The Westerlies | |
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 The Westerlies in 2025 | |
| Background information | |
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| Years active | 2011–present |
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| Past members |
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| Website | westerliesmusic |
The Westerlies are an Americanbrass quartet. Composed of twotrumpets and twotrombones, the ensemble is known for taking inspiration fromjazz,contemporary classical, andfolk music, as well as employing nontraditional sonorities.
The group's founding members were originally childhood friends inSeattle, where they attendedGarfield High School andRoosevelt High School.[1][2] Each had a background in jazz performance, and as a high school senior, trombonist Andy Clausen led the ten-piece Split Stream Big Band, in which trumpeter Riley Mulkerhar and trombonist Willem de Koch performed.[2] The group formed in 2011 inNew York City as members pursued graduate degrees at theJuilliard School,The New School, and theManhattan School of Music.[2][3][4][5] It first performed that year at the Royal Room jazz club in Seattle'sColumbia City neighborhood.[6]
In May 2018, trumpeter Zubin Hensler left the group to focus on producing and was replaced by Chloe Rowlands.[7][8] In 2024, trombonist Willem de Koch was replaced by Addison Maye-Saxon.[6]
The group has promoted music education, holding clinics in Seattle schools and others across the United States.[6] In 2021, the group became the inaugural small ensemble-in-residence atThe New School's School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.[5]
The Westerlies have been featured on records byFleet Foxes,Common, andDave Douglas.[8]
TheLos Angeles Times described the Westerlies' self-titled album (2016) as "a lively territory between jazz, Steven Foster-styled folk and chamber music."[9] The ensemble's style has been compared toAaron Copland,Bill Frisell,Jimmy Giuffre, andCharles Ives.[3] The group is known for incorporating improvisation as well as widely diversetimbres, leveraging the unconventionality of a two-trumpet, two-trombone ensemble.[4][10] Its arrangements often register the influence ofminimalism, reflecting what Clausen has called a focus on "simplicity" and what composerWayne Horvitz has described as the group's "egoless" interweaving of voices.[2] Experimentations in tone have included foldingtin foil across the bell of a trombone to give it a "restless sibilance".[11]
"Since we can't sing the lyrics, we use timbral variety to express the feeling of the song."
The ensemble has covered music byArthur Russell,Joni Mitchell,Woody Guthrie, andRobin Holcomb among others, and frequently performs original compositions by the group's members.[4][11] Collaborations have included work with vocalistTheo Bleckmann and composersNico Muhly andSam Amidon.[7][12]
The ensemble has frequently worked withprotest songs and other music with political intent. Its album "This Land" (2021) featured original compositions in response to thePulse nightclub shooting andSandy Hook Elementary School shooting as well as traditional spirituals and leftist folk songs.[10]