Biography

In 1983 we started playing our own tunes in a thrown together band in Albstadt, Germany. We needed a band name for our first gig - everybody in the band had just read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. We agreed that we wanted our name related with that book: 'BeebleBrox Spectacular' was born.

In 1986 Monika joined the band. For reasons not remembered the band was renamed 'Bubble Gun'. In 1988 that band broke up when Peter and Monika moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Shortly after arrival a brand new version of BeebleBrox was born with Robert Dickson on bass, Woody Williams on drums and Greg Riley on sax. Two years later, after many personnel switches, with Robert Dickson on bass and Don Davis on drums we recorded the first album: Entropy. Regrettably, there are only about two original tape copies left (it is available for the die-hard fans on CD-R). It was a very adventureous album with 30 minute long tunes and many odd meters (no vocals, though). Entropy was recorded in drummer Don Davis' bedroom in Birmingham, AL, on our Yamaha four track cassette recorder.

1991 saw the release of The Thing. Still the same band in Alabama. That was recorded in our living room in Tuscaloosa live to DAT. It really wasn't a great hit although it contains a few cool tunes that will probably pop up in future BeebleBrox shows.

Later in 1991 we moved to Bloomington, IN, so Monika could pursue her academic career. BeebleBrox got reformed once again, this time with bassist Jonathan Paul (who went on to play with Fareed Hague) and drummer Dan Vonnegut. In 1992 we recorded Bloomingtoon in Dan's basement. For lack of funds we used the old four track cassette, but people in the business say it sounds great and the tape is now in it's third printing.

When Jonathan Paul left Bloomington we again got pressed for a bass player. But in 1994 after many gigs with lots of different people in the band we recorded Raw Material. This album brings together many of the musicians that have played with BeebleBrox in Indiana. We are through the first pressing on Raw Material - although we won't tell you how many discs and tapes were made and how many were given away to press and radio people all around the world.

Just after Raw Material was in the can, bassist Jack Helsley moved to Bloomington. All of a sudden there was a real band. Even drummer Dan came back. Together with Russ May on percussion we actually rehearsed every week and played loads of gigs. Finally in April that year (1995) we recorded again. This time at a friend's studio. For the recording sax/EWI player Tom Clark joined the band. After Russ moved to Brazil Tom became a full-time member of BeebleBrox. The next album was called Quantumn Tweezers and was released in March 1996. We received some nice reviews for Quantumn Tweezers (check out the Jazz Times December 1996 issue).

In May 1997 we released Indianapolis Intergalactic Spaceport. This again featured two different drummers (Paul Surowiak and Pete Wilhoit) and three bass players (Danny Kiely, Jack Helsley and Paul Sturm). Around the same time we took the band on a three week tour of Germany.

Dominant Domain was recorded in 1998 and had a few nice reviews, among others one in JazzTimes . It features tenorsax great Bob Berg on three tracks.

The latest release came out in 2002 and features all live tracks recorded in May 2001. It's called RealBrox

---

Bloomington Voice

Well-played modern fusion, nicely recorded also. There's no reason why BeebleBrox can't compete in the national arena.

---

JazzTimes, June 1999

Another mind-opening experience can be found at the hands of BeebleBrox on Dominant Domain (ACME BB07-3307-2; 70:13). Though you might expect a creative and even humorous edge from a band named for the two-headed galactic president in the sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's hard to prepare for the uniquely detailed arrangements offered here. Although the five-member ensemble generally starts out in recognizable genre playing fields, there's usually an unexpected element or two to push the envelope. For example, Latin-esque piano riffs and percussion jam with a fusion-pushing sax line on "Now What", with a frenetic guitar line adding an other-worldly quality. "Quiet Earth" wraps a traditional-styled, gentle waltz, around an ethereal, needling guitar solo that seems to float in space. "Raw Material" is an explorative, exploding romp, while "Homer Simpson" offers funky percussion, spacey keyboards and a wigged-out, off-kilter melody in a coolly confident sound package. This unusual, Indianapolis-by-way-of-Germany band has been at it for 15 years - and the experience shows in their sublime detail and super-tight execution.

---

Todd Hildreth, Louisville Music News

Quantumn Tweezers is the second CD from BeebleBrox.

"We're very happy with this new one. On Raw Material [their previous release]," said keyboardist Monika Herzig,"we had recorded the CD in snippets over a drawn out period of time, using different players on a lot of the tunes. On this one, we have the same group. There's better continuity."

BeebleBrox plays a challenging brand of jazz that can both please open-minded jazz listeners and adventuresome rock audiences. Add to the jazz sensibilities a quirky sense of humor and a fascination with science fiction a la guitarist Peter Kienle, and you've got a band to be reckoned with.

BeebleBrox's use of electronics causes some to label them as fusion, but don't be too quick to categorize them. Fusion, like the rock label 'alternative,' has come to mean something more specific than the broader interpretation suggests.

Fusion originally meant the 'fusing' of jazz and rock styles. Over time however, it became commercialized and formulaic. BeebleBrox prefers to be called 'original jazz,' not fusion.

"Peter's writing is heavily influenced by Weather Report, where the ensemble is interacting constantly, and you never know which parts are written out and which parts are improvised." said Herzig

"Me, I really like the music of Billy Childs, and let's just say I'm quite proud of the fact that Chick Corea and I share the same birthday.....

The computer graphics on the eight-page booklet alone are worth the bucks.

---

JazzTimes, December 1996, page 107

A casual glance at BeebleBrox's Quantumn Tweezers CD, with its oddball computer graphic images and strange song titles ("YES - send me the next issue Free!" is my personal favorite) might give a strange impression. But make no mistake, BeebleBrox is not a group of computer geeks, but of serious and sly musicians with worlds to offer. Tweezers is an affecting journey, with lots to do and see along the way. Each track is unusual, from the bubbling, crazed fusion epic alluded to previously, to the strikingly sparse electric violin-piano duet "The Saga Of C. And C.". Where "Balding Balladeer" is graceful and dark, with singing bass of the Del Palmer variety, "Gateway" struts with electric guitar in bluesy setting - the group's tightly-timed hesitance lends grit and emotion. Many of the Brox compositions include unusual instrumental combinations which illustrate their coyly presented subjects. "Riding the Wings of the Buzzard", for example, offers a blurping tenor sax melody dipping across a wiggy organ line and pull-off bass licks for an offbeat, charming feel. The novelty of finding a band named from the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy may cause you to pick Quantumn Tweezers off the shelf, but their artistry and humor will make you stay.