March 12, 2023 Ava Mendoza
Ava Mendoza is an American guitarist, vocalist, and composer.
An avant-garde artist whose work is described as traversing a number of genres, Mendoza has performed with a wide range of musicians, including Nels Cline, Matana Roberts, Nick Zinner,Jon Irabagon, William Hooker,William Parker,Fred Frith,The Violent Femmes,Weasel Walter,tUnE-yArDs, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Rova Saxophone Quartet,Moppa Elliott, Negativland, and Malcolm Mooney.
Mendoza also leads the avant-rock band Unnatural Ways, a trio with Tim Dahl and Sam Ospovat
Ava Mendoza: electric guitar, compositions
Devin Hoff: electric bass, compositions
James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone
'Echolocation' is the astonishing debut album from Mendoza Hoff Revels, a formidable new unit led by Ava Mendoza & Devin Hoff and featuring James Brandon Lewis & Ches Smith.
While Mendoza and Hoff have floated around each other's musical orbits for decades, and have been friends for some time, this is their first work together on record. It is an electric & holy harmonic fusion of highly estimable musical forces; wholly rendered. The original impetus of this group was Mendoza’s, based on the love she and Hoff shared for aggressive and polyglot electric avant-garde ensembles – artists like mid-80's Black Flag (w/ Roessler & Stevenson) and Ornette Coleman's Prime Time bands revolutionized the way they heard music. As stated in their liner notes, "we shared the writing of these pieces, though without the sizable stamps of both James and Ches, they would sound nothing like they do here.”
