Friday, March 16   12:00 a.m.
Lambert's   (401 W 2nd St)

Add this to your SXSW Calendar

  Wativ - Deen
Download   |   Stream

WATIV


WATIV is a band unlike any other. With a deep rooted heritage in the improvised music of New Orleans, band mates William A Thompson IV, Milton Villarrubia III and Matthew Golombisky originally united as a jazz piano trio that had no fear of exploring sounds not commonly associated with jazz.
Villarrubia’s fiery intensity on drum set, Golombisky’s passionate melodically driven bass and Thompson introspective piano voice could only have been augmented by the oud/percussion playing of Jeremy Bleich. This band’s intensity, whether it be an explosion of sound or slow movements of color, can only be described as true, with abundant resources to draw from.

Iraq: William was there as an interrogator and counter Intelligence Agent with the US Army, subject to a "back door draft" known as stop-loss. While there he distinguished himself as the first artist in the history of music to release a body of work while still in a combat zone. The result is an album known as "Baghdad Music Journal". This album will be released nationally in October of 2006.

Katrina: Band members, Milton Villarrubia III, Matthew Golombisky, and William Thompson have been separated due to this horrific storm, now living in Chicago, Santa Fe and Jackson Ms.
Ironically, the sights in New Orleans after retuning home differed little from the destruction, which William was so accustomed to in Baghdad. However, neither the Storm or the War could stop the music.

WATIV Ensemble: Reunited, the WATIV Ensemble has begun to perform and speak on current issues for intrigued audiences abroad. Formerly at Piano trio featuring Milton Villarrubia on drums and Matthew Golombisky on Bass, the band has been joined by Oudist Jeremy Bleich, uniting the traditions of New Orleans Jazz, Jewish music, Arabic sounds, and live laptop performance. The ensemble feels it important to take the facts about Iraq, Katrina, Arab/Israeli issues, and force the American public to deal with truth.

The Story: The complexity of this story is impossible over to stress. One thing is for sure, there is a wealth of rich, interesting and important information in this story, which can be presented in a very personal way.