• Store
  • Artists
  • News
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
Menu

Orenda Records

Visionary Creative Music
  • Store
  • Artists
  • News
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

ORENDA RECORDS

"Orenda Records is a small Southern California label that punches above its weight... Orenda’s offerings are informed by rock, modern classical, and jazz, and combine these genres in a natural, organic fashion... Orenda’s musicians grew up in a post-Braxton era where musical styles are viewed on a continuum rather than as individual silos of expression."
–Avant Music News


LATEST NEWS:

Featured
May 2, 2025
L.A. guitarist Max Walker announces virtuosic and exploratory full-length, Chronostasis
May 2, 2025
May 2, 2025
Dec 20, 2024
Dan Rosenboom, Joshua White, Billy Mohler & Shawn Baltazor Drop Surprise End-Of-Year Bootleg Album
Dec 20, 2024
Dec 20, 2024
Aug 2, 2024
Pianist/Composer Zack Clarke Releases "Plunge," A Multi-Stylistic Array of Pianistic and Electronic Inspiration
Aug 2, 2024
Aug 2, 2024
Jun 7, 2024
Dominican Drummer/Composer Ivanna Cuesta Releases Powerful Debut Album, "A Letter To The Earth"
Jun 7, 2024
Jun 7, 2024
Apr 5, 2024
Guitarist/Compser/Multi-instrumentalist Max Kutner Releases New Trio Album "Partial Custody" featuring Tubist Ben Stapp and Percussionist James Paul Nadine
Apr 5, 2024
Apr 5, 2024
Feb 29, 2024
Composer and Multi-Instrumentalist Vera Weber Releases "A Soft Lunacy," an Expansive Duet for Prepared Pianos With Vicki Ray
Feb 29, 2024
Feb 29, 2024
Nov 3, 2023
LA-Based Saxophonist-Composer Joe Santa Maria Issues His “Sonic Autobiography,” The Bold and Wildly Imaginative Echo Deep
Nov 3, 2023
Nov 3, 2023
Apr 28, 2023
Trumpeter/Composer Dan Rosenboom Levels Up with New Band on Polarity, the 101st Recording on Orenda Records
Apr 28, 2023
Apr 28, 2023
Mar 31, 2023
Drummer and Music Educator Dean Mucetti Releases ISOLATE//INTEGRATE With His Band Rhythm Real
Mar 31, 2023
Mar 31, 2023
Feb 24, 2023
Mat Muntz Leads a Band of East Coast Luminaries with an Astonishing Album Driven by a Unique Croatian Bagpipe
Feb 24, 2023
Feb 24, 2023
Jan 27, 2023
Dark Ambient Electric Guitar Duo KillDry Release "Pool of the Black Star"
Jan 27, 2023
Jan 27, 2023
Dec 2, 2022
Ethereal Experimental Artist Rose Haze Release Instrumental Album "Contemplations in the Desert"
Dec 2, 2022
Dec 2, 2022

SNOW NERDS, LA'S NEWEST ELECTRO-FUNK-JAZZ-CASIO-ATARI-FISH-LOVING ROCKERS, DEBUT "GUP LIFE" ON ORENDA RECORDS

June 16, 2017

GUP LIFE, the vibrant and subversive debut of progressive jazz quartet SNOW NERDS, comes onto the Los Angeles improvised music scene with attitude, ernest, and no shortage of absurdist humor. With devilish hooks, hard-hitting instrumental performances, and thought-provoking composition, this record is a breath of fresh air to those who seek an alternative to the desire-to-impress that so often plague the world of academic music.

"Snow Nerds has a bright, zippy sound and a warm sense of humor...[they] have an excellent rapport, and Sucher’s knotty melodies leave plenty of room for some excellent improvisation." 
—Lee Rice Epstein, Free Jazz Blog

At the heart of Snow Nerds is the musical history of saxophonist Ted Taforo and guitarist Jake Sucher. The pair have been writing music and performing together since their first days as students at CalArts. In 2015 Sucher and Taforo joined forces with the explosive rhythm section of bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Jesse Quebbeman-Turley. As individuals the band members are emerging staples of LA music, with Butterss appearing with Dick Oates, Bob Mintzer, and Jeff Parker, Quebbeman-Turley with Bill Frisell, and Taforo getting performance and writing credits on Spoon’s newest album Hot Thoughts. Each composition on Gup Life harnesses these individual voices in a way that dawns the possibility of a new positive energy in motion.

"From the short chuckling burst of ‘Skylanders' to the steady meditation of 'Felix Found A Tire,' Sucher’s compositions display thoughtful intent and mindfulness towards the bigger picture. Great attention is paid to varying song length and form, which defiantly energizes the album, subverting expectation at every corner. The fragile 'Real Life Reprise' is the most notable example, decaying from a single verse into delicate noise-making, sustaining interest and potential for its duration. 'Gup Life' is incredibly vibrant and grooving clocking in at only two minutes. In that time the combo joyfully incorporates a soundbite of famous Australian TV veterinarian Dr. Harry Cooper. “
—Ben Levinson, Gup Life liner notes

As a complete package, Gup Life has a story to tell. Striking artwork by Vanessa Lilak, package design by Eron Rauch, recording and mixing work of Greg Hartunian, Ben Levinson’s insightful liner notes, as well as recurring themes in the lyric and track titles shape a record that is reflective, complex, and just plain fun. At times the narrative also dips into the political. Do Your Job, inspired by a protest chant, evokes the hair-raising inertia of a mass of people pulling together. Taforo’s composition How I Felt About What The Delta Smelt Got Dealt honestly and explicitly addresses the effects of California’s mega-drought on a threatened indigenous species of fish. With this release Snow Nerds sets out to connect dots, pull people in, and leave them with something to think about.

"This band will have you smiling and scratching your head!”
—Larry Koonse, Jazz Guitarist

NOW AVAILABLE - CLICK HERE
← Android Trio's multifarious debut album "Road Songs" is now available from Orenda RecordsSCOT RAY & VICKI RAY'S "YAR" FEATURES SIBLING-DRIVEN PREPARED PIANO AND SLIDE GUITAR DUOSCAPES LOOPED, GLITCHED, AND MORPHED INTO TALES OF SURREAL SUBTERRANEAN TRAVEL →
Back to Top

email: info@orendarecords.com
phone: +1 (323) 696 5780