Orange Mighty Trio (CD-Release)

"Bluegrassical" is the fantasy term coined by the locally based Orange Mighty Trio for their particularly distinctive brand of music, which sure enough mashes up classical and bluegrass, as well as jazz and stray bits of world music. With references to Appalachia, Bach, Stephane Grappelli, and maybe Sun Ra skittering about, the OMT's all-instrumental stuff kind of sounds like the crew from Cold Mountain repaired to the parlor to play chamber music conceived on Mars. Violinist Zack Kline (who also plays in the Celtic-folk band Piper's Crow and spends a good bit of time in Chicago), pianist Mike Vasich, and bassist Nick Gaudette are all top-notch musicians who seem in particular sync to one another's quirks and are versatile enough to handle whatever their fervid imaginations come up with. For their first full-length CD, Infrastucture (whose release will be celebrated with this gig), those imaginations apparently were fired by expansion joints and transportation, suggesting either too much time on the road or overexposure to DOT news conferences. Regardless, it's spirited, evocative music that's far from pedestrian, ranging from the meditative, somewhat ominous "Point A" and lyrical "Waltz of the Traffic Patterns" to the darkly frenetic "Driving with Your Eyes Open" and outer limits hoedown of "Orange Line." Opening will be Mississippi Peace, a new band featuring local music vets Christopher Cunningham (guitar, vocals), Michelle Kinney (cello), Melissa Matthews (violin), and Graham O'Brien (drums). All ages.
Sat., June 13, 7 p.m., 2009