“The beauty of this music is that, at the same time that it might seem chaotic, it is also accessible . . . It encourages you to hum along . . . at the same time that it unsettles your notions of place, it invites you to partake in a more human modernity . . . Greene and Kruth's synthesis certainly reflects a broader vision.” —The Huffington PostNestled between skyscrapers and shanties in the heart of a bustling urban sprawl lies a sonic oasis in which the sounds of the Indian sarod meet surf rock, West African kora merges with Appalachian mountain tunes, and Afghani melodies mingle with avant-garde jazz. This is TriBeCaStan—a nation where tune smugglers and artistic immigrants from all parts of the globe converge and create the roots music of the future.
On their latest album 5 Star Cave,
Jeff Greene and John Kruth orchestrate a delicate balance between chaos and peace, continuing their relentless quest to re-imagine the folk music of the world by asking questions like: What if King Crimson’s bus broke down in the Middle East?
What if Miles Davis went country? “It’s not that we don’t respect tradition,” says Greene. “We have all the respect in the world for it. But we are not trying to imitate
it at all.”
Throughout their albums and in their spirited live performances, they play over two dozen instruments between them. While Kruth, with nine solo albums to his credit, is best known for his frenetic “Banshee”-style of mandolin playing with The Meat Puppets, The Violent Femmes, Ornette Coleman, and Carnatic mandolin master U. Rajesh, his TriBeCaStani grab bag of instruments also includes mandocello, the Moldavian kaval, harmonica, banjo, royal benju, zurna, penny whistle, sheng, Uilleann chanter, bladder pipe, crumhorn, Kelhorn, gong, Indian oboe, and his voice. Also a fine mandolinist in
his own right, Greene plays the Afghan rubab, yayli tambur, nyckleharpa, six-string ukulele, kanun, saz, hurdy gurdy, and the koncovka and fujara overtone flutes, as well as a myriad of percussion instruments including the steel drum, chromatic tambourine, guiro, tupan, khamok, and the Jew’s harp.
While Greene focuses heavily on exotic tonal colors, Kruth writes most of the music, composing melodies inspired by traditional folk forms. “The songs are ultimately a melodic stew of all my influences, from Yugoslavian village music to punk, funk, free jazz, and the Beatles.”
TriBeCaStan plays host to a slew of like-minded musical migrants spanning nearly every continent. Together, this array of artists combines their diversity of talents and timbres to produce a cosmopolitan curry of audible flavors. Veteran jazzman Steve Turre returns after appearing on TriBeCaStan’s first album Strange Cousin, adding his Latin-tinged and bluesy trombone lines and conch shells to several tracks. Al Kooper, Blood Sweat and Tears founder and well-known collaborator with Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones, adds his trademark organ sound. Sufi percussionist Ibrahim González, drummer and percussionist Todd Isler, and premier
jazz tabla player Badal Roy (known for his grooves with Miles Davis, Alice Coltrane,
and John McLaughlin) provide exotic rhythmic intensity. Samantha Parton of the Be Good Tanyas lends her folk-soul vocal stylings. Kenny Margolis of Cracker scrubs a Zydeco rub board and squeezes out Cajun melodies on accordion. Mike DuClos plays some seriously funky bass, reminiscent at times of Miles Davis’s electric band. Charlie Burnham, violinist with James “Blood” Ulmer’s Odyssey, sits in on everything from
swing arrangements and funk numbers to an Afghani folk song. Dean Bowman, known for his vocal work in John Scofield’s Ray Charles Review and his work with Elliott Sharp and Gary Lucas, contributes vocals on “Bamako to Malibu.” And Hara Garacci happened by the studio one day and spontaneously laid down a gypsy guitar track on “Dizzy in the Dunes.”
Leading the listener on this temporal and geographic sojourn is “When Tito had Two Legs” (featuring Croatia’s cimbalom champion Gordana Evacic), a tune that sounds as if the Ventures went surfing in the Adriatic while James Bond chased Communist spies through the streets of Zagreb. Charlie Burnham’s wah-wah violin and Samantha Parton’s haunting vocal float over a tabla-infused funk groove in the psychedelic folk-rock jaunt “Stoned Baby,” inspired by a trip to Chennai, India, where Kruth saw
mothers with their babies begging on the streets for money. “The infants weren’t crying in the intense heat . . . they were knocked out cold because their mothers had put
dope in their milk!”
