X-Legged Sally

Biography

X-Legged Sally was initially formed to compose and perform music Peter Vermeersch wrote for dance productions, such as Immer das Selbe Gelogen, released as a live CD in 1991. Vermeersch's composing style had become too demanding for the constraints of sheet music used in his earlier band Maximalist!. Improvisation played an important role from the beginning. The first concert took place in November 1988, and the band soon became an independent group, though cooperations with dance ensembles continued throughout its existence. Based on the international success of Maximalist!, X-Legged Sally performed at the New York avant-garde jazz club Knitting Factory, and a live track appeared on Live at the Knitting Factory, vol. 4 (1990). The first two recordings, Slow-Up (1991) and Killed by Charity (1993), were produced by Bill Laswell, bringing international attention and distribution. The third album, Eggs and Ashes (1994), contained music written for three dance productions by Wim Vandekeybus's company Ultima Vez and featured Mauro Pawlowski on vocals. The music evolved into a more mature sound with larger concepts and more vocals on The Land of the Giant Dwarfs (1995). The band performed its farewell concert on April 20, 1996 at the Cactus Club in Bruges, recorded and released as Fired. A final CD, Bereft of a Blissful Union, was released in 1997 as accompaniment to a 1996 dance production by Vandekeybus. After disbanding, members pursued various directions: Vermeersch founded A Group and later Flat Earth Society, Eric Sleichim started Bl!ndman, and Pierre Vervloesem featured in many bands and maintained a solo career.