Slip to Hit Harkness Basement
by Rachel Nishan 
and Ben Kamen

The Slip, a jazz/rock fusion trio from Boston, will perform in Harkness basement this Saturday, April 7. Ranging from funky grooves and inspired jazz standards to ethereal compositions and extended improvisations, The Slip’s music transcends and crosses boundaries while maintaining constant themes and goals. Comprised of brothers Brad and Andrew Barr on guitar and percussion, respectively, and Marc Friedman on electric fretless bass, the Boston-based trio has been making music together since 1991.

(photo courtsey of the Slip)

“We had never really planned on keeping it a trio,” Friedman said, “but after playing together for so long, the band kind of took on its own life and we began to realize the inherent freedom within it. The trio really asks each musician to explore their full range of sound and to be fully present at all times, even if their presence is silent.”
After briefly attending the Berklee School of Music, The Slip firmly grounded themselves in the Boston music scene, later developing a solid underground fan base throughout the northeast. In recent years, The Slip has consistently toured throughout the United States, with an international appearance in Tokyo last December.
The band’s first release, From the Gecko, was recorded independently in 1996 and can only be found at shows and through mail order on the band’s web site www.theslip.com. The songs on the album span many genres, from the jazzy “Yellow Medicine” to the ballad “Weight of Solomon” to the catchy “Honey Melon.” In the summer of 2000, The Slip released their second album, Does, on Flying Frog Records. Does shows a bit of maturation in the band’s style, from the funky “Johnny’s Tune” to the serene “Through the Iron Gate” to “So Dope,” a declaration of the song itself. While not touring, the band is hard at work on their third album, which is rumored to be released this autumn. 

However, the live performance has always been at the heart of The Slip’s music. Songs slide into transient spontaneous compositions, blending into one another. Many tracks stretch into 10 and 20 minutes of freeform improvisations. In their years of live performance, they have learned to work within every different environment. “We’ve grown used to and many ways thrive off of all the different types of spaces that we find ourselves playing in. Some dance, some sit, some work out karate moves, sometimes people interact musically with a clap, shout, or melody,” drummer Andrew Barr said. 
Never strangers to combining their efforts with other talented musicians, The Slip has teamed up with such notable performers as John Scofield, Charlie Hunter, Galactic, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Richie Havens and the String Cheese Incident.
This year marks The Slip’s third appearance at Oberlin College in as many years. First appearing in the spring of 1999 in the Harkness Lounge, the Slip also performed last year at the Cat in the Cream. The Slip’s visit to Oberlin comes near the end of a two month long tour, which has taken the trio from Chicago to the West coast and back again to the Midwest. The tour concludes back on the East coast later this month. 
The Slip, Saturday, April 7th, Harkness Dining, doors open 9:30. Admission: free w/ OCID, $5 without.