With its Indonesian Gamelan forms and Indian instruments, “He Hears the Ants” perfectly illustrates the cross-cultural synergism that occurs in TriBeCaStan. “Our friend Bachir Attar of the Master Musicians of Jajouka was waxing poetic about his love for Allah one day,” Kruth recalled. “He said, 'Allah knows all, sees all, hears all—he even hears the ants.'” Pensive and meditative, the song features Kruth’s lush Indian flute among plucked violin accents and the metallic timbres of Asian gongs and a Caribbean steel drum.
Connecting California’s coast to the desert of West Africa, “From Bamako to Malibu” is reminiscent of an Ali Farka Toure-style poly-rhythmic blues with added layers of international imagery. Over a Malian rhythm, the African yodeling of Dean Bowman weaves in and out of trombone riffs, marimba mallets, and metallic thumb piano patterns. As Kruth recalls, “One day in the middle of Manhattan, I was walking down
the street plunking out a melody on my African kalimba. I noticed that everyone else was furiously using their thumbs, but to send text messages.”
These two feel right at home in this cultural rift, out of place and time with the rest of
the world. TriBeCaStan is an imaginary sonic dimension, a place where ancient traditions from Afghanistan to Africa and Eastern Europe converge with modernity.
5 Star Cave is filled with jams that span the globe and reach into deep space, creating a cosmopolitan sound of funky future folk with a sensitive and energetic explosion of color. As veteran engineer Gene Paul quipped, “TriBeCaStan’s music is like a trip around the world in three blocks."
***
John Kruth is also a prolific solo artist. Visit his own artist website for more information about his music, or his EverGreene Music artist page for more information on his most recent release, Splitsville (2008).
Jeff Greene is also a performing member of EverGreene Music artists Port O' Monkeys. Visit their artist page for more information on their debut release, The Crossing (2009).
5 STAR CAVE (2010)
1. Back When Tito Had Two Legs
2. Stoned Baby
3. Kabul Hill
4. Starry Stari Grad
5. Wildwood Flower
6. (When You've Worn Out Your Shoes,
It's Time To Get) A New Foot
7. Kali's Sister
8. Little Grasshopper
9. (I Drove My Car Down To) Baja
10. Dizzy In The Dunes
11. Hemlock Falls
12. Ghetto Garbo
13. From Bamako To Malibu
14. He Hears The Ants
15. Juni's Calypso
16. Varaha's Boogie
17. Bachir's Blues
18. The Day We Bombed The Moon
. . . and everywhere else music is sold.
STRANGE COUSIN (2009)
1. Mopti2. Tonko The Zookeeper
3. Yusef's Motif
4. Raphaella
5. The Flowers (That I Placed At My Ancestor's
Grave Spontaneously Burst Into Flame With
Their Appreciation)
6. Dancing Girls (Of TriBeCaStan)
7. TriBeCaStani Traffic Jam
8. Sunda Sunday
9. Lady Dez
10. Black Ice
11. The Bottle Man
12. Otha's Blues
13. Princess Rahsaanica
14. Strange Cousin
15. Many Mansions
. . . and everywhere else music is sold.
APRIL 19, 2010
5 Star Cave CD Pre-Release Sale Begins TODAY!
Pick up your advance copy of TriBeCaStan’s new album 5 Star Cave—one full week before its worldwide release on April 27!
The 18 tracks on our latest album orchestrate a delicate balance between chaos and peace as we continue our relentless quest to re-imagine the folk music of the world. This time around, TriBeCaStan welcomes another outstanding cast of tune smugglers and artistic immigrants to our nation, including veteran jazzman Steve Turre (The SNL Band), Al Kooper (Blood Sweat and Tears), Ibrahim González, Todd Isler, Badal Roy (Miles Davis), Samantha Parton (The Be Good Tanyas), Kenny Margolis (Cracker), Mike DuClos, Charlie Burnham (James “Blood” Ulmer’s Odyssey), Dean Bowman (John Scofield’s Ray Charles Review), Hara Garacci, and Gordana Evacic.Visit our Discography to pick up your signed and numbered copy today for the special pre-release price of just $12.99 (including S&H).
