Luminescent Orchestrii

LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII at Mo Pitkin’s. Rock with traditional
Eastern European and Gypsy music has been one of the most fruitful trends
among New York bands in ages, and this is one of the most ambitious. -New York Times - New York Times

LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII at Mo Pitkin’s. Rock with traditional
Eastern European and Gypsy music has been one of the most fruitful trends
among New York bands in ages, and this is one of the most ambitious. -New York Times - New York Times

A punky five-piece string band, the Luminescent Orchestrii plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged musical adventures.

-Time Out NY (NYC, NY) - Time Out New York

A punky five-piece string band, the Luminescent Orchestrii plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged musical adventures.

-Time Out NY (NYC, NY) - Time Out New York

The balancing of frenzy and finesse is evidently a trademark Luminescent Orchestrii approach, displayed to its utmost in the insanely frenetic dance tunes... The three violins flirt wilfully with a cacophony teasingly offset by elegant classical flourishes, swirling and eddying above the rhythm section's bruisingly aggressive but sharply-aimed attack. ****

-The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland) - The Scottsman

The balancing of frenzy and finesse is evidently a trademark Luminescent Orchestrii approach, displayed to its utmost in the insanely frenetic dance tunes... The three violins flirt wilfully with a cacophony teasingly offset by elegant classical flourishes, swirling and eddying above the rhythm section's bruisingly aggressive but sharply-aimed attack. ****

-The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland) - The Scottsman

A concert review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Frank Gutch, Jr.

The house sat amidst others of its kind on Agate, a solid '20s structure with basement and porch and huge trees in the front yard. Lured there by the promise of klezmer, it being the eve of Passover, I walked in on concert in progress, the Luminescent Orchestrii placed in a corner opposite, violin and guitar cases open behind them laying on the floor. Folding chairs had been placed in every open space but for the passageway to the doors, front and back, and counted close to a hundred. Bodies filled all but a few, eyes fixed on the scene before them.

Sxip Shirey, a demonic Albert Einstein in suit with tie askew, flailed resophonic guitar with abandon while twin violins screamed in unison, choked and grasped by long and lanky and, at times, maniacal Rima Fand and the more flowing Sarah Alden, both of whom danced and twisted with each furious stroke of the bow. Newest member Benjy Fox Rosen stood with his bass, various bows protruding from an attachment at its bass, at times watching and at others ignoring the mayhem taking place to his right.

For the next hour and a half, the Luminescent Orchestrii wooed and won over those of us who had come expecting something a bit more traditional. Shirey emceed in an almost haphazard manner, talking loudly and explaining here and there that seldom did the band have a chance to play all-acoustic sets and how different it was. He should have said difficult, for everyone could see the toll being taken as the concert progressed. Sweat flowed and voices occasionally cracked and bow strings began hanging like jellyfish tentacles and somehow the musicians kept going, becoming stronger with each passing song.

Working their way through the traditional tunes like “Amaritsi” and “Warsaw” to bizarre originals like “Tea” and “Too Hot To Sleep” and the mind-boggling instrumental “She's a Brick”, they sucked in the crowd until traditional and original became indistinguishable, music overtaking genre. Jazz, modern classical and traditional international music melded with folk and rock, all made viable by Luminescent's presence. Shirey occasionally set aside the resophonic guitar in favor of the pianica, an alternative to the melodica , and somehow made it work to everyone's advantage, eerie and dissonant sounds giving those songs an edge, and Benjy adopted a bow here and there. Other than that, it was violins, guitar and bass.

And voices. All sang when necessary, Shirey taking the lead on his compositions, Fand and Alden sharing when applicable, Benjy mostly there for harmony with only a couple of exceptions. Without mikes, they strained to be heard above the sometimes cacophonic instruments, but they did. In fact, on many tunes, the strained voices were more than apt, giving credence to the emotional effects.

At the end, the crowd asked for the obligatory encore (but how do you not when virtually sharing the stage). It was good, though anticlimactic, the band and crowd each having spent incredible amounts of energy beforehand.

I could see that House Concerts held one advantage over the standard concert venues: it gave the chance for both musician and fan to interact. A good quarter of the crowd hung out talking with the various Luminescents, winding down from the unexpected high. Like one person said, they might as well have played through a stack of Marshalls, it was at times so intense. He wasn't wrong. On the way home I was thinking that this may end up - acousticmusic.com

A concert review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Frank Gutch, Jr.

