Steve Gibons Gypsy Rhythm Project

Over the past four years the band led by violinist Steve Gibons has grown into one of Chicago's go-to groups for stripped-down, old-fashioned Roma music—and there's only one ringer in the bunch, cimbalom virtuoso and Romanian expat Nicolae Feraru (who also leads his own ensemble). Gibons and company bring the improvisational sophistication of jazz to Romanian and Bulgarian Gypsy music without smoothing out its ragged edges; bassist Dan Delorenzo, accordionist Juliano Milo, and guitarist Mike Allemana embark on some pretty wild harmonic excursions, and drummer Tim Mulvenna deftly juggles the shifting meters no matter how brisk the tempo. - Chicago Reader