Slingshot Improv Trio Celebrates ‘Elasticity’
New Music Release Party at Woodhouse Brews
Julie Horner with Bret Bailey
Jazz fusion enthusiasts rejoice! Jamband powerhouse Slingshot Improv Trio unleashes their debut album, Elasticity, “a sweet sonic explosion of spontaneous grooves and boundary‑pushing sound” on Friday, May 29, 2026. The group celebrates the release of their first CD and digital download availability with a dance party that night at Woodhouse Blending and Brewing in Santa Cruz at 7:00 pm.
The mostly improvised recording captures the band’s signature approach to musical creation: fluid, funky, reactive, and driven by the unpredictable chemistry of live performance. Recorded at a series of local concerts, and sneaking a few actual songs in there too, Elasticity captures Slingshot’s evolving interplay as they move breathlessly between structured compositions and open‑ended improvisation. The performances captured in the new recording highlight the band’s instinct for stretching written material into unexpected shapes, letting spontaneous ideas collide with pre‑crafted themes. The result is a collection that feels both intentional and unpredictable, shaped by the energy of the room and the band’s willingness to follow the moment wherever it leads.
About Slingshot Improv Trio
Slingshot Improv Trio evolved slowly over two decades — the band calls it “a controlled explosion of shared history, deep grooves and accumulated musical mischief.” Bassist Pete Novembre and drummer Bret Bailey formed the funk jam powerhouse Elephino back in 1999. Bret and guitarist Matt Hartle formed Shady Groove in 2001. All three musicians had played together as hired guns countless times before the lightbulb moment when someone finally said: what if we did our own thing?
The Santa Cruz Mountains knows and loves Matt Hartle, the “Jerry Garcia” of the China Cats and Grateful Sundays with the Hartle Gold Band at The Crepe Place in Live Oak Santa Cruz and other jamband projects like Painted Mandolin and Shady Groove. His name is synonymous with the Grateful Dead sound in Santa Cruz County, and he is widely regarded as one of the premier guitarists in the Bay Area — “a soulful firecracker,” the band notes, with a degree in Jazz Performance whose playing draws comparisons to Garcia, Carlos Santana, and Steve Kimock, with a signature sound that remains unmistakably his own.
In-demand session bass player Pete Novembre (OM Trio, Coffee Zombie Collective, Aza, Elephino) is the kind of bass player other musicians talk about after the show — a Santa Cruz readers’ poll Bronze medalist for Best Musician whose previous band OM Trio was voted Best Jazz Band in San Francisco in 2001.
Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Bret Bailey (Shady Groove, Elephino, BlissNinnies, Cosmic Pinball), raised on New Orleans jazz, brings a rhythmic intuition that makes the whole thing breathe. Together, these journeyed musicians have shared stages with Stanley Jordan, Henry Kaiser, Melvin Seals, Donna Jean Godchaux, Joe Craven, Ike Willis, Mark Karan, and many more — a collective résumé that hints at just how far their musical instincts can travel.
“I love playing with Matt and Pete,” Bret said, “because they’re nice people and great musicians. They’re great improvisers who are right at home winging it with no plan. Slingshot Improv Trio is a really fun format, and totally different from what I’ve done in the past.”
Looking to the future, Bret said, it’s all about expanding and refining what they do, how they do it, and where they do it. “We plan to keep adding material to our menu, and we are always working on moving together as a cohesive unit through soundscapes and dynamic changes. And we plan to branch out and play around the wider San Francisco Bay Area region.”
Slingshot Improv Trio live at Woodhouse Brewing, Friday, May 29 at 7:00 pm, 119 Madrone St., Santa Cruz. Follow the band: slingshottrio.com | FB @ slingshotimprovtrio
Featured photo at top of page: Slingshot Improv Trio (l-r): Bret Bailey, Pete Novembre, Matt Hartle
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