Ljova & the Vjola Contraband, Brooklyn Rider, live at Joe's Pub

Two genre-bending dynamic young ensembles --- Ljova & the Vjola Contraband, and Brooklyn Rider -- will join forces for an evening at Joe's Pub, at the Public Theater on January 5th, 2008, at 7pm. The two ensembles will perform separately, and side-by side, a selection of original music, and traditional arrangements.

Saturday, January 5, 2008, at 7pm Joe's Pub, at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street New York City Closest subway: 6 to Astor Place, or R/W to 8th Street; short walk from Union Square Tickets: $15 in advance / $20 day of show, available online at the Joe's Pub website or call 212-967-7555.

LJOVA AND THE VJOLA CONTRABAND is chamber-jam music for the "remix generation". As if by alchemy, Eastern-European and Gypsy melodies, Latin rhythms, Jazz-inspired improvisations, and deeply rooted Classical forms are given new meanings. Founded by the maverick film composer, arranger, and violist Lev 'LJOVA' Zhurbin --- hailed by Billboard magazine as "one of New York's fastest rising composers and instrumentalists" -- the ensemble also features his close collaborators on vocals, accordion, bass and percussion. Inspired by his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Osvaldo Golijov, the Kronos Quartet, the rapper Jay-Z and others, Ljova's compositions dazzle with intricate textures, odd rhythms and lilting melodies, creating music that is both fresh and timeless.

Ljova, viola Patrick Farrell, accordion Mike Savino, bass Mathias Kunzli, percussion special guest: Inna Barmash, vocal

"[Ljova's music is] full of Brahmsian tone, Bartók lines, hiccuping Hungarian rhythms, Klezmer soul and the sexy plaintiveness of tango and the blues." --Newsday

BROOKLYN RIDER is a string quartet formed to explore creative programming and adventurous collaborations. Individually, the musicians have appeared as soloists with major symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony, and have participated in many leading chamber music festivals internationally. They have worked extensively with composers Chen Yi, Osvaldo Golijov, Dimitry Yanov-Yanovsky, Wu Man, Shirish Korde and Kayhan Kalhor. Brooklyn Rider's motivation to expand string quartet programming has come from their involvement as core members of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, with whom they have performed throughout the world, recorded two albums for Sony Classical.

Jonathan Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violins Nicholas Cords, viola Eric Jacobsen, cello

"Few young artists are as versatile as the four gentlemen of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider" -- the New Yorker

LJOVA (Lev Zhurbin) was born in 1978 in Moscow, Russia, and emigrated to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and poet Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Ljova divides his time between performing as a violist in groups ranging from string quartets to gypsy bands, studying and arranging world music for groups such as Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and the Kronos Quartet, and composing original music for film, television, and the concert stage. Ljova was a 2005 fellow of the Sundance Film Composers Lab. For more information, upcoming shows and free downloads, visit his website at www.Ljova.com