PRESS QUOTES

The balancing of frenzy and finesse is evidently a trademark Luminescent Orchestrii approach, displayed to its utmost in the insanely frenetic dance tunes... The three violins flirt wilfully with a cacophony teasingly offset by elegant classical flourishes, swirling and eddying above the rhythm section's bruisingly aggressive but sharply-aimed attack. ****

-The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland)

A punky five-piece string band, the Luminescent Orchestrii plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged musical adventures.

-Time Out NY (NYC, NY)

There's a fine line between gypsy music and punk rock and the Luminescent Orchestrii falls off it every show. With three fiddlers, a bassist, and a guitarist who sweats enough for the five of them, the band stomps the stage, thumps their strings, and saws into their instruments. These are believers.

-Nonsense NYC (NYC, NY)

The group brings classically-trained and self-taught players together to revel in off-kilter harmonies, frenzied picking and nuttiness that equals anachronistic minstrelsy. Using such rarely-seen instrumentation as bullhorn harmonica, resophonic guitar and melodica, this word-traveled group makes a ruckus not unlike The Paris Combo on amyl nitrate. If you dig the tango, bawdy sea shanties, or even Camper Van Beethoven's faux-Balkan rave-ups, you'll love these gypsy punk rockers.

-Connect Savannah (Savannah Georgia)

There's only a scant degree of separation between Romanian gypsy music and punk rock, according to Luminescent Orchestrii, a New York-based group featuring no less than three violinists. Sure antique novelty music is all the rage--wasn't the old country a gas?--but this quintet can actually boast among its ranks two bonafide circus escapees and a former member of a Balkan woman's choir...rounding out their street smarts with stage cred in Goth bands, free-jazz collectives and opera companies.

-Black Mountain Xpress (Ashville NC)

"Madcap ethnic dance music" is as good a term as any to describe the flavor of this band. A dozen years ago bands such as Blowzabella, Three Mustaphas Three and the Reptile Palace Orchestra burst out with music that sounded old and was deeply influenced by generations of tradition. These days, the genre is much more lush and weedy. In a world where you can easily score recordings of Gypsy masters taraf de Haidouks, Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour and Cuban songbird Omara Portoundo, it's not surprising to hear young musicians fuse what appear to be incompatible styles. And it's great when they succeed in creating something listenable and danceable.

The seven tracks on Luminescent Orchestrii's recent live recording (of a show in Brooklyn) demonstrate that they love to play Eastern European rhythms, hip-hop and about eight other recognizable genres. Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. Their live CD is testament to endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.

-Seven Days (Burlington VT)

Who We Are | How The Band Formed | Individual bios | Romanian story | Press Materials