Gasca | es

There are more than one artist with this name: 1) Baltimore folk ensemble 2) accordion based band from Madagascar 3) jazz-fusion band from Barcelona 1) Hailing from Baltimore, MD this four piece weirdo chamber folk ensemble takes you in its bipolar grip, casting spells of malaise and joy... felicity and misery. The palette is spattered with Balkan and Yiddish traditional influence, but with an original and new collective instinct. Accordion, singing saw, glockenspiel, melodica, drums, guitar and the clip clop of a melee of organic percussion couple with the echo of wordless vocals. The overall effect is hypnotizing and plays...

This track is from the album Greetings From Beautiful San Kazakgascar. The album ricochets between rhythmic chant parties and Eastern-dipped drone. Its lyrical obsession with topography is backed by the woodwind’s reverberations off of steep canyon walls. The band’s poppy art-rock psychedelia steals ideas from the world over, especially Central and Southern Asia. The band has been compared to Savage Republic, Sonic Youth, Camper Van Beethoven, Dick Dale, 3 Mustapha 3, etc. This Sacramento, CA band is Jed Brewer (gtr/voc), Paul Takushi (drums/voc), Greg Hain (bass/voc), and Mike Woo (clarinet). The album was released in Nov’ 07 on Lather Records....

Luis Gasca knows his way around a map having toured with some of the biggest names in music. Whatever your cup of tea; Jazz, Latin, or Rock and Roll, Luis has had his hand in it. Between 1954 and today, Gasca has worked with countless musicians from Count Basie and Woody Herman to Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Hancock, Janis Joplin and Santana. A trumpet player, composer and conductor, Luis is not indefinable. However, he is often enigmatic. A self-proclaimed wilderbeast, centaur, minotaur and part gypsy, Luis is all about freedom and music. .