Peoples Bizarre

A highly recommended CD
-Richard Scheinin San Jose Mercury

The San Francisco Bay area may be as much of a musical melting pot as its rival cities on the East Coast. But one of the most impressive California groups to turn this cultural mixture into their own language is Peoples Bizarre. Sure, there are a number of jazz groups who are also conversant with Eastern Europe---whether adding rhythmic twists to klezmer or grooving to the harmonic freedom of Gypsy songs. But this sextet takes such ideas further than many of their contemporaries. The young, but consummate, string section of bassist Eric Perney, violinist Sarah Jo Zaharako, and cellist Jessica Ivry create stunning chamber soundscapes that are flexible enough to allow for such surprises as pianist Dan Cantrell's stride piano lines or clarinetist/saxophonist Colin Stetson's unique take on free improvisation. Dan's vocals on his compositions "Cold Cold Night" and "September" are evocative of the group's hometown Beat poet tradition. Although he's often understated, drummer Josh Tillinghast deserves credit for his part in making such wide-ranging ideas flow together. When Sarah's violin beautifully pours into Dan's piano at the end of the disc, it becomes clear that this is one of the rare young groups who know how much a recording should convey a narrative's sensibility.

Aaron Cohen
Down Beat, Chicago Tribune

Over the last few years, sounds from Eastern Europe have become a crucial resource for progressive jazz musicians. But few groups have made Klezmer and Balkan strains sound like their own music as the California-based People's Bizarre.
Peoples Bizarre is a young band. Rock and roll was an early part of their listening diets and they learned how jazz improvisation could free their thoughts. These idioms were in their minds when they commenced formal classical studies. Out in the world, they heard how European folk songs are part of a tradition that needs to be reinvigorated to be preserved.
They don't play rocked-out versions of Klezmer standards, and they don’t always take Gypsy melodies into territory that Ornette Coleman charted, but one listen shows how much everything they've heard informs what they do. The energy and beats that they put behind the melodies do derive from rock, but they subtly prove that in Eastern Europe, this was always music for the masses. And their free-jazz inclinations create enough that make listeners brace for the change that can happen at any minute.
--Aaron Cohen
Down Beat

"…the sextet distinguishes itself from the glut of similar combos with a well-developed group sound that makes the most of classic chamber instrumentation (violin, cello, upright bass, clarinet, accordion) and adds drums for rhythmic punch. Whether playing traditional Yiddish ballads with quiet sensitivity or bouncing headlong into original polkas, Peoples Bizarre performs with one voice. That's not to say the ensemble lacks able soloists. Oberlin-trained violinist Sarah Zaharako and clarinetist Colin Stetson are both engaging improvisers.
But neither of them soars: Their lead lines tend to stick to the songs' melodic foundations, as if each player were taking the reins for a spell as they travel their pre-charted course. This solidarity bolsters the group's formidable collective power, which should grow even stronger as the bandmates play together."
--Sam Prestianni
SF Weekly