Avant-garde gypsy music

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

By Aaron Davis

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Autumn has been a bountiful harvest for consumers of hipster folk, and early winter will maintain the trend. The Denver area has plugged many of its ensembles into our local sockets, providing a welcomed surge in distinctive acoustic groups.

The atypical Nawlins’ blend of a trombone melody over a bed of hard-strummed banjo left a great first impression of Paper Bird. Enter a female vocal, then two more female vocals to round out the three-part harmony, all supported by guitar and upright bass. The Denver-based Americana-jazz septet produces music that is simply gorgeous.

“Four of us made a weekend trip to Breckenridge three years ago, and we ended up busking on the street,” vocalist-trumpeter Sarah Anderson explained of Paper Bird’s organic early days. “We weren’t planning on starting a band, but it was too much fun not to.”

Though it’s hard to pinpoint which, the band’s music could easily be of a different time.

Paper Bird is avant-garde gypsy music, spreading its wings over folk and jazz with elements of ragtime and pop, but not prescribed to any one flight pattern. Refreshing is what it is, and their recent decision to throttle full steam ahead with their music lives will soon reach a broader audience.

“We’ve been all over the place with our separate lives over the last year,” Anderson said. “But we recently had a sit-down, put our heads together and decided that this is what we want and need to be doing.”

Sealing the deal, the band invested in a veggie/diesel touring bus, which is a converted airport shuttle that had already been setup for a touring band. Colorado exports a number of veggie oil-powered touring bands, and the scene continues to thrive.

“I’m blown away by the music in Denver,” Anderson said. “Its totally taking off, and many of the bands overlap with members. My dream would be to take all of these bands on tour to represent the state.”

In addition to a full-length studio release geared for early 2010, Paper Bird released two EPs in 2008 — A Sky Underground and Live at Twist and Shout — and their debut album Nameless and Joymaking was self-released in 2007. Just three years of making uncanny music together recently earned them the Best Roots/Americana band of 2009 by The Denver Westword.

They will ramble into town after a bill with Grace Potter and The Nocturnals and Brett Dennen in Denver, and preceding a trio of shows in late December with Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

Random Canyon Growlers will open the show with new instrumentation and guest players. Paper Bird will also participate in a live interview and in-studio performance at 6 p.m. Monday on 89.1 KHOL. JHW

What’s Good Here? Productions will present Paper Bird at 8:30 p.m. on Monday at Jackson’s Hole Bar and Grille (formerly Eleanor’s Cuvee. $8, with an optional $3 BYO surcharge.

Photo by GARY ISSACS
Paper Bird

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Avant-garde gypsy music | Planet JH News Article: Music Box

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