Album Notes

Orkestar Zirkonium is a Balkan-inspired mobile brass-and-drum band cast through an American lens. Our repertoire includes songs on loan from Eastern Europe's phenomenal brass band tradition, as well as a number of original compositions. Orkestar Zirkonium was founded by a core group of Seattle musicians in 2003, and has over the years accumulated over a dozen members. The band plays in a variety of incarnations and lineups; the versatile percussion section includes bass drum, snare, dumbek, and percussion instruments such as cymbals, tambourine, and qarqabats. As a marching band, our desire is to facilitate joyous musical spectacles in unexpected locales. Our performances range from the completely unsanctioned to the civically sponsored: We maraud through grocery stores, throw dance parties in fountains and parks, and take over parties as surprise (and, sometimes, invited) guests; we burst uninvited into taverns, play for families at city festivals, provide the soundtrack for underground casinos, and entertain wedding-goers.