Eclectica at The Basement

Q: What do you call a power trio of bass, drums and electric violin that plays thumping jazz-funk with snatches of classical, folk, acid rock, psychedelia, trance music and the occasional hoedown? A: A jam band! Hey, you’ve gotta direct the booking calls somewhere—at least until word gets out about the lineup of electric violinist Tracy Silverman (who’s performed with avant-garde composers John Adams and Terry Riley), smokin’ young bassist Kyle Whalum and Flecktones anchor Roy “Futureman” Wooten, who lays down the drumitar long enough here to bash real heads with real sticks. The shortest song on their new Streaming Video Soul CD clocks in at 7:25; the longest, the Hendrix-inspired yowler “Bi-Polar Disorder,” winds from gently rolling thunder to sonic squall over the course of 11 minutes. Live, their improvisational dexterity will likely torch the joint. If nothing else, you will believe a violin can shred.
Fri., Aug. 7, 7 p.m., 2009