A "Jazz Fusion" band, that sounded similar to
"Happy the Man" and Chick Corea's "Return to Forever"
developed in Annapolis during the early 80's. Playing primarily
original music Tangent appeared at festivals, parks, and clubs around
the Baltimore - Washington area for several years. Tangent opened
for Dexter Gordon at Dupont Park, Jimmy McGriff at the Cellar Door
and played at colleges in Maryland, Deleware, Pensylvania and New York.





Over the years the ensemble was
re-grouped several times. Twenty plus
players went through Tangent and the
constant personel change was
ultimately it's demise.
There were three incarnations of the
band that were especially productive
and recorded, gigged, traveled etc...
I have taken the recording sessions
of these three seperate Tangent
entities... edited, remastered
and put the cream of the crop
on a CD collection titled
"Tangent" available by
contacting Paul Phillips


Ensamble One

Buzz Lerch - Keys,
Byron Mcwilliams - Drums,
Richard Armentrout - Guitar,
Don Stapleson - Sax/Flute,
Paul Phillips - Bass.

Our first session was done
at Ray Tilkens studio "Ambient"
This was the early phase of Tangent...
we struggled with material.
The only song from that session
that I thought captured our real
sound was "Icarus" by Ralph Towner.
Even though the band was working alot
we didn't have very many original songs
and the sound was losing focus.
Rick and I decided to flat out stop
working and start writing material.




Ensamble Two

Buzz Lerch - Keys,
Richard Armentrout - Guitar,
Joe McIntyre - Marimba/Percussion,
Don Stapleson - Sax/Flute,
Steve Reppert - Drums
Paul Phillips - Bass

After writing like crazy monkeys and working on production
for 6 or 7 months we felt the band was ready. Back to the
studio we went, this time Track Studios in Silver Spring.

This version of Tangent was probably the most successful and
more of a concert band. Although we played some clubs we mostly played
Colleges and had the pleasure of opening for Dexter Gordon at
Dupont Park and Jimmy McGriff at The Cellar Door.

The College circuit left everbody disenchanted. The money was great but
frequently the Colleges wouldn't even advertise that there was live
music happening - we became tired of playing to empty rooms,
tension and tempers flared, the band fell apart.



Live at the Cellar Door


Ensemble Three

Paul Phillips - Bass,
Byron McWilliams - Drums,
Richard Armentrout - Guitar,
Tom Hollowell -Keys


It had become increasingly difficult to make money playing jazz
so this was the streamlined version of the band. We recorded at Skeebie Studio
in Aspen Hill - Kevin Morales was the engineer. Kevin was also one of
the many drummers that played with Tangent.

This version of Tangent played concerts and occasionally clubs
mostly in the Annapolis area - King of France Tavern, City Docks etc...
Struggling with our identity in a market where Jazz Fusion was dying
we added vocals to our sound which was dumb since, at least at the time,
none of us could sing worth a damn. On a positive note the band was
writing music like crazy and for the first time the material
was written by all of us collectively.








Misc Pics




Listen to the "Tangent" CD online with Real Audio

Video Command
Armentrout,Lerch

Once in a Lifetime
Phillips,Armentrout

The Whale Hunt
Armentrout

The Connection
Phillips,Armentrout

Riding High
Hollowell

Liars Moon
Hollowell,Armentrout

Heebie Jeebies
Hollowell,Armentrout,McWilliams,Phillips

Insect Love Song
Hollowell,Armentrout,Mcwilliams,Phillips

Icarus
Ralph Towner




In memory of Dexter Gordon

back stage at Dupont Park


Tangent was

1) Paul Phillips - Bass
2) Byron McWilliams - Drums
3) Elizabeth Melvin - Marimba/Percussion
4) Tom Fredrick - Sound/Lites
5) David Hartly - Guitar
6) Buzz Lerch - Keys
7) David Johnson - Sax
8) Jonas Bernstein - Guitar
9) Richard Armentrout - Guitar
10) Tom Crawford - Sax
11) Don Stapleson - Sax/Flute
12) Steve Reppert - Drums
13) Joe MacEntyre - Marimba/Percussion
14) Dennis Cross - Drums
15) Bruce Clatterbuck - Drums
16) Kevin Morales - Drums
17) Steve Losher - Drums
18) Bill Hawf - Keys
19) Eric Whatzizname - Keys
20) Tom Hollowell - Keys
21) Coco Roussel - Drums

There were a few other players - I apologize for not remembering their names.




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