Under Oakwood: Raleigh's ELM Collective

Here's some video of ELM Collective's encore at Burning Coal Music Series (Meymandi Theatre in the Murphey School) last Sunday. I arrived late because of a start-time mixup, but still caught about 3 cool songs. Great venue for music. Hm, how about holding a dance in here?



ELM Collective is a world jazz fusion band I wish I could hear more often. They feel their way into some unique territory, based on the talents of 7 international musicians. Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Latin American styles and meters mingle unpredictably. Oud, accordion and funk bass? You betcha. Plus jazz guitar, flute, drumset and world percussion. They share a common love of Chick Corea, but beyond that, don't try to pigeonhole these guys. Loud, soft, classical, dance-oriented...their wide range of original repertoire can work in a lot of different settings.


New Feature: Chartgawking

Snooping through sheet music, snagging set lists that are left on stage--rarely viewed by non-musicians, these tools and detritus of performance fascinate me. Here's what I scoped out at ELM's show, and interpreted with guitarist Alex Gorodezky's help:


Songs change over time; handwritten notes in ELM Collective's sheet music (on the left side) illustrate the evolution of "Samba 65" from the way it was originally written, right down to the provisional title (right side). Click on the photo to see a larger version.