APRIL 13 , 2010
TriBeCaStan & The TriBeCaStani FolklOrkestra
5 Star Cave CD Release Show
May 8 @ Joe's Pub NYC
Saturday, May 8 @ 8:30pm
TriBeCaStan & The TriBeCaStani FolklOrkestra
Live at Joe's Pub NYC
425 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
Doors @ 8pm
Tickets $15 advance / $18 at the door
http://www.joespub.com
A stellar cast joins John Kruth and Jeff Greene on stage for this special 5 Star Cave CD release show, including:
Claire Daly (Diva Big Band, James Brown): baritone sax
Dave Dreiwitz (Ween): bass
Todd Isler (Mike Gordon Band): drums, percussion
Kenny Margolis (Cracker): accordion, keyboards
Scott Metzger (Particle, Rana): guitar
Ibrahim González (Nuyorican Jazz Experience): congas, bongos, percussion
John Turner (Baraka Orchestra, Ivy): trumpet
Advance tickets ($15) are on sale here:
http://www.joespub.com/component/option,com_shows/task,view/Itemid,40/id,5125
Or call (212) 967-7555.
For those of you aren't familiar with Joe's Pub, they accept and recommend reservations for all shows. Call (212) 539-8778 to request a reservation. For more information, visit http://www.joespub.com/content/view/14/28/.
MARCH 22, 2010
Jeff Greene Performs at the Toronto Storytelling Festival
Friday, March 26 @ 7pm-9:30pm
As part of the Toronto Festival of Storytelling this Friday night, Jeff Greene will be performing on multiple percussions instruments as Diane Wolkstein tells the epic story, "The Monkey King."
Tickets are $15 and $20. Click HERE for more info.
"Monkey King is an epic, full of drama and magic, but it is also a hugely entertaining story. Diane Wolkstein does not just tell the story: she channels the main figures, becomes Monkey King and the priest to a startling degree: one could describe them as if one had actually seen them. Drama is blended with comic episodes as this sumptuous story fill the stage. Without digital images, or projector, or any of the usual trappings, the audience is offered the most vivid reality, and time passes with amazing speed. The result is a rich and satisfying evening..."
—Olivier Bernier, Lecturer, Metropolitan Museum of Art
JANUARY 15, 2010
TriBeCaStan featured on Mondomix Music
TriBeCaStan's Strange Cousin is featured as this week's Discovery from the
Americas on Mondomix Music.com, a National Geographic-affiliated world music
site based in Paris. Read the full article HERE.
JANUARY 11, 2010
TriBeCaStan to release new album 5 Star Cave in April 2010
TriBeCaStan's latest effort, 5 Star Cave, is set to release on April 13, 2010. Like the previous album Strange Cousin, this collection of songs sees Greene and Kruth continuing their relentless quest to re-imagine the folk music of the world, with an
all-star cast of musicians including veteran jazz trombonist Steve Turre, Blood
Sweat and Tears founder Al Kooper, jazz tabla player Badal Roy, Samantha
Parton of the Be Good Tanyas, Kenny Margolis of Cracker, bass player Mike
DuClos, violinist Charlie Burnham, Sufi percussionist Ibrahim Gonzalez, drummer/percussionist Todd Isler, vocalist Dean Bowman, gypsy guitarist Hara
Garacci, and champion cimbalom player Gordana Evacic.
Read the press release for 5 Star Cave at Rock Paper Scissors.
Stay tuned for more information about this exciting release.
JANUARY 1, 2010
TriBeCaStan :: Live on WBAI 99.5 FM NYC
In case you were sleeping through it all, which I hope you had enough good sense
to, here is our "shamanic alarm clock" wake up call for the New Year, in all it's ragged glory. We talked, played a couple “strange” instruments, and previewed songs from our soon-to-be released second album, 5 Star Cave.
