Stringfusion resonates with eclecticism
April 12, 2007
By LILLI KUZMA Contributor
Not all pictures are worth a thousand words, but some convey a sense of sound, rhythm and mood. The band photo of Edgar Gabriel's Stringfusion, the musicians posed casually with a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, exudes a confidence in musicianship, originality in style and excitement in sound.
"We are jazz musicians, but infused with other music," said Gabriel. "I don't like to put us in one category of music, because there are really just two kinds of music -- good and bad -- but, if I had to put us in one, it would be jazz, because we are highly improvisatory."
With a blend of classical, folk, rock and world elements, the music of Stringfusion is a melding of sounds and styles. Add to this an extremely high level of musicianship, with original arrangements of famous songs and original material, and the end result is a truly unique product.
Led by founder and leader Gabriel, of Arlington Heights, the band debuted in early 2005 at the Heartland Cafe in Chicago. They'll play at Harper College Saturday.
A little of everything
"The people really liked us, and we've been working steadily every month since then," Gabriel said. "We play everything from Jimi Hendrix to Bach. Songs like 'Spain' by Chick Corea. Frank Zappa. Allman Brothers. Gypsy jazz. Indian ragas. New country."
A line-up of seven musicians is increased or decreased depending on the circumstances.
Stringfusion is comprised of Gabriel, acoustic/electric violin, mandolin; Kevin O'Connell of Arlington Heights, piano; Sarah Alexander of Skokie, cello; Inderjeet Sidhu of Barrington, drumset and tabla; Maurice Houston of North Chicago, electric bass; Steve Doyle of Chicago, guitars; and Michael Levin of Chicago, saxophone/clarinet.
Gabriel, who started on violin at 8 years old, played in the orchestra at Niles North High School and with the Chicago Youth Orchestra.
"I gravitated towards rock and jazz, music that had instrumentalists that were highly technical," he said. "Bands like Kansas, who I saw in 1980. Also, I liked the heavy metal bands, like UFO and The Scorpions, great guitar players. Jean-Luc Ponty, Lenny White, the Brecker Brothers, this is what I listened to."
Drawn to fusion styles, Gabriel recalls his first electric violin:
"I was 16 and in bands, and wanted to amplify my sound. I ordered an electric violin through the mail but it wasn't very good. So I would use some sort of pick-up on my violin. No one sold electric violins. It wasn't until the late 80's that I bought my first (real one)."
Gabriel, a composer/ arranger and a staff music teacher at Harper College, has played the highly-regarded Zeta electric violins, and presently boasts a hand-made Gary Rickman.
Classical notes
Gabriel's classical violin is an Italian-made Enrico Rocca, which was more appropriate for an early gig requiring a more formal style of music.
"Right after college, I got a job playing teas and dinners at a five-star hotel in West Virginia, the Green Briar," he said. "It was a hotel built in the '50s at the (start of) the Cold War, with a bomb shelter for government officials under the hotel. The very rich and famous came there. I met Red Skelton, who was one of the nicest guys, and I remember Alexander Haig was there all the time. The shelter was still classified when I played there, but somehow everyone knew about the bomb shelter."
Other memorable gigs include Gabriel's work with rock band, Cheap Trick, playing violin for a jingle on a DiGiorno Pizza commercial and touring with Cirque de Soleil in 2003. Gabriel has also played with the likes of Rachel Barton and Hello Dave.
Asked if his baby daughter, Annabelle, will be a musician, Gabriel said:
"She has a thirty-second size violin. I got it off of eBay. Every time I bring out mine, I put hers under her shoulder and she fools around with it. And giggles," he said.
EDGAR GABRIEL'S STRINGFUSION
7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at Harper College, Building J Theatre, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. $15; $12 non-Harper students; $10 Harper students and staff; free children 12 and younger. (847) 925-6659 or visit www.harpercollege.edu.