New Release 'Turnips' out now on all platforms! Love you or your kind patronage~carry on Apple Music Bandcamp Spotify Special thanks to Fred Lyon for the very cool photo shot in San Francisco, to Joy Cutler for such fabulous lyrics, and to Caetano Veloso for his genius! Russian Telegraph, named for two of San Francisco's...
Khachapuri Trio is an acoustic trio comprised of David James, Jess Ivry and myself, born out of a love of the trio format combined with a life-changing tour of Tbilisi, Georgia wherein we performed at the international film festival, the MY GRANDMOTHER score. Khachapuri Trio is a delightful combination of cello, guitar, and clarinets and...
Chamber Jazz Duo Guitarist Will Bernard and clarinetist/singer Beth Custer have forged a remarkable, musical partnership that spans decades and is reflected in their release SKY. From the opening, wistful ‘Bear in Shamanic Transformation’ to the deep and doleful ‘The Curve’, from the Chopin-esque ‘Sweeping Staircase’ to the raunchy ‘Not Necessarily Stoned, ‘SKY’ features diverse compositional styles and a mastery of...
The Pacific Film Archive commissioned Beth Custer to compose a live original score to a film from their archives entitled MY GRANDMOTHER (1929). My Grandmother, a delightful Soviet Georgian silent film by director Kote Mikaberidze, was banned upon release by the Soviet Regime for its anti-bureaucratic content and the director was banished to Siberia. Custer...
THE BETH CUSTER ENSEMBLE is a crème de la crème of Bay Area musicians and includes Jan Jackson on drums, (Will Bernard, Curtis Bumpy), guitarist/vocalist David James (Afro Funk Experience, The Coup, Spearhead), Chris Grady on trumpet (Tom Waits, Grassy Knoll, Jewel), Vicky Grossi on bass (Mitch Marcus, Bitches Brew), vocalist Diana Mangano (Jefferson Airplane)...
Clarinet Thing is a quartet of renowned jazz clarinetists featuring Sheldon Brown, Beth Custer, Ben Goldberg, Harvey Wainapel. Clarinet Thing performs arrangements of unusual jazz works and originals on the entire family of clarinets, from the small Eb clarinet up to the large contra alto clarinet. Clarinet and jazz enthusiasts of all ages abound at...
A dynamic duo giving urban tribalism a whole new soundtrack Featuring Stephen Kent - didjeridu, percussion, cello-sintirBeth Custer - B flat, alto, bass clarinets, percussion Trance Mission Duo A unique combination! As Trance Mission Duo, Beth Custer and Stephen Kent create extraordinary and original music featuring soaring clarinet melodies, driving rhythms, and masterful didgeridoo grooves...
A dynamic trio giving urban tribalism a whole new soundtrack Featuring Stephen Kent - didjeridu, percussion, cello-sintirBeth Custer - B flat, alto, bass clarinets, percussionPeter Valsamis - drums, percussion, electronics Trance Mission features three extraordinary multi-instrumentalist/composers with mountains of global accolades to their credit. In this new trio incarnation Trance Mission continues the genre-breaking musical...
Vinculum: (Latin) 1). A bond of union; 2). math.: A straight line drawn over two or more terms; 3). anat.: A ligament or frenum. (Oxford) Vinculum Symphony is a large scale composition that brings together chamber musicians and experimental instrument builders, people who build and improvise on their own creations in the tradition of Harry...