David James

Named after two adjacent hills in San Francisco,

Russian Telegraph mixes the funk and soul of Curtis Bumpy, the art song  of the Beth Custer Ensemble, and

the worldly compositional stylings of David James's GPS.

 

Along with presenting original music by its members, the collective also performs their arrangements of songs by Caetano Veloso, Soundgarden, Paolo Conte, Nelson Cavaquinho, and others.

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"(The) fusion of these amazing written arrangements,

especially the melodies and passages with clarinets and

trumpet, with some of the more open and dynamic

groove sections ... seems really satisfying for both

players and audience"

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Beth Custer – clarinets, voice

David James – guitar, voice

Chris Grady – trumpet

Jordan Glasgow – keyboards

Keith McArthur – bass

John Hanes – drums

Diana Mangano – voice