
Music at the Center of the River
Buchbinder, Rubin, Bergeman
A River beyond imagining: deep and cold, cold and wide, got so wide, it’d take a miracle to get you to the other side.
These 3 New Orleans-based fellas have been around the sun quite a few times, are masters of their instrumentsamong them trumpet, accordion, banjo, guitar, bass, alto horn, fluegelhorn, percussion, tuba, several unnameable sound generators and sometimes–electronics, between them have been musically involved with a Who’s Who of international Global, Jazz and Classical artistsYo Yo Ma, Hilario Durán, Bad Livers, Osvaldo Golijov, Treme Brass Band, Rhiannon Giddens, Frank London, Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Taraf de Haïdouks and many more, and are each musical innovators, who bring the spirit of inquiry, experimentation and play to their earthy, deeply connected sounds. The musical tributaries flowing into this new ensemble include music of Jews, Roma, African Americans (New Orleans and the Delta), the Riverboats, the Salons, and the Laboratories of the Mad Scientist. But that doesn’t tell you all of it. They work with these traditions in which they are deeply, authentically grounded to give voice to their connection with each other, to the ancestors and to the unseen Spirits.
“Music at the Center of the River has already proved to be a project that’s connecting with audiences on a spiritual level.”
Music at the Center of the River is an imaginative deep dive into the sound of the Great River, the Mississippi, which figures centrally in each of the trio’s personal and creative journeys. The project combines original and traditional music along with text that evokes the river’s many faces over time. It got rolling in 2021 and since then has performed in New Orleans, Toronto and Vancouver. The band will begin the first phase of what will be their debut recording in Summer 2023.