Jay Vilnai & Vampire Suite, Brooklyn, NY, Sep 30
After a long summer spent composing and arranging new music, Jay Vilnai will once again take over Barbes with his Vampire Suit and with a brand new project The Ethnoeccentric String Trio. The evening will commence at 7:00pm at Barbes, 376 9th St., Brooklyn, on September 30th, 2005.
Vampire Suit draws on Jay Vilnai's unique musical heritage as a Russian-Romanian-Polish descendant raised in Jerusalem around a mix of contemporary and traditional Jewish and Arab music, with a soul for rock n'roll and a BFA in jazz. Couple that with a passion for Bartok and Stravinsky and you end up with all original music that draws on all those influences to create something akin to traditional music for a generation that has so many traditions it calls his. Balkan and Middle-Eastern rhythms are prominent, backed by 20th century composing concepts and jazz improvising.
'If Bram Stoker's imaginary Transylvania had a jazz scene, the music might sound something like this.' —Jazz Review
For the Ethnoeccentric String Trio (EST), Vilnai solicited the talents of violinist Skye Steele and cellist Christopher Hoffman. The music plays as a scrapbook from their various travels in the New York music scene and around the world. EST brings a globe-spanning variety of music into focus through the prism of the improvisational string trio. Expect Bulgarian dances, Greek Rembetika, Indian ragas, original compositions and Bartok.