Balkan, gypsy music highlight Luminescent Orchestrii's Music Sandwiched-In concert
Group will perform here Thursday at Cherokee County Public Library

The Luminescent Orchestrii will present a concert of Balkan and gypsy music Thursday from 12:15-1 p.m. at Cherokee County Public Library in Gaffney.

The Cherokee County Public Library and the Friends of the Library will host a performance by the Luminescent Orchestrii on Thursday, Feb. 21, from 12:15-1 p.m. in the large meeting room at the main library in Gaffney.

Since 2002, when the band was formed, the Luminescent Orchestrii has toured the east coast, England, Scotland and Germany, and have traveled to Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia for inspiration.

"We invite everyone to come join us for a free concert and a unique afternoon of music and lunch," said Kenny Covington, coordinator of adult programs and PR coordinator for the library.

Luminescent's Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle are all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and bass.

The members of the group come from different scenes in New York City, yet come together through their love of Balkan and gypsy music. Skip Shirey is an international circus composer, Sarah Alden is an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand is an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox-Rosen is a free-jazz bassist. It is not uncommon to see Fand composing music for a Lorca puppet show, Fox-Rosen schlepping his bass to a jazz gig, or Alden fiddling away at some all-night, old-time session.

The group most recently returned from Serbia's Trumpet Festival, a 47-year-old event that takes place in the small town of Guca, where hordes of competing gypsy brass bands take to the streets and restaurants.