New Year’s Day WBAI 99.5 FM at 7am
Jeff Greene—Jew's harp nyckleharpa, and Chinese flute
John Kruth—mandolin, penny whistle, and Andalusian shepherd flutes
Ibrahim Gonzalez—halo
AUGUST 27, 2009
Strange Cousin Reviewed in Huffington Post
Ian Merkel of Modiba, a social-activist international music company based in New York City, wrote a wonderful article, “TriBeCaStan In Manhattan Unleashes Uzbek Lutes, Pakistani Taxi Horns, And Six Foot Shepherd's Pipes,” for the Huffington Post.
"Welcome to TriBeCaStan, a country without borders tucked away in a corner of
downtown Manhattan.
"Trying to describe TriBeCaStan's music or relegating it to a genre would be incredibly difficult, and, as the artists would contend, futile. Greene commonly describes it as intergalactic, but not so much in the Sun Ra extraterrestrial kind of way. This music is really about the cross-fertilization of musical idioms that Kruth and Greene have been exposed to in their travels, and the ways in which these idioms allow them to express
the diversity that surrounds them in their very own New York. Some have asked why
they play 'peasant music in an affluent zip code,' and their music has responded with
the idea that homogeny is neither representative for our present nor characteristic of
a progressive future."
Read the full article HERE.
JUNE 30, 2009
TriBeCaStan's Strange Cousin Featured on WNYC
"Raphaella," "Sunda Sunday," and "The Bottle Man" were played on today's edition of WNYC's New Sounds show, hosted by Jon Schaeffer.
You can read more about the show and stream the entire program HERE.
NOVEMBER 2008
TriBeCaStan to Release Strange Cousin
EverGreene Music is proud to announce the upcoming release of TriBeCaStan's first album, Strange Cousin. In addition to regulars Jeff Greene and John Kruth playing dozens of instruments between them, the album features a stellar cast of performers, including Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz, Matt Darriau of the Klezmatics, Moroccan percussionist Brahim Fribgane, alt-country star Jolie Holland, and jazz trombonist Steve Turre.Album available online January 24, 2009 at iTunes and Amazon.
Follow TriBeCaStan and view photos and other exclusive content at these websites:
Visit Rock Paper Scissors to read the latest press release for 5 Star Cave.
". . . [5 Star Cave is] a much different—but equally engaging and satisfying—tour through the music of world."
—OnMilwaukee.com (March 31, 2010)
". . . One of those serendipitous projects, the outcome of chance encounters . . .
When TriBeCastan is firing on all cylinders it does what it set out to do: make a 'cross-cultural crossroads' sound natural, flexible, and easy, a music like any other folk
music."
—Deanne Sole, Pop Matters (September 16, 2009)
"Strange Cousin builds relationships between unfamiliar international musical
relatives . . . A unique sonic combination of African flute and Slovakian shepherd's
pipe . . . honor [Roland Kirk's] adventurous and playful spirit."
—Chris M. Slawecki, All About Jazz (September 1, 2009)
"The beauty of this music is that, at the same time that it might seem chaotic, it is also accessible. It comes out of the kind of jazz that employed folk melodies. It encourages
you to hum along. And at the same time that it unsettles your notions of place, it
invites you to partake in a more human modernity. The distinctive musical subcultures
of TriBeCaStan often have their own sacred traditions, and, as a composite, Greene
and Kruth's synthesis certainly reflects a broader vision."
—Ian Merkel, Modiba, Huffington Post (August 27, 2009)
"Playing off each other’s move, Greene and Kruth trade jabs as if they were
performing for tips on a Sunday afternoon at your favorite park. Peppered with
liveliness and a sense of ease, they thrive on their gelling musings . . . TriBeCaStan
is here to show us just how much fun a good time can be."
—Bryan Sanchez, Adequacy.net (August 27, 2009)
"If the world had a soundtrack, Strange Cousin would be it."
—Matthew Forss, Inside World Music (August 16, 2009)
"The uniqueness of instruments such as the bendir, darbuka, koncovka, tupan, and Bulgarian kaval create a unique sound to be sure . . . TriBeCaStan playing music
you haven't yet heard!"
—Boston Post-Gazette (August 14, 2009)
"These upstarts—principally John Kruth and Jeff Greene, multi-instrumentalists,
both—don't take their national mythology to such lengths as their British
predecessors, but they share the same love of strange acoustic instruments, exotic rhythms, and a good dose of humor . . . This kind of crisp, intelligent, curious
instrumental music will always have a place in my ears."
