The Discovery Series: New Sounds & Rising Stars

The Discovery Series kicks off the Spring Season with music at the intersection of jazz, rock, pop, and electronica. Taking the Big Band ensemble as their starting point, both Travis Sullivan’s Björkestra and the Realistic Orchestra (3/6) revel in horn-heavy arrangements of modern pop songs. In Björkestra’s case, its repertoire is devoted exclusively to the work of Icelandic pop-diva, Björk. As arranged by bandleader and alto saxophonist Travis Sullivan, the dramatic crescendos and subtle electronic flourishes of Björk’s original tunes are heightened and transformed into music of uncommon power and delicacy. S.F.’s own 20-player Realistic Orchestra tweaks tradition with arrangements of Prince, Van Halen, and other rock and pop classics.

Night two of the Discovery Series (3/7) takes a turn toward refined simplicity, with a pair of bands united by subtle electronic touches and a penetrating sense of groove. Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch describes his band Ronin as “Zen-funk”—an apt description of music that swings through odd time signatures with ruminative. Bärtsch’s first ECM release, Stoa, was hailed as “music that throbs with a pulsating dynamism that’s almost hypnotic” (Guardian, UK). Hailing from Los Angeles, The Frequency combines Moog synthesizers, vintage Fender Rhodes pianos, and other analog instruments for a sound reminiscent of Pink Floyd, Air, and Mogwai. 

2 Foot Yard embodies the theme for the Discovery Series’ third night, “Eclectic Alchemy” (3/8). Fronted by Bay Area vocalist, violinist, and songwriter Carla Kihlstedt (known for her work with Tin Hat and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), the trio veers between art and pop songs, spinning miniature narratives that embrace the poetry of e e cummings, eastern European folk melodies, and avant garde composition. Tin Hat and Tom Waits trumpeter Ara Anderson’s Iron & The Albatross is an equally unpredictable small chamber group whose cinematic music casts a spell of mysterious gothic Americana.

Closing the Discovery Series on March 9, two bands present global music with deep roots in Israel. Third World Love’s members are among the most in-demand in New York’s “Downtown” scene, but their international roots show through on their forthcoming album, New Blues, a rhythmically complex and melodically assured blend of African, Middle Eastern, and North American jazz. The double bill also features pianist Yaron Herman, a prodigious talent who infuses his pop (Britney Spears), classical (Scriabin), and folk (Leonard Cohen) repertoire with a fresh energy all his own.