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Echoes of God (1989-91)

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From 1986-91 I taught at a performing arts camp every summer. The first year there I met and befriended a very precocious 16 year old kid named Marc Israel. Marc, a drummer, already had terrific taste when it came to rock and reggae and I introduced him to a lot of experimental music and free jazz. By a couple of years later we were playing together in a rowdy drunken bar band called Something Indian that played for the counselors and locals and by 1989 we were roommates and playing in clubs in NYC while he studied with Andrew Cyrille at the New School. Almost from the start we were joined by Marc's childhood friend Josh Wertheimer on fretless bass.

This band was perhaps the first time since the Notekillers that I was dedicating all my energy to guitar playing in a project. We were both listening to a lot of John McLaughlin, John & Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Terry Riley and others and this was our attempt to tap into that same spirit of creation. By 1990 or so, we were joined by Jane Scarpantoni on cello and Elaine Kaplinsky on synthesizer - both fantastic players. 

Echoes 1 (1989)

David First - guitar & computer programming 
Josh Wertheimer - fretless bass 
Marc Israel - drums

Echoes of God live @the Knitting Factory (4/9/91)

David First - guitar 
Jane Scarpantoni - cello 
Elaine Kaplinsky - synthesizer 
Josh Wertheimer - fretless bass 
Marc Israel - drums