The Regulators

Description

The Regulators music defies easy description. Are they a rock power-trio? A jazz group? A funk band? An Andean pan-flute ensemble? They are most of these things and yet they are none of them. They are a free-funk-jazz exploration of non-western rhythmic modes. Whatever genre you want to call their music, a few things are certain: it is groovin', exciting and makes you want to dance. This is musical high-wire without a net. Formed in mid-2008 The Regulators are Mike Allemana on guitar, Gerald Dowd on drums and Matt Ferguson on bass. The band spun itself off from Brian O’Hern's Model Citizens Big Band from which they had already commenced with their trademark rhythmic explorations during the extended free-inventions which typically mark the close of each set. One moment it is Funkadelic getting in touch with their inner-Bulgarian, ten minutes later a wall of noise-rock and five minutes after that, King Tubby in a klezmer band. Anything can and will happen.

Work Sample

"The King Ain't Pretty," performed live Feb 22, 2020, 7:28, from our upcoming album release. 

Restoring the Funk (Matt Ferguson) live at Fulton Street Collective

The Regulators comes form my interests in rhythmic possibility, driven by my work with alto saxophonist Steve Coleman and my ethnomusicological  studies of Hindustani rhythmic processes. My interests in rhythm started with my long tenure with saxophonist Von Freeman. Freeman spoke often of the importance of rhythm and feel when I was working in his quartet at his celebrated Tuesday evening jam session at the New Apartment Lounge from 1997-2011. Through my association with Freeman, I met many master musicians, one of the most important being Steve Coleman, who would often demonstrate to me his rhythm experiments. After having studied with Coleman and played in his ensemble, I wanted to extend Freeman's ideas of rhythm and Coleman's experiments in rhythmic cycles to a groove-based, danceable musical expression. Since 1996, I have been performing in the Model Citizens Big Band. The rhythm section, which includes Dowd and Ferguson, had been experimenting in danceable grooves, so the three of us founded The Regulators in 2008 to pursue this idea of complex rhythmic structures mixed with danceable grooves. Overall, I am drawing a philosophy Von Freeman often expressed to me: musicians should always grow and experiment with new ideas and develop original musical language, but always in a way that speaks to people's hearts. 

History

The Regulators was founded in 2008 by the rhythm section of the Chicago big band, Brian O'Hern and the Model Citizens, This project explores the rhythmic language of funk and groove-based popular musics through original compositions and spontaneous improvisations that are based in numerous asymmetrical rhythmic cycles. The ensemble consists of guitarist and composer Mike Allemana, bassist and composer Matt Ferguson, and drummer Gerald Dowd. We perform at numerous Chicago area venues and plan to release our first album later in 2022. 

Artistic Vision

The Regulators explores spontaneous composition through rhythm. Rhythm is one aspect of avantgarde and free jazz styles that we think has been neglected by artists. Our goal is to develop a broad rhythmic language for improvisation from which we can spontaneously create rhythmic textures and frameworks. Over time, we have created a broad repertoire of original compositions that continue to transform through the rhythmic language we have developed. Our aim is to show that rhythm can be a productive artistic sphere from which to create spontaneously music built on complex rhythmic cycles that groove hard and are danceable. 

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

I have been teaching jazz improvisation at the university level for 10 years. Before that, I taught improvisation to children and senior citizens at the Old Town School of Folk music for 15 years. With the Regulators, we could demonstrate rhythmic skills to young students and senior citizens through clapping and singing exercises. I often explain to my students how rhythm is part of the universe: Earth's orbit, the heart's steady beat, the rhythmic sounds of day-to-day life. Then I demonstrate several simple rhythm exercises I have devised to show popular music rhythm structures. Finally, I demonstrate the application of mathematics to rhythm by using asymmetrical numbers such as 5 or 11 which offer unfamiliar ways of feeling rhythm that afford new perceptual skills in rhythm. All exercises are practiced through clapping, tapping the body, and/or with percussion.