Steve Gibons' Gypsy Rhythm Project & Bulbul Ensemble

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Steve Gibons' Gypsy Rhythm Project & Bulbul Ensemble make their Mayne Stage debut with a night of cross-cultural music led by violinist Steve Gibons. Gibons is a jazz and ethno violinist inspired by Balkan and Oriental music that Chicago Reader described as bringing the “...improvisational sophistication of jazz to Romanian and Bulgarian Gypsy music without smoothing out its ragged edges.” Gibons has a wide breadth of experience performing ethnic music , including Flamenco-fusion (Las Guitarras de España), Klezmer music (Chicago Klezmer Ensemble, Jazmer), Gypsy Jazz (Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan) Afro-Cuban jazz (Victor Parra and the Mambo Express) and classical Middle Eastern music (The Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble).

"The band has a distinct American presence, with guitarist Mike Allemana, bassist Dan DeLorenzo, and drummer Tim Mulvenna making up three-fifths of the group. And then there’s the secret weapon: the cimbalom (a hammered dulcimer specific to eastern Europe) as played by the [Roma] Romanian immigrant Nicolae Feraru.

"...the natural instincts of Gibons and Feraru, push this band in an unmistakably eastern direction to the Mediterranean and even the Arab Peninsula, in tandem with the French Roma tradition. The result is something certainly different, at times a bit bizarre, and always engrossing."

-- Neil Tesser, Chicago Jazz Examiner

"Chicago's go-to group for stripped-down, old-fashioned Roma music- They bring the improvisational sophistication of jazz to Romanian and Bulgarian Gypsy music without smoothing out its ragged edges."

--Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader

By purchasing a ticket you will receive a free 7-track download from the CD “Beat Nomad”, from Steve Gibons Gypsy Rhythm Project. ”

The "Dinner and Show Package" includes 2 tickets to the show, and dinner at Act One Pub (2 caesar salads, 2 entrees of your choice, and dessert to share.) Reservations at Act One Pub required.