| Kopaja Kopaja was formed as a trio with Kevin Hamilton, Nathan Koci, and Ron Wiltrout in July 2006 to fulfill a residency at a now defunct restaurant called Cordavi on the far east part of Market Street in Charleston, SC. The group explored some non-traditional jazz and pop tunes and tried to make good use of the unusual instrumentation of drums (Wiltrout), bass (Hamilton), and accordion/flugelhorn (Koci). The gig at Cordavi lasted a year and half and allowed the trio to expand its material to include some originals and arrangements of many modern styles on the fringe of what many considered 'jazz'. Throughout, though, there was the honest approach of improvisation and interaction that makes any group unique and exciting. On several occasions the trio was joined by young firebrand guitarist David Linaburg, who also ended up writing a lot of material for the quartet. You Have To Wake Up Pretty Early Human Behavior Kevin Hamilton - Bass Ron Wiltrout - Drums Nathan Koci - Flugelhorn, Accordion David Linaburg - Guitar |
photos by Ben Williams