GET SLAVIC!

By Ernest Barteldes

Think of this band’s sound as a blend of Balkan spontaneity with the irreverence of a New Orleans street band; this nine-piece group formed by musicians that include immigrants who hail from the former Yugoslavia, they blend various musical influences while searching to create a sound of their own in the process.

"The fact that you can move with people literally from the altar to the reception, from the graveyard to the house, from the street to inside the club…. That whole thing is incredibly powerful and speaks to people in a whole different way," says drummer Matt Moran, who began his career in the New York City jazz scene (he is also a vibraphonist). "There is no technological barrier, no distance between musician and audience. In this day and age, powerful acoustic music can be inherently subversive."

On their latest disc, Tecknocheck Collision (Barbès Records), which took its name from an auto-repair garage in Queens, NY, they explore various sonic influences, depending on the different directions the musicians in the nonet have come from. They also do keep in mind that Balkan music is mostly spontaneous, so at a first spin one can’t help but notice a certain lack of structure. That is, however, a sign that the band is having fun with it, and hopes that you will just let go and join them.