The Mustn't Grumble
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The Mustn't Grumble is a relatively new American musical group from the Boston, Massachusetts area formed in 2004, by charter members guitarist Ben Vigoda, trumpeteer Shawn Hershey, and bassoonist Stephanie Holmes. With a constantly evolving cast of musicians, their music is rooted in improvisation and is strongly influenced by jam band music and gypsy jazz, a kind of swing pioneered by Django Reinhardt in Paris during the 1920's.
The Mustn't Grumble tends to play novel instruments that they have built themselves such as the "magneto-acoustic infinite-sustain gypsy jazz" guitar and the "sing-into-it digital trumpet." Also noteworthy are their incorporation of expository impromptu physics lectures, and the vintage hats that the members of the band often wear in concert.
[edit] Listening forms
The Mustn't Grumble invented and continues to experiment with a new approach to structured improvisation which they call Listening Forms. This approach to improvisation is related in spirit to the game pieces of John Zorn, and improvisational theater forms such as Viola Spolin's games for the theater and the Harold form invented by Del Close. Listening Forms begin from an understanding of the relationships of tension and release in the ensemble process, and provide a notation for what might happen in a "jam."
