Feel the Musical Vibes

At Nov. 30 Trance/Groove Night

By Susie Davidson

Bridgians, it’s time to (once again) alter consciousness and enter a new zone of meditative cosmic bliss at the Zeitgeist on Nov. 30, when the Monika Heidemann Sextet and Maxwell’s Mysterious Moroccans usher in the Trance/Groove Night.

Rob Chalfen’s Subconscious Café Series promises an “Out of Cambridge Experience” as the two acts weave and ply notes and rhythms in an atmospheric other-worldly melange. Some might say it’s a typical night at the Zeit, but performers promise something even beyond the usual.

“This is really what the Zeitgeist Gallery has been all about,” said Katt Hernandez, who plays violin in the Moroccans, “bringing people from intensely varied studies and backgrounds together to communicate and create things.” Hernandez will be joined by Dave Maxwell on piano, Fred Stubbs on the Turkish ney and framedrums, Jerry Leake on tablas and percussion and Sergio Brandao on mandolin, along with others tba.

“This will be a free improvisational conversation,” she said, “between a blues pianist, a Brazilian jazz guitar player, a studied Indian classical tabala player and jazz musician, a master of the ney (an endblown flute), and an avant-garde improvising violinist!”

Maxwell's Mysterious Morrocans (which Maxwell swears was not his title), has been performing for several years. “Hopefully,” he said, “we will have Brahim Fribgane, from Morocco, playing oud with us. Maxwell, in addition to the grand piano and keyboards, will also incorporate Moroccan double-reed horns called ‘raitas’ into the mix.

“We'll be largely improvising and getting into a ‘trance’ groove,” he promised, “but not in any rigid or pop sense. We'll allow for changing and shifting textures and colors, basing the collective tonality on a kind of North African, Indian and Turkish blend of musical ideas and scales, and also create room for subtle turns or more abrupt swings into pure improvisatory color, with maybe a jazzy touch here and there.” A free-flowing musical acid trip? No such luck. “We will definitely be conscious of the trance continuum and keep our audience connected,” he said.

Hernandez, a Michigan native in the Boston area for four years, helped create a program for improvisers at the University of Michigan (“so that I would have something relevant to graduate from,” she said). “I’ve played all over the East Coast,” she recalled, “with slews of musicians, dancers, and uncatagorizable others.”

Maxwell, a Boston local, has a solo LP, “Maximum Blues Piano,” and has played with big names Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, James Cotton, Ronnie Earl and others. Earlier this month, he played two sold-out shows at the Regattabar.

Percussionist Leake co-founded world-music ensemble Natraj, which recently released their third CD, Deccan Dance. He also performs with Club d'Elf, JCA, The Raga Ensemble, and the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society. Currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University, he presents percussion clinics and solo concerts throughout the Northeastern U.S. A Berklee graduate, he studied jazz vibraphone and hand percussion, and studied tabla in Pune, India as well. He has written six widely-used texts on Indian, West African, and Latin American percussion, which are available at www.RhombusPublishing.com.

Guitarist and composer Brandao performs regularly at the Regattabar with his Brazillian jazz ensemble.

“Hernandez,” added Chalfen, “is a rising luminary of the free-improv scene and frequent Zeitgeist artist, whose trio with bassist John Voigt and drummer Will Buchannan is achieving wide renown.” On Nov. 23, she performed in High-Speed Co-eds with “electronic noise sculptor” Andrew Neumann at Mobius Art-rages, and will be a part of Substation at Zeitgeist on Jan. 4.

“I always am completely happy and honored to play in this group,” said Hernandez, “and I learn an amazing amount of things in the space of an hour or two from every one of them – it’s a convention of five whole different universes.”

The Monika Heidemann Sextet will feature vocalist Raqib Hassan in addition to the core group of Monika Heidemann on vocals, James Carson on piano and synth, Frederick Vigor on viola, Dave Hall on bass, Mark Riordon on drums and Patrick Hay on guitar. “The Sextet,” synopsized Chalfen, “plays original trancey/torchy compositions by this sultry young chanteuse and her jazz group.”

Trance/Groove Night can be experienced by the brave on Nov. 30 at the Zeitgeist Gallery, located at 1353 Cambridge St. in Inman Square. For ticket information, visit www.zeitgeist-gallery.org or call 617-876-6060. Performers’ CDs are sold at the shows.