Travis Sullivan's Björkestra is an 18-piece, genre-bending http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8463191 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 from New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Led by alto saxophonist Travis Sullivan and with arrangements by Travis Sullivan, Kevin Schmidt, and Kelly Pratt. The Björkestra performs the music of eclectic pop artist Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, spanning her entire catalogue as a solo artist.

Members

Members of Travis Sullivan's Björkestra—often referred to as The Björkestra—have performed and/or recorded with artists including The Arcade Fire

The Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is an indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists of the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, along with Will Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara, and Sarah Neufeld. William Butler and Régine Chassagne attended McGill University,...

, Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre

Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...

, Charlie Hunter

Charlie Hunter

for the New Zealand racehorse trainer and driver see: Charlie HunterCharlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader....

, The Spam All Stars, The Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider (musician)

Maria Schneider is an American arranger, composer, and big-band leader who has won multiple awards. In 2005, her album Concert in the Garden won a Grammy for "Best Large Ensemble Album"...

 Jazz Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Live Band

Saturday Night Live Band

The Saturday Night Live Band is the house band of the NBC television program Saturday Night Live .-Noteworthy members:...

. Special guests with The Björkestra have included Grammy nominated tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel is an American jazz guitarist and keyboardist who came to prominence in the 1990s.-Biography:He attended the Berklee School of Music for two and a half years before leaving in his junior year to tour with Gary Burton, the dean of the school at the time...

 and Ben Monder

Ben Monder

-Biography:Monder attended the University of Miami. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians including Lee Konitz, Toots Thielmans, Paul Motian and Maria Schneider....

. The ensemble features vocalist Becca Stevens, whose "muscular and soaring"http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=54047404 vocals "channel[] Björk's urgency and earnestness without coming off like an American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

."http://www.ocweekly.com/music/music/cd-review-various-artists-controversy-rapster-and-travis-sullivans-bjorkestra-enjoy-koch/28498/

Current

Travis Sullivan – alto saxophone

Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

, conductor, arranger

Arranger

In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

Becca Stevens – vocals

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

Sean Nowell, Steve Welsh – tenor saxophone

Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

Lauren Sevian – baritone saxophone

Baritone saxophone

The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

Kevin Bryan, Ravi Best, Eli Asher, Brian Pareschi – trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

Alan Ferber, Ryan Keberle, James Hirschfeld - trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

Kevin Schmidt – bass trombone, arranger

Arranger

In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...

David Cook or Art Hirahara – piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, keyboard

Electronic keyboard

An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...

Yoshi Waki – bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

, electric bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

Ian Cook – electronic percussion

Joe Abbatantuono – drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

History

Since their debut in September 2004 at New York City's Knitting Factory

Knitting Factory

The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....

, Travis Sullivan's Björkestra has performed around the country. Publications as diverse as The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

, Relix Magazine, and Jazz Times have featured articles about The Björkestra. Travis Sullivan's adaptations of Björk's music have gained international recognition, with a sold out 2007 performance conducting his arrangements with the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra at Teatro Golden in Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

.http://www.backspinpromo.com/bjorkestra.html

Studio Albums

• Enjoy! Koch Records, 2008

1. Hyperballad (6:56) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
2. Alarm Call (6:41) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
3. Human Behaviour (4:33) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
4. Show Me Forgiveness (7:29) (arr. by Arun Luthra)
5. Army Of Me (10:06) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
6. Hunter (6:17) (arr. by Kelly Pratt)
7. Who Is It? (4:42) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
8. Cocoon (8:47) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)
9. Enjoy (4:22) (arr. by Kevin Schmidt)
10. Overture To "Dancer In The Dark" (3:12) (arr. by Travis Sullivan)

External links

• Official Björkestra Website
• Myspace
• Facebook
• Björkestra: An Army of Her - LA Weekly's Feature Article on Björkestra
• iLike
• Koch Records