Kutsi Merki

Kutsi Merki is a Bulgarian expression meaning "crooked measures"; it lends its name to an explosive sextet which performs Bulgarian classics with jazz and rock influences. Their music has a complex frenetic energy and innovative instrumental arrangements. Unorthodox time signatures and irresistible hypnotic melodies are written all over the music. The sound of saxophone, kaval, and trombone produces a harmony of frightening intensity and sounds like nothing you have ever come across. With this arrangement, the band tackles both traditional Bulgarian standards as well as original compositions, riffing on the Eastern European sounds with elements of North American jazz. You may come to realize that Kutsi Merki is an attempt at forging a new tradition through the tension between these two musical styles. The band members all have backgrounds in the improvised and jazz music scene of 21st-century Montreal, thus Kutsi Merki attempts to fuse a third localized tradition onto these styles. The festive Kutsi Merki channels the highest exuberant energies, perfect for dancing your troubles away.