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Bio
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More About TriBeCaStan
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Nestled between skyscrapers and shanties in the heart of a bustling urban sprawl lies a sonic oasis in which the sounds of the Indian sarod meet surf rock, West African kora merges with Appalachian mountain tunes, and Afghani melodies mingle with avant-garde jazz. This is TriBeCaStan—a nation where tune smugglers and artistic immigrants from all parts of the globe converge and create the roots music of the future.
On their latest album 5 Star Cave, Jeff Greene and John Kruth orchestrate a delicate balance between chaos and peace, continuing their relentless quest to re-imagine the folk music of the world by asking questions like: What if King Crimson’s bus broke down in the Middle East? What if Miles Davis went country? “It’s not that we don’t respect tradition,” says Greene. “We have all the respect in the world for it. But we are not trying to imitate it at all.”
Throughout their albums and in their spirited live performances, they play over two dozen instruments between them. While Kruth, with nine solo albums to his credit, is best known for his frenetic “Banshee”-style of mandolin playing with The Meat Puppets,The Violent Femmes, Ornette Coleman, and Carnatic mandolin master U. Rajesh, his TriBeCaStani grab bag of instruments also includes mandocello, the Moldavian kaval, harmonica, banjo, royal benju, zurna, penny whistle, sheng, Uilleann chanter, bladder pipe, crumhorn, Kelhorn, gong, Indian oboe, and his voice. Also a fine mandolinist in his own right, Greene plays the Afghan rubab, yayli tambur, nyckleharpa, six-string ukulele, kanun, saz, hurdy gurdy, and the koncovka and fujara overtone flutes, as well as a myriad of percussion instruments including the steel drum, chromatic tambourine, guiro, tupan, khamok, and the Jew’s harp. While Greene focuses heavily on exotic tonal colors, Kruth writes most of the music, composing melodies inspired by traditional folk forms. “The songs are ultimately a melodic stew of all my influences, from Yugoslavian village music to punk, funk, free jazz, and the Beatles.”
TriBeCaStan plays host to a slew of like-minded musical migrants spanning nearly every continent. Together, this array of artists combines their diversity of talents and timbres to produce a cosmopolitan curry of audible flavors. Veteran jazzman Steve Turre returns after appearing on TriBeCaStan’s first album Strange Cousin, adding his Latin-tinged and bluesy trombone lines and conch shells to several tracks. Al Kooper, Blood Sweat and Tears founder and well-known collaborator with Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones, adds his trademark organ sound. Sufi percussionist Ibrahim González, drummer and percussionist Todd Isler, and premier jazz tabla player Badal Roy (known for his grooves with Miles Davis, Alice Coltrane, and John McLaughlin) provide exotic rhythmic intensity. Samantha Parton of the Be Good Tanyas lends her folk-soul vocal stylings. Kenny Margolis of Cracker scrubs a Zydeco rub board and squeezes out Cajun melodies on accordion. Mike DuClos plays some seriously funky bass, reminiscent at times of Miles Davis’s electric band. Charlie Burnham, violinist with James “Blood” Ulmer’s Odyssey, sits in on everything from swing arrangements and funk numbers to an Afghani folk song. Dean Bowman, known for his vocal work in John Scofield’s Ray Charles Review and his work with Elliott Sharp and Gary Lucas, contributes vocals on “Bamako to Malibu.” And Hara Garaccihappened by the studio one day and spontaneously laid down a gypsy guitar track on “Dizzy in the Dunes.”
TriBeCaStan is an imaginary sonic dimension, a place where ancient traditions from Afghanistan to Africa and Eastern Europe converge with modernity. 5 Star Cave is filled with jams that span the globe and reach into deep space, creating a cosmopolitan sound of funky future folk with a sensitive and energetic explosion of color. As veteran engineer Gene Paul quipped, “TriBeCaStan’s music is like a trip around the world in three blocks.”
John Kruth is also a prolific solo artist. Visit his own artist website at www.johnkruth.com for more information about his music, or his EverGreene Music artist page at www.evergreenemusic.com/johnkruth.html for more information. Jeff Greene is also a performing member of Port O’ Monkeys. Visit www.evergreenemusic.com/portomonkeys.html for more information. |
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