—SoundRoots (August 12, 2009)
"Inventive, energetic, and vigorously different, Strange Cousin beckons to the
world-traveled listener that is weary of standard pop fare."
—Smother (August 10, 2009)
"Wood, metal, bone, shells, and skin come alive, inspiring ethno-exercises which
conga down and gypsy up."
—Maximum Ink (August 6, 2009)
"Most of the tunes skitter and sway, instrumental arms akimbo, making it easy to
visualize the group parading through TriBeCaStan (as they did when the band was conceived on World Jug Band Day). But even in its recorded incarnation it's well
worth visiting this country."
—Li Robbins, The Globe & Mail (July 27, 2009)
"You don’t have to go out on a limb to guess Strange Cousin was created with a
whole lot of musical knowledge, an equal amount of skill, a healthy dose of humor
and perhaps an unspoken determination . . . These clever and musically solid
instrumental pieces are pleasures all. Put Tribecastan on your travel itinerary. And
if you can’t, buy the CD."
—World Music Central (July 25, 2009)
"TriBeCaStan defies preconcieved notions about ethno-obsessed 40-something westerners . . . Highly recommended for people who want to break free of the sterile
world music and free jazz marriages."
—Undomondo (July 22, 2009)
"They reveal a sense of humor, such as on the number 'Tribecastani Traffic Jam,'
with the honks and hoots of the horns forming the perfectly impatient car sounds.
The two know their traditional music well, and while the compositions are original, the music doesn’t drift far from the its roots. A well-played and -arranged (and, most importantly, fun) collection of music from across the globe."
—Dirty Linen (July 20, 2009)
"The brainchild of accomplished New York based musicians John Kruth and Jeff
Greene, TriBeCaStan synthesizes urban folk sounds from all over the world into a
playful, eclectic mix."
—This Week's Best Albums, ALARM Magazine (July 14, 2009)
"This is definitely a strange album, also a very clever, entertaining and playful one, ostensibly showcasing the music of the tiny and fascinating nation of TriBeCaStan
. . . Bolstered by a like-minded cast of adventurers including oud master Brahim
Fribgane, gypsy jazz pioneer Matt Darriau and seashell virtuoso Steve Turre, they
have a boisterously good-natured out-of-the-box sensibility much in the same vein
as sprawling avant-gypsy/klezmer/reggae improvisers Hazmat Modine. To say that
there’s something for everybody here would be the understatement of the
millennium."
—Lucid Culture (July 13, 2009)
"Ethnic music from a place in the back of your head, this wild ‘world beat’ ride is a
real hoot, especially if you have the chops to be in on the joke. Crazy fun sure to
plant the nuttiest grin on the face of any over aged smart ass that still has a wild
streak buried under all that yuppie vestige."
—Chris Spector, Midwest Record (June 11, 2009)
"There's certainly something of Cherry's Multikulti project about it, as well as a bit
of Bill Frisell's global jazz-folk, but really this collaboration with percussionist Jeff
Greene (plus assorted guests) has a playful sound all of its own . . . Such
conceptual mischievousness brings to mind the 3 Mustaphas 3 and certainly the
wonderful array of instruments featured (Pakistani taxi horn and Andalusian
shepherd flute to name but two) would bring a smile to the be-fezzed faces of
Szegerely's finest, as would the sleevenotes' salutation "May all the gods smile
upon you at once without your skull exploding". Underpinning all this good-natured surrealism is some very fine playing, consistently interesting arrangements and a
few sneakily infectious melodies."
—Jamie Renton, fRoots Magazine UK (May 1, 2009)
"The all-instrumental Strange Cousin is a logical outgrowth of previous Kruth albums
on tracks that explore droning tonalities and frisky bazaar beats. No mere exercise in exoticism, the material works as songs, the traditional music of a make-believe land, enriched by intriguing combinations of mandolin and Moldavian kaval, penny whistle
and wooden flutes and instruments better known in these parts to ethnomusicologists
than anyone else."
—David Luhrsson, Express Milwaukee (April 21, 2009)
