City Slang: This weekend at Trinosophes

This Saturday, December 7, Trinosophes will host the Nakatani Gong Orchestra. The band features Tatsuya Nakatani, Dave Shettler, Marko Novachcoff, Jay Rowe, Joel Peterson, Josh Ferrel, Clara Hardie, James Baljo, Clem Fortuna and others.

The venue says, “Every time Tatsuya comes to town it's an event, but this time the virtuoso percussionist has put together his most ambitious ensemble yet. The first time he assembled his Nakatani Gong Orchestra, we were instructed to provide non-musicians mostly- "teacher, baker, artist, scientist- all are good" was the request. This time out he has expanded the size of NGO and is using a full line-up of musicians with backgrounds in bowing things- strings or otherwise.”

Doors are at 8pm, suggested cover is $10.

The following night, Sunday, December 8, Dave Bixby fronts a band also featuring Matthew Smith, Dave Shettler, Greg Beyer, and Bill Corrigan.

“Having grown-up outside Grand Rapids, Dave Bixby first became involved in music around the 60's Michigan folk and garage-rock scenes. By the end of the decade, he had a religious conversion and began making acoustic concept records that were religious in theme, but incongruently dark and lonesome sounding. His late 60‘s/early 70‘s releases, Ode to Quetzcoatl and Harbinger's Second Coming, were originally used as promotional vehicles for The Group- a cult that Bixby had joined. Forced to go underground with The Group, he disappeared into obscurity in the mid 70’s. His records have been rediscovered in recent years and reissued on new labels- leading to Bixby performing live for the first time in decades. For this evening, he will be joined by an all Detroit backing group.”