The Beth Custer Ensemble with Eda Maxym and The Imagination Club and Trio Garufa November 10, 2011

The Beth Custer Ensemble performs dynamic, funky, soulful original songs and instrumentals with Custer's voice/clarinets and her supergroup: David James, guitar (Afrofunk Experience, Spearhead), Jan Jackson, drums (Will Bernard, Chuck Berry), Chris Grady, trumpet (Tom Waits, Club Foot Orchestra), Vicky Grossi, bass (PC Munoz, Graham Connah).

BCE performs works from Custer's vast repertoire including tunes from recent releases ROAM (received SF Chronicle's highest review rating) and RESPECT AS A RELIGION, the latter of which made the list of the Top 100 Listener's Poll at NYU radio. Renowned for her work with Trance Mission, Club Foot Orchestra, Eighty Mile Beach, and Clarinet Thing, Custer is a Bay Area mover and shaker who has composed for a myriad of artists including Joe Goode Performance Group, Melinda Stone, Flyaway Productions, Campo Santo Theatre, and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.

"The HOT new sound on the scene? Oh Yes, It is the Clarinet...pre-eminent Bay Area clarinetists who were at the center of a musical community with a national reputation for innovation and collaboration." The New York Times

"If an Olympics decathlon is ever staged for musicians, put your money on Beth Custer for the gold."- Derk Richardson - SF Examiner

Check them out at bethcuster.com !

Eda Maxym and The Imagination Club create musical alchemy, fusing alternative country, swamp rock, torch songs and world groove, taking the listener on a funky and mystical musical adventure. "Her voice is one of the most poetic instruments I've heard. Maxym is able to draw from the mercurial nuances that lie at the very root of things."-Thom Jurek- All-Music Guide

Weaving vibrantly textured music and led by singer/songwriter Eda Maxym, The Imagination Club is a stellar gathering of Bay Area musicians, featuring Steve Gibson and Brent Stewart-guitars, Joshua Zucker-bass, Ed McClary-drums, and Stephen Kent- didgeridoo, percussion, cello, guitar. Known for her work with the ground-breaking and highly acclaimed Bay Area ensemble Trance Mission and folk/jazz/world music quintet Beasts of Paradise, Eda and the band will be playing original songs from her new Imagination Club CD Circle of Sparks. Join the Imagination Club and become a member of this ever evolving gathering of creative musicians and listeners...

"One can dance to a lot of these songs, but there are times when the listener is lured into the ether as Maxym's voice enters a realm where timeand space drop away, leaving only the perfect light of music." - Larry Kelp - KPFA-FM (Berkeley)

Trio Garufa is an international ensemble dedicated to performing authentic Argentine music. They have performed across Argentina, Canada and the US (Including a recent performance in Chicago Symphony Hall). Trio Garufa performs Classic Argentine Tangos from the golden era (30's- 50's) as well as Argentine Folkloric Music (Chacarera, Zamba, Guarania, Gato, Chamamé) and modern Tangos from Piazzolla as well as Electro-Tango and their original compositions. Their music is exciting, virtuosic, and rooted in the dance. They are the only Tango ensemble in the US to have performed extensively in the Milongas (Tango Dance Clubs) of Buenos Aires. The group includes Guillermo Garcia , guitar, (Argentina) and Adrian Jost, bandoneon (Switzerland) and Sascha Jacobsen, string bass, (California).

Official Website: http://www.brava.org/