Eugene Chadbourne

"This is the first in a series of Feeding Tube vinyl releases devoted to the Insect and Western catalog of recordings, newly mastered and often with added material. 'Mourning of the Praying Mantis' was created in the earliest series of Insect and Western scores, first performed by the Bull Fiddle contrabass quartet of Oakland in 1996. Following what I felt was a classic interpretation by the Insect and Western Party trios and quartets, the piece circulated through the evenings devoted to my Insect and Western music at concerts taking place around the United States. By 1997 I had an interesting and diverse set of recordings in a variety of media and assembled a long version of the piece blending many of the soloists featured in the different performances. This was the centerpiece of the first commercially released collections of my Insect and Western pieces, a CD entitled Insect Attracter on the British Leo label. 'Mourning of the Praying Mantis' was one of the scores I brought to a duet session with master percussionist Warren Smith in 2012. In creating a new special archive of Insect and Western for the Feeding Tube label, my priority regarding 'Mourning of the Praying Mantis' was to bring in the Warren Smith recording, to my great personal enjoyment which I now hope to share with the listener. Now also including the 2012 New York City sessions with Warren Smith, the 20 plus minutes of is fabricated from, in roughly the order the location appears, all from 1997: 1. Studio session, Wyandotte, Michigan/Frank Pahl, engineer; 2. Concert at Barking Legs Theatre, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Dec. 5-6; 3. Concert at Venue 9, San Francisco, California, Oct. 16; 4. Concert at Knitting Factory, New York City, NY, July 29; 5. Concert at Lunar Cabaret, Chicago, Illinois, Sept. 10-11; 6. Concert at art gallery, Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 14; 7. Concert at Alligator Lounge, Los Angeles, California, October."

Musicians in order or appearance: Eugene Chadbourne - five-string banjo, Deering electric "Crossfire" banjo; Carrie Shull - oboe; Brian Ritchie - bass guitar, shakuhachil; Warren Smith - bass marimba, vibraphone, percussion; Mischa Feigin - balilika; Carrie Biolo - vibraphone; Steve Good - bass clarinet; Joee Conroy - violin; Dan Plonsey - soprano saxophone; Gino Robair - mandolin; Ashley Adams - contrabass; Brent Dunn - contrabass; Tom Heasley - tuba; Bruce Wagner - mandolin; Bob Stagner - drums; Charles Waters - soprano saxophone; Barry Mitterhof - mandolin; Ted Reichman - accordion; Bunk Gardner - flute.