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.

Ole!

The quirky, cozy upstairs space at Marsh Woodwinds will be the site for another Spanish and nuevo flamenco fusion concert by Ed Stephenson & the Paco Band this Saturday (9/26) at 8 pm. The program will be similar to this one two weeks ago, without the dancers.


Marsh Woodwinds: BYOB

Ed & Paco Band will again be joined by musical guests Beverly Botsford (percussion) and Teresa Fernández (voice).

WHAT: Ed Stephenson & the Paco Band with guests Beverly Botsford and Teresa Fernández (Nuevo Flamenco Fusion)
WHEN: 8 pm Saturday 9/26
WHERE: Marsh Woodwinds, 707 N. Person Street, Raleigh NC

Tickets: Adults $10; Seniors/Students $5; (919) 839-1154

Under One Sun

One of 160 bands performing for free at Carrboro Music Festival this Sunday (9/20), One Sun is a jazz fusion project of Saludos Compay pianist Erich Lieth. He is joined here by Drew Pilant (percussion), Padmini Hands (Brazilian and South Asian vocals), Jay Miller (saxophone) and Victor Murillo (guitar), at Weaver Street Market last weekend:



Victor, who moved back to Ecuador this week, takes a final guitar solo at minute 3:15.

ELM Collective FREE CONCERT Tuesday (2/17)

My new favorite world jazz collective will give a free, public concert at UNC this Tuesday (2/17):

WHAT: ELM Collective
WHEN: Tuesday (2/17), 7:30-10:00 pm
WHERE: Union Cabaret, Frank Porter Graham Student Union, UNC-Chapel Hill
COST: Free, open to the public

This Raleigh jazz ensemble includes more cosmopolitan influences than you can shake a stick at. Their main instruments are Middle Eastern oud, classical guitar, funk bass, drumset, Latin keyboard and accordion, flutes and World hand percussion.

As a teaser, here are some photos from a recent ELM Collective rehearsal I attended in the upstairs space at Marsh Woodwinds.

Percussionist Frake Hunsel, a Netherlander raised in Suriname, looks on as Ukrainian guitarist Alex Gorodezky works out an arrangement.


Baltimore-born drummer Ed Butler pulls something out of his bag of tricks:


Click on for larger view:




Lights, camera, action:

ELM Collective from Santa Salsera on Vimeo.

Charanga Carolina & ELM Collective Friday

Charanga Carolina opens for the ELM Collective at the Carrboro Arts Center this Friday (11/14).

Here are some details from Charanga director David Garcia:

Charanga will start at 8:30 pm followed by jazz-world music fusion group ELM Collective at 9:30pm.

Charanga Carolina will feature guest artists Nelson Delgado, Pako Santiago, Alberto Carrasquillo, Ramon Ortiz, Jay Kaufman, and Brevan Hampden!

Charanga's set list will include music by Eddie Palmieri, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Tipica 73, Orquesta Aragon, Soneros del Barrio, and other salsa dura music from NYC, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Tickets are $15 general; $12 for ArtsCenter Friends and UNC students (w/ One Card)

The dance floor will be open!

I'm excited to hear ELM Collective for the first time, which brings together musicians from Lebanon, Italy, Suriname, the Ukraine and the U.S. Several of their members also play with Children of the Horn.

UPDATE, added Saturday:

ELM Collective - what a cool band. These guys are each heavy musicians in their own right, and they pool their virtuosity and international influences in really interesting ways. It's a unique palette to begin with--flutes, oud, keyboard, guitar, percussion, drumset and bass--but what I also liked about it was that each tune had rhythmic integrity from identifiable, different sources like James Brown funk, middle-eastern odd meters, samba blues, etc. combined in seamless, intricate ways. After only one year of playing together in this format, these guys have great synergy and momentum. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them.

The "chemistry" with Charanga musicians was palpable in backstage conversations, it would be cool to get these musicians together on stage to sit in or jam in an "all star" setting. The connections have been made.



(click on photos to see more)

Charanga was gorgeous, the new student violinists this year are bearing the torch of their predecessors, and it was flutist Christina Smith's second-to-last gig with the group: Smith graduates from UNC in December and moves to Atlanta. Charanga is in her blood now, I'm pretty sure some Latin band in Atlanta will be inheriting her stage presence and her talent. You can swing with Christina one last time, at the Charanga Carolina's December 2 show at UNC. See calendar!