TriBeCaStan

5 Star Cave (EverGreene Music)

By David Luhrssen

When John Kruth lived in Milwaukee, he had little trouble finding a few musicians whose wide-ranging tastes in ethnic music and rock matched his own. Back home in New York City, however, Kruth found musical soul mates on nearly every corner.

TriBeCaStan, his partnership with fellow multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jeff Greene, allows Kruth to explore a broad continuum of traditional music in a contemporary context. The roots of the TriBeCaStan sound run from Appalachia through the hill country of Pakistan with stops at nearly every caravansary along the way. The music on 5 Star Cave, the band’s second album, is completely instrumental save for an evanescent cover of The Carter Family featuring the whispering vocals of Samantha Parton. The band’s frisky Jew’s harp funk and polyrhythmic rock turn 5 Star Cave into the jukebox at the hippest ethnic restaurant imaginable—a meeting place where divisive politics are set aside, the falafel is never greasy and the hummus is always fresh.