Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal Presents
9 pm: Samaria Trio - Gary Haggerty and Friends
10 pm: Highest Ani - Amenian Folk Fusion Music
11 pm: The Collective - Faisal Zedan, Calvin Lai, Joey Friedman and Dan Cantrell + more
The February 9th edition of the Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal will highlight three new local projects exploring music of the Near East. The folk music of Greece, Turkey, and Armenia will be performed by three exciting new Bay Area bands, each reflecting their members' cultural explorations and worldly musical abilities. The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal is a notoriously raucous marathon of music and dance at the Starry Plough Pub on the second Friday of every month.
Doors at 8:00pm; Show at 9:00pm
Admission is $10+
21+ after 10pm (as kitchen closes)
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Samaria Trio consists of Gary Haggerty (oud, saz, tar, mandocello, lavta), Faisal Zedan (darbuka, riq, and frame drum) and Elana Brutman on sympathetic string Cretan lyra. They play traditional and contemporary music from Greece and Turkey. Samaria's music is deeply informed by the Maqam tradition of the Near East, employing the use of microtonal stringed instruments with percussion.
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Highest Ani plays traditional Armenian songs blended with diverse musical influences. Committed to paying homage to Armenian music, while incorporating musical identities taken from rock, jazz, indie, blues, and Middle Eastern music, Highest Ani is a band that strives to carve out its own sound. Featuring an exciting variety of musicians, Highest Ani is made up of Mark Ohanesian on the qanon (traditional Middle Eastern stringed instrument), Avo Chalaganyan on the dhol, drumset and vocals, Marina Hovhannisyan on main vocals and guitar, Aaron Kruziki on saxophone, duduk (traditional Armenian double-reed), clarinet & accordion, and Ryan Pate on bass.
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The Collective is an effort of like-minded Bay Area musicians to make live music from the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, the Arab world and the greater Middle East. The collective consists of Calvin Lei (clarinet), Dan Cantrell, Joey Friedman and Faisal Zedan, plus guest musicians for some parts of the performance.