New York Gypsy Festival: 17 Hippies, Luminescent Orchestrii September 26, 2007

17 HIPPIES
For the past ten years Berlins very own orchester spezial, the 17 HIPPIES, have been playing their whirling, crashing, diving, bobbing and weaving mixture of music from around the world all over Europe, and beyond. Starting in the spring of 1995 as a trio playing mainly non-vocal music, the band mutated into an ensemble of now 13 musicians that displays a vast range of musical creativity. From the French radio hit »Marlène«, to the soundtrack for the Silver Berlin Bear winning movie HALBE TREPPE by Andreas Dresen; from a project called SEXY AMBIENT HIPPIES involving DJs, to their next project called 17 HIPPIES PLAY GUITAR featuring New York guitarist Marc Ribot. Not to forget more than a 1000 live concerts, staged in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Russia and the US. The 17 HIPPIES style is the quintessence of many genres. The musicians musical backgrounds reveal influences from rock-pop to classic and jazz, and is reflected in the instruments they play: accordion, trombone, trumpet, violin, cello, woodwind, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, Irish bouzouki, guitar, double bass, Indian harmonium and more!

LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII
Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle, all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and bass. The members of the Orchestrii come from different scenes in New York City, yet come together through their love of Balkan and Gypsy music. Sxip Shirey is an international circus composer, Sarah Alden is an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand is an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox-Rosen is a free-jazz bassist. It is not uncommon to find Sxip playing tampon applicators with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Rima composing music for a Lorca puppet show, Benjy schlepping his bass to a jazz gig, or Sarah fiddling away at some all-night old-time session. Since 2002, when the band was formed, the Luminescent Orchestrii has toured the East Coast, England, Scotland, and Germany, and have traveled to Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia for inspiration. They most recently returned from Serbia's DragoÄevo Trumpet Festival, a 47-year-old festival that takes place in the small town of GuÄa, where hordes of competing gypsy brass bands take to the streets and restaurants. The Luminescent Orchestrii has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK), The Spitz (UK), The Blue Note (Germany), Malzhauz (Germany), The Trowbridge Festival (UK), The Orkney Islands (UK), The Penn State Arts Festival (USA), The Lake Eden Arts Festival (USA), The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival (USA), MAKOR (USA), The Knitting Factory (NYC), Joe's Pub (NYC), The DUMBO Arts Festival (NYC), The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and many underground parties in New York City. The Luminescent Orchestrii formed in 2002 as a quintet, which included Kaia Wong playing fiddle and singing, and Aaron Goldsmith playing guitarron. Both Kaia and Aaron can be heard singing and playing on the live CD and on Too Hot to Sleep. Kaia is currently performing with Mixel Pixel, and Aaron is currently playing with Chad Parks and the Near Death Experience. Also included on Too Hot to Sleep is Julianne Carney, who spent a year with the Luminescent Orchestrii as a third violin.

Official Website: http://www.knittingfactory.com/show.php?event_id=106404