FISHTANK ENSEMBLE
The LA Weekly calls them “cross pollinated gypsy music….one of the most thrilling young acts on the planet.” Formed in 2005 and playing everywhere from the hippest LA clubs to festivals, cultural centers, museums, parades, and even on the street, the gypsy jazz band includes two explosive violins, the world’s best slap bass player, musical saw, flamenco and gypsy jazz guitar, opera, jazz and gypsy vocals, and one little banjolele. Tackling everything from French hot jazz to wild Serbian and Transylvanian gypsy anthems, Flamenco, and oddball originals, the band is a not to be missed event for world music lovers…and everyone will love this intoxicating mix of music!!
The dynamic, virtuosic, fiery and peripatetic quartet that comprises Fishtank Ensemble take their roots both from their own varied musical and national backgrounds, as well as from their adventures and travels. The singer Ursula sang opera on the streets and town squares of Italy, until she found a love of gypsy music…their French violinist voyaged around all of Europe in a handmade mule-drawn caravan for ten years, collecting music and experiences. Their Serbian bass player has spent time playing with gypsies as well as some of the rock and roll’s legends, and aptly defends his reputation as the best slap bass player in the world… and the guitarist is a master of flamenco and gypsy jazz guitar who honed his craft in the gypsy caves of Granada, Spain… Whatever wild time you can expect from this band, it will never match their out of this world performance!!!
“It’s not uncommon for the world’s folk music to be branded as rudimentary, simple or inferior to the higher-brow and heavily trained classical traditions. But, a little digging will no doubt prove this idea to be patently, almost criminally false. The four-piece, L.A.-based Fishtank Ensemble are modern ambassadors of many of the world’s folk sounds and even a peripheral listen to their music displays not only the deeply ingrained traditions of Serbian, Romanian, flamenco, gypsy, opera and Transylvanian music — among many other styles — but also the unbelievable skill and precision that goes into its performance.”
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