Underscore Orkestra, Black Olive Babes

The Underscore Orkestra brings a stageful of surprises for its Ashkenaz debut. Blending klezmer, Balkan, gypsy jazz, and swing, the Portland-based band features guitars, violins, accordion, banjo, bass, and percussion. The Orkestra came together during long, rainy winter months in a radical self-sustaining arts collective, where the members combined music with various circus artists (juggling clowns, acrobatics, trapeze artistry, even bicycle jousting). In other words, while respecting the roots and history of the music it plays, the Underscore Orkestra is unafraid to venture into unexplored territory onstage. www.theunderscoreorkestra.com
Black Olive Babes, a new project led by Juliana Graffagna ? a 17-year veteran of the premiere women's vocal ensemble Kitka ? kick off the evening with sultry, driving music derived from Albanian, Romani, Greek, and American traditions, showcasing a catalogue that jumps effortlessly from the American ballad ?Wayfaring Stranger? to the Albanian standard ?Vallë Korcarë.? The ?Babes? feature some of the best-known players in the East Bay Balkan music scene, including percussionist Dan Auvil, bassist Bill Lanphier (of Trio Mopmu and the Toids), and clarinetist-vocalist Peter Jaques (director of Brass Mena?eri), as well as guitarist-laouto player Tom Farris and violinist-oud player Gari Hegedus. www.myspace.com/blackolivebabes