Classical Notes: March 19, 2010 Archive

Awesome Jelloslave

Posted at 1:48 PM on March 19, 2010 by Alison Young
Filed under: Events, Musician stories

Last night it was the Bach Birthday Bash at the Dakota and we heard three spectacular sets - a wonderful couple of Bach Society harpsichordists, followed by the transcendent Matt Haimovitz and then a quartet new to me, Jelloslave.

This group really rocked out - it's two classically-trained cellists, drums and tabla. A couple of highlights were a Bach/George Harrison suite, a piece by Bach-contemporary Turlough O'Carolan, a Bach Invention that morphed into Jimi Hendrix, plus a few tunes from their newest disc "Purple Orange" coming out in few weeks.

Their music is a kind of mesmerizing mix of dance and improvisation and the drums never completely take over the sound. They just give the whole feel a great rhythm and synergy. They played late into the night, but kept me wanting more.