit, during the late-night jam.
Butler picks and chooses players with a keen eye for compatibility and improvisational skill, helping shape the musicians’ disparate musical energies and focusing and fusing them into something wholly new. He weaves and winds his way through the semi-circle of musicians he faces, keeping everyone involved while allowing jams to develop naturally. The fact that he does this with a new cast each night makes his shows even more impressive. You may never know what you’re going to hear at an Everyone Orchestra show, but you know it will be original, dramatic, and fun.
Friday’s show got going around 12:30 as the room filled up with post-Rager folks eager for more. With Dave Loss and Jeremy Schon on guitar, there was a solid foundation of players with licks for days to take the lead. The rhythm section of Kris Myers on drums and George Gekas on bass proved themselves capable of forming a pocket and sauntering out of it at will. Craig Brodhead leaned more on his keyboard skills during the Major Rager set, while his Turkuaz bandmate, Shira Elias, proved more than capable of lyrical inspiration at any given moment. And as Mike Quinn blew his horn over the top of this mass of musicianship, Matt Butler deftly used hand signals and a dry-erase board to steer the ship to new sonic shores.
You can watch the first three movements from Everyone Orchestra’s late-night set during the Major Rager below. We have more coverage from the Augusta, Georgia festival coming soon, but for now, you can also check out videos from the spectacular Dumpstaphunk opening set here.