Search - Pachora :: Unn

The Knitting Factory has always been known as the epicenter of New York City's avant-garde jazz scene. But the city's also known for having a diverse ethnic landscape, and the rhythms of non-Western music are as common in the air there as the pigeons. Mixing these two styles together, Pachora is a band of multitalented players not limited to the instruments of a high school band. Besides clarinet, bass, and snare drum, this group's equipment list also includes tamboura, banjar, tres, and other instruments you wouldn't recognize even if you were being beaten to death with them. Which isn't the approach here. Instead, Pachora gently mix Middle Eastern rhythms and percussion with jazzy clarinet. Which might sound like a conflict waiting to happen, except that one vibe usually wins out. When the clarinet isn't taking on an acrobatic, Mideast tone, it becomes more subdued, leavening the entire mood. --Paul Semel