Jessica Lurie Ensemble

Show Description

"A fire-burning tightrope walker"
-Village Voice

"While she is not afraid to get her hair in a tangle, this bandleader puts the accent on melody and the remote-control imperative that drives the tapping of your helpless toe.”
-Greg Burk, LA Weekly

"With a tone that resides somewhere between Norah Jones and Gillian Welch, Lurie's vocal delivery is gentle ... and genuinely swings. The ensemble shifts among funk, jazz, folk  and ethnic melodies reminiscent of klezmer-jazz and Balkan-jazz hybrids by artists like Steve Bernstein (and) the winding, angular grooves of Tim Berne."
-Jazziz

Seattle-bred and Brooklyn-based instrumentalist Jessica Lurie brings her individual sound to diverse types of music while preserving their stylistic authenticity. She performs on alto sax, flute, accordion and sings. Supported by a band that includes keyboards, guitar, acoustic bass, drums with a bit of banjo and “tape recorder” thrown in,  the music is often “jazz” for lack of a better description. Lurie liberally mixes in folk, rock, avant garde, Eastern European and New Orleans stylings. It makes for a coherent, compelling and expansive sound, held together by an adventurous  attitude that serves as the catalyst for music that’s loose but never pointless. Her 2009 release Shop Of Wild Dreams (co-produced by Todd Sickafoose) is ... "one of the most unique and stimulating recordings to come out of that delectable netherworld between jazz and non-jazz.” (Something Else).

 
Her band features Allison Miller (drums), Brandon Seabrook on banjo and guitar, Erik Deutsch on piano and electronics, Todd Sickafoose on bass.