Loading details…
Artist
Billy's Band
12+ albums
bluesjazzalcojazzrussianrockabilly
about
Billy’s Band is a Russian blues and jazz fusion trio. Not to be confused with the New York City group Bill's Band. Started as a mere musical joke for friends, the trio became popular on the clubbing stage in St.Petersburg (2002) and Moscow (2003). Their program combines cover versions of Tom Waits’ songs, author’s compositions, American Gothic, own life experiences, stories told by friends and urban mythology. The Billy’s Band musicians call their style Funeral Dixieland with an Infinite Happy End. ... See their official website: http://www.billysband.ru/ Tackling anything by Tom Waits is like wrestling an alligator: do it well and you`ve got a new pair of shoes:, screw up and you`re dead, Jack. Describing themselves as a Dixiland funeral with an infinite happy end, Billy`s band is on the fringe in its St.Petersburg home and will be on the fringe of the fringe here. Bandleader, Billy Novik heard Waits` “Early Years, vol.1”, and that is all she wrote. Novik barks gruff and hip (in Russian and English) just like Waits – or perhaps Cookie Monster on a vodka bender. A great deal of the band`s repertoire is Waits` stuff, and when the band ventures out on its own, the genius, the oddity, and the antiquated charm still shines, just like those alligator shoes I was talking about. Billy's Band, the Tom Waits-inspired outfit from St. Petersburg, Russia, was held up at the Canadian border Friday while on its way to the Rochester International Jazz Festival. But fest co-producer Joh
