A shamisen (three-stringed Japanese lute) player tears it up in a smoky Bucharest cafe . . . the wails of a musical saw issue from a Gypsy caravan as it rolls past . . . If this sounds like your idea of a good time, you should definitely check out Fishtank Ensemble. The eclectic Oakland and Santa Cruz-based septet offers a unique blend of up-tempo Gypsy, Balkan, and klezmer tunes and original compositions, intriguingly spiced with flamenco guitar, French chanson, and Swedish and Japanese folk music.

It could easily be chaos, but the impressive instrumental skills of Gypsy violinist Fabrice Martinez, vocalist and musical saw wizard Ursula Knudson, accordionist Aaron Seeman, flamenco guitarist Doug Smolens, shamisen player Kevin Kmetz, double bassist Glenn Allen, and percussionist Adam Stacey render it into a mighty tasty goulash indeed. Fishtank Ensemble's latest album is last year's Super Raoul (Mimicry).

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