For music lovers looking for a fun night out of live entertainment, consider putting on some Heavy MakeUp. That’s the name of the dynamic new project from Edie Brickell, CJ Camerieri and Trever Hagen—who are performing Wednesday nights during their October residency at The Sun Rose at Pendry West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip (where the old House of Blues used to be).
Each Heavy MakeUp performance at the swanky and intimate music venue will consist of two distinct sets—the first will feature songs from their self-titled debut album, while the second will be a purely improvised show.
Heavy MakeUp is a dynamic musical trio made up of Edie Brickell, CJ Camerieri and Trever Hagen, who have come together to meld their shared curiosities through voice, synths, drum machine, and brass. From their first face-to-face encounter in 2022, the group clearly had musical chemistry and spent three days improvising in an apartment, recording everything they played—not knowing they were beginning to make an album or, for that matter, a band. But the melodies were insistent, and the recordings were undeniable. The band formed while following the music, producing their self-titled album, Heavy MakeUp.
The band’s debut release features 11 tracks filled with sonic exploration, capturing the artists’ improvisational spirit. The album is their first official project as a collective, after initially collaborating on 2022’s “More and More,” released by Camerieri and Hagen’s project, CARM.
Of the release, No Depression praises, "These are lively improvisational sketches, balancing Camerieri and Hagen’s experimental-jazz blends of synths, beats, and horns against Brickell’s playfully rhythmic lyrics and sweetly seductive singing."
Trumpeter CJ Camerieri is a two-time Grammy winner and has played with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Ben Folds, and Sting. Trever Hagen is a trumpeter, electronic musician and scholar who holds a PhD in music sociology, writing and researching how music and sound are used in socio-cultural movements. Together they create a trippy and hippie mix of ambient, spacey jazz that blends perfectly with the subtle style of Edie Brickell—best known for her 1988 hit “What I Am”.
The night I saw Heavy MakeUp, they were joined by special guest Charlie Sexton during their improvised set. I guess there’s always the expectation or hope that Brickell’s husband Paul Simon may make an appearance, but really, the band delivers a solid set that makes for a fantastic night out of live music.
Heavy MakeUp performs at The Sun Rose located at Pendry West Hollywood at 8430 Sunset Boulevard every Wednesday in October.
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