The house sat amidst others of its kind on Agate, a solid '20s structure with basement and porch and huge trees in the front yard. Lured there by the promise of klezmer, it being the eve of Passover, I walked in on concert in progress, the Luminescent Orchestrii placed in a corner opposite, violin and guitar cases open behind them laying on the floor. Folding chairs had been placed in every open space but for the passageway to the doors, front and back, and counted close to a hundred. Bodies filled all but a few, eyes fixed on the scene before them.

Sxip Shirey, a demonic Albert Einstein in suit with tie askew, flailed resophonic guitar with abandon while twin violins screamed in unison, choked and grasped by long and lanky and, at times, maniacal Rima Fand and the more flowing Sarah Alden, both of whom danced and twisted with each furious stroke of the bow. Newest member Benjy Fox Rosen stood with his bass, various bows protruding from an attachment at its bass, at times watching and at others ignoring the mayhem taking place to his right.

For the next hour and a half, the Luminescent Orchestrii wooed and won over those of us who had come expecting something a bit more traditional. Shirey emceed in an almost haphazard manner, talking loudly and explaining here and there that seldom did the band have a chance to play all-acoustic sets and how different it was. He should have said difficult, for everyone could see the toll being taken as the concert progressed. Sweat flowed and voices occasionally cracked and bow strings began hanging like jellyfish tentacles and somehow the musicians kept going, becoming stronger with each passing song.

Working their way through the traditional tunes like “Amaritsi” and “Warsaw” to bizarre originals like “Tea” and “Too Hot To Sleep” and the mind-boggling instrumental “She's a Brick”, they sucked in the crowd until traditional and original became indistinguishable, music overtaking genre. Jazz, modern classical and traditional international music melded with folk and rock, all made viable by Luminescent's presence. Shirey occasionally set aside the resophonic guitar in favor of the pianica, an alternative to the melodica , and somehow made it work to everyone's advantage, eerie and dissonant sounds giving those songs an edge, and Benjy adopted a bow here and there. Other than that, it was violins, guitar and bass.

And voices. All sang when necessary, Shirey taking the lead on his compositions, Fand and Alden sharing when applicable, Benjy mostly there for harmony with only a couple of exceptions. Without mikes, they strained to be heard above the sometimes cacophonic instruments, but they did. In fact, on many tunes, the strained voices were more than apt, giving credence to the emotional effects.

At the end, the crowd asked for the obligatory encore (but how do you not when virtually sharing the stage). It was good, though anticlimactic, the band and crowd each having spent incredible amounts of energy beforehand.

I could see that House Concerts held one advantage over the standard concert venues: it gave the chance for both musician and fan to interact. A good quarter of the crowd hung out talking with the various Luminescents, winding down from the unexpected high. Like one person said, they might as well have played through a stack of Marshalls, it was at times so intense. He wasn't wrong. On the way home I was thinking that this may end up - acousticmusic.com

"Madcap ethnic dance music" is as good a term as any to describe the flavor of this band. A dozen years ago bands such as Blowzabella, Three Mustaphas Three and the Reptile Palace Orchestra burst out with music that sounded old and was deeply influenced by generations of tradition. These days, the genre is much more lush and weedy. In a world where you can easily score recordings of Gypsy masters taraf de Haidouks, Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour and Cuban songbird Omara Portoundo, it's not surprising to hear young musicians fuse what appear to be incompatible styles. And it's great when they succeed in creating something listenable and danceable.

The seven tracks on Luminescent Orchestrii's recent live recording (of a show in Brooklyn) demonstrate that they love to play Eastern European rhythms, hip-hop and about eight other recognizable genres. Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. Their live CD is testament to endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.

-Seven Days (Burlington VT) - Seven Days

"Madcap ethnic dance music" is as good a term as any to describe the flavor of this band. A dozen years ago bands such as Blowzabella, Three Mustaphas Three and the Reptile Palace Orchestra burst out with music that sounded old and was deeply influenced by generations of tradition. These days, the genre is much more lush and weedy. In a world where you can easily score recordings of Gypsy masters taraf de Haidouks, Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour and Cuban songbird Omara Portoundo, it's not surprising to hear young musicians fuse what appear to be incompatible styles. And it's great when they succeed in creating something listenable and danceable.

The seven tracks on Luminescent Orchestrii's recent live recording (of a show in Brooklyn) demonstrate that they love to play Eastern European rhythms, hip-hop and about eight other recognizable genres. Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. Their live CD is testament to endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.

-Seven Days (Burlington VT) - Seven Days