  "Burning guitar improvisations, loops and distortion, tenor sax skronk, an ululating clarinet, general insanity and a Las Vegas ending." "Poker-faced and rocking on his heels, Millions laid down a wall of electronic guitar distortion, which he looped on a sampler and over which he then blew sax and clarinet. The sound was simply HUGE, as Millions reveled in the sonics he pulled from the guitar, activating various distortion pedals and creating industrial-grade grunge with a whammy bar. Always an intuitive and feel-motivated performer, Millions was obviously feeling the guitar...Of course, the horns did come into play, as Millions blew with tremendous force and utilized techniques he had honed playing alongside heavy avant-garde jazz cats such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Sam Rivers. But also ingrained in his sensibility are the examples of the great blues and R&B honkers he had seen and heard growing up in Detroit, the ones who put a premium on keeping audiences entertained. And certainly, Millions did just that, as he dropped to his knees, mumbled obscenities into his mouthpiece, rhythmically beat the guitar slung at his side, spat water onto the concrete floor in front of the stage and ultimately collapsed into a catatonic heap on the lip of the stage, his eyes glassy, his guitar buzzing....some of the most exciting and vital musical performance art you're likely to hear." "I'm torn between the mini-guitar and the sax. Both were obliteratingly awesome." "Though Millions typically switches among the saxophone and the clarinet, these days, the guitar has long been a passion for him. As a boy, he learned to play the mandolin at the knee of his Russian grandfather, and he continues to experiment with a mini-guitar hooked up to a noise box. With the tap of a foot pedal, he "loops" riffs or effects with a sampler and then improvises over them with his horn". "At one point Millions played a tiny guitar, hooked up to sound like crashing cymbals. After he put the instrument down, he continued to torture it, even shooting rubber bands at the strings to produce still more sounds. In the often deadly serious milieu of jazz, it's refreshing to hear a player whose wit surpasses his ego...an Absurdist, a Dadaist, a Beatnik, sure. But most of all a Punk. And even though that voice can be somewhat schizophrenic, lovely and passionate, then discordant and mocking, it's ultimately the voice of a creative soul. And that creative soul is having a helluva good time." |
Email - Chesterfield King to book KENNY MILLIONS "PunkJazzNoise": king@sushiblues.com
www.myspace.com/kennymillions
www.kennymillions.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw59GteMfsI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ65QKcmpu0&feature=related