Eric Wood
Cats Out of the Bag - Hairpin Curve – Simon Recordings –
After meeting in New York City and before the recent formation of Cats Out of the Bag with violinist Megan Gould, composer /singer /guitarist Eric Wood , bassist /percussionist T Xiques and guitarist Mark Dziuba recorded and toured in Europe together for over a decade. Megan Gould joined the band last year. (recordings, press reviews etc. at www.ericwood.com) T Xiques grew up in Putnam Valley NY in a musical family. His father, Ed Xiques performed and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith, Liza Minelli and The Jackson Five. T has toured and /or recorded with Garth Hudson, Savoy Brown, Roswell Rudd, Ira Coleman and John Medeski.
Mark Dziuba has been a guitarist, improvisor and composer for most of his life. He has performed with a who’s-who of Jazz, Blues, Rock and Bluegrass musicians internationally and has taught and performed at workshops for over 40 years. Mark is currently a tenured professor at The State University of New York at New Paltz where he directs the Jazz Studies program. He was part of the internationally acclaimed National Guitar Workshop for 25 years and has been a part of the Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival since its birth. He is a published author and has been a featured soloist on numerous recordings. Mark continues to explore the world of improvised music and can be found performing weekly in his area and abroad.
Megan Gould is one of NYC’s most versatile performers of Middle East and Greek music. She’s performed all over the world at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Royal Albert Hall and Lincoln Center. She’s recorded with Phillip Glass and Lou Reed and performed on stage with David Byrne, Sean Lennon, The Silk Road Ensemble and Natalie Merchant. She is the 2nd principle violinist in the Bard Conductor’s Institute Orchestra.
Eric Wood recorded his first LP release, Letters From the Earth 20 years ago. It reached #6 album of the year in Italy and #11 in the Czech Republic the same year. Afterwards, he went on to record two more albums, Illustrated Night and Don’t Just Dance with T Xiques. In the US, Eric shared bills with Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. Letters From the Earth was #9 in Billboard Magazine’s ‘Year-End Critics Top Ten Picks’ (January 3, 1998). The New Yorker called Eric Wood “a compelling singer-songwriter poised for a breakthrough.” These recordings are available on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes. Much of the material Wood has written and composed for this new band, Cats Out of the Bag focuses attention on hardships currently endured by an increasingly larger part of the population. The music fuses Jazz, American and Balkan Folk idioms.
Cats Out of the Bag new album, Hairpin Curve on Simon Recordings will be available everywhere on line in May 2018.