September 5, 2014

Friday night live at Transistor: Byzantine Time Machine and Nino Arobelidze. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

Currently residing in the year 2014, Byzantine Time Machine has found a way to combine the latest advances in audio technology with musical styles that go back to Byzantine times. The sounds of their voices and instruments are converted into ones and zeros, filtered through time-shifting algorithms and sent back to the analog world for your listening pleasure and dancing enjoyment!

BTM's specially trained technicians utilize their "time machine" to simultaneously bring you closer to the past and the future. Can you imagine the sound of a Middle Eastern darbuka, processed digitally through a frequency shifter? How about a Greek dulcimer with oscillating temporal flux? Transform a Turkish clarinet solo via ring-modulation, add to that a resonant synth sub-bass, ethereal female vocals, and a horn section, and you have Byzantine Time Machine!

BTM's creators, George Lawler and Eve Monzingo, have been part of Chicago's world music scene for the last 15 years, playing Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Balkan music. George has toured with Natacha Atlas, Lamajamal, Mucca Pazza, Bobby Conn, Hawk and a Hacksaw, and Occidental Brothers Dance band, and has now found a way to combine his percussion skills with his passion for electronic music. Eve Monzingo has always gravitated towards the sounds of the Mediterranean she has played dulcimer with the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble, sax and clarinet with Lamajamal and Mucca Pazza, and is musical director for the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society.

Sam Johnson and Elanor Leskiw have provided the power behind horn sections in Chicago and around the world for 10 years, from Mucca Pazza, Girl Group Chicago, the Lowdown Brass Band, Hawk and a Hacksaw, the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and beyond; they are now Byzantine Time Machine's "top brass."

Visit Byzantine Time Machine's website and Soundcloud page.

Hailing from Tbilisi-Georgia, Nino Arobelidze moved to Chicago to make music and develop her sound. While still studying classical vocal performance at DePaul University Music School, Nino became the first vocalist to be an artist in residence at the North Shore Hotel in Evanston, where she held a weekly lecture/performance series for three years. Her time is currently occupied with her solo project and Forbidden Knowledge. Nino's 2014 release, "NOMAD," is co-produced by Pablo Gordy. Nino's voice is often described as pure and effortless with a timeless vintage twist. While her imaginative phrasing and swagger are reminiscent of a skilled instrumentalist, her treatment of language is driven by the power of words and the magic of subtlety. Nino recently directed and produced the music video for “Coltrane Skies,” one of the featured tracks on "NOMAD."

For her Transistor set Nino performed music off of her 2014 release, "NOMAD" (Ni Fu Ni Fa Records), as well as a handful of new tunes, some of which will be featured on her forthcoming album (due out in 2015).

Visit Nino's website.

Also available: a previous Nino Arobelidze Transistor performance from March 14, 2014.