Biribá Union kicked off the first date of its spring tour in the subterranean confines of Club Passim on Tuesday. The trio consisted of members Mike Block (cello), Christylez Bacon (guitar, beatbox) plus Claire Davis on bass, filling in for regular Patricia Ligia, who had excused herself to play – paraphrasing Block – a more important gig.
It was a comment delivered in good fun. Biribá Union is a band of professional musicians who know what to take seriously and what to let slide. Chasing after new sounds in new combinations? The band takes it seriously. Conforming to genre expectations for the sake of good form? Not so much.
Case in point, one of the highlights of the show was a Bach piece, which had been adapted to prominently feature Bacon on beatbox. Classical meets hip-hop, served against a backdrop of Brazilian rhythms.
The members of Biribá Union have made a career out of this kind of genre mashery. Block, always a congenial narrator in live performance, recalled when he first met Bacon. It was one of those artist bootcamps abroad for globe-trotting musicians, organized under the umbrella of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road initiative. The two hit it off and resolved to find a way to collaborate once they returned to the States.
Fast-forward to the present and the band has dropped its first release in the form of the single “Pompano,” a nimble parade of cello, carving out contemporary Arabic melodies, supported by Bacon’s beatboxing and Liga’s simmering electric bass. Shout out to Bacon’s rhymes in the back half of the song, which, in a single blow, delivered more rap to the club’s folkhead patrons than they have probably listened to in the past 12 months.
Bassist Claire Davis filled the substitute role ably at Club Passim, relying on rhythm to weld the diverse and occasionally eccentric contributions from Block and Bacon into a plausible unity. Watch for Ligia and Davis to share bass duties throughout the spring tour, extending